Amalickiah’s servants prepare to kill the king. (Image created with AI)
This reading of the Book of Mormon has shown me just how terrible a man Amalickiah really was. The purpose here is to put his public life into perspective. That purpose is discussed at the end of the article.
Overview of his life
Amalickiah creates a dissension that politically splits the church into two parties, those who want to follow him and those who continue to follow the prophet (Alma 45:23).
23 And now it came to pass that after Helaman and his brethren had appointed priests and teachers over the churches that there arose a among them, and they would not give heed to the words of Helaman and his brethren;
Amalickiah used anger to stir up the people to get what he wanted, which was to be king. Their anger was great enough that members of the church were willing to kill other members of the church over their political differences (Alma 46:2, 4).
2 And now behold, they were exceedingly wroth, insomuch that they were determined to slay them.
4 And Amalickiah was desirous to be a ; 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 of the land, and they were seeking for power.
There had been others before Amalickiah who had promised them power if they made him king, but he did something others hadn’t done before. His rhetoric was so divisive that their anger with one another completely shut out the love of God for one another. Even basic decency was thrown to the wind. The prophets did everything they could to unite the people, but they were so worked up by the angry messages and the flattery of Amalickiah that many left the church over this issue of returning to having a king rule them (Alma 46:6-7).
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 over the church.
7 And there were many in the church who believed in the words of Amalickiah, therefore they even from the church; and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi exceedingly precarious and dangerous, notwithstanding their great which they had had over the Lamanites, and their great rejoicings which they had had because of their by the hand of the Lord.
Side Note: It is important to remember that moving to a system of judges was a blessing from God, revealed to the prophet/king Mosiah. It was a blessing given to them for their obedience to the commandments. God did not want them to have kings precisely because of people like Amalickiah who would trample the commandments and destroy the church if he was made king. Think back to King Noah. Noah continued the church, but with his own priests to teach them falsehoods. Amalickiah wanted to destroy not only the church, but also take away their freedoms by installing himself as king. Evidently he showed open animosity towards the Lord’s church (Alma 46:10).
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 the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the sake.
My guess is that those who were for liberty and were willing to listen to the prophets were also the silent majority. The noise of the minority was so loud and troubling that Moroni had to create his Title of Liberty and rally people all over the land to muster enough support to challenge Amalickiah and his followers (Alma 46:28).
28 And now it came to pass that when Moroni had said these words he went forth, and also sent forth in all the parts of the land where there were dissensions, and gathered together all the people who were desirous to maintain their liberty, to stand against Amalickiah and those who had dissented, who were called Amalickiahites.
Amalickiah saw that the followers mustered by Moroni were strong enough to deny him of his victory over the people, so he convinced those who would follow him to flee into the waiting arms of the Lamanites. He planned on angering the Lamanites, just as he had angered the Nephites, until they were willing to go to war against the Nephites. In other words, if the direct approach among the Nephites wouldn’t get him his crown then he would use their enemy, the Lamanites to get his crown. Power. Amalickiah hungered for power. How he got it didn’t matter. He would do whatever was necessary to get into power. He had no conscience. He had no love for others, only himself (Alma 46:29-33).
29 And it came to pass that when Amalickiah saw that the people of Moroni were more numerous than the Amalickiahites—and he also saw that his people were concerning the justice of the cause in which they had undertaken—therefore, fearing that he should not gain the point, he took those of his people who would and departed into the .
30 Now Moroni thought it was not expedient that the Lamanites should have any more ; therefore he thought to cut off the people of Amalickiah, or to take them and bring them back, and put Amalickiah to death; yea, for he knew that he would stir up the Lamanites to anger against them, and cause them to come to battle against them; and this he knew that Amalickiah would do that he might obtain his purposes.
31 Therefore Moroni thought it was expedient that he should take his armies, who had gathered themselves together, and armed themselves, and entered into a covenant to keep the peace—and it came to pass that he took his army and marched out with his tents into the wilderness, to cut off the course of Amalickiah in the wilderness.
32 And it came to pass that he did according to his desires, and marched forth into the wilderness, and headed the armies of Amalickiah.
33 And it came to pass that Amalickiah with a small number of his men, and the remainder were delivered up into the hands of Moroni and were taken back into the land of Zarahemla.
Did you catch that last verse? When his plans were threatened by Moroni Amalickiah abandoned his own followers who had given up so much for him up to this point, and fled with his inner circle of supporters, leaving the rest of his followers to be captured and taken prisoners by Moroni. Like Satan does to us, Amalickiah did not support those who followed him when it mattered most.
For four years the Nephites thought they had heard the last of Amalickiah, though Moroni feared he would stir up the Lamanites to come to battle against the Nephites. What Amalickiah actually did was beyond anything even Moroni could have imagined. But at least the Nephites had four years of peace, and order was restored in the church once again.
38 And Helaman and the did also maintain order in the church; yea, even for the space of four years did they have much peace and rejoicing in the church.
Amalickiah among the Lamanites
Starting in Alma 47 we find out just how depraved Amalickiah really was. Just as Moroni feared, Amalickiah did stir up the Lamanites with his much flattery and divisiveness until the king decided he should go to war with the Nephites over whatever it was that Amalickiah had told him. The only problem was that after the last war where the Lamanites were beaten so badly that they didn’t even bother to count the number of their dead, many of the people refused to go to war again with the Nephites. This humiliated the king and made him angry, so he gave Amalickiah command of the troops willing to obey the king with the instructions to force the rest of the people into submission. This was right up Amalickiah’s alley.
This is where Amalickiah’s true nature is put on full display by Mormon in his story telling (Alma 47:4).
4 Now behold, this was the desire of Amalickiah; for he being a very man to do evil therefore he laid the plan in his heart to the king of the Lamanites.
Amalickiah used his position as the representative of the king to flatter the leader of those who didn’t want to go to war, so he would at least talk to him.
8 Now it was not Amalickiah’s intention to give them battle according to the commandments of the king; but behold, it was his intention to gain favor with the armies of the Lamanites, that he might place himself at their head and dethrone the king and take possession of the kingdom.
10 And it came to pass that when it was night he sent a secret embassy into the mount Antipas, desiring that the leader of those who were upon the mount, whose name was Lehonti, that he should come down to the foot of the mount, for he desired to speak with him.
Lehonti was at least smart enough not to go down to talk to Amalickiah, but eventually Amalikiah went almost all the way to Lehonti’s tent to talk to him. He then used flattery and manipulation to convince Lehonti that he, Amalickiah was actually on Lehonti’s side. He got Lehonti to agree to make Amalickiah his second in command and then he betrayed the king by turning over the whole army to the very person who was in command of the army who refused to do the king’s bidding. This was all part of his master plan of deception so he could gain the power he sought (Alma 47:13, 15-16).
13 And it came to pass that when Lehonti had come down with his guards to Amalickiah, that Amalickiah desired him to come down with his army in the night-time, and surround those men in their camps over whom the king had given him command, and that he would deliver them up into Lehonti’s hands, if he would make him (Amalickiah) a second over the whole army.
15 And it came to pass that when they saw that they were surrounded, they pled with Amalickiah that he would suffer them to fall in with their brethren, that they might not be destroyed. Now this was the very thing which Amalickiah desired.
16 And it came to pass that he delivered his men, to the commands of the king. Now this was the thing that Amalickiah desired, that he might accomplish his designs in dethroning the king.
Becoming King
Now that Amalickiah was second in command over all the armies of the Lamanites, the next step was to get rid of Lehonti. Nothing a little poison wouldn’t fix (Alma 47:18).
18 And it came to pass that Amalickiah caused that one of his servants should administer by degrees to Lehonti, that he died.
Now that Lehonti was out of the way it was time to get rid of the king of the land. (Can you say ruthless?) As the newly appointed leader of all the king’s armies, Amalickiah marched the whole army into the city where they king was. The king had no idea what had taken place up to this point. He just assumed that “faithful” Amalickiah had done his bidding to get the rest of his people willing to fight the Nephites.
Amalickiah, instead of going himself, sent servants to inform the king of their arrival. When the King bid them rise, one of Amalickiah’s servants stabbed the king in the heart, killing him instantly. His servants saw this and fled in terror, so the murderers spread the cry of death and blamed it on the servants who had fled for safety to the Nephites to live with the people of Ammon (Alma 25-26).
25 Now the servants of the king fled; and the servants of Amalickiah raised a cry, saying:
26 Behold, the servants of the king have stabbed him to the heart, and he has fallen and they have fled; behold, come and see.
This next move is something you would see in a movie. You really can’t make this kind of thing up. The person responsible for the death of the king, Amalickiah, brought up the armies and in a false show of compassion and loyalty pretended to be upset over the death of their beloved king (Alma 47:27).
27 And it came to pass that Amalickiah commanded that his armies should march forth and see what had happened to the king; and when they had come to the spot, and found the king lying in his gore, Amalickiah pretended to be wroth, and said: Whosoever loved the king, let him go forth, and pursue his servants that they may be slain.
The long and the short of the story is that he now presented himself to the queen, who eventually accepts the new leader of the armies as her husband, making Amalickiah king over all the Lamanites. But that isn’t good enough. Amalickiah now resorted to full on public propaganda to convince the general populace of the “need” to go to war with the Nephites. To do this he “hardened the hearts … and blinded their minds, and stirred them up to anger.” (Alma 48:1-3)
1 And now it came to pass that, as soon as had obtained the kingdom he began to the hearts of the Lamanites against the people of Nephi; yea, he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their , against the Nephites.
2 And thus he did inspire their hearts against the Nephites, insomuch that in the latter end of the year of the reign of the judges, he having accomplished his designs thus far, yea, having been made king over the Lamanites, he also to over all the land, yea, and all the people who were in the land, the Nephites as well as the Lamanites.
3 Therefore he had accomplished his design, for he had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites and blinded their minds, and stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he had gathered together a numerous host to go to battle against the Nephites.
What was it that was driving Amalickiah at this point? He was already king. His hatred for those who had denied him what he wanted was so great that his goal now was to bring the entire Nephite people into bondage to serve him. Revenge would be had at last! Alma 48:4
4 For he was determined, because of the greatness of the number of his people, to the Nephites and to bring them into bondage.
The next couple of chapters recount how relentlessly Amalickiah pursued his plans to enslave the Nephite people. Finally, the Nephite general, Teancum sneaked into the tent of Amalickiah and put a javelin through his heart, pretty much like Amalickiah had done to the Lamanite king he killed.
33 And it came to pass that when the night had come, Teancum and his servant stole forth and went out by night, and went into the camp of Amalickiah; and behold, sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was caused by the labors and heat of the day.
34 And it came to pass that Teancum stole privily into the tent of the king, and a javelin to his heart; and he did cause the of the king immediately that he did not awake his servants.
The point of this discussion
In my mind Amalickiah is the physical embodiment of Satan’s hatred for all that is good. In his fight for control over our souls Satan is merciless, ruthless, has no conscience, and doesn’t care who he hurts just as long as he gets what he wants, which is to bring us into bondage and make us serve him. As I look at all the double crossing Amalickiah does, the lies and the deceitfulness, I can think of personal experiences where Satan does the same thing to us. I believe that Amalickiah was a man after Lucifer’s own heart. He was duplicitous, selfish, and would abandon even his most faithful followers if it suited his immediate purposes. He cared for no one but himself, and his hunger for control and power was limitless. All of these are also personal characteristics of Satan.
As you read these chapters compare the personality of Amalickiah with those of Moroni and the other righteous men talked about. These chapters aren’t just about one of the most wicked men to ever live, they are also about all the good that is required to stand up to that kind of wickedness.
There will be people in the last days that will be like Amalickiah. They may even draw people out of the church with their divisive language and promises of higher moral ground or of power and prestige. We have seen it before in the church, like when the women’s movement sought for equality, but did it in such a way that it would have injured the Lord’s church and caused more problems than it could have fixed. It happened again with the movement to grant women the priesthood. Who knows how many issues might come up in the last days that will cause the kind of division among us that these chapters illustrate.
The only solution in any of these cases is to follow the prophet. When we follow the prophet we find peace through unity and service to others. Moroni gave his life in the service of the freedoms and peace of his people. Too bad there were so many who were unwilling to listen to the prophets and instead followed the voices that could only lead them down to destruction.
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