Ammon is told by the Lord that his brethren have been thrown
in prison in the Lamanite land of Middoni. Lamoni offers to go with Ammon
to get them out of prison because the king of Middoni is a friend. So they go, and on the way
to Middoni, they cross paths with Lamoni’s father, who is king over all the
Lamanites. Lamoni's father is angry that Lamoni missed a great feast earlier that week,
and he's even more furious that Lamoni is with a Nephite and helping to free other Nephites
from prison.
Lamoni’s father is so furious that he draws his sword to
kill his own son, but Ammon steps up to protect him and overpowers the
king quickly (if you haven't noticed, Ammon is really strong!). In desperation the king offers half of his kingdom if Ammon
will spare his life. Ammon agrees to spare the king’s life if he will let his
brethren out of prison in Middoni, and if he will not be angry with Lamoni and
leave him free to govern his own land however he wants without being under the
direction of his father.
25 Now when Ammon had said these words, the king began to rejoice because of his life.
26 And when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release thy brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more—
27 And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee. For the king was greatly astonished at the words which he had spoken, and also at the words which had been spoken by his son Lamoni, therefore he was desirous to learn them.
Lamoni and Ammon make it to Middoni and free Ammon’s
brethren from prison. They are naked and starving and suffering
greatly. They were less fortunate than Ammon and had gone to a more
hard-hearted group of Lamanites.
We rewind in vs.1-14 to when Ammon and his brethren
originally split up to teach the Lamanites, and this time we follow Ammon’s
brother, Aaron, and a few more who went with him. It was Aaron’s luck to go to
a harder group of Lamanites who lived among the Amalekites and Amulonites
(dissenting Nephites) who are the hardest of all, and so Aaron and his few
companions travel uselessly from city to city trying to preach until they are
thrown in jail in Middoni, and then saved by Ammon and King Lamoni.
These guys are so brave—they go out to try preaching AGAIN,
even after all this harassment and abuse, but this time the Lord begins to
bless them with success! Also, Ammon and King Lamoni return to the land of
Ishmael and begin to build up the church of God among his people and teach them
that they are free to worship and believe however they desire now. I love King Lamoni's people because, “they gave heed unto [the] word, and they were zealous for
keeping the commandments of God (v23).” I want to be zealous for keeping the
commandments of God! What a great word.
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