In my previous post, I wrote that people in the Near East in the Bronze Age relied on their gods for literally everything of significance. For the Israelites, it was only one God and to the extent that they managed to keep the first two out of the 10 commandments (which was very often not the case) they similarly relied solely on Yahweh for everything. We see how this is played out in warfare for instance. The NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible explains:
It is not proper to call this “holy war,” because in the ancient Near East there was no other kind of war. The divine warrior motif depicts the deity fighting and defeating the deities of the enemy. The gods empowered the king and fought before/ beside him. Warfare was a divine undertaking, because it was generally understood as a response to unrest. Deities were responsible for bringing rest and maintaining it for their people, so unrest had to be addressed. In Assyria, the god Nergal is the King of Battle, and Ishtar is viewed also as a war goddess. The Canaanite Baal and the Babylonian Merodach are divine warriors. In situations of impending battle, prayers would be made and omens asked to assure the god’s presence. Standards or statues of the deity were usually carried to symbolize their presence. Assyrian kings of the ninth and eighth centuries BC regularly refer to the divine standard that goes before them. The ark of the covenant, as Yahweh’s standard, represents the Lord as clearing the way before the Israelites and leading the armies into Canaan. Nearly every army in the ancient Near East included priests and diviners (as seen in the Mari tablets), prophets (cf. 2 Kings 3), and portable sacred objects (Assyrian annals of Shalmaneser III [858– 824 BC]). In this way, the god(s) could be consulted on the battlefield or invoked to lead the soldiers to victory. In this worldview, human warfare is simply a representation of warfare among the gods. The stronger god would be victorious regardless of the strengths or weaknesses in the human combatants. Therefore, if Yahweh fought on their behalf, the Israelites would be convinced that they would be victorious.
The view of all significant events personally and nationally as manifestations of divine will permeates the Old Testament. As a somewhat random example, see how Ruth 4:13 refers to her conception
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. (Ruth 4:13)
Similarly, this is how Hannah's inability to conceive is explained
But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb. (1 Samuel 1:5)
Today, we explain conception in scientific terms. Whether you can or cannot conceive, there is a physiological reason and no need to drag God into it for the non-believer. What about the believers? We also know the scientific explanation and yet we may in certain circumstances both pray for a pregnancy and consider it a blessing when it happens. Still, scientific discoveries and increased knowledge about the natural world has had huge implications on our worldview, also as Christians. In "Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, authors O'Brien and Richards explain
Through advances in mathematics, physics, astronomy and medical science, Western intellectuals learned more about the fixed rules or laws by which the universe operates. For some Western Christians, such discoveries increased their awe of and dependence upon the Creator God...Many other Western Christians, however, became convinced that the universe is a closed system in which God no longer plays an active role. On the whole, the Western world did not abandon the idea of a Creator until the nineteenth century. What changed first was our understanding of God’s relationship to the cosmos. Sure, God created the heavens and the earth. Before Darwin’s theory of evolution sparked humans to look at other aspects of the universe through the lens of natural law, most folks assumed God made the material world. However, Westerners increasingly assumed that God no longer tampered with the world he had made. He was a master watchmaker who skillfully creates a quality timepiece, winds it up and then lets it run on its own. No longer was God assumed to be the sustainer and maintainer of the universe. He was now a distant deity whose relationship to creation ceased after the event of creation. He left the world to operate according to rules and laws, which he prescribed. The God of the deists, whom we’ve been describing, was a creative genius, but he was not an engaged father. Increasing knowledge of the natural world did not, in general, inspire greater awe of and dependence upon God, but less.
A modern Westerner and Christian like myself will not find it problematic to accept the fact that God can and does intervene in our daily lives, even though most phenomena can also be explained by natural laws. God simply is the greatest scientist and perhaps takes advantage of natural laws himself in his dealings with his children. But to what degree he micromanages everything or sits back to observe his wound up clock run on its own is hard to tell. There is no doubt that development in the last few centuries have caused us to change our language. Few people would use expressions like "the Lord gave her conception" or "the Lord had shut up her womb" today, even if they are faithful church members.
But we see such language in the Book of Mormon as well reflecting this ancient worldview. The Lord is always taking a very active role in any event of significance. There are numerous examples of that and I will just give a few. For instance, the people of Alma-I had to flee the place Mormon after they had been discovered by the armies of king Noah.
And the Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them. (Mosiah 23:2)
For the modern reader it would be reasonable to ask how the Lord strengthened them. Did he descend in a cloud and touch their legs causing a miraculous instant muscle growth? Nothing in the text indicates such an event. Most likely, they simply managed to travel faster than the king's men or the king's men were unable to find and follow their tracks. For a non-believer at least, that has little to do with God. But for a Nephite in Alma's group or for Mormon abridging the plates, it had everything to do with God and the question about how the Lord strengthened them would probably seem strange and pointless. It happened so therefore God was behind it. How God performs his marvelous works is impossible for humans to understand anyway.
Later in the story of Alma's people, they are brought into bondage. We see another example of the Lord's active role in the narrative expressed with the exact same wording.
And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did them that they could bear up their with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with to all the will of the Lord. (Mosiah 24:15)
This sort of language is especially common in the war accounts.
Nevertheless the Lord did strengthen the hand of the Nephites, that they slew the Amlicites with great slaughter, that they began to flee before them. (Alma 2:18)
Compared to the explanation of ancient divine warfare in the first quote I shared, there is a slight deviation in the Book of Mormon, though. The Lamanites did not seem to have a god to fight the war for them. The Book of Mormon even seems to make a point of that.
Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the of men. (Mosiah 10:11)
Similarly, in periods of Nephite wickedness, they lose the divine favor that would otherwise keep them preserved and strengthened. They did not seem to substitute him for other gods either, and so they were left to their own strength. This detail seems unique in the Book of Mormon because in the Old Testament, people would only abandon God by replacing him by other gods.
24 And they saw that they had become , like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not in —
25 Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they should unto the Lord their God they must unavoidably perish.
26 For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become , because of their transgression, in the space of . (Helaman 4)
As mentioned in my previous post, it is easy to become arrogant about the apparent naivety of the ancients who knew little to nothing about natural laws and relied on God for all events of any importance. But perhaps we also have something to learn from this kind of faith. Our modern day challenge is to avoid letting science and our trust in the arm of flesh create a mist of darkness that prevent us from seeing "His hand in all things" (D&C 59:21).
