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. About 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 man, 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 Gideon by the sword, who was executed according
to the law—
2 Now this Amlici had,
by his cunning, drawn 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 voice of the people.
4 Therefore, if it
were possible that Amlici should gain the voice of the people, he, being a
wicked man, would deprive 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 contentions one with another.
6 And thus they did assemble
themselves together to cast in their voices concerning the matter; and they
were laid before the judges.
7 And it came to pass
that the voice 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 consecrate 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 Amlicites; and
the remainder were called 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 weapons of war, of every kind.
Alma 2:1-12
We have arrived at the fifth year of Alma’s rule as chief judge. For the first time in the record, we see a
civil war begin. Amlici, who was a
follower of Nehor, decided he wanted to be king.
These problems were not actually unexpected. “When Alma got in [as chief judge] lots of
people had to be excommunicated, and even more of them just left of their own
free will. They just apostatized and joined the Nehors. This is what was
happening, and it picked up speed with this man Amlici, who took advantage of
the motion.”[1]
Amlici was able to gain support of some of the people. While it is not addressed in the Book of
Mormon, there must have been tensions between those who were Mulekites and the
Nephites.
Let’s go back to Amaleki’s record. “But it
came to pass that Mosiah caused that they should be taught in his language. And it came to pass that after they were
taught in the language of Mosiah, Zarahemla gave a genealogy of his fathers,
according to his memory; and they are written, but not in these plates. And it
came to pass that the people of Zarahemla, and of Mosiah, did unite together;
and Mosiah was appointed to be their king” (Omni 1:18 - 19).
So here’s the situation.
Outsiders come to Zarahemla. The
outsiders teach them their language instead of learning theirs. The king of the outsiders becomes king of
Zarahemla.
No political situation like this would have happened so
smoothly. There had to be those who
opposed the major political change in Zarahemla. The opposition would never go away. It is possible that Amlici, as well as many
other dissenters, were of Mulekite ancestry.
Some of the Mulekites, however,
must have soon come to the realization that their own ancestors had come not
only from the tribe of Judah but also from the royal line of David, through
Zedekiah, the king of Jerusalem. One may suspect that, before too long, some of
those Mulekites began asserting their inherited rights of kingship, if only in
private. People of this persuasion may eventually have associated with those
who wanted to install Amlici as king (Alma 2:2) and who, under him, would take
up arms in civil revolt against Alma in the fifth year of the reign of the
judges in Zarahemla, soon after the abandonment of the kingship by Mosiah.[2]
A summary of Amlici and his efforts is below.
[A]fter [Nehor’s] demise his order
showed its power-seeking face through Amlici, a new organizer of dissent
against the norms of Nephite society. He was a follower of Nehor … His intent
was to "deprive [the people] of their rights and privileges of the church;
for it was his intent to destroy the church of God" (Alma 2:4). His
mechanism was first to amass political support and then to convert that
strength to armed force—a rebel army—in order to have himself declared king
(see Alma 2:2, 10). To make this agenda palatable to the widest possible
mass of supporters, he used Nehor's materialistic belief system as religious
validation to color his political ambitions.[3]
Church members had a very real concern. If enough people supported Amlici, there were
dire consequences for the church. “Amlici's
story, four years after Nehor and still early in Nephite democracy, is the
quintessential tale of alienation. In a dramatic election with widely differing
alternatives, exactly how the political majority will coalesce is uncertain, as
manifest by the ‘alarming’ nature of Amlici's challenge (Alma 2:3).”[4]
Mosiah warned of the consequences of choosing evil. “And if
the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the
time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he
will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land”
(Mosiah 29:27).
It was a likely, should Amlici win, the members would lose the
rights and he would do all he could to destroy the church. We will see this was a real concern on the
people’s part. “Amlici was a wicked man
who wanted to be king and enslave the Nephites (Alma 2:4). No people will
voluntarily submit to slavery or even to unfair taxes. Thus, the uncaring and
selfish who try to impose their will on others without their consent must
eventually turn to force…”[5]
As election day approached, people got together where
everyone had the chance to express their opinions. Those who supported Amlici met in one group;
those who opposed him met in another.[6]
These groups were very contentious. The Savior warns us against contention and
its source. “For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention
is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he
stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another” (3
Nephi 11:29).
Finally, the day came.
The voice of the people were presented to the judges, and the majority rejected
Amlici. He would not become king.
Those who opposed Amlici were pleased with the results;
Amlici and his supporters were angry.
Even so, they accepted the results, right? Nope. Their
response was if the results were against us, the results must be ignored,
Their first action was to consecrate him as king. Imagine the following situation. President Obama is being sworn into office
after being re-elected president. At the
same time, on the other side of Washington, Mitt Romney is being sworn in as
president by his supporters. This was
the situation the Nephites faced.
For his first act, “King” Amlici ordered his people to begin
an armed revolution to make him king over all the people.
Amlici and his followers broke away from the Nephites,
forming the Amlicites. They did what
they could to distinguish themselves from the Nephites. “And
the Amlicites were distinguished from the Nephites, for they had marked
themselves with red in their foreheads after the manner of the Lamanites;
nevertheless they had not shorn their heads like unto the Lamanites” (Alma 3:4). “The contrast between Amlicites and Nephites
in Alma 2:11 implies that the Amlicites were, in fact, not Nephites.”[7]
The Nephites were aware of the efforts of the Amlicites, and
they began to prepare for civil war.
[1] Teachings
of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2 – Lecture 43: Alma 1-2, Maxwell
Institute, accessed January 17, 2015.
[2] The
Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon – The Trial of Nehor, Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 17, 2015.
[3] The
Disciple as Scholar – Religious Groups and Movements among the Nephites, 200–1
B.C., John L. Sorenson, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 17, 2015.
[4] For
the Peace of the People: War and Democracy in the Book of Mormon, Ryan W.
Davis, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 17, 2015.
[5] Economic
Insights from the Book of Mormon, Lindon J. Robison, Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 17, 2015.
[6] In
Utah, we being our even year election process with caucuses. Republicans meet in one group; Democrats meet
in another. Unlike this situation, the
caucuses are usually done in a peaceful and respectful manner.
[7] Warfare
in the Book of Mormon – Book of Mormon Tribal Affiliation and Military Castes,
John A. Tvedtnes, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 17, 2015.
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