pgs. 412 and 413...the robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands desolate.

 13 Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should ^agather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place.

  14 And he caused that ^afortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites, or of all them who were numbered among the Nephites, should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night.

  15 Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be ^adelivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers.

  16 And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus.

  17 And it came to pass that Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the wilderness against them.

  18 Now the chiefest among all the chief captains and the great commander of all the armies of the Nephites was appointed, and his name was ^aGidgiddoni.

  19 Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the ^aspirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge.

  20 Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: ^aPray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands.

  21 But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord ^aforbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would ^bdeliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.

  22 And it came to pass in the *seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had taken their ^ahorses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone forth to the ^bplacewhich ^chad been appointed that they should gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies.

  23 And the ^aland which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land ^bBountiful, yea, to the line which was between the ^cland Bountiful and the land Desolation.

  24 And there were a great many thousand people who were called Nephites, who did gather themselves together in this land. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather themselves together in the land ^asouthward, because of the great curse which was upon the ^bland northward.

  25 And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up their ^aprayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle.

  26 And they were exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies. And Gidgiddoni did cause that they should make ^aweapons of war of every kind, and they should be strong with armor, and with shields, and with bucklers, after the manner of his instruction.

* VERSE 22 (A.D. 17).

THIRD NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 4

The Nephite armies defeat the Gadianton robbers—Giddianhi is slain, and his successor, Zemnarihah, is hanged—The Nephites praise the Lord for their victories. Between A.D. 18 and 22

  1 And it came to pass that in the latter *end of the eighteenth year those armies of ^arobbers had prepared for battle, and began to come down and to sally forth from the hills, and out of the mountains, and the wilderness, and their strongholds, and their ^bsecret places, and began to take possession of the lands, both which were in the land south and which were in the land north, and began to take possession of all the lands which had been ^cdeserted by the Nephites, and the cities which had been left desolate.

  2 But behold, there were no wild beasts nor ^agame in those lands which had been deserted by the Nephites, and there was no game for the robbers save it were in the wilderness.

  3 And the robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their herds and all their substance, and they were in one body.

  4 Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions, and ^ahorses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might subsist for the space of ^bseven years, in the which time they did hope to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year did pass away.

  5 And it came to pass that in the *nineteenth year Giddianhi found that it was expedient that he should go up to battle against the Nephites, for there was ^ano way that they could subsist save it were to plunder and rob and murder.

  6 And they durst not spread themselves upon the face of the land insomuch that they could raise grain, lest the Nephites should come upon them and slay them; therefore Giddianhi gave commandment unto his armies that in this year they should go up to battle against the Nephites.

This reading is an account from about 15 years before the first coming of Christ to America.  Many people believe there will be several parallels between His first coming as recorded here in the Book of Mormon and His second coming which we are still anticipating.  The Institute Manual makes reference to this as follows:

In 3 Nephi 3:11–26 Mormon once again provided important historical insights that are of value to us today. He pointed out clearly that a key in the deliverance of the Nephites lay in the personal righteousness and courage of the political and military leaders (see vv. 12, 19).

Notice also that Gidgiddoni did not send his armies forth to attack the Gadiantons, but remained “in the center” (v. 21) of Nephite lands and fortified the land against attack. Gidgiddoni said, “We will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us” (v. 21).

Notice how this agrees with the law of God as stated in our own day: “And again, this is the law that I gave unto mine ancients, that they should not go out unto battle against any nation, kindred, tongue, or people, save I, the Lord, commanded them” (D&C 98:33).