I just finished another go-round with the Book of Mormon, and as usual, my heart is drawn out in sympathy and sorrow for a people once enlightened by Christ that, after having been so richly blessed, turned so fully from it.
There are so many unanswered questions--so many curiosities and details left untold by the ending of the Book of Mormon. Quite obviously, because of the way that the Nephite people were destroyed, it would be impossible for someone to give a full account of the end of this great people, and Moroni makes that case in his very sad explanation at the end of Mormon ( Mormon 8:5).
One of the curiosities I often wonder about is just how many righteous Nephites remained at the time the whole Nephite nation was destroyed. Now one might wonder, "What Righteous!? They were all wicked and depraved!" and I would agree that a surface examination of the evidence does seem to indicate this. After all, the chapter Moroni Chapter 9 is a strong condemnation of the depravity and abominations of the Nephites. Certainly there were plenty who deserved the fate they got, but I do wonder if there were other Nephites who were faithful to Christ, besides the prophet.
Consider:
- Mormon 9:24 states that many of the Nephites deserted unto the Lamanites. It is possible that many of these folks were not wicked (especially considering what many of the brethren were doing) but could see that their people were doomed.
- Moroni 1:2 states that the Lamanites put to death any who will not deny the Christ, which perhaps was done because of those who deserted, or like Moroni, never surrendered, but fled elsewhere. Clearly the Lamanites weren't content just to destroy the Nephites, but they then turned on themselves and began a wholesale holocaust to eliminate all Nephite sympathizers. Whatever the case, the fact that those who would not deny the Christ were slain, and Moroni knew this, is evidence that there were actual people who were faithful to Christ and willing to lay down their lives for him--by not denying him, else Moroni would just be exaggerating his plight (which is just silly, and completely out of character for Moroni, seeing as how he tends to understate the gravity of his situtation).
Finally, I give as evidence, the whole book of Moroni, and in particular, Moroni Chapter 7, which is perhaps one of the most beautiful chapters of encouragement in Christlike Virtues in all scripture. Clearly Mormon was not speaking to a degenerate and depraved congregation, for if he were, he would not describe them as he did in verse 3, as "that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven," instead he would (as Jacob was constrained to do in 2 Nephi 9:48) be giving a very different type of sermon.
Chapter 7 really is what sparks my curiosity and conjures in me a deep sadness, perhaps more than the very depressing Chapter 9. It is evident that the prophet Mormon didn't spend all his days condemning and lamenting the Nephite wholesale endorsement of all things abominable, though clearly that's how his days ended.
What happened to these people who were encouraged to seek charity?
There are few possibilities that I can imagine:
1. They were destroyed with the wicked Nephites.
2. They fled and abandoned the Nephites, going to lands previously unknown.
3. They all turned wicked with the Nephites and were destroyed.
4. They fled to the Lamanites and eventually denied Christ or were discovered and destroyed.
5. Moroni was only addressing women and children, who were innocent victims of both the Nephites and the Lamanites.
Chances are it was a combination of all these factors. No doubt this is one of those unsolveable curiosities that will remain, but the implications are a bit troubling. We have faith that because we adhere to the principles of the Gospel and try our best in the church, that we will be protected, but if the people in which this church exists turn against the Spirit upon which that people is founded, and reject the covenants upon which they were founded, those few who remain--those last few--are quite often the innocent victim of the majority.
Captain Moroni observed, when his people were underseige.
13 For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God.(Alma 60:13)
And isn't it curious the language is shared between Captain Moroni's words so mirror the last hopeful sermon that Moroni records from his father Mormon in Chapter 7 of the book of Moroni. It is almost as though Mormon could see his people were doomed, and gave the sermon in Moroni chapter 7 to the last few faithful he could find, as encouragement to not be afraid, even though they were about to "enter into the rest of the Lord" through a brutal and horrifying death.
And that's where my heart lingers in sorrow. As a father of faithful daughters, in a generation that is turning from the God that gave them breath and freedom and such fair abundance, will they be among the fallen in this world, whose blood cries for retribution? I sorrow for these last few faithful Nephites who had no name, and were swept away, and I hope and pray that my fears are just fears and not some premonition of grevious things to come.
--Ray