The Lamanites come to war against the Nephites, but finally realize it is impossible to to win. The promise of the Lord is that when people live upon a promised land and covenant to believe and follow the Lord, he will always protect that land and people. I wonder how often we think of how fortunate we are to live in this land that is consecrated by the Lord and as a result it has never been invaded by another country. Acts of terrorism will occur just as acts of war were attempted by the Lamanites against the Nephites. But as long as our nation remains God-fearing, we will continue to enjoy his protection.
Since the Lamanites, who are motivated to war by the hatred of the Amalakites for anyone who is righteous, can't defeat the Nephites, they begin slaying the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people. This is easy since those people refuse to take up arms. Ammon eventually leads them to the land of Zarahemla where the Nephites grant them an area of their land and promise to protect them if they will help support the armies financially. The Anti-Nephi-Lehi people become known as the people of Ammon, or Ammonites, which is a far better name in my opinion.
In a way, Ammon is symbolic of the Savior in that he brings spiritual salvation to the people and leads them to temporal salvation also. He is appointed the high priest and presides over the Ammonites who think of him as an angel sent from God. In the New Testament, Paul was referred to as an angel in the same way. It's interesting that the Ammonites, who were deep in sin and wickedness and have converted, are now led by a high priest who once was deep in sin and wickedness and converted also.
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