From Scout to King

The Book of Mosiah

Chapter 9
 

"The Record of Zeniff—An account of his people, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time that they were delivered out of the hands of the Lamanites.
Zeniff leads a group from Zarahemla to possess the land of Lehi-Nephi—The Lamanite king permits them to inherit the land—There is war between the Lamanites and Zeniff’s people. About 200–187 B.C."-Introduction to Mosiah Chapter 9

Chapter 10
 

"King Laman dies—His people are wild and ferocious and believe in false traditions—Zeniff and his people prevail against them. About 187–160 B.C."-Introduction to Mosiah Chapter 10



The people that Ammon had found had a record of how they had come to be in this situation, where they were generally slaves to the Lamanites, and they were able to translate the record so it could be read.

The Record of Zeniff

I, Zeniff, being taught in the knowledge of ours fathers, was sent out to spy on the Lamanites and their forces so that we could fight them and destroy them. I had my mission, and as I spied on them, I saw so many good things, them as people, their material possessions, their knowledge. How could we destroy that?

I talked to my commander, hoping that we could make a treaty with them, but he was austere and blood-thirsty, and he commanded that I would be killed for rebellion. I was saved though as some in my company fought against the others, brother against brother. There was so much blood lost, but I was saved.

Zeniff is the guy in the red.

I took a few of the men, and we went to the king to barter for the land of our fathers, Lehi-Nephi. He gave us a portion of land called Shilom, and we set to work building buildings and repairing the walls, but we were naïve. King Laman freely gave us this land to take us into bondage and make us their slaves.

For thirteen years, we lived in false security, and I reigned over this people until the Lamanites came and started to steal our flocks and kill our men. We rose up to battle against them, and we slew three thousand of their men, and buried them. But we suffered a sore loss of two hundred and seventy-nine of our own.

After that, I had many weapons made, and guards put up around our borders, and we were able to keep peace, and we prospered.

King Laman, the king who had wished to bring us into slavery, died, and his son reigned in his stead. This new king started to cause his people to be angry against us, and they started to battle with us again. I had to protect my people, and I sent out spies.

"I shall lead you into battle!
The Lamanites Shall Not Pass!"

The Lamanites were wicked and terrifying. They had shaved their heads and painted their bodies, and they only wore a cloth around their loins.

This was going to be a dangerous and bloody battle, and so I commanded all of the women and children to go hide in the wilderness, and I commanded that all of the men that were able to pick up weapons and to go into battle. There were old men, and there were young men who had never picked up a sword before, and there was even me, who was very old at this point.

We went to battle against the Lamanites. They were strong and mighty, even though they didn't know anything about God or His gospel. They had been lied to all their lives. They believed that they had been repeatedly wronged by their brethren, in the land of their inheritance, in crossing the sea, in the land here. The hate was taught from generation to generation, from father to child, and there was so much hate from the Lamanites towards us.

We prayed before we went into battle against them, and with the Lord on our side, we were able to drive them out of our land, and we were able to maintain peace. We were safe from the Lamanites.

I then conferred the kingdom onto one of my sons because I was just plain out too old. I was too old to be going into battle. I am too old to be running a country. Amen.

To read the actual scriptural account, go to Mosiah 9 and Mosiah 10.

So What?

So, we've got this guy who seems to be kind of a greedy idiot in the beginning causing all sorts of trouble that gets his own kingdom, and then fights a lot.  What in the world are we supposed to learn from all this?  Why in the world did this get saved for thousands of years for us to read today?

Well, I don't particularly like Zeniff.  Seriously though, he's in this military scouting group whose mission is to kill off all the Lamanites, and he's a scout and goes and spies on the Lamanites, and then he goes "I like all this stuff the Lamanites have, we shouldn't kill them like we were commanded to do, but we should try to make friends with them and have a treaty with them."  So he tells the leader, and there's this civil war in this little army where they wipe out everyone who was against Zeniff, and then he becomes king over this band of people, and he walks right into a trap by the Lamanites, and I just think he's an idiot, but I've got to give him props. 

He was an idiot in the beginning.
He got better.

Why I give him props is that he didn't stay this idiot forever.  He started out getting everyone in trouble, but the thing that I really admire is that he changed and took responsibility for his actions.  There were times where he didn't remember God, and those were times where the Lamanites came and attacked.  He could have very easily just gone and had the land and then when the Lamanites came to try to enslave them, he was responsible and was the good leader that this people needed.  He had them prepare an army for protection.  He had them grow crops and make clothes, and they had and industrious community that were independent of the Lamanites, and they were a threat to the Lamanites.  Every time the Lamanites tried to fight them, they lost.  They lost thousands of men, they lost more than the Nephites could number, and this little city only lost a few hundred and lost no land and no women and no children, and they were able to have peace. 

So this greedy little idiot that we first met in Mosiah 9 became a leader, a king who cared about his people and was able to protect them. 

That is the best!  This is change!  This is what the gospel is all about!  We aren't meant to stay the same forever.  We're not meant to suffer for our wrong choices forever.  There are ways to repent and move on and progress and become better!  Though I don't like Zeniff very much, he became somebody that others could rely on and somebody that was truly dedicated to God and knew what power that held.  I know that this is true, and I know that Christ's Atonement is there for each and every one of us to help us become the great person that we were meant to be.