15 And these are the cities which they possessed when I arrived at the city of Judea; and I found Antipus and his men toiling with their might to fortify the city.
16 Yea, and they were depressed in body as well as in spirit, for they had fought valiantly by day and toiled by night to maintain their cities; and thus they had suffered great afflictions of every kind.
17 And now they were determined to conquer in this place or die; therefore you may well suppose that this little force which I brought with me, yea, those sons of mine, gave them great hopes and much joy. (Alma 56:15-17)

From this block of verses, it sounds like Antipus and his men were burning the candle at both ends, fighting by day and toiling by night. It is no wonder they were depressed and beat down; accumulated fatigue will do that.

But I love their attitude—“we will conquer or die.” That kept them going. And it was no idle threat. If they couldn’t conquer, they would be overcome by the Lamanites.

The spiritual analog is also true—if we can’t conquer Satan, we will die spiritually, so we must be just as determined as Antipus’s men.


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