After having agreed to assassinate his friend, Omer, he gathered
his kinfolk and had them swear an oath of faithfulness to him and whatever he
desired them to do. We again see the devil’s use of counterfeit oaths made in
God’s name to commit sin. Should anyone violate this oath, that person would
die. The Gadianton robbers used this same blasphemous oath among their people.
“And [Kishkumen] went unto those that sent him, and they all entered into a
covenant, yea, swearing by their everlasting Maker, that they would tell no man
that Kishkumen had murdered Pahoran” (Helaman 1:11).
It is made clear who was the source of this oath. “And
behold, it is he who is the author of all sin. And behold, he doth carry on his
works of darkness and secret murder, and doth hand down their plots, and their
oaths, and their covenants, and their plans of awful wickedness, from
generation to generation according as he can get hold upon the hearts of the
children of men” (Helaman 6:30).
Think just how offensive this must be in the eyes of God. By
doing this, Satan is openly mocking God, using his name to justify the
commission of the vilest of sins.
Akish’s group took to oath to never divulge Akish murdered
Jared. If they did, they would die. Hence, they became a secret combination,
“which … is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God” (Ether
8:18).
God, Moroni explains, “worketh not in secret combinations,
neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath
forbidden it, from the beginning of man” (Ether 8:19).
Moroni did not record the oaths and combinations found in
the Jaredite record. “[T]hey are had among all people, and they are had among
the Lamanites. And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am
now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi” (Ether 8:20-21).
Moroni warns his words apply to any nation on the promised
land. If they support secret combinations, they will be destroyed. He will not
allow the blood of the righteous to cry to Him.
“And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and
true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth”
(Revelation 6:10).
“For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath
judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” (Revelation 19:2).
“And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall
cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness.
“Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get
gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to
mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands
to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
“Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the
time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will
not suffer their cries any longer” (Mormon 8:27, 40-41).
“That the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints,
shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to
be avenged of their enemies” (D&C 87:7).
“Now undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors
that led to the destruction of the people, but notice how he singled out the
secret combinations, just as the Church today could point out many threats to
peace, prosperity, and the spread of God’s work, but it has singled out the
greatest threat as the godless conspiracy. There is no conspiracy theory in the
Book of Mormon —it is a conspiracy fact.”[1]
Forty-five years have passed since President Benson spoke
these words. They are even more applicable today than when he spoke them in
1972.
The Lord will avenge the blood of the righteous.
“For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto
me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his
people” (Hebrews 10:30).
God has preserved this record so the Gentiles would be shown
that they will always have the option to repent and not allow the secret combinations
to gain a hold among their people. “And the children of men were numerous upon
all the face of the land. And in those days Satan had great dominion among men,
and raged in their hearts; and from thenceforth came wars and bloodshed; and a
man’s hand was against his own brother, in administering death, because of secret
works, seeking for power” (Moses 6:15).
Should these secret combinations grow, the works of
destruction will come upon them. When we see these secret combinations becoming
a part of our society, we need to be aware of how bad things are.
In America today, we see secret combinations in the form of
gangs that rule with terror. Examples of these gangs include street gangs, prison
gangs, organized crime gangs, and juvenile gangs. Wikipedia tells us there are
over 33,000 gangs in America today.[2]
All these gangs have a common source. “And our spirits must
have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut
out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in
misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents,
who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the
children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret
works of darkness” (2 Nephi 9:9).
“Jacob was the first Book of Mormon author to speak of secret combinations … Jacob speaks of secret combinations in terms of evidence
of Satan’s degree of depravity. Jacob points out that were it not for Christ,
all mankind would be under the rule of the devil, the founder of secret
combinations. As Moroni warns latter-day readers of the evils of secret
combinations, he echoes Jacob’s phrases. Moroni states that ‘secret combinations’ are ‘built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath
caused man to commit murder from the
beginning” (Ether 8:24–25)” (emphasis in original).[3]
“For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power
over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which
was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal,
sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil” (Mosiah
16:3).
They work to destroy our society and take away our freedoms.
They are like those, who, in the past, “who hath hardened [their] hearts of men
that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from
the beginning” (Ether 8:25).
Moroni was commanded to write these words in the hope the
day will come when Satan shall no longer have power over us. “Wherefore, all
things which have been revealed unto the children of men shall at that day be
revealed; and Satan shall have power over the hearts of the children of men no
more, for a long time. And now, my beloved brethren, I make an end of my
sayings” (2 Nephi 30:18).
Moroni hopes we will be persuaded to do good continually,
coming “unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved” (Ether 8:26).
“And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for
the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be
made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto
them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe
in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal” (2 Nephi 33:4).
[1] Civic
Standards for the Faithful Saints, President Ezra Taft Benson, April 1972
General Conference.
[3] Jacob’s
Textual Legacy, John Hilton III, Journal
of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22/2 (2013): 61.
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