The Book of Mormon was written for our time. Why do I say that the Book of Mormon was written for our time? This book was published nearly 200 years ago, yet, within its pages are scriptures written to help us endure the challenges faced throughout the world. Today, we are constantly at war with an enemy that wishes to destroy our peace or bring us into bondage. That enemy is Satan, and as a cheetah hunts Topi, he is relentless in his pursuit of our destruction.
One of my heroes in the Book of Mormon was a young military leader who became Chief Captain of the Nephite army. His name was Moroni, and he was an amazing man.
Captain Moroni
In Alma 48:17, Mormon describes Captain Moroni as follows: “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.”
How can this be? Captain Moroni was not a prophet. He was not a great politician, the child of a king, or the son of a prophet. Unlike the sons of Mosiah, Moroni is not credited with great missionary service. There is no great conversion story recording his testimony of Christ as we have with Alma the younger.
I’ve searched through Alma chapters 43-62 to find quotes regarding the gospel doctrine preached by Captain Moroni that would help us “shake the very powers of hell” and I couldn’t find any. Gospely related I could only find a few references in all these chapters stating that Moroni simply prayed. Why then did Mormon spend so much of his sacred record talking about Captain Moroni?
A man of perfect understanding
Mormon said, “Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.
“Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.” (Alma 48:11-13)
As Captain Moroni patrolled the borders of his lands looking for weaknesses the Lamanites could exploit, he dedicated time, resources, and great effort to strengthen those weak points. Additionally, He placed a standard, a “Title of Liberty” which read, “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children” at each location. The Title of Liberty reminded his people what they fought for during times of battle. Moroni trusted the words of the prophet and obediently followed those words.
Our spiritual strategem
How can we follow the example of Captain Moroni in our lives today? We must develop our stratagem for a spiritual defense against evil. What is the standard we rally around? Patrolling our spiritual borders and looking for our weaknesses will take time, effort, and resources. This process cannot be a “one time only” activity but must be a daily process to continually fortify against Satan’s attacks that will surely come.
So, what steps must we take to fortify our spiritual borders? Read, study, or listen to the words of the prophets every day and commit to faithfully following those words. Ponder these words throughout the day and ask God how they can help us become like Him. Have meaningful daily prayer to connect and consult with God to help us strengthen our weakest places. Write down the thoughts that come to us as we reflect on what we have learned and studied that day.
Daily fortification
This process of daily spiritual fortification is why Captain Moroni could shake the foundations of hell. As a result, He knew how to defend against weakness and then attack with ferocity when his peace was threatened. We must have this same passion for the destruction of evil in our lives. Placing our faith in Jesus Christ allows Him to lead and guide us. We must be humble enough to listen when God tells us how we can improve. And, we must be diligent in our daily efforts to protect our freedom from bondage to sin.
For the sake of our religion, our freedom, our peace, our wives, and our children may we follow Captain Moroni’s example and more fully come unto Christ. I so testify in His Holy Name, even Jesus Christ, Amen
