It becomes quite clear in today’s reading, Mosiah 21, that the Lord will not sustain an unrighteous people when they go out to seek aggressive battle against their oppressors.
Rather, if they will repent, he will deliver them himself, in his own way.
This will be a major theme during the downfall of the Nephites at the conclusion of the Book of Mormon. The prophet-editor Mormon was, himself, a central participant in the final phase of Nephite history, and I expect that the parallel between Limhi’s people — as well as the crucial difference that Limhi’s people, unlike his own, actually repented — caught his attention powerfully while he abridged the account of their history.
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