An Amalickiah Virus

As I’ve watched what’s been happening in our country during this last month, I see an Amalickiah at work. His plan was subtle, and he started a war that lasted for years. Many people died including Amalickiah and his brother. We can expect similar results if we refuse to see what is happening today.

The story of Amalickiah can be found in Alma 21. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, I’ve included a brief synopsis at the end of this post. 

What are some of the lessons that we can learn from this story?

#1 POWER Amalickiah wanted power over all of the people and was willing deceive and murder to obtain that power. He flattered the lower judges and said they could also have power if they would help him.

Is there a world organization that is currently seeking to control the world? What is their agenda? What means will be employed to obtain their goal? Is the World Health Organization controlled by those who seek a one world government? Are they using the corona-virus to promote their agenda?  If they accomplish their goal, will it destroy the freedom of all nations?

#2 ALLIANCE  To accomplish his design, Amalickiah needed to unite the Lamanite army. He needed their cooperation and unification. He couldn’t accomplish his plan with his own strength. He hoodwinked the Lamanite king, Lehonti, and the Lamanite army. Many lost their lives because of their misplaced trust. 

Has this corona-virus united the liberals and conservatives? People who used to say “Over my dead body!” are now willingly and obediently submitting to martial law. 

#3 BAND WAGON The Lamanites’ love and affection for their king was used against them. Amalickiah blinded them when he rallied them together to chase after the king’s guards who had witnessed the murder. The gullible Lamanites were willing to chase after the king’s guards just because they were told that those guards were the murderers. Everyone else was doing it, so they followed the crowd without thinking.

Are we following the crowd? Are we looking at the evidence? Are we thinking for ourselves?

#4 IGNORING COMMON SENSE If the king’s guards wanted to kill the king, do you think they would do it right in front of the commander of the Lamanite army? If any one of the Lamanites would have looked at the situation with common sense, they could have easily guessed that the king’s guards did not kill the king. Also, did they think it was a little strange that Lehonti died shortly after becoming commander over the whole army? Did it raise suspicion when Amalickiah just happened to be second in command? 

What does your common sense tell you about the common flu and the coronavirus?

34,157 deaths in the United States due to Influenza 2018-2019

61,099 deaths in the United States due to Influenza 2017-2018

38,230 deaths in the United States due to Influenza 2016-2017

22,705 deaths in the United States due to Influenza 2015-2016

51,376 deaths in the United States due to Influenza 2014-2015

37,930 deaths in the United States due to Influenza 2013-2014

42,570 deaths in the United States due to Influenza 2012-2013

17,995 deaths in the United States due to Corona Virus 2020 (worldometers as of April10, 2020)

Most of the people dying from influenza every year are old. Coronavirus is following the same pattern.

#5 FEAR and FORCE Amalickiah put the obedient part of the Lamanite army in a situation where they feared for their lives. He counted on the fact that they would be willing to surrender to Lehonti because of their fear. 

Many people are motivated by fear. This corona-virus pandemic is propagated by people’s fears. People are willing to trade away their freedom because they are afraid. 

Here are the facts. . .

We’ve had over 16,205,600 deaths this year (as of April 10, 2020 worldometers). Only 100,450 of them are the result of corona-virus. For every 160 deaths in the world, one death is the result of the coronavirus. People die every day. There is no reason to be alarmed. Yet, people are paranoid and afraid. In their fear, they have easily submitted to martial law. 

#6 MEDIA and PROPAGANDA Forcing the Lamanites to go to war didn’t work, so Amalickiah built towers where he had men speak to them until they wanted to go to war. If you lie to someone long enough, they will start believe it.

Do you believe what you are hearing from the media? Are you allowing yourself to be sucked in by the propaganda? Why? Where is your evidence?

#7 FALSE COVER STORIES The Lamanite king trusted Amalickiah with the army and ended up dead. Lehonti trusted Amalickiah to be second in command and ended up dead. The queen believed the witness of those who had murdered the king and ended up marrying the murderer. The Lamanites believed Amalickiah’s words and many lives were lost in the war. 

What are the stories being told? Are they true? What’s really going on?

#8 DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE In his quest for power, Amalickiah did not care how many died. He was a murderer, but he pretended to care about the life of the one he had murdered.

Is this lockdown really about saving lives? Or is it about promoting an agenda? 

As of today there have been over 11,714,000 abortions in 2020. It doesn’t look like our world values human life.

Over 3,579,144 people have died of communicable diseases this year in the world. There have only been 100,450 coronavirus deaths. I don’t think this coronavirus  “pandemic” warrants the attention it is receiving.

Synopsis of the Story of Amalickiah:

Amalickiah wanted to be king, so he told the lower judges he would make them rulers over the people if they would help him be king.

When Captain Moroni heard what Amalickiah was doing, he tore off a piece of his coat and wrote on it, “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children.” He prayed to God for help. Then he carried this title of liberty throughout the land calling for the people to come and help protect their liberty.

The people came together and promised to obey God or be destroyed by their enemies. When Amalickiah saw Moroni's large army, he snuck away with those who would go with him. Moroni did not want them to go because they might convince the Lamanites to fight against the Nephites. Moroni’s armies were able to stop most of them, but Amalickiah escaped with a few of his men.

Amalickiah stirred the Lamanites up to anger until their king wanted to go to war with the Nephites. Most of the Lamanites refused to go to war and fled to the hill Onidah. They chose a man named Lehonti to be their leader. The Lamanite king told Amalickiah to lead the obedient part of his army and force Lehonti and his men to go to war.

Instead of obeying the king, Amalickiah made a deal with Lehonti. He said Lehonti's men could surround the king's army during the night. The king’s army would surrender, if afterward Lehonti would make Amalickiah second in command. Lehonti became commander over the whole army. Then Amalickiah had his servant slowly poison Lehonti. When Lehonti died, Amalickiah became commander of the entire army.

Amalickiah returned with the army. The king thought Amalickiah had done what he had asked him to do, so the king and his servants went out to meet them. Amalickiah's servants went and bowed before the king. When the king put out his hand to raise them, one of Amalickiah's servants stabbed the king to the heart, and he died. The king’s servants who saw the murder were frightened and ran away.

Amalickiah pretended to be angry. He lied to the army and said the king had been killed by his own servants. He encouraged those who loved the king to chase and kill the king’s servants. Amalickiah then went with those who had killed the king to speak with the queen. They lied to her about her husband's death, and Amalickiah married the queen. 

After Amalickiah became king of the Lamanites, he had men speak from their towers against the Nephites. He did this until he had hardened the Lamanites’ hearts and blinded their minds. This continued until they were angry and wanted to go to war. Amalickiah’s desire was to be king over all the land.

While this was happening among the Lamanites, Captain Moroni was preparing the minds of the Nephites to be faithful to God. The Nephite army built forts to protect themselves. They did not want to fight the Lamanites. But when the Lamanites would come to destroy their families, they would be prepared to defend themselves.

This time the Lamanites wore thick clothing and armor. They thought their large army could easily beat the Nephites. But they were afraid to fight the Nephites when they saw a high ridge of dirt around their city. The leaders of the Lamanites swore with an oath they would destroy the next Nephite city they came to.

The Lamanites were disappointed to find the next city was even stronger. Because of their oath, they had to attack. When they tried to go through the entrance or dig away the dirt, they were slain. After all their chief captains were dead, they went home. Amalickiah was angry with his people because he had not gotten what he wanted.