“If Your Governors Do Not Repent of Their Sins and Iniquities, Ye Shall Go Up to Battle Against Them”

Bryan Richards

Moroni had threatened Pahoran with a military coup. History is replete with generals using their military power to establish a new regime. However, with Moroni's threat, there are some significant differences. First, Moroni was not trying to establish a new regime. He was trying to re-establish the old democracy. Second, Moroni was not interested in his own political career, as he said, I seek not for power, but to pull it down (v. 36). Third, Moroni had a divine mandate, according to his stewardship, to cleanse the inner vessel with force. Hereby, we see that the Lord recognized Moroni's calling as the preserver of the Nephite nation and gave him specific instructions to keep the nation from falling apart from the inside out.

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