Moroni justified his threat to cleanse the government through the commandment of God (v. 28). As a church, we have been given the same guidelines, to us and all people. After lifting the standards of peace to our enemies three times, the Lord directs:
36 Then I, the Lord, would give unto them a commandment, and justify them in going out to battle against that nation, tongue, or people.
37 And I, the Lord, would fight their battles, and their children’s battles, and their children’s children’s, until they had avenged themselves on all their enemies, to the third and fourth generation.
38 Behold, this is an ensample unto all people, saith the Lord your God, for justification before me. [D&C 98:36–38]
As a church, we must look to our leaders to know when and how to go to battle, both for a country and in the battle of evil. We should find comfort in the Lord’s promise to fight our battle when we are commanded to fight. Of course, we must do our part.
“The sword of justice” (v. 29) also hangs over the heads of the nations of the Americas. He has warned whatever nation that possesses these lands to “serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them, and the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity” (Ether 2:9). The Lord will determine when that ripeness comes, but the nations certainly seems to be going in that direction. Probably, most Americans know they are transgressing the commandments of God (Alma 60:23), and certainly those who are members of the Church who transgress know they are transgressing. “The Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (D&C 1:31; see also Alma 13:12).