5 And this city became an exceeding stronghold ever after; and in this city they did guard the prisoners of the Lamanites; yea, even within a wall which they had caused them to build with their own hands. Now Moroni was compelled to cause the Lamanites to labor, because it was easy to guard them while at their labor; and he desired all his forces when he should make an attack upon the Lamanites.
This is why I love the war chapters. Everything is symbolic, but it also has a literal meaning that's easy to understand, so if you're not looking for a deeper message, you can just enjoy the literal account of what all the warriors and armies did, but if you're looking for symbolic meaning, you don't have to look for long.
And this city became an exceeding stronghold ever after; and in this city they did guard the prisoners of the Lamanites;
Us: If something is important to you, like holding onto the Lamanite prisoners so you can trade them for Nephite prisoners, you put it in your stronghold. You protect it. You guard it. If something is truly, deeply important to you, you build a tall, thick, massive wall around it, so nothing could mess it up. So, what is important to you? What are you trying to protect or keep? How strong is the wall that currently stands around it? How strong is the wall around your testimony, your family, your standards? Is it an "exceeding stronghold," or could your defenses be stronger?
Satan: The adversary doesn't like giving up his prisoners. Once he's gotten hold of them, he holds on with all his might. If we yield to his temptations, he's going to lock us up in a spiritual prison and do everything in his power to keep us there. This is all the more reason to not fall into his hands in the first place, but for some of us, it's a little bit too late for that, and we're discovering to our dismay just how strong his "exceeding stronghold" is. There is a way to escape, and luckily, the Book of Mormon gives us some advice on this subject later. But for now, the message is to not under-estimate the captivating power of the evil one.
yea, even within a wall which they had caused them to build with their own hands.
Us: We can't count on others to defend our treasures for us. You know the old saying, "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." The same is especially true in spiritual matters. No one can guard your testimony but you. If you want a wall built around what's most important to you, odds are you'll have to build the wall "with [your] own hands." It's going to be a lot of work, which is why, tragically, a lot of people don't bother. They don't think anything bad is really going to happen, so they don't take precautions against it. Then lo and behold, disaster strikes, and they wish they had built a wall there. When you know how important something is to you, you may find that it's worth it to you to put in the extra effort and build that wall. Cause you can bet that no one else is going to do it for you.
Satan: Unfortunately, the enemy has an easier job than we do. Or at least, a craftier plan. In his world, we are the Lamanites. The devil holds us captive in walls we build "with our own hands." But that's stupid. Why would we build the very walls that will hold us captive? There are a couple of reasons, but none of them are very good. The main reason is that Satan makes building ourselves into prison walls look fun and exciting, or really good stress relief. Do you know people who smoke or drink, or party? Why do they do it? I would guess that many of them don't know what they're doing to themselves. At least, not at first. It will, of course, eventually dawn on them, but by then, the walls they've built are probably thick enough to keep them in. At that point, they need outside help.
Now Moroni was compelled to cause the Lamanites to labor, because it was easy to guard them while at their labor;
Us: What do you do when you're faced with temptation? Do you sing a hymn? Recite a scripture? Wash some dishes? I'll tell you one thing you shouldn't do when you're being tempted: Nothing. Doing nothing is one of the worst things we can do when the serpent comes after us. You see, if we just sit there while he's attacking our spirit, he just might find a crack in our spiritual defenses, or make one. We need to drive him away, the sooner the better. How do we drive him out? Some methods are better than others, and it may vary from person to person. Hymns and scriptures usually work pretty well (darkness can't abide in the light), but here's another trick for you: Just about anything will help. There's a method I've heard of called Distraction. The idea is that you set your mind to any task that doesn't involve yielding to temptation. As long as you're doing that, you won't be yielding to temptation.
Satan: But distraction is a two-edged sword. Sure, it can help us keep our distance from Satan, but it can also help us keep our distance from God. The tempter tries to distract us from doing good things simply by getting us to do other things. It doesn't have to be sin. It just has to not be the one thing we know we should be doing. It's easy for him to keep us off the right path when literally any other path will do. That's why we need to stay focussed and not spend too much time or energy doing things that don't really matter.
and he desired all his forces when he should make an attack upon the Lamanites.
Us: This is where that focus will really come in handy. We can all do great things, much greater things than we realize, but for many of the things we have the potential to accomplish, it will take "all [our] forces" to do it. Take Eternal Life for example. Do we have the potential to reach that goal? With a substantial amount of help from the Savior, yes. Is it going to be easy for us? No. It's going to take A LOT of effort on our part. It may well require "all [our] forces" to succeed. And I'll explain why:
Satan: As we've already established, Satan has a much easier job than we do. All he really has to do is bump us off the right track for starters, gently nudge us onto the wrong path, then sit back and watch us entomb ourselves in the strongest hold we can build. No, the enemy doesn't need to use "all his forces" to trap us. But he does anyway. Our souls mean an awful lot to him. He very strongly desires to enslave us and drag us down to hell. He consistently dedicates every power at his disposal to the blinding and captivating of people like us. That is why it will take all our forces to stand against him.
This is why I love the war chapters. One easily-overlooked verse, in the middle of not-much-going-on, casually laid down between one exciting battle and another, secretly carries, hidden in metaphor, some offensive and defensive strategies that are critical for winning the war for our souls.
1 comment:
Awesome post!
Lunch break is over, so I cannot elaborate, but that about says it. Well said, Andrew.
Post a Comment