Social: These verses give us a complicate but important picture of the nature of these final events. The first is that as the Nephite army rapidly retreats toward the north it attempts to gather people and have them move north as well. Mormon’s army travels together, almost by definition. This means that the pursuing army has a single focal point. In spite of this single location of the target, Mormon’s description of the general scene is widespread. Rather than describe a pursuing army, Mormon indicates that: “the land was filled with robbers and with Lamanites. The destruction is not localized to the army, but is also spread across the land. It would appear that the Lamanites and Gadiantons are pursuing some form of a scorched earth policy, eliminating or dominating settlements along the way rather than focus on the previously more “gentlemanly” form of war that engaged between armies only.
Mormon’s final statement is that there is “one complete revolution throughout all the land.” This statement followed Mormon’s assertion that the people “did not repent of their evil doings.” Those “evil doings” had been the acceptance of outside influences, including the outside religion. It is quite probable that this final revolution and the “not repenting of evil doings” are related. The people of the land had been gradually accepting more and more of the Lamanite ways. With this exceedingly powerful army coming through, and army representing the ways of life to which they were gravitating already, it is probable that most of the people of the land simply revolted from Nephite rule and accepted the newcomers.