Spiritual Lessons from the War Chapters 2: Don't Leave your Stronghold

Last week I left Sunday's post with a to be continued... Today's post continues last week's lesson, with another example. If you recall, last week we talked about how Amalickiah lured Lehonti off the mountain by asking him to come down "just a little."  This started off the string of events which led to Lehonti's death, the murder of the Lamanite king, and Amalickiah becoming the king.  With Amalickiah as king, the Lamanites began their war against the Nephites.

After Teancum's DEVGRU-style assassination of Amalickiah, the Lamanites realize they're in a bit of a pickle and Amalickiah's brother, Ammoron, orders the Lamanites to "maintain those cities, which they had taken by the shedding of blood." (Alma 52:4) The cities they had taken were Nephite cities, which had been built up into strongholds by Moroni, using a robust system of earth and wood-works. The Lamanites had payed dearly for the strongholds they were able to capture, and the Nephites understood how difficult it would be to recapture them.  In an area the Nephites called Boutiful, Teancum "thougth it was not expedient that he should attempt to attack the Lamanites in their forts." (Alma 52:5,6) So Teancum's army dug themselves in and waited for either an opportunity, or reinforcements.

An artist rendition of Moroni's city fortifications

 Fortifications at Becan, Mexico, which follow the pattern of Moroni's fortifications

While waiting, Moroni sent orders to Teancum to attack and recapture one of the occupied cities, named Mulek.  Unfortunately Teancum sees that "it was impossible that he could overpower them while they were in their fortifications." (Alma 52:17) Teancum goes back to the drawing board, and Moroni arrives with reinforcements.  Moroni, Teancum and a number of other leaders hold a Recapture Mulek Working Group, and decide they need to get the Lamanites to come out of the city and then attack.

They try first by sending representatives to Mulek, asking the Lamanite captain, Jacob, to come out and meet them on the plains for battle.  Jacob says thanks, but no thanks and stays in the stronghold.
"Moroni, having no hopes of meeting them upon fair grounds, therefore, he resolved upon a plan that he might decoy the Lamanites out of their strongholds." (Alma 52:21) The plan involved Teancum taking a small group and march out in the open, baiting the Lamanite army, while Moroni's army would hide and then recapture the city when the Lamanites were out chasing Teancum.

Here we see how important our strongholds in life can be.  Teancum could have attacked Mulek, and would have probably inflicted some measure of damage on the Lamanites, but it was "impossible that he could overpower them" while they held fast in the stronghold.  In our lives we have our own strongholds.  The Church, the priesthood, and the Gospel.  Our families and our faith.  They can be strong, and they can be weak, depending on the amount of effort we put into building up the fortifications.  Regardless of their condition, though, they are our strongholds, and so long as we hold to them, Satan cannot overpower us.  It doesn't mean we will escape uninjured, but we will remain alive.

Satan understands this, and uses his own strategems and ruses to try and bait us out of our strongholds, where he can have hopes of meeting us on fair grounds.  Much like Moroni and Teancum, Satan knows that to get us out of our strongholds, he needs to use bait that is seemingly both minor enough to keep us in our comfort zone, but lucrative enough to make the risks worth the effort.  This may be through an improper friendship with someone other than our spouse.  It may be with recreational substances, things that only break the word of wisdom just a little.  It may be with groups of desired friends or coworkers.  It may be with financial and worldly success.  Regardless, Satan will place a small, but enticing temptation clearly in front of you, while hiding his own armies in the forests to the side.

Teancum and his men go out, and Jacob sees them and thinks, "they're not that far away, and there aren't very many of them..." The Lamanites kit up and set out after Teancum, "supposing by their numbers to overpower Teancum because of the smallness of his numbers." (Alma 52:23) Teancum sees that the Lamanites took the bait, and they pick up a double-time.  The Lamanites see this and think Teancum's group is now scared, which just gets the Lamanites going even faster.  At this point, the Lamanites have swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker. If we recall the capabilities of Teancum's army, we feel somewhat sorry for the gullible Lamanites. 

This is where Satan's baits really get us.  Just like a fishing hook has a barb on the end, so that it just keeps sinking in deeper.  When we go after that small temptation, thinking, "it's nothing, really," we find that it feels good, maybe exhilarating, maybe liberating.  We enjoy the thrill of the chase.  We enjoy the rush that comes from bending the rules and pushing the line.  But our stronghold is still right there behind us, we can still see it, and the prize is just up ahead, running scared!  But Satan's temptation will always be able to out run us, just as Teancum's superior soldiers could the Lamanites.  The short-lived exhilaration, the brief high, the thrill of a look or a tease, leaves us wanting more.  So we quicken our march toward our prize, each second further and further away from our stronghold. 

With the Lamanites out of Mulek, Moroni's army attacks and quickly renders the minimal protection force ineffective.  Moroni then leaves some of his army in Mulek to maintain the city, and takes the rest and marches in pursuit of the Lamanite army.  Little did the Lamanites know, Teancum was leading them into a trap, where Lehi and his army stood waiting.  We'll talk about Lehi more on another day, but he had a particular reputation among the Lamanites, and when Jacob's army learned that Teancum and Lehi were together ahead of them, "they fled in much confusion, lest perhaps they should not obtain the city Mulek before Lehi should overtake them." (Alma 52:28)

Suddenly the temptation was too big for them to control, the thrill and exhilaration gone and the realization of their predicament was clear.  They had let themselves get a long way from their strongholds.

The brilliance of Moroni's plan, was that he knew the Lamanites would turn tail and run at the sight of both Lehi and Teancum together, and he planned to meet them unexpectedly as they raced for their stronghold.   But what Jacob didn't know what that in leaving his stronghold, he allowed Moroni to capture it, and that he was racing into Moroni's army.  Jacob and the Lamanites had no sanctuary, and were now under assault from much stronger forces.  Then, when the Lamanites were decisively engaged with Moroni, Lehi and Teancum would attack from their rear, encircling and destroying them.  The Lamanites fought furiously for their lives, but in the end, they were either killed or captured.

This is the trap Satan lays for us.  We think we're leaving our strongholds for something small but safe.  Instead, a much greater force awaits to ambush us as we find ourselves further and further from our strongholds.  And while we're gone, our strongholds themselves are spoiled as part of the plot, and all because we thought we could go out and back quickly.  In the end, just like the Lamanites, if we take Satan's baits and leave our strongholds, we will find ourselves in his hands.  His is a long con, though.  The first few times he may even allow us to catch the bait, to boost our confidence and lull us into a false sense of security.  But just as Lehonti thought he was in control, all the while being poisoned by Amalickiah, and Jacob who thought he was in control while Teancum teased them along toward Lehi, when we leave our strongholds, we are never in control.

These two tactical engagement, given in great detail, were included in Mormon's abridgement of the records for a reason.  Remember, Mormon chose very carefully what to include, and there is nothing idle in the Book of Mormon.  So, don't come down from your mountains, and don't leave your strongholds!