Every primary-age boy knows the story of Ammon defending the king's flocks at the waters of Sebus by "disarming" the men who come to steal the flocks.
Recently, I went back and read this account and was surprised to see so much covenant symbolism. Mormon truly was an expert at telling a story in a way that offers layers of meaning.
- Arms are a symbol of an individual's strength (or God's strength).
- Flocks represent the spiritual state of people. (Think of all the sheep references in the scriptures, even though these animals weren't sheep.)
- Scattering/gathering are symbols of our breaking/keeping the covenant. (See 1 Nephi 22:3-5 for "scattering" and 1 Nephi 22:8-12 for "gathering.")
- The fear of death and weeping is symbolic of the feelings the wicked have when they think about the day of judgment.
- Faithfulness to the covenant causes our heart to "swell with joy." (The Hebrew term for "makes me happy" is "makes my heart enlarge."
- Encircling is a symbol of covenants and divine protection.
- Water is a symbol of gospel truth and God's love.
- A Hebrew root in the name Ammon refers to "faithfulness."
- "Be of good cheer" is a common saying in divine communications (see Acts 23:11, Matthew 9:2, 3 Nephi 1:13).
- "According to their own will and pleasure" gets worked into this passage.
- "Deliver" is a powerful word with reference to the redemption Christ brings us.
- "Contend" has reference to what the Lord promises those who stay faithful to Him. (See Isaiah 49:25.)
- "Power" is an obvious blessing on keeping our covenants.
- Being "in the service of the king" might also be considered a clever word choice in this context.
- Even a word like "stood" has symbolic meaning, though I'm not including it in this example.
With these symbols in mind, notice how Mormon chooses to tell this story. (I've put covenant symbols in bold.)
26 And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—
27 Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.
28 Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.
29 Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words.
30 And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.
31 And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us.
32 And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to the place of water.
33 And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not; and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.
34 Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he went forth and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus; and they were in number not a few.
35 Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king.
36 But Ammon stood forth and began to cast stones at them with his sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and thus he slew a certain number of them insomuch that they began to be astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore, seeing that they could not hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to slay him.
37 But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite Ammon, he smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they were not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm. (Alma 17)
Notice how these themes and symbols come together:
- Ammon "term[s]" these men (who are Lamanites) "to be his brethren."
- The enemies scatter the flocks away from the water because they "delighted in the desctruction of their brethren."
- Ammon puts a plan together to gather the flocks again to the waters and have his brethren "encircle" the flocks, then he stands to contend with the enemies with the power of the Lord.
- The enemies did not know about the Lord's promises.
- The enemies go from delight, to astonishment, to fleeing. They end up scattered and wounded/dead as opposed to the kings servants and the flocks.
In the following chapters, we see how Ammon's faithfulness and power in this action story carries over into his spiritual power.
I believe this example illustrates a pattern to show us how important our covenants are, which is one of the stated purposes of the Book of Mormon Title Page. This is more example of a story with multiple layers of meaning.