25 And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.
Having lost the war of hate to love, no doubt in emotional anguish and self-disgust over what they had just done, many of the Lamanites not only stopped the killing spree, and not only ceased the work of death by the sword, but, recognizing what they had done, thrust down their weapons of war! I can almost see some of them looking at the bloodied dead bodies of their brethren who they had slain, and who had refused to defend themselves. Then seeing more people in front of them praising God prostrate upon the earth. Perhaps then looking at their own bloodstained weapons, and repulsed by what they had just done and in righteous self anger, threw down their weapons in disgust at what they had just done. Then perhaps looking at their own uplifted hands in shock and disgust at what those hands had just done, and then burying their faces in those bloodstained hands, falling to their knees and weeping over it all.... The record states that “...they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.” To me, this matches what I envisioned- many of the Lamanites also fell down to the earth as did the defenseless Anti-Nephi-Lehis. What does it mean? That these Lamanites also relied on the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them? Perhaps it has to do with the rules of war. In war, you defeat the enemy at all costs. You do not desert, run away, or refuse the work of death. That is considered traitorous, and punishable by death. Therefore, those who’s hearts were stung and threw down their weapons of war were risking their own lives in order to spare their brethren! For the Lamanites who were still killing could have smote to the earth any of their own who refused to fight the enemy. So yes, they were now, along with their Anti-Lehi-Nephi brothers, relying upon the mercy of those who continued to kill. Is this not a miracle? That a murderer in heart would not just choose, out of a guilty conscience and perhaps out of compassion, not to continue to murder? But would actually be willing to risk their own lives to save the lives of their avowed enemy? For that was what these Lamanites who threw down their weapons of war risked by refusing to continue the work of death. I don't know, in all of the miracles performed by God or his people in all of scripture, that I can truly think of a greater miracle. Even the Children of Israel escaping from their enemies and crossing the sea in dry ground, to me, does not compare. Because the armies of Pharaoh were drowned! None of them were saved, like these Lamanites who threw down their weapons of war. God not only preserved his people, but added to his people.
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