Mormon 5

The Nephites are now in a "fight then flee to fight another day" mode of
battle. Because they are always on the defensive, Mormon agrees to lead
their armies. But he says he does it with hope. He knows what the outcome
is going to be. The outcome could be different if the Nephites would turn
to the Lord, but they refuse. Mormon says it was "an awful scene of blood
and carnage." Only those who can flee the Lamanites fast enough survive for
the time being. The rest are destroyed in huge numbers.

Knowing he will only be writing a little more, Mormon uses the time and
space on the plates he has left to again tell us the purpose of why he is
writing. Basically, here is what he says:

1. He knows that what he has written will come forward at a future time
determined by the Lord, a time when wickedness will not prevent it from
going forward.

2. What Mormon has written will go to remnants of the House of Israel, to
the unbelieving Jews and to the Gentiles, which is the rest of the world.

3. It will have the purpose of convincing people that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, meaning, he is the Redeemer.

4. It will go to the posterity of the Lamanites and Nephites and will come
to them through the Gentiles. The land was blessed for the Nephites and
Lamanites sake, but because of their wickedness, it was given to the
Gentiles.

Then Mormon speaks directly to us, who he considers to be Gentiles. He
points out how the Nephites were once a wonderful people, but now during his
life, they are led by Satan. He then asks us is if we are going to be
righteous or follow in the same path as the Nephites. Just as the Nephites
were in the hands of God, he asks us to realize that we are too.

When you put yourself in his perspective where he has seen in vision and
through his writing the entire history of the Nephite people through to this
time of their destruction, and when you think he has seen our day in vision,
you can sense the deep sincerity of his pleadings. How foolish we would be
to ignore them.