Amalickiah Wants to Be King
Many people would not listen to the words of Helaman and his brothers. They gathered together against their brothers. They were very angry. They wanted to kill them. The leader of the angry people was a large and strong man. His name was Amalickiah.
Amalickiah wanted to be a king. The angry people also wanted him to be their king. Most of them were lower judges of the land. They were looking for power. Amalickiah had said nice things to them. He told them that if they made him their king, he would make them rulers over the people. Amalickiah led them away to fight against each other. This happened even though Helaman and his brothers were preaching. Helaman and his brothers took great care of the church because they were high priests. Many people in the church believed Amalickiah’s nice words. They left the church. This made things very dangerous for the people of Nephi. This happened right after their great win over the Lamanites. They had been so happy because the Lord had saved them.
How Quickly People Forget God
This shows us how quickly people forget the Lord their God. People are quick to do wrong and follow evil. We also see how much bad one very wicked man can cause among people. We see that Amalickiah was a tricky man. He used nice words to lead many people to do wrong things. He wanted to destroy the church of God. He wanted to destroy the freedom that God had given them. God had sent this blessing to the land for the good people.
Moroni Makes the Title of Liberty
Moroni was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites. When he heard about these fights, he was angry with Amalickiah. He tore his coat. He took a piece of it and wrote on it: In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children. He tied it to the end of a pole. He put on his helmet, his chest armor, and his shields. He put on his armor. He took the pole with his torn coat on the end. He called it the title of liberty. He bowed down to the ground and prayed hard to God. He asked God to bless his brothers with freedom as long as Christians lived in the land.
This is what the true believers of Christ who belonged to the church of God were called by those who did not belong to the church. Those who belonged to the church were faithful. All the true believers in Christ happily took the name of Christ, or Christians. They were called this because they believed in Christ who would come. So at this time, Moroni prayed that God would help the Christians and the freedom of the land.
When he had prayed to God, he said all the land south of the land Desolation and all the land on the north and south was a chosen land. It was a land of freedom. He said: “God will not let us be stepped on and destroyed because we take the name of Christ. This will only happen if we bring it on ourselves by doing wrong.
The People Make a Promise
When Moroni said these words, he went among the people. He waved his torn coat in the air so everyone could see what he had written. He cried out in a loud voice: \”Look! Whoever will keep this title on the land, let them come with the strength of the Lord. Let them make a promise to keep their rights and their religion so the Lord God can bless them.\”
When Moroni said these words, the people came running together with their armor on. They tore their clothes as a sign or promise that they would not leave the Lord their God. In other words, if they did wrong and broke God’s commandments, or if they became ashamed to take the name of Christ, then the Lord would tear them like they had torn their clothes. This was the promise they made. They threw their torn clothes at the feet of Moroni and said: \”We promise to our God that we will be destroyed like our brothers in the land northward if we do wrong. He may throw us at the feet of our enemies like we have thrown our clothes at your feet to be walked on if we do wrong.\”
Moroni Reminds Them of Joseph’s Coat
Moroni said to them: \”We are part of the family of Jacob. We are part of the family of Joseph. His coat was torn by his brothers into many pieces. Let us remember to keep God’s commandments or our clothes will be torn by our brothers. We will be thrown into prison, or sold, or killed.\” \”Let us keep our freedom as part of Joseph’s family. Let us remember the words of Jacob before he died. He saw that a part of the torn coat of Joseph was kept safe and had not fallen apart. He said: Just as this piece of my son’s coat has been kept safe, so will a part of the family of my son be kept safe by the hand of God and be taken to himself. But the rest of Joseph’s family will die, just like the rest of his coat.\” \”This makes me sad. But I have joy in my son because part of his family will be taken to God.\”
This is what Jacob said. \”Who knows? Maybe the part of Joseph’s family that will die like his coat are those who have left us. It might even be us if we do not stay strong in our faith in Christ.\”
Moroni Chases Amalickiah
When Moroni said these words, he went out. He also sent men to all the parts of the land where there were fights. He gathered together all the people who wanted to keep their freedom. They would stand against Amalickiah and those who had left. They were called Amalickiahites. Amalickiah saw that the people of Moroni were more than the Amalickiahites. He also saw that his people were not sure if their fight was right. He was afraid he would not win. So he took the people who would follow him and left to the land of Nephi.
Moroni thought it was not good for the Lamanites to get stronger. So he wanted to stop the people of Amalickiah. He wanted to bring them back and kill Amalickiah. He knew they would make the Lamanites angry and start a war. Moroni knew this was what Amalickiah wanted to do to get what he wanted. Moroni thought he should take his armies. They had come together, put on their armor, and made a promise to keep the peace. He took his army and marched into the wilderness to stop Amalickiah. He did what he wanted to do. He marched into the wilderness and got ahead of the armies of Amalickiah. Amalickiah ran away with a small number of his men. The rest were given to Moroni. They were taken back to the land of Zarahemla.
Moroni was a man chosen by the chief judges and the people. So he had power over the armies of the Nephites. Any of the Amalickiahites who would not make a promise to support freedom and a free government were killed. Only a few people said no to the promise of freedom. Moroni had the title of liberty put up on every tower in all the land that the Nephites had. This is how Moroni put up the sign of liberty among the Nephites.
Peace Returns to the Land
They began to have peace again in the land. They kept peace in the land until almost the end of the nineteenth year of the judges. Helaman and the high priests also kept order in the church. For four years, they had much peace and happiness in the church.
Many people died. They strongly believed that their souls were saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. They died being happy. Some people died with fevers. At some times of the year, fevers were common in the land. But not many died from fevers because of the good plants and roots that God had made. These plants took away the sicknesses that came from the weather. But many people died of old age. Those who died in the faith of Christ are happy in him, as we must believe.