Lessons on the Book of Mormon 2020
Lesson No. Thirty
The Church of God is the Foundation of Liberty
President Ezra Taft Benson testified that the Book of Mormon was written for our day – “Each of the major writers of the Book of Mormon testified that he wrote for future generations…If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me in this day and age?’
“And there is example after example of how that question will be answered. For example, in the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America” (A Witness and a Warning, p. 20).
Some seek for power and some seek to serve - An important message from the Book of Mormon for our day is recorded in Alma 46 where Mormon draws a stark contrast between Amalickiah who sought for power over the people, and Moroni who sought to serve his people. Those who pray for eyes to see will be able to apply this message to the events of our day and teach it to their children and grandchildren.
Amalickiah and his followers desired power – In Nephite society some “were exceedingly wroth“ and their leader’s “name was Amalickiah. And Amalickiah was desirous to be a king; and those people who were wroth were also desirous that he should be their king…and they were seeking for power”. This caused “the affairs of the people of Nephi to be exceeding precarious and dangerous” (Alma 46:2-4).
Those who seek for power also seek to destroy the church of God and the foundation of liberty – “Yea, we see that Amalickiah because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake” (Alma 46:10, emphasis added).
Moroni desired to serve his God and his people and to preserve religious freedom – “While Amalickiah was obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God…And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians” (Alma 48:7, 10).
Moroni’s flag, “the title of liberty”– Amalickiah and his followers threatened all that really matters. In response to this threat, “[Moroni] rent his coat and took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it – In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children – and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.” In other words, Moroni made a flag, “(and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessing of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land.
“For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church. And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come. And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored” (Alma 46:12-16).
The flag of the United States is a latter-day title of liberty – There is a long-standing military tradition to give a personal challenge coin to people who contribute to the success of the mission. I now give this coin to family and friends as a reminder of our obligation to keep the commandments of God, to defend our religion and freedom, to desire peace, to support and protect our families, and to pray mightily to God for the blessing of liberty to rest upon our land. (See Alma 46:12-13).
The Nephites made a covenant – Moroni used his the tile of liberty to rally the people to his cause and get them to “enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.” As a result the people “came running together” ready to make “a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God” nor would they “be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ” (Alma 46:19-20).
We also make these covenants – Each Sabbath we partake of the sacrament and covenant, similar to the Nephites, that we will take the Lord’s name upon us and keep His commandments.
We should remember that as part of the covenant he made, Moroni “poured out his soul to God” and he called the land of America “a chosen land, and the land of liberty” (Alma 46:17).
What Moroni then taught can certainly be applied to us in the latter days: “Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions” (Alma 46:17-18).
The responsibilities of the latter-day posterity of Joseph who was sold into Egypt – Moroni spoke of the blessing that Jacob gave his son Joseph. (See Alma 46:23-27) Most importantly Moroni reminds us that we have a duty “to preserve our liberty as a remnant of Joseph” (Alma 46:24). Important details about the blessing Jacob gave to Joseph has been given to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith:
“For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down under sin” (JST Genesis 48:11). The posterity of Joseph has a twofold responsibility to the world in the latter days:
“To deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage” – This began with the colonists and founders who established this nation as a land of liberty and a beacon to the world. They were the posterity of Joseph. In our patriarchal blessing many of us learn we are also the posterity of Joseph, and therefore we have a solemn responsibility to maintain this nation as a land of liberty.
“And to bring salvation unto them when they are altogether bowed down under sin” - Joseph Smith and those who assisted in the restoration of the gospel, which brings salvation to the world, were the posterity of Joseph. Members of the Church in the latter day who take the gospel to the world are fulfilling their responsibility as the posterity of Joseph.
The church of God is the foundation of liberty (Alma 46:10) – This fundamental truth, taught and exemplified by Moroni, applies today. Therefore, the best way to fulfill our responsibility to preserve our freedom is to fulfill our responsibility to live the gospel and to share it as far and wide as we possibly can.
The following by Elder Boyd K. Packer gives me great confidence in the future: “The Book of Mormon makes it clear that we will never dominate by numbers. But we have the power of the priesthood….While it may be said…that we are but a handful in comparison with the world, yet we may be compared with the leaven of which the Savior spoke, which will eventually leaven (or lift) the world)” Ensign, April 2010.