The Center of the Land
By Jeffrey A.
Bushman January 2017
We know that when Mormon abridged the Nephite records, he
did it for us in our day. He had been
allowed by the Savior to see our day, so he picked the things he knew would
help us in our situation in these the last days. 3 Nephi 2:19 thru 3 Nephi 5:4 were included in
order to teach that the people needed to turn to the Lord in righteousness if
they wanted to survive living in a world that had become extremely wicked. He
wanted to warn of the tricks and the motives of the devil, shown through the
acts of wicked leaders in positions of great power and influence.
3 Nephi 2
19 And thus ended the
fifteenth year, and thus were the people in a state of many afflictions; and
the sword of destruction did hang over them, insomuch that they were
about to be smitten down by it, and this because of their iniquity. The wicked had gained much power and the
righteous had allowed this to happen by their own failure to follow the
commandments of the Lord.
3 Nephi 3
1 And now
it came to pass that in the sixteenth year from the coming of
Christ, Lachoneus, the governor of the land, received an epistle from the
leader and the governor of this band of robbers; and these were the words which
were written, saying:
2 Lachoneus, most noble and
chief governor of the land, behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give
unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the
firmness of your people, in maintaining that which ye suppose to be
your right and liberty; yea, ye do stand well, as if ye were supported by
the hand of a god, in the defence of your liberty, and your property, and your
country, or that which ye do call so. The wicked use much flattery, but turn around and say the things you
believe are important, are not really that important. They make it so you look as
if you look down on what others are doing, saying they are sins. They say it is impossible for you say you
love others when you tell them their life style is not correct.
3 And it seemeth a pity
unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to
suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who
do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for
the word—Go down upon the Nephites and destroy them. We are feeling for your own
security, but if you don’t give in to our demands, because we are politically
correct, your way will be destroyed. We
don’t want to see bad things happen to you, so reconsider your actions.
4 And I, knowing of their
unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing of
their everlasting hatred towards you because of the many wrongs which ye have
done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit
you with utter destruction. We only want to right those things which you have taught, especially
your designed effort to put down people who are doing things you don’t like,
and who you are trying to stop because of your mean actions and beliefs.
5 Therefore I have written
this epistle, sealing it with mine own hand, feeling for your welfare, because
of your firmness in that which ye believe to be right, and your noble spirit in
the field of battle. Out of the love of my heart,
which I have for all, I want to help you see the light, as long as you don’t
see my true motives.
6 Therefore I write unto
you, desiring that ye would yield up unto this my people, your cities, your
lands, and your possessions, rather than that they should visit you with the
sword and that destruction should come upon you.
If you don’t want to be forced to give in, we hope you will see our
way and realize it is good and allow us to live the way we know is correct.
7 Or in other words, yield yourselves
up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works,
and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us—not our slaves, but our
brethren and partners of all our substance. You need to become like us, who have been enlightened. And if you join with us and become robbers
then since there will be no one left to rob and plunder we will all become
righteous and treat everyone the same. We want you to believe this, when in reality all
it will do is make it easier for us to take advantage of you and take all that
you have.
8 And
behold, I swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye shall
not be destroyed; but if ye will not do this, I swear unto you with an oath,
that on the morrow month I will command that my armies shall come down against
you, and they shall not stay their hand and shall spare not, but shall slay
you, and shall let fall the sword upon you even until ye shall become extinct. If you don’t believe in our trickery, it will force us to come against
you to destroy your lives. We will take what we want as we have been doing in
the past through our secret oaths to murder and plunder according to our
pleasure. We love to do things in
secret.
9 And behold, I
am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this the secret
society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to
be good; and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down
unto us. Here
Gaddianhi is very symbolic of Satan and I hope you can see some of his tricks
and traps. Satan’s desire is to destroy
the people, and he won’t quit until they kill each other and he has no
righteous left to worry about.
10 And I write this epistle
unto you, Lachoneus, and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your
possessions, without the shedding of blood, that this my people may recover
their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of
your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government, and except
ye do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi.
Here Satan teaches that his followers are mistreated and we have to
accept any perversion they commit for it makes them happy and why would we want
to be mean and destroy other people’s chance for happiness.
11 And now it came to pass
when Lachoneus received this epistle he was exceedingly astonished, because of
the boldness of Giddianhi demanding the possession of the land of the Nephites,
and also of threatening the people and avenging the wrongs of those that had
received no wrong, save it were they had wronged themselves by
dissenting away unto those wicked and abominable robbers. When the good and honorable people learn of the true motive of those
who claim to having been wronged, they learn the precarious situation they are
in.
12 Now behold, this
Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and could not be frightened by the
demands and the threatenings of a robber; therefore he did not hearken to
the epistle of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers, but he did cause that
his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the
robbers should come down against them. Lachoneus is a prophet and
thus symbolic of Christ, and knowing that the only way the Lord can save the
people, is when they turn from their sins, and call upon the Lord for
deliverance from Satan and his followers.
13 Yea, he sent a
proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together
their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance,
save it were their land, unto one place.
Here they
physically gather together into one body and become totally unified in their
desire to resist evil. The Lord has
taught if you are not one ye are not mine.
The Lord has asked us to gather together as one, to partake of bread and
wine which is designed to help us repent, allowing the Lord to forgive them and
endow them with power and light to overcome the traps and tricks of the evil
one.
14 And he caused
that fortifications should be built round about them, and the
strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies, both
of the Nephites and of the Lamanites, or of all them who were numbered among
the Nephites, should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to
guard them from the robbers day and night.
The
prophets have told us what we have to do to become one people. This will
protect us from the attempts of the wicked to overcome us and either kill us, or
convince us to join them in their efforts against our righteous brethren. The Lord has set leaders in stake, wards and
branches and to the homes to help us stay faithful and to know what we have to
do to overcome these robbers or destroyers.
15 Yea, he said unto them:
As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the
Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered out of the hands of those
Gadianton robbers. Christ has
taught that when we become part of his family and keep our covenants, it will
allow him to exercise his power in the defense of his family. Even at his 2nd coming he states
he will come to save his people even if he has to destroy their enemies by
fire.
16 And so great and
marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear
to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do
according to the words of Lachoneus. The members of the church
listened and acted in righteousness.
17 And it came to pass that
Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to
command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the
wilderness against them. The Lord has appointed many
righteous leaders to prepare us before any attack from Satan and his followers.
18 Now the chiefest among
all the chief captains and the great commander of all the armies of the
Nephites was appointed, and his name was Gidgiddoni.
19 Now it was the custom
among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in
their times of wickedness) some one that had the spirit of revelation
and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them,
as also was the chief judge. Gidgiddoni was also a prophet like Lachoneus. We have many who are prophets, seers and
revelators who can see what is going to happen and then will teach us what we
have to do in order to abide the wicked day.
20 Now the people said unto
Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains
and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in
their own lands. They wanted
to take the offensive and go into their lands.
21 But Gidgiddoni saith unto
them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord
would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare
ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies
together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall
come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver
them into our hands. Here the
Lord instructs them to gather into the center of their lands and to prepare to
defend themselves, if the robbers will not leave them in peace. Possibly the Lord is giving the wicked time
to repent when they see it may not be to their advantage to attack the
righteous because of their fortifications.
Also if the wicked are the aggressors, the righteous have a right from
the Lord to protect themselves. This is
what Captain Moroni taught during his ministry.
The righteous need to not commit the 1st offense, for if they
do they may find that they are starting to become like their enemies. This will make it impossible for them to gain
the help from the Lord.
22 And it came to pass in
the seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of
Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had
taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their
flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did
march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone
forth to the place which had been appointed that they should
gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies. Again they are gathering in the Center of their lands in one group
to gain strength and support from each other.
If some members decide to stay away in the borders of the land, they may
be without protection and be an easy prey to their enemies. For high school students as well as college age
members, the center of the land could become a seminary and institute
buildings, and ward buildings. If they
leave the protection of these places of revelation and defense, they could be
picked off by the adversary easier. For
most members the church meetings and gospel centered homes are the center
place. We just have to be sure that we
follow the Lord’s direction to have our young adults stay where there is
protection when they are out on their own.
It is not too hard to see where our members choose to stand, whether in
the center or in the borders of the land.
23 And
the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land
which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the
line which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation. Remember Bountiful is where there was a temple, and where the Lord
will come in just a few years after he has destroyed their enemies.
24 And there were a great
many thousand people who were called Nephites, who did gather themselves
together in this land. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather
themselves together in the land southward, because of the great curse
which was upon the land northward. A Nephite is a member of the church. They also picked a land where it was possible
to have the blessings and spirit of the Lord, and not a place that had been cursed
because of wickedness.
25 And they did fortify
themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one
body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch
that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up
their prayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in
the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle. Just what we have to do.
26 And they were exceedingly
sorrowful because of their enemies. And Gidgiddoni did cause that they should
make weapons of war of every kind, and they should be strong with armor,
and with shields, and with bucklers, after the manner of his instruction. As they repent they start to gain a love of their fellow man, and
don’t want to be the means of sending so many of them out of this life
unprepared to meet their God. Their
leader Gidgiddoni tells them exactly what they need to do to be prepared to
withstand the efforts of Satan and his followers and to overcome and destroy
them.
Chapter 4
1 And it came to pass that
in the latter end of the eighteenth year those armies of robbers had
prepared for battle, and began to come down and to sally forth from the hills,
and out of the mountains, and the wilderness, and their strongholds, and
their secret places, and began to take possession of the lands, both
which were in the land south and which were in the land north, and began to
take possession of all the lands which had been deserted by the
Nephites, and the cities which had been left desolate. Robbers come into the borders of the land,
but finding all desolate they find nothing to subsist on and realize they will
have to work for their support instead of living off of other people who are
hard workers.
2 But behold, there were no
wild beasts nor game in those lands which had been deserted by the
Nephites, and there was no game for the robbers save it were in the wilderness. The robbers again have no way to survive in this kind of situation.
3 And the robbers could not
exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites
had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their herds
and all their substance, and they were in one body. There was no way to gain
anything, since all the members were in one body, and not one was out of the
center place.
4 Therefore, there was no
chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up
in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and
having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions,
and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might
subsist for the space of seven years, in the which time they did hope
to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth
year did pass away. They had followed the
instructions of their leaders and were perfectly prepared to gain the advantage
over their enemies by the wisdom the Lord had given the leaders. They also had a right to destroy the robbers
off their land, since the robbers were creating the first offense.
5 And it came to pass that
in the nineteenth year Giddianhi found that it was expedient that he should go
up to battle against the Nephites, for there was no way that they
could subsist save it were to plunder and rob and murder.
6 And they durst not spread
themselves upon the face of the land insomuch that they could raise grain, lest
the Nephites should come upon them and slay them; therefore Giddianhi gave
commandment unto his armies that in this year they should go up to battle
against the Nephites. The robbers could be
destroyed by the Nephites if they took the time to raise grain because they
would be growing it on the Nephites land, and were justified to protect it.
7 And it came to pass that
they did come up to battle; and it was in the sixth month; and behold, great
and terrible was the day that they did come up to battle; and they were girded
about after the manner of robbers; and they had a lamb-skin about their loins,
and they were dyed in blood, and their heads were shorn, and they had
head-plates upon them; and great and terrible was the appearance of the armies
of Giddianhi, because of their armor, and because of their being dyed in blood. 6th month may be symbolic of Satan for the number 6 means
wickedness, and they were wearing lambs-skin, (lambs are symbolic of the
followers of Christ) and they were dyed in blood symbolic of sin and death. Even their heads being shorn may be symbolic
according to the apostle Paul.
8 And it came to pass that
the armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of
Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord
their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their
enemies. They had
learned to know the Lord and realize that he would assist those who called on
his name in righteousness, for he was bound to bless those who had kept the law
that brought this blessing.
9 And it came to pass that
when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice,
because of their joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallen with
fear because of the terror of their armies.
Robbers are
caught up in pride relying on their own strength having rejected the Lord.
10 But in this thing they
were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did
fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the
armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in
the strength of the Lord they did receive them. The Nephites were not hoping the Lord would help them but they knew
that he would, they were prepared for his help.
11 And the battle commenced
in this the sixth month; and great and terrible was the battle thereof, yea,
great and terrible was the slaughter thereof, insomuch that there
never was known so great a slaughter among all the people of Lehi since he left
Jerusalem. 6th
month repeated again. What great
wickedness has come to destroy the members.
12 And notwithstanding
the threatenings and the oaths which Giddianhi had made, behold, the
Nephites did beat them, insomuch that they did fall back from before them. With the Lord on your side
you can’t be defeated by Satan and his followers.
13 And it came to pass
that Gidgiddoni commanded that his armies should pursue them as far
as the borders of the wilderness, and that they should not spare any that
should fall into their hands by the way; and thus they did pursue them and did
slay them, to the borders of the wilderness, even until they had fulfilled the
commandment of Gidgiddoni. Notice they were to pursue
them only to the borders and not to go into the robbers land. You can defend your property. They were told to destroy all who fell into
their hands up to the border.
14 And it came to pass that
Giddianhi, who had stood and fought with boldness, was pursued as he fled; and
being weary because of his much fighting he was overtaken and slain. And thus
was the end of Giddianhi the robber. A great victory over Satan
and his followers.
15 And it came to pass that
the armies of the Nephites did return again to their place of security. And it
came to pass that this nineteenth year did pass away, and the robbers did not
come again to battle; neither did they come again in the twentieth year. Robbers are fearful of the
power of the Lord demonstrated by the Nephites or members of the church. Kind of like the prophecy that in the last
days that Israel will be like a lion among sheep.
16 And in the twenty and
first year they did not come up to battle, but they came up on all sides to lay
siege round about the people of Nephi; for they did suppose that if they should
cut off the people of Nephi from their lands, and should hem them in on
every side, and if they should cut them off from all their outward privileges,
that they could cause them to yield themselves up according to their wishes. Satan will try many ways to
gain control over you. You have to keep
your guard up.
17 Now they had appointed
unto themselves another leader, whose name was Zemnarihah; therefore it was
Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take place. Zemnarihah is symbolic of Satan also.
18 But behold, this was an
advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege
sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their much provision which
they had laid up in store, The Lord had prepared the people beforehand, knowing the mind and
heart of their enemies and knowing exactly what they would do next.
19 And because of the
scantiness of provisions among the robbers; for behold, they had nothing save
it were meat for their subsistence, which meat they did obtain in the
wilderness; They are
growing weaker because of the wisdom of the members.
20 And it came to pass that
the wild game became scarce in the wilderness insomuch that the
robbers were about to perish with hunger.
21 And the Nephites were
continually marching out by day and by night, and falling upon their armies,
and cutting them off by thousands and by tens of thousands. The righteous are directed
when and how they can defeat the army of the wicked.
22 And thus it became the
desire of the people of Zemnarihah to withdraw from their design, because of
the great destruction which came upon them by night and by day.
23 And it came to pass that
Zemnarihah did give command unto his people that they should withdraw
themselves from the siege, and march into the furthermost parts of the land
northward. Instead of
repenting because of their hardships they decided to retreat to the land
northward. North may have a symbolic
representation on wickedness and apostasy, the home of false gods.
24 And now, Gidgiddoni being
aware of their design, and knowing of their weakness because of the want of
food, and the great slaughter which had been made among them, therefore he did
send out his armies in the night-time, and did cut off the way of their
retreat, and did place his armies in the way of their retreat. Here it is nice to know that
the Lord reveals to prophets what the righteous need to do in order to be
victorious over Satan.
25 And this did they do in
the night-time, and got on their march beyond the robbers, so that on the
morrow, when the robbers began their march, they were met by the armies of the
Nephites both in their front and in their rear.
26 And the robbers who were
on the south were also cut off in their places of retreat. And all these things
were done by command of Gidgiddoni.
27 And there were many
thousands who did yield themselves up prisoners unto the Nephites, and the
remainder of them were slain. When in a weakened condition the robbers realized they were in
trouble. If they wouldn’t surrender to
the Nephites they were destroyed.
28 And their leader,
Zemnarihah, was taken and hanged upon a tree, yea, even upon the top thereof
until he was dead. And when they had hanged him until he was dead they did fell
the tree to the earth, and did cry with a loud voice, saying: Satan was bound or cast out
of the land.
29 May the Lord preserve his
people in righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they may cause to be
felled to the earth all who shall seek to slay them because of power and secret
combinations, even as this man hath been felled to the earth. What a great promise the Lord
is making to His people today. We will
overcome Satan if we will do what these Nephites did.
30 And they did rejoice and
cry again with one voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long
as they shall call on the name of their God for protection. How are our prayers day? Do
we see the enemy in their secret places planning our destruction. The prophets surely do and we would do well
to follow their counsel.
31 And it came to pass that
they did break forth, all as one, in singing, and praising their God
for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling
into the hands of their enemies. The righteous always express the appreciation for the things the
Lord has done and will do in the future for them.
32 Yea, they did cry:
Hosanna to the Most High God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord
God Almighty, the Most High God. The Lord has truly saved
them and us.
33 And their hearts were
swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great
goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they
knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been
delivered from an everlasting destruction.
We have to
do the same to be saved also from everlasting destruction.
3 Nephi 5
1 And now
behold, there was not a living soul among all the people of the Nephites who
did doubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets who had
spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be fulfilled. We need to know their words
2 And they knew that it
must be expedient that Christ had come, because of the many signs which had
been given, according to the words of the prophets; and because of the things
which had come to pass already they knew that it must needs be that all things
should come to pass according to that which had been spoken. We have many signs given about our day. Do we know or see them?
3 Therefore they did
forsake all their sins, and their abominations, and their whoredoms, and did
serve God with all diligence day and night. Repentance is a continuous process.
4 And now it came to pass
that when they had taken all the robbers prisoners, insomuch that none did
escape who were not slain, they did cast their prisoners into prison, and did
cause the word of God to be preached unto them; and as many as would repent of
their sins and enter into a covenant that they would murder no
more were set at liberty. Too bad we don’t have leaders in government who understand the way
to rehabilitate those who are in prison.
Doing things in righteousness is the only way to have a real change of
heart helping us to overcome the natural man.