By this time in the Book of Mormon, the people of Ammon have distinguished themselves from the other Lamanites by changing their name to Anti-Nephi-Lehi and corresponding with the Nephites. The other Lamanites, along with the Amalekites and Amulonites, decide they don't like how things are going. They want a new king, and so they make preparations for war to go against the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. The people of Ammon see this preparation and meet to decide what exactly they should do about it. They conclude that they must bury their weapons.
It is a fact that escaped me as a child studying this Book of Mormon story--they buried their weapons when they knew a war was surely coming. I had always thought that they buried their weapons when they were deciding to be baptized. I thought it was part of the repentance process for them that was subsequently tested by their brethren's attack. It is a marvel to me that they made the commitment even as their brethren made swords.
As I said, I am in awe. And then--I can't seem to help myself--I wonder if it was worth it. Was it necessary for them to lay before the coming army and be slaughtered? Could they have defended themselves and still been faithful followers of Christ? After all, the Nephites defend themselves through bloodshed all the time. I don't know the answers to those questions, but I do know that they felt they could not sully the swords that Christ had so recently wiped clean from the many murders they had committed. I also know that in Alma 23:6 it refers to these faithful people saying:
"...yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as...were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away."And, of course, we know that these same people were the parents of the 2,000 stripling warriors that fought with Helaman.
Perhaps there is something to be said about going above and beyond in our commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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