Alma 46:4-10

⁴ And Amalickiah was desirous to be a king; 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 judges of the land, and they were seeking for power.  ⁵ And they had been led by the flatteries 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 high priests over the church.

⁷ And there were many in the church who believed in the flattering words of Amalickiah, therefore they dissented even from the church; and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi exceedingly precarious and dangerous, notwithstanding their great victory which they had had over the Lamanites, and their great rejoicings which they had had because of their deliverance by the hand of the Lord.

Alma 46:4-7 (Emphasis mine)

We learn that the leader of the opposition, Amalickiah, wanted to be king.  His followers wanted to make him king.  We also see the lower judges of the land wanted more power, so they supported.  “Inasmuch as the lower judges of the land favored these objectives (see Alma 46:4), those associated with the order of Nehor may have at least influenced, if not corrupted, the legal society of the Nephites at large.”[1]

Amalickiah used flattery to get his support.  He promised the judges powers.  The church was not immune.  In spite of the efforts of Helaman(2) and the elders and priests, there were people who “dissented even from the church.”

We see the wisdom in warnings we received about flattery. 

For there is no faithfulness

   in their mouth;

their inward part

   is very wickedness;

their throat

   is an open sepulchre;

   they flatter

      with their tongue.

(Psalms 5:9)

Nevertheless they did flatter

him with their mouth,

   and they lied

   unto him

      with their tongues.

For their heart

   was not right with him,

neither were they

   stedfast in his covenant.

(Psalms 78:36-37)

Solomon warned “[a] lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin” (Proverbs 26:28).  Nephi warned us that the devil “flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance” (2 Nephi 28:22). 

Hugh Nibley tells us:

“Helaman's unyielding position became a great annoyance to those people whose hearts were set on the things of the new prosperity, and they formed an opposition party under Amalickiah (Alma 46:1—3). His object was to become king, and he had started out as head of the most violent of the factions, organized in high anger and out to kill, ‘gathered together against their brethren . . . exceedingly wroth . . . determined to slay them’ (Alma 46:1—3). To these, by promises of high office and power, he added a host of ambitious local officials, … These were those lawmen who had plotted against Helaman's father, Alma, when he had been the head of the state, and of whom he had said, ‘The foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges’ (Alma 10:27). To the royalists and ambitious lawyers Amalickiah added a third force, ‘those people who professed the blood of nobility’ (Alma 51:21). Such would have been the great families, the ‘kindreds’ of 3 Nephi 6:27. Finally, there were ‘many in the church who believed in the flattering words of Amalickiah,’ who obviously told them what they wanted to hear (Alma 46:7).

“It was a dangerous coalition to be threatening a government which had barely succeeded in making a precarious peace with a foreign enemy of vastly superior forces, ‘and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi exceedingly precarious and dangerous’ (Alma 46:7).”[2] (Emphasis mine)

Mormon interrupts the record with his observation:

⁸ 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.  ⁹ Yea, and we also see the great wickedness 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 destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous' sake.

Alma 46:8-10 (Emphasis mine)

The people had won a major victory over the Lamanites with the help of the Lord.  They were a righteous people.  Now, along comes one wicked man.  He is able to tear apart the whole fabric of society.  We now have a divided society.  We have righteous people who quick to “forget the Lord their God” and “quick to do iniquity,” all because of one evil man.

Mosiah(2)’s words to the people when he was abolishing the monarchy rings true here.  “For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction!  Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations of his people.  Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of their iniquities they were brought into bondage” (Mosiah 29:17-18).

Not only did Mosiah(2) have the example of Noah, he was very mindful of the Jaredite experience, having translated that record.  We read about a people who have kings who are overthrown by others, who live and act as king while in captivity.  This division eventually led to the collapse of the Jaredite civilization. 

Nephite society is facing a major threat.  A righteous hero is needed.  And, a hero steps forward to lead the people.

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[1] The Impact of Shifting Cultural Assumptions on the Military Policies Directing Armed Conflict Reported in the Book of Alma, Matthew M. F. Hilton, and Neil J. Flinders, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 26, 2012.

[2] A Rigorous Test: Military History, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 26, 2012.