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Sunday, October 6, 2019

Is there symbolism in this battle plan? Helaman 1:28-34

Is there symbolism in this battle plan? Helaman 1:28-34

This is the part of the Book of Mormon that gets really exciting. Pahoran II is murdered and his brother Pacumeni fills his place as the chief judge of the Nephites. Coriantumr leads the Lamanites in battle against the Nephites. His battle strategy was to march straight into the middle of Zarahemla.

Moronihah, the war leader of the Nephites, never predicted that Coriantumr would do that. So instead of strengthening Zarahemla, he had instead sent all his troops to the surrounding towns. Even though this caused a lot of death and destruction, the Lamanites placed themselves at a huge disadvantage because suddenly their entire army found itself surrounded by Nephites. 

Coriantumr himself was slain in the ensuing battle and all the rest of the surviving Lamanites were taken as prisoners of war.

The Battle of the Bulge comes to mind as another example of times in history when a strong army makes the fatal mistake of allowing itself to become surrounded (or nearly totally surrounded). 

There's a lot of lessons that can be learned from these war chapters, and in my opinion, most of them are not actually about literal war. I mean, how relevant is it actually for me in my life to study up on military strategy? Not very. But there are definitely parallels and symbolism that I can see in my own life. 

Among the many symbols that this episode provides to me are these two ideas:

1. Even in dire circumstances, God will provide a way for me to defeat the enemy. 

2. There is safety in making sure I don't have all my eggs in one basket; in making sure that I disperse my energy, time, and talents in a variety of places and projects.

Answer:
Yes.



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