A new guy briefly enters the scene—his name is Nehor.
He practices “priestcraft,” or the act of preaching for personal gain,
popularity, or wealth. But in addition to his selfish motives for preaching,
his doctrine is rather selfish too:
4 And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life.5 And it came to pass that he did teach these things so much that many did believe on his words, even so many that they began to support him and give him money.6 And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel, yea, and even began to establish a church after the manner of his preaching.
I think the majority of the time when someone claims it doesn’t
matter what we do or that all we have to do is “believe” or claim the Lord as
Savior, really that person just doesn’t want to go to the effort of learning
what God really teaches or doing what He really asks us to do. And of course it
is a popular thing to teach, because people like to be told they don’t have to
put any effort into life and can do whatever they want.
Legally, Nehor is allowed to teach whatever he believes, but
he goes tragically too far when he gets into a religious argument with Gideon,
the old advisor of King Limhi. In the heat of the argument he kills Gideon with
his sword. He is brought before Alma to be judged, and sentenced to death
according to the law.
But unfortunately Nehor’s influence does not die with him,
and priestcraft begins to spread throughout the land. You will see throughout
the rest of the Book of Mormon people who are “after the manner of Nehor,”
meaning they preach for their own gain and they preach incorrect doctrine for
their own benefit.
The people of the church begin to be persecuted by those who
are not in the church. Some don’t handle it very well and they fight back.
Those people end up bitter and angry and many leave the church. But many
respond in the way true Christians should:
25 Now this was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God, and they bore with patience the persecution which was heaped upon them.27 And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely.29 And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth.30 And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need.
Verse 30 reminds me of the welfare program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today.
I love the church welfare program! It gives substantial, meaningful, and
impactful service to thousands of people across the world, regardless of their
religion. You can read about it here if you’re interested: http://www.lds.org/topics/welfare
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