Pride Within the Church Causes Loss

In 38 BC, many Nephites left the church because of the fighting from within. There was much bloodshed among the people, and the rebellious Nephites were either killed or driven out of the land. They went to the Lamanite king and tried to convince the Lamanites to make war against the Nephites. But the Lamanites were very afraid and would not listen to the Nephite dissenters. But in 36 BC, the dissenters finally convinced the Lamanites to fight the Nephites, and they spent all that year preparing for war.

In 35 BC, the Lamanites and the Nephite dissenters attacked the Nephites. By 34 BC, they conquered the land of Zarahemla and all the lands up to the land of Bountiful. Moronihah’s armies and the Nephites were driven north to the land of Bountiful.

There the Nephites made fortifications against the Lamanites. They made these fortifications from the west sea to the east sea (a distance of a day’s journey for a Nephite). They stationed their armies along these lines of fortification.

During 34 and 33 BC, the Nephite dissenters and the large Lamanite army had taken over all the Nephite lands in the south. But in 32 BC, Moronihah and his armies regained many cities. After another year of fighting, in 31 BC, the Nephites had regained half of their possessions.

All the Nephite losses, including the loss of many lands and possessions, and the great loss of life among them, happened because of the wicked practices among them, upheld by many who claimed to be members of God’s church. The pride of those who were very rich, who did not give food and clothing to the poor, but oppressed them, was responsible for this destruction. The proud were unkind to the poor. They made fun of sacred things and denied prophecy and revelation. They murdered, stole, lied, plundered, and committed adultery. They also fought among themselves for power, and many of them defected to the Lamanites. Because of their great wickedness and boasting, they were left to their own strength. They were not protected, but were attacked and killed. They were driven out by the Lamanites until they had lost nearly all their lands.

Moronihah had preached many things to the people because of their sinfulness. Nephi and Lehi, Helaman’s sons, had also preached many things. They had prophesied to the Nephites about their sins, and about what would happen to them if they did not repent.

As the people repented, they immediately began to prosper. When Moronihah saw that they had repented, he led them from city to city until they had regained half of their property and lands. This is how 31 BC ended. After yet another year of fighting, Moronihah and his armies could not regain any more land. There were so many Lamanites, that it was all Moronihah’s army could do to maintain what they had retaken.

The Nephites became very frightened for their lives, and began to remember Alma’s prophecies and Mosiah’s words. They realized that they had been stubborn and had ignored God’s commandments. They knew that they had ignored the laws that Mosiah had left for them—laws that the Lord had commanded him to give to the people. They realized that their laws had become corrupt and that they had become a wicked people like the Lamanites. Because of their sins, the church as a whole began to lose its strength, for some church members stopped believing in the spirit of prophecy and revelation. This is why God’s judgments were staring them in the face.

They finally realized just how weak they really were—that they had become like the Lamanites. The Spirit of the Lord no longer saved them in their battles. It had left them because the Spirit of the Lord does not dwell in unholy temples. Once the Spirit had left them, the Lord stopped saving them by His miraculous and matchless power. They had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness. They saw that they were out-numbered by the Lamanites, and they realized that unless they looked to and held on to the Lord their God, they would certainly be destroyed. They saw that man for man, the Lamanites were just as strong as they were. Because they had fallen into this great transgression, they had become weak in just a few years.