Moroni 9:4 when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble
and anger against me
The word of God is sharp to
the wicked and soothing to the righteous. This is because the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth
them to the very center (1 Ne 16:2). To the wicked, the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a
two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow (DC
6:2). Alternatively, to the righteous, the word of God can be as the balm of
Gilead, a salve for the wounded soul, or a bandage for the broken hearted
(Jacob 2:8). Therefore, whether the word is sharp or soothing depends as much
upon the listener as it does the speaker. In the days of king Benjamin there were many holy men [who] did use much sharpness. But why did they use so
much sharpness? Because of the stiffneckedness of
the people (WofM 1:17).
Therefore, Mormon’s use of
sharpness had as much to do with his people’s spiritual apostasy as it did with
his choice of words. Nevertheless, there are times when the Spirit moves a
prophet, leader, or parent to use words which are sharp enough to divide
asunder both joints and marrow. Such correction is inspired by charity more
than righteous indignation. For whom the Lord
loveth, he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth
(Prov 3:12).
To withhold appropriate
sharpness, when moved upon to do so, is not an act of love but an act of
Jonah-like cowardice. This is the burden of the watchman on the tower; he must
cry repentance even when the mission is troubling. Jacob explained what this
feels like, it grieveth my soul and causeth me to
shrink with shame before the presence of my Maker, that I must testify unto you
concerning the wickedness of your hearts. And also it grieveth me that I must
use so much boldness of speech concerning you (Jacob 1:6-7). But in
spite of Jacob and Mormon’s burdensome responsibilities, neither one of them
failed in their duty to cry repentance with that sharpness which must be
followed with an increase of love (DC 121:43).
Boyd K. Packer
“It
is not easy to take criticism. Sometimes it is even harder to give it. But a
teacher has that responsibility. If we love our students, we will do all we can
to help them, even if at times it has the promise of disturbing the relationship
between us. When we are called as a teacher, when we are a parent, we have that
authority and that responsibility. We must use it righteously.” (Teach Ye
Diligently, p. 349)
Hugh Nibley
“Their
awful guilt leaps out in their instant resentment of any criticism of
themselves: ‘When I speak the word of God with
sharpness they tremble and anger against me’ (Moroni 9:4). They have
reached that point of suicidal defiance which the Greeks called Ate, the
point of no return, when the sinner with a sort of fatal fascination does
everything that is most calculated to hasten his own removal from the scene—he
is finished, and now all that remains is to get him out of the way: ‘O my beloved son, how can a people like this, that are
without civilization . . . expect that God will stay his hand?’ (Moroni
9:11, 14).
“Nephite
civilization was thus not extinguished at Cumorah. It had already ceased to
exist for some time before the final house-cleaning. War had become the order
of the day, ‘and every heart was hardened’
(Mormon 4:11), with the military requisitioning the necessities of life and
leaving the noncombatants ‘to faint by the way and
die’ (Moroni 9:16).” (Since Cumorah, p. 400)
Moroni 9:5 they thirst after blood and revenge continually
Hugh Nibley
“Mormon
and Moroni supply the epilogue to the Book of Mormon, the son drawing freely on
his father's notes and letters. The picture that these two paint of their
world, which in their minds has a significant resemblance to our own, is one of
unrelieved gloom. The situation is unbelievably bad and, in view of the way
things are going, quite without hope. The scenes of horror and violence,
culminating in the sickening escalation of atrocities by Lamanites and Nephites
in the 9th chapter of Mormon, need no news-photographs to make their message
convincing to the modern world. The Nephites, like the great heroes of
tragedy--Oedipus, Macbeth, Achilles--as they approach their end, are hopelessly
trapped by a desperate mentality in which the suppressed awareness of their own
sins finds paranoid expression in a mad, ungovernable hatred of others: ‘They have lost their love, one towards another; and they
thirst after blood and revenge continually’ (Moroni 9:5).” (Since
Cumorah, p. 399)
Moroni 9:6 let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor,
we should be brought under condemnation
“This
one verse contains an entire discourse on the importance of enduring to the end
and always being found doing one's duty.
Both Mormon and Moroni could have easily given up hope on their people,
lost the motivation to continue in their prophetic callings, and become
fatalistic. Instead, Mormon exhorts
Moroni to continue to labor in his divinely inspired duty. From their examples we learn that diligence
in doing one's duty is not to be dependent upon the receptiveness of
others. We must do our duty, be
diligent in fulfilling the Lord's commands, regardless of how others choose to
conduct their lives or how they respond to our efforts. To do otherwise is to let go of the iron
rod, to cease enduring to the end, which brings one under condemnation (compare
2 Corinthians 5:9; Jacob 1:19).” (McConkie, Millet, and Top, Doctrinal
Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 4, p. 360)
Ezra Taft Benson
“In
the final letter recorded in the Book of Mormon from Mormon to his son Moroni,
he gave counsel that applies to our day. Both father and son were seeing a
whole Christian civilization fall because its people would not serve the God of
the land, even Jesus Christ. Mormon wrote, ‘And now,
my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if
we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have
a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the
enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.’
(Moroni 9:6.) You and I have a similar labor to perform now—to conquer the
enemy and rest our souls in the kingdom.” (A Witness and a Warning, p.
58)
Marion G. Romney
“Mormon's
performance, along with his counsel to his son Moroni, is an heroic example of
one's continuing unto the end under the most trying circumstances…And a
discouraging and thankless job it was!” (Conference Report, Apr. 1954,
p. 133)
Hugh Nibley
“In
this crucible of wickedness the true greatness of Mormon shines like a star as
he calls his son to action, telling him that no matter how bad things are, we
must never stop trying to do what we can to improve matters, ‘for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought
under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of
clay’ (Moroni 9:6). In this spirit Mormon took over command of the army
even when he knew that all was lost, ‘for they
looked upon me as though I could deliver them from their afflictions. But
behold, I was without hope’ (Mormon 5:1-2). His is the predicament of
the true tragic hero.” (Since Cumorah, p. 401)
Moroni 9:9 that which was most dear and precious…which is chastity
and virtue
Spencer W. Kimball
“The
strengthening of family ties should become a rallying cry for Latter-day Saint
families everywhere. So also should a return to chastity, our most valuable
possession. Chastity and virtue are ‘most dear and
precious above all things’ (Moro. 9:9),
more valuable than rubies or diamonds, than herds and flocks, than gold and
silver, or than automobiles and land. But, sadly, in many cases they are on
sale at the cheapest shops and at the cheapest prices.” (Ensign, Nov.
1979, “We Need a Listening Ear”)
Neal A. Maxwell
“When
we think of this constellation of reasons (why the Church is constantly
concerned with freedom from sin), we can understand why it is not just
recurring rhetoric when prophets like Moroni observe that the loss of chastity
is the loss of that which is precious above all things. (See Moroni 9:9.) And
why, so many times, the writers of the scriptures, observing their own people's
decadence, have equated ripening in iniquity with the spread of fornication and
adultery. (See Helaman 8:26.)” (Notwithstanding My Weakness, p. 100)
Moroni 9:10 they do it for a token of bravery
For a moment, let’s consider
how absurd this is! The soldiers in Moriantum defined bravery by the torture of
young, helpless women. But which part was the brave part? Was it when they
raped them? Was it when they tortured them? Was it when they murdered them? Was
it when they ate them? Or was a soldier only brave if he did all four?
Certainly, we must search the annals of history to find men as brave as these
noble, girl-torturers! Or at least, so Satan had convinced them.
Again, the Book of Mormon
teaches us that Satan has an amazing ability with the wicked. He can convince
them that cowardice is bravery, that debauchery is nobility, that dark is
light, and that evil is good, proving that if there is one thing over which he
is master, it is his ability to disguise reality.
Moroni 9:16 the army of Zenephi has carried away provisions, and left them to wander whithersoever they can for food
Hugh Nibley
“Revenge,
[Mormon] said, was the one thing God absolutely would not tolerate (Mormon
3:9-16). For once that starts, there is no ending. Mormon shows us the military
power completely out of control, practicing the usual atrocities,
requisitioning everything for themselves while ‘many
old women do faint by the way and die’ (Moroni 9:16). (Prophetic Book
of Mormon, p. 524)
Moroni 9:18-20 They are without order and without mercy…without
principle, and past feeling
“Righteousness
and truth result in order, while evil and wickedness lead to confusion and
disorder. In describing the depraved state of things at the close of the
Nephite narrative, Mormon spoke of his people as
‘without civilization,’ ‘without principle,’ ‘past feeling,’ and,
interestingly enough, ‘without order and without
mercy’ (Moroni 9:11, 18, 20). Whereas faithfulness and adherence to the
light of Christ and to moral codes and standards bring forth peace and decency
and enhanced organization among the sons and daughters of God, indifference
towards or defiance of divine law bring forth chaos and division. Nephi
explained that ‘the Spirit of the Lord will not
always strive with man. And when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then
cometh speedy destruction.’ (2 Nephi 26:11.) Those who no longer enjoy
the influence of the Spirit ‘are without Christ and
God in the world; and they are driven about as chaff before the wind’ (Mormon
5:16). When the Spirit ceases to strive with men and women, Satan has ‘full power over the hearts of the people’ and they
are ‘given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and
the blindness of their minds’ (Ether 15:19). The Holy Spirit is an
organizing principle, and the nearer we approach our Heavenly Father the
greater will be our grasp of reality, our ability to see things as they really
are and to value our true relationship to man and God.” (Millet and McConkie, Joseph
Smith: The Choice Seer, chapter 17)
Hugh Nibley
“Here
then is the real calamity that befell the Nephites in all its tragic horror—and
there is no mention whatever of enemy action or of anyone belonging to the
wrong party: the ultimate catastrophe is not that people are struck down, but
that they should be found in any circumstances whatever ‘without order and without mercy, . . . without principle and past
feeling.’” (Since Cumorah, p. 400)
Neal A. Maxwell
“President Harold B. Lee has called our attention to the
phrase ‘past feeling’ which is used several places in the
scriptures. In Ephesians, Paul links it to lasciviousness that apparently so
sated its victims that they sought ’uncleanness with greediness.’ Moroni used the same two words to describe a decaying
society which was ‘without
civilization,’ ‘without order and without mercy,’ and in which people had ‘lost their love, one towards another.’ Insensate, this society saw violence,
gross immorality, brutality and all kinds of ‘kamikaze’ behavior. Nephi used
the same concept in his earlier lamentation about his brothers' inability to
heed the urgings of the Spirit because they were ‘past feeling.’ The common thread is obvious: the inevitable dulling of our
capacity to feel renders us impervious to conscience, to the needs of others,
and to insights both intellectual and spiritual. Such imperceptivity, like
alcoholism, apparently reaches a stage where the will can no longer enforce
itself upon our impulses.” (For the Power Is in Them, p. 22)
Neal A. Maxwell
Ironically,
in all their eagerness to experience certain things, hedonists, become
desensitized. People who wrongly celebrate their capacity to feel finally reach
a point where they lose much of their capacity to feel! In the words of three
different prophets, such individuals become ‘past
feeling’ (see 1 Ne. 17:45;
Eph. 4:19;
Moro. 9:20).
“When people proceed ‘without principle,’ erelong they will be ‘without civilization,’ ‘without mercy,’ and ‘past feeling’ (see Moro. 9:11-20). Such individuals do not experience real joy.” (Ensign, May 1995, pp. 67-68)
Moroni 9:22 I recommend thee unto God, and I trust in Christ that thou
wilt be saved
In contrast to the rest of
the Nephites, Mormon acknowledged Moroni’s righteousness and could confidently
recommend him to God. How wonderful would it be if Mormon would do the same for
us? Yet, in a way, a temple recommend is the same thing. It signifies that the
Bishop and Stake President are saying, in effect, I
recommend thee unto God.
Still, the greatest
recommend we can receive is the one which comes from Jehovah, Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who
did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which
was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that
they may come unto me and have everlasting life (DC 45:4-5, italics
added). We ought to live our lives such that we may confidently look forward to
the time when we hear the Savior use these words in recommending us to the
Father.
Moroni 9:24 if thou art spared and I shall perish
Mormon is not sure when his
time is up. He has been fighting in battles since the age of 15. Now, near the
end of his life, having seen thousands of strong warriors fall by the sword, he
must have wondered when his time would come. But Mormon does not fear death. He
really only cares about two things, that he can first pass on the
responsibility to be guardian of the plates to Moroni and that the final
destruction of his people gets recorded by someone. He knows that the Lord will
preserve him at least until he can deliver up the sacred records to Moroni.
Thus, prior to the battle at Cumorah, Mormon takes care of both of these
provisions in anticipation of his own death (Mormon 6:6; 8:1-3). Quite to his
own surprise, he survives the final battle and finishes his portion of the
record, comprising Mormon 6:7 through Mormon 7:10.
Moroni 9:25 may Christ lift thee up…and the hope of his glory and of
eternal life, rest in your mind forever
Marion D. Hanks
“Christ
in our lives is not meant to grieve us or weigh us down unto death because we
have been imperfect. Through him we may be lifted up by accepting his gifts and
his mercy and long-suffering. These blessings we must seek to keep in our minds
always.” (Ensign, July 1973, “What Manner of Men”)
Henry B. Eyring
“I
was chatting with my wife at the end of a long day. Three of our children were
in the room, listening. I turned and noticed that one of them was watching
me—and watching my face intently. And then he asked me, softly, ‘Why are you unhappy?’ I tried to give a
reason for my furrowed brow, but I realized later that he could well have been
asking this deeper question: ‘Can I see in you the hope for peace in this life
that Jesus promised?’
“To
turn my thoughts from what darkened my look to what would brighten it, I went
to another letter from Mormon to his son. Both Mormon and Moroni were facing
days of difficulty that make my challenges pale. Mormon knew his son might be
overcome with gloom and foreboding, so he told him the perfect antidote. He
told him that he could choose, by what he put in his mind, to become an example
of hope. Here is what he wrote: ‘My son, be faithful
in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh
thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and
death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and
long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your
mind forever.’ (Moroni 9:25.)” (To Draw Closer to God, p. 133)