Moroni 9

Moroni 9

Mormon's last words to his son

Verses 1-2

• Mormon tells Moroni he is still alive, but he has to write some hard things

• He has just lost a battle, and three friends dear enough to take the time to etch their names into metal plates have died

Multiple Choice

What are the names of Mormon's friends who have died?

• Achilles, Liam and Ethos

• Archeantus, Luram and Emron

• Archimedes, Lucifer and Euripides

Verses 3-5

• Mormon feels that the Nephites are unrepentant: “when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and when I use no sharpness they harden their hearts against it”

• In fact, they are so full of rage, they can't think about anything else: they are bloodthirsty

Multiple Choice

In verse 4, Mormon worries that the people are no longer able to have what?

• Government

• Organization

• The Spirit

• Peace

Multiple Choice

In verse 6, despite all of the bloodshed and chaos around them, and the open evil on all sides, it is their job to do what as long as they are alive?

• Labor to conquer the enemy of all righteousness

• Labor to conquer the Lamanites

• Labor to escape the wars and get far away

v7-15

• In verses 7-10 Mormon writes of some of the horrors committed by the Lamanite people. Why?

• It was important to BEAR WITNESS of their wickedness

Multiple Choice

The last thing he includes in verse 16 was that they left many people (likely older people) to fend for themselves, to die. This is an anti-Christ behavior because the Savior requires us...

• to take care of our own needs first

• to leave those behind who slow us down

• to only help others when we have excess time and money or it is convenient

• to love our neighbor as ourself

v17-24

• Mormon's army is small and weak, disorganized, and he has no ability to enforce his commands.

• Even HIS OWN MEN are “strong in their perversion; and they are alike brutal, sparing none,” He can’t stand to dwell on it any longer, only to say that their wickedness exceeds that of the Lamanites that he already wrote about. 

• He says “Behold, my son, I cannot recommend them unto God lest he should smite me.”

  YIKES

• But he CAN recommend his son to God, and is proud of him

  
  

Multiple Choice

In the verses you just read, Mormon says he now understands the fate of which ancient people--how such a great people could have left nothing behind but ruins.

• The Jaredites

• The Mulekites

• The Egyptians

• The Mayans

V25-26: Mormon's final words to his son

• 25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

  
  

  26 And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever. Amen.

  
  

Open Ended

Put verses 25-26 into your own words. Each verse. What was Mormon trying to communicate to his son during these dark and desperate times? What did he want to make sure Moroni clearly understood, if nothing else? Remember that it was likely that Moroni would not see his father again after he wrote these words, and they would serve as his final farewell to his son.