The restoration of peace and the love of God shows two things: one, the people of Nephi had those desired qualities before the coming of Sherem; and two, the teaching of an anti-Christ had temporarily caused the loss of both. This loss apparently came upon enough people individually that it had a collective effect as well. Another observation; to maintain peace and the love of God, the scriptures must be searched and the teachings of wicked men must be rejected or ignored. The apostle John wrote: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:20–21).
The Nephites love was evident by their attempts to reclaim and restore the Lamanites to the truth. However, the Lamanites continual aggression (Jacob 7:24) made it expedient for the Nephites to prepare to defend themselves, although their primary defense was to trust in God (v. 25).