In my last post, I outlined an example of what I call the covenant worldview on display in Alma 44.
There's a little more to the story which I'd like to share in this post, which relates to the principle of mercy. The Doctrine & Covenants summarizes this principle very nicely:
42 But, behold, I say unto you that I, the Lord God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son.
43 And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe;
44 And they that believe not unto eternal damnation; for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, because they repent not;
45 For they love darkness rather than light, and their deeds are evil, and they receive their wages of whom they list to obey. (D&C 29)
In short, we are destined to die at the end of the probationary phase known as mortality, but we are given a promise that divine messengers will show us the way to avoid spiritual death at the day of judgment.
These angels come in various forms (Hebrew malak simply means messenger). All the way back in Genesis 3:24 we are told that cherubim (a Hebrew transliteration referring to "probably an order of angelic beings", derived from an ancient Akkadian word for "an intercessor," NIDOTTE Vol. 2, p. 717)
Notice how even in the war chapters of Alma, this principle is on display. I always found this part of the story quite confusing, but now I see its purpose clearly:
13 And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice:
14 Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace.
15 Now there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a covenant of peace. And as many as entered into a covenant they suffered to depart into the wilderness. (Alma 44)
The imagery of a soldier holding aloft his sword and warning the wicked must have been too close to the "angels will declare repentance and redemption" message for Mormon to avoid weaving that core concept into the narrative. And so the soldier "stretche[s] forth" his sword to the people and says "with a loud voice" that they must -- in a way -- repent and enter into a covenant of peace or be destroyed.
It works, only for some.
Those who died were "not numbered because of the greatness of the number" (verse 21) and they were "cast ... into the waters of Sidon, and they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the sea" (verse 22).
Verse 18 contains several more covenant allusions:
18 But behold, their naked skins and their bare heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites; yea, behold they were pierced and smitten, yea, and did fall exceedingly fast before the swords of the Nephites; and they began to be swept down, even as the soldier of Moroni had prophesied.
The soldier had spoken through the spirit of prophecy that those who would not enter into the covenant would be destroyed, and they were. The word of God is often referred to as a sword which is quick, powerful, sharp, and able to divide asunder (see D&C 6:2, 11:2, 12:2, 14:2, 33:1).
The enemies of the Nephites were not able to withstand the swords because of their naked skins and bare heads. Compare D&C 27:15-18, especially verse 18.
Similar to the story of Ammon defending King Lamoni's flocks in Alma 17, I believe this was a real event recounted by a faithful historian who never missed an opportunity to put the covenant worldview on display.
