The Power of Covenant

"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."(Book of Mormon, Alma 48:17)

Many wonder why the prophet Mormon in the Book of Mormon devoted so much time writing about war between the Nephites and Lamanites.  Captain Moroni was the chief general of all the Nephite Armies and a key figure. What are we to learn from the "war chapters"?  Mormon says that Moroni was a man with perfect understanding.  How is Captain Moroni's perfect understanding manifest in his execution of war?

Captain Moroni was such a great leader not just because he was such a great military strategist, but also because he understood the power of covenant and used the power of covenant and commitment to bind Satan and defeat his enemies.  While Satan is the great liar and deciever, the power and glory of God is manifest in His power to always keep His word.

Captain Moroni was able to rally and inspire the Nephites to the cause of freedom by helping them remember their covenants and commitments to their God, country, and family.  Captain Moroni wrote these commitments on his coat and created a banner called "the Title of Liberty".  The Title of Liberty became a great Nephite symbol ever after..

"And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole." (Book of Mormon, Alma 46:12)

Captain Moroni used the power of covenant not only to strengthen the righteous but also to win over his enemies.  Defeated Lamanites were always allowed to go free if they would commit to never returning to war against them. Many Lamanites accepted commitment instead of death.  However, other Lamanites perished because they knew they and their children would break their word.  These commitments freed the Nephites from having to feed and guard Lamanite prisoners.

Forgetting the warnings and lessons of the Book of Mormon is what brought condemnation upon the Early Church in Missouri.  The Missouri Saints according to Sec 101 of the Doctrine and Covenants failed to build the temple, and therefore were unable to recognize the church, at a low level, being infilltrated by the "enemy". Had the early Saints been more faithful and harkened to the lessons and warnings of the Book of Mormon about Conspiracy (See Helaman 6), and built the temple, they would have "seen the enemy afar off". 

How does the temple and temple covenants reveal evil?  Evil cannot bare the covenants of the Temple. A few might lie about their intent and wickedness and go to the temple, but they won't be regular attenders. Evil people generally have a very difficult time with commitments of morality, paying tithing, sustaining leaders and being active in the church.

Consequently, the Early Saints in Missouri were infilltrated by the illuminati, those illuminati started up the Danites that stirred up considerable trouble with the neighbors, resulting in the Mormon War and the expulsion of the Early Saints from Missouri.  This unfortunate series of events would not have happened had the Early Saints understood the power of covenant and had built their temple.

In the same way Captain Moroni used covenants to bind Satan and defeat his enemies, we must also learn to use covenants and commitments to fight the personal war that wages within each one of us.  Covenants and commitments have the power to bind Satan in our lives if we can learn to keep them. Ultimately it will be the power of covenant via Christ's Holy Temple that will bring about Christ's long-awaited millennial kingdom.

Just like Captain Moroni used the power of covenant and commitment to bind Satan and defeat his enemies, we can use the power of covenant to bind Satan in our own lives.  Is there an aspect of our lives which we feel Satan has power over us?  Do we have a weakness that we would like to turn into a strength? Like Captain Moroni, we can make commitments and goals to ourselves and to God to repent, to improve and to change. As we make and keep our commitments to ourselves and to God, we will experience and enjoy a greater outpouring of God's Holy Spirit.