"And it came to pass that Moroni took a small number of men, according to the desire of Pahoran, and gave Lehi and Teancum command over the remainder of his army, and took his march towards the land of Gideon.
And he did raise the standard of liberty in whatsoever place he did enter, and gained whatsoever force he could in all his march towards the land of Gideon.
And it came to pass that thousands did flock unto his standard, and did take up their swords in the defence of their freedom, that they might not come into bondage."
Alma 62:3-5
Most of the wars in the Book of Mormon are between believers and non-believers essentially, although I am sure that there were some of each on either side. In general though, the people divided themselves along those lines and the people who followed God fought the people who didn't, the people who didn't consistently being the aggressors.
This is an interesting departure from that, where they are divided along the lines of people who want a king and people who do not. It connects to the overall trend because the people who want a king make an agreement with the unbelievers that they will hold the central city/capitol, which they think will guarantee their success. And it does disrupt the whole nation a lot, ensuring that reinforcements aren't sent to the front lines in the greater war. This is just after the leader of the country asks the leader of the armies to step in and help him drive the king-men out. They have to solve this internal problem before they can drive out the unbelievers again.
In a way, the king-men were the unbelievers, because they wanted to set up a government that went against the laws that God had established, and of course their choice of allies was telling, but this was a difficult one for everyone. Pahoran didn't know whether it was justified to go against these people the same way they had gone against external threats. Moroni's letter solved that problem for him because God had instructed Moroni to solve the problem in the government, even though he didn't know what it was yet. :) ... It's a good lesson for us, perhaps because it is adds to the lessons on government we learn from the Old Testament (slavery is bad, follow God or you will lose, even Governments that God established will fall if they stop doing his will), and the New Testament (Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, follow God and do good even when they persecute and kill you for it). We have additional messages here. They can't contradict the lessons of Christ... (3 Nephi 12:39 "ye shall not resist evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also) we are supposed to turn the other cheek and resist not evil individually. On the other hand, (Alma 61:10 "resist wickedness even unto bloodshed" and Alma 61:14 "whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our words, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them with our swords") God still is about freedom and agency and when he commands, then we shouldn't let a whole nation fall to tyranny. Just like he authorized Nephi's violence to prevent a whole nation from dwindling and perishing in unbelief.
... The whole idea of violence being the answer is a scary one. I don't think that any of us should be running around taking cities over like Moses and David did, killing people like Nephi did, or putting down rebellions like Moroni and Pahoran did here. They were justified, but would not be unless explicitly commanded. The overall rule should be what Christ preached, and practiced, in healing an ear rather than cutting it off. But let's remember the exceptions as well, because the real rule behind all of it is always to Follow God. The same lesson that Abraham learned on the mount as he was about to sacrifice his son. We have to learn on some deep, fundamental level that God knows what is best. He can see the whole picture when we cannot. As we put him first, he will help us solve our problems, big and small. The right side is always HIS side. Let's take that to heart today, and always, and pray to know what is right.
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