13 And now it came to pass that Ammon went and told the king all the words which the Lord had said unto him.
14 And they gathered together all their people, yea, all the people of the Lord, and did gather together all their flocks and herds, and departed out of the land, and came into the wilderness which divided the land of Nephi from the land of Zarahemla, and came over near the borders of the land. 15 And it came to pass that Ammon said unto them: Behold, I and my brethren will go forth into the land of Zarahemla, and ye shall remain here until we return; and we will try the hearts of our brethren, whether they will that ye shall come into their land.
And so they escaped! The new converts finally felt comfortable fleeing from their enemy when they knew it was God’s will, demonstrating their great faith.
Ammon then had them wait outside the city of Zarahemla to “try the hearts of the people”. What does this tell us? That there hearts were questionable. So questionable that they might have slaughtered the defenseless people of Anti-Nephi-Nephi. Even with every single one of their missionaries returning safe and sound, which was a miracle in itself. Yet, it was wisdom to err on the side of safety so that not one life would be lost as a result of some hot headed, hardened Nephite who still felt all Lamanites should be swept out of the land with the sword.
I suppose it is possible the Nephites in Zarahemla could have suspected, from a distance, that Ammon and his brethren could have been captured and used as bait to draw out unsuspecting Nephites in Trojan Horse fashion. Ammon was wise to have them wait outside the city and try their hearts.
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