A righteous leader receives a threatening letter from the leader of an invading army. The message is intended to break his resolve and to demoralize his people, but he inspires his people to hold firm to their faith in God. They work diligently, cutting off essential supplies from the surrounding army. Eventually, their faith is rewarded. The threat ends and the enemy retreats.
This is the story of two rulers on different continents and in different centuries: Hezekiah (2 Kings 18; 19; 2 Chronicles 32:1-23) and Lachoneus (3 Nephi 3; 4).
The Book of Mormon account does not reference the story of Hezekiah, but the parallels between them are strong.
As the Assyrian army approached Jerusalem, Hezekiah calmed the fears of his people. He instructed them to “stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city … and the brook that ran through the midst of the land,” so that the Assyrians would not have sufficient water as they placed the city under siege (2 Chronicles 32:3-4).
He gathered the people and said:
Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
2 Chronicles 32:7-8
With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles.
The people believed Hezekiah’s assurances, and “rested themselves” upon his words (2 Chronicles 32:8).
When the army arrived, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, sent messengers to taunt the people of the city:
Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
2 Kings 18:29-30
Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us …
But “the people held their peace” (2 Kings 18:36), following the king’s instruction not to answer. Their faith remained strong.
Hezekiah subsequently received a letter urging him to stop trusting in God. He took the letter to the temple, spread it out before God, and pleaded for deliverance. Isaiah sent word that God had heard his prayer, and that he would be delivered. That same night, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died. The rest of the army returned to Assyria, and in a chilling coda to the story, Sennacherib was murdered by his own sons (2 Kings 19:35-36; 2 Chronicles 32:21).
Lachoneus’s story is similar. The leader of a large army of robbers, Giddianhi, sent him a letter mocking his faith and threatening to destroy his people if they didn’t surrender (3 Nephi 3:1-10). Lachoneus was astonished at the brashness of the letter, but he was not intimidated. Mormon explains, “Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber” (3 Nephi 3:12). He instructed his people to gather in one place with all of their flocks and herds in order to deny the robbers sustenance. He urged them to repent and cry to God for deliverance.
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.
3 Nephi 3:16
The people wanted to attack the robbers, but their military leader, Gidgiddoni, said, “The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands.” He explained that God would protect them only if they remained in a defensive posture (3 Nephi 3:21).
The process took several years, but eventually, Lachoneus’s people were victorious.
The two stories not only have a lot in common, but they also complement each other. Hezekiah’s people rest themselves upon his words; Lachoneus’s people exert themselves because of his. The “rest” isn’t passivity or negligence, and that “exertion” doesn’t result in unbridled activity. They are both manifestations of the same principle: trust in God overcoming fear and leading to positive action.
Today, I will let my heart rest in the assurance that God is with me, and I will exert myself in appropriate work, trusting that He will make things work out.
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