The Lamanites Attack Ammonihah
The Lamanites were angry because they had killed their own people. So they promised to get revenge on the Nephites. They stopped trying to kill the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. Instead, they took their armies to the land of Zarahemla. They attacked the people in the city of Ammonihah and destroyed them. After that, they fought many battles with the Nephites. The Nephites pushed them back and killed many of them.
Amulon’s Family Is Destroyed
Most of the Lamanites who died were children of Amulon and his brothers. They had been priests of King Noah. The Nephites killed them. The rest of them ran away to the east wilderness. They took control over the Lamanites there. They burned many Lamanites to death because of what they believed. Many Lamanites had suffered a lot and lost much. They started to remember what Aaron and his brothers had taught them in their land. So they stopped believing the traditions their fathers had taught them. They began to believe in the Lord. They believed he gave great power to the Nephites. Many of them became believers in the wilderness. The rulers who were left from Amulon’s family killed all the people who believed these things. Killing these believers made many Lamanites angry. Fighting broke out in the wilderness. The Lamanites began to hunt down Amulon’s family and kill them. They ran away to the east wilderness.
Abinadi’s Words Come True
The Lamanites are still hunting them today. This is how Abinadi’s words came true. He had said this would happen to the priests who made him die by fire. He told them: “What you do to me will be a picture of what will happen later.” Abinadi was the first person to die by fire because he believed in God. This is what he meant. Many others would also die by fire, just like he did. He told Noah’s priests that their children would cause many people to die the same way he died. He said they would be scattered around and killed, like sheep with no shepherd are chased and killed by wild animals. These words came true. The Lamanites chased them, hunted them, and killed them.
More Lamanites Join God’s People
When the Lamanites saw they could not beat the Nephites, they went back to their own land. Many of them moved to the land of Ishmael and the land of Nephi. They joined God’s people, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. They also buried their weapons, just like their brothers had done. They became good people. They followed the Lord’s ways and obeyed his commandments and rules.
They kept the law of Moses. It was important for them to keep the law of Moses because not everything had happened yet. But even though they followed the law of Moses, they looked forward to when Christ would come. They understood that the law of Moses was a picture of his coming. They believed they had to keep doing these practices until Christ would be shown to them. They didn’t think the law of Moses would save them. But the law of Moses did help make their faith in Christ stronger. This way they kept their hope of living with God forever. They trusted what the Spirit said about things that would happen in the future.
The Missionaries Rejoice
Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni, and their brothers were very happy. They had done so well teaching the Lamanites. The Lord had answered their prayers. He had done everything he promised them he would do.