pgs. 210 and 211...they were all equal and they did all labor, every man according to his strength.

26 And when the priests left their ^alabor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God. And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man ^baccording to his strength.

27 And they did ^aimpart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the ^bpoor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly ^capparel, yet they were neat and comely.

28 And thus they did establish the affairs of the church; and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions.

29 And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly ^arich, 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 ^bsilk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely ^ccloth.

30 And thus, in their ^aprosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were ^bnaked, 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 ^criches; therefore they were ^dliberal 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 ^erespect to persons as to those who stood in need.

31 And thus they did ^aprosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church.

32 For those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in ^asorceries, and in ^bidolatry or ^cidleness, and in ^dbabblings, and in ^eenvyings and ^fstrife; wearing costly apparel; being ^glifted up in the pride of their own eyes; persecuting, lying, thieving, robbing, committing whoredoms, and murdering, and all manner of wickedness; nevertheless, the law was put in force upon all those who did transgress it, inasmuch as it was possible.

33 And it came to pass that by thus exercising the law upon them, every man suffering according to that which he had done, they became more still, and durst not commit any wickedness if it were known; therefore, there was much peace among the people of Nephi until the fifth year of the reign of the judges.

THE BOOK OF ALMA

THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 2

Amlici seeks to be king and is rejected by the voice of the people—His followers make him king—The Amlicites make war on the Nephites and are defeated—The Lamanites and Amlicites join forces and are defeated—Alma slays Amlici. 87 B.C.

1 And it came to pass in the commencement of the *fifth year of their reign there began to be a contention among the people; for a certain ^aman, being called Amlici, he being a very cunning man, yea, a wise man as to the wisdom of the world, he being after the order of the man that slew ^bGideon by the sword, who was executed according to the law—

2 Now this Amlici had, by his cunning, ^adrawn away much people after him; even so much that they began to be very powerful; and they began to endeavor to establish Amlici to be a king over the people.

3 Now this was alarming to the people of the church, and also to all those who had not been drawn away after the persuasions of Amlici; for they knew that according to their law that such things must be established by the ^avoice of the people.

4 Therefore, if it were possible that Amlici should gain the voice of the people, he, being a wicked man, would ^adeprive them of their rights and privileges of the church; for it was his intent to destroy the church of God.

5 And it came to pass that the people assembled themselves together throughout all the land, every man according to his mind, whether it were for or against Amlici, in separate bodies, having much dispute and wonderful ^acontentions one with another.

6 And thus they did assemble themselves together to cast in their ^avoices concerning the matter; and they were laid before the judges.

7 And it came to pass that the ^avoice of the people came against Amlici, that he was not made king over the people.

8 Now this did cause much joy in the hearts of those who were against him; but Amlici did stir up those who were in his favor to anger against those who were not in his favor.

9 And it came to pass that they gathered themselves together, and did ^aconsecrate Amlici to be their king.

10 Now when Amlici was made king over them he commanded them that they should take up arms against their brethren; and this he did that he might subject them to him.

11 Now the people of Amlici were distinguished by the name of Amlici, being called ^aAmlicites; and the remainder were ^bcalled Nephites, or the people of God.

12 Therefore the people of the Nephites were aware of the intent of the Amlicites, and therefore they did prepare to meet them; yea, they did arm themselves with swords, and with cimeters, and with bows, and with arrows, and with stones, and with slings, and with all manner of ^aweapons of war, of every kind.

13 And thus they were prepared to meet the Amlicites at the time of their coming. And there were appointed ^acaptains, and higher captains, and chief captains, according to their numbers.

14 And it came to pass that Amlici did arm his men with all manner of weapons of war of every kind; and he also appointed rulers and leaders over his people, to lead them to war against their brethren.

15 And it came to pass that the Amlicites came upon the hill Amnihu, which was east of the ^ariver Sidon, which ran by the ^bland of Zarahemla, and there they began to make war with the Nephites.

In these pages we see a continuation of the political unrest confronting Alma and the church. Those who are in the church and living what is similar to the law of consecration are flourishing while those who are not are suffering. Soon a wicked man named Amlici decides that he wants to be king and as king he promises to destroy the privileges of the church of God. This leads to a war and the church is forced to defend itself. This teaches us so much about the Lord's way of running a society. I like this thought provoking entry from the Institute Manual referring to this chapter:

Amlici’s attempt to reinstate a monarchical government and become king was a second test and the first major challenge for the new system of judges. How was this test different from the one posed by Nehor in the first chapter of Alma?

The story of Amlici is another example of how wicked men sometimes seek governmental power in order to enforce their will on others. It also teaches that there are times when righteous people must take up arms to defend their laws and liberty. The Nephites were wise enough to rely on the strength of the Lord to help them maintain the voice of the people, the only sure way of combating attempts against it (see Alma 2:18, 28, 30–31).