THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA
CHAPTER 46
Amalickiah conspires to be king—Moroni raises the title of liberty—He rallies the people to defend their religion—True believers are called Christians—A remnant of Joseph shall be preserved—Amalickiah and the dissenters flee to the land of Nephi—Those who will not support the cause of freedom are put to death. Between 73 and 72 B.C.
1
And it came to pass that as many as would not hearken to the
awords of Helaman and his brethren were gathered together against their brethren.
2 And now behold, they were exceedingly wroth, insomuch that they were determined to slay them.
3 Now the leader of those who were wroth against their brethren was a large and a strong man; and his name was
aAmalickiah.
4 And Amalickiah was desirous to be a
aking; and those people who were wroth were also desirous that he should be their king; and they were the greater part of them the lower
bjudges of the land, and they were seeking for power.
5 And they had been led by the
aflatteries of Amalickiah, that if they would support him and establish him to be their king that he would make them rulers over the people.
6 Thus they were led away by Amalickiah to dissensions, notwithstanding the preaching of Helaman and his brethren, yea, notwithstanding their exceedingly great care over the church, for they were
ahigh priests over the church.
7 And there were many in the church who believed in the
aflattering words of Amalickiah, therefore they
bdissented even from the church; and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi exceedingly precarious and dangerous, notwithstanding their great
cvictory which they had had over the Lamanites, and their great rejoicings which they had had because of their
ddeliverance by the hand of the Lord.
8 Thus we see how
aquick the children of men do
bforget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do
ciniquity, and to be led away by the evil one.
9 Yea, and we also see the great
awickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men.
10 Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to
adestroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of
bliberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the
crighteous’ sake.
11 And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the
achief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah.
12
And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—aIn 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
abreastplate, 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 btitle of liberty) and he
cbowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of
dChristians remain to possess the land—
14 For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.
15 And those who did belong to the church were
afaithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ
btook upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or
cChristians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.
16 And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the
afreedom of the land might be favored.
17 And it came to pass that when he had poured out his soul to God, he named all the land which was
asouth of the land
bDesolation, yea, and in fine, all the land, both on the
cnorth and on the south—A chosen land, and the land of
dliberty.
18 And he said: Surely God shall not
asuffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own
btransgressions.
19 And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the
arent 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
aenter into a covenant that they will
bmaintain 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 atogether with their armor girded about their loins, brending their garments in token, or as a ccovenant, 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 dashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.The fight for Liberty as declared by Moroni began before we came to earth and continues on the earth today. Ezra Taft Benson explained this in a conference talk in 1962 when he said:“Human liberty is the mainspring of human progress.
“The one great revolution in the world is the revolution for human liberty. This was the paramount issue in the great council in heaven before this earth life. It has been the issue throughout the ages. It is the issue today. . . .
“In that sacred volume of scripture, the Book of Mormon, we note the great and prolonged struggle for liberty. We also note the complacency of the people and their frequent willingness to give up their liberty for the promises of a would-be provider.
“The record reveals that a man ‘of cunning device . . . and . . . many flattering words,’ . . . sought . . . ‘to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them. . . .’ (Alma 46:10.)
“Then Moroni, the chief commander of the armies, dramatically ‘. . . 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.
“‘. . . (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, . . .’ (See ibid., 46:12–13.)
“This great general, Moroni, like the prophets whose words are recorded in the Book of Mormon, spoke of the Americas as a chosen land—the land of liberty. He led the people in battle who were willing to fight to ‘maintain their liberty.’
“And the record states: ‘. . . that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, . . . and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites.’ (Ibid., 46:36.) . . .
“While this incident occurred some seventy years B.C., the struggle went on through one thousand years covered by this sacred Book of Mormon record. In fact, the struggle for liberty is a continuing one—it is with us in a very real sense today right here on this choice land of the Americas” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1962, pp. 14–15).
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