Civil War and Defeat
In the fifty-fourth year, divisions tore through the church, and conflict erupted among the people—so much that blood was spilled. The rebels were killed or driven out, and they fled to the Lamanite king. They tried to stir up the Lamanites to attack the Nephites, but the Lamanites were too afraid and wouldn’t listen.
But in the fifty-sixth year, more Nephite deserters joined the Lamanites, and together they succeeded in provoking them to anger. They spent that entire year preparing for war.
In the fifty-seventh year, they came down to fight the Nephites and began their campaign of death. By the fifty-eighth year, they’d captured the land of Zarahemla and all the territories right up to Bountiful. The Nephites and Moronihah’s armies were pushed all the way back into Bountiful. There they built fortifications against the Lamanites, stretching from the west sea to the east—a day’s journey across the defensive line they’d established to protect their northern territory. And so these Nephite traitors, backed by a massive Lamanite army, captured all the Nephite lands in the south. All of this happened in the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth years.
Fighting Back
In the sixtieth year, Moronihah and his armies fought back successfully, reclaiming many cities that had fallen to the Lamanites. And in the sixty-first year, they managed to recover half of what they’d lost.
The Real Reason They Lost
This devastating loss and terrible slaughter wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the Nephites’ wickedness and corruption—even among those who claimed to belong to God’s church. It was because of their pride, their excessive wealth, and their cruelty to the poor—withholding food from the hungry, refusing clothes to those who needed them, mocking their humble brothers, making a joke of sacred things, rejecting prophetic revelation, murdering, stealing, lying, committing adultery, stirring up conflicts, and deserting to join the Lamanites. Because of this wickedness and their arrogant confidence in their own strength, they were left to their own strength. So they didn’t thrive—instead they suffered defeats and were driven back by the Lamanites until they’d lost nearly all their land.
But Moronihah preached to the people about their sins, and so did Nephi and Lehi, Helaman’s sons. They warned the people about what would happen if they didn’t turn from their wickedness. And they did turn back. As they did, they began to thrive again. When Moronihah saw their change of heart, he led them forward from place to place, from city to city, until they’d recovered half their lands and possessions. And that was the end of the sixty-first year.
A Stalemate
In the sixty-second year, Moronihah couldn’t make any more progress against the Lamanites. So they gave up trying to reclaim the rest of their territory. The Lamanites were too numerous—it was impossible for the Nephites to gain any more ground. Moronihah focused all his forces on defending what they’d already taken back.
A Hard Look in the Mirror
Because the Lamanites were so many, the Nephites lived in constant fear of being overwhelmed, trampled, and destroyed. They began remembering Alma’s prophecies and Mosiah’s words. They realized they’d been stubborn and had ignored God’s commands. They’d twisted and trampled the laws Mosiah had given them—the laws the Lord had commanded. Seeing how corrupt their laws had become and how wicked they were—as wicked as the Lamanites— Because of their sin, the church had started to crumble. They’d stopped believing in prophecy and revelation. And now God’s judgment stared them in the face. They saw they’d become as weak as the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord no longer protected them. It had withdrawn, because the Spirit doesn’t live in unholy places. So the Lord stopped protecting them with his miraculous power. They’d fallen into unbelief and terrible wickedness. They saw that the Lamanites far outnumbered them, and unless they held fast to the Lord their God, they would surely be destroyed. They realized the Lamanites were now just as strong as they were—man for man. That’s how far they’d fallen. In just a few short years, their rebellion had made them weak.