Alma 45-46

Alma 45-46

Summary of Events:

Alma is old now, and he passes the sacred records to his son Helaman to keep, blesses all his sons, and then disappears from the land. The people speculate that he was taken up by God, like Moses was. So now we won’t hear from Alma anymore (even though we are still in the book of Alma) and will hear from his son, Helaman, instead.

Helaman and the other leaders of the church need to clean things up, because order and adherence seem to have gone by the wayside during the war. Their regulation efforts are not received happily by all, and “there arose a dissension among them, and they would not give heed to the words of Helaman and his brethren.” (45:23) And it gets bad… real bad. So bad that the dissenters gather together and want to wage war against the Nephites in order to get their leader—a big, bad dude named Amalekiah—crowned as king. Remember there are no kings of the Nephites anymore. They have a system of judges (more like a democracy) put in place by King Mosiah before he died. Having a king—especially a bad and greedy king like Amalekiah—would be really bad news. He has convinced all the “lower judges” of the land to support him because he has promised them positions of power if he becomes King. 

Amalekiah’s destructive influence infuriates Captain Moroni. God had just helped the Nephites win a dangerous war, and so quickly they are rebelling, and this group of dissenters is threatening the liberty of the Nephites. So Moroni takes action:

12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren…

19 And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:

20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

21 And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

I’ve always thought this would make a really great scene in a movie. Go Moroni!—rallying the people to remember what is important and what is right. He succeeds in gathering together a large army to defend against Amalekiah’s Army, and Amalekiah gets scared and his army turns on their heels and runs toward the land of the Lamanites to join forces.

Moroni won’t have any of that! The Lamanite army is much bigger than the Nephites’, and he knows Amalekiah will succeed in riling them up to come to war against the Nephites again.  So Moroni chases Amalekiah and his men, and succeeds in stopping them… except Amalekiah and a few of his men escape (and you can bet this isn’t the last time we hear from Amalekiah). But for now, Moroni's men and Amalekiah’s men who are willing to truce and rejoin the cause of liberty, return home and maintain peace in the land for 4 more years.

Spiritual Application

• “Thus we see how quick the children of men do forget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do iniquity, and to be led away by the evil one (46:8).” Anytime the Book of Mormon says “thus we see…” it is essentially highlighting a spiritual application. This one is kind-of a downer, but it’s reality and we will see it over and over again in the Book of Mormon. People have a tendency to forget miracles, answered prayers, and other spiritual experiences, and then they backslide into old ways. It is preventable, but it takes consistent work and nurturing, like regularly praying, reading scriptures, and yes even going to church.
• “Yea, and we also see the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men (46:9).” Who are the individuals you allowing to influence your life?—and are they a good influence or a destructive influence? Beware, because one person can powerfully affect your life in ways you might not recognize.
• Moroni takes a hard edge with these dissenters. We could accuse him of being mean or unloving, but we know Moroni isn’t either of those things. Moroni saw the bigger picture—how the dissenters would destroy the liberty and happiness of all the other people if they were left unchecked. So he took a stand, even though I’m sure it made him wildly unpopular with the dissenters or the sympathizers of the dissenters. I believe it is possible to be a loving person while standing strong against popular movements in society that you believe are harmful.