Warning to us!

Ether 8

Strife and contention fill the kingdom.  Akish forms oath-bound secret combination.  Moroni warns us of this infectious evil.

This chapter reads like a novel.  Actually, I see a lot of our political happenings in it really.  Jared takes over the kingdom by flattering people to come to his cause.  (Does this sound a little political?)  After he has half of the kingdom, he takes his father into captivity and becomes the leader.  So Omer, his father, raises children in captivity.  When they grow up, they see how sad their father is and they decide to gather an army and go after Jared.  They restore the kingdom to their father, Shule, but it doesn’t end there.

Jared is now sad.  His daughter sounds very much like some of the women you see in movies and tv these days.  In other words, she doesn’t have a lot of morals.  She told her father to invite Akish to dinner and she’d entertain him.  He would ask to marry her and her father would give permission if Akish brought him the head of his father, Shule.  Akish involves others in his plan to do this.  They take an oath of secrecy.  This is called “secret combinations” – the work of Satan.

Moroni gives serious space to warning us (the Gentiles) of this type of thing.  In v22, he promises that when secret combinations come into our society, it is a fast road to destruction.  We are called to repent (v23).

This story line feels so political to me as it relates to today’s affairs and it’s frightening to think how – because of the evil designs of people who want to be king – we are headed to destruction if we can’t figure out how to get these people out of control.  I have never felt such urgency over a political year in my life.  It is so important that we elect people who understand our Constitution and will protect it.  Bit by bit, our politicians have started stripping the Constitution, and it must stop. 

Again, I need to do my part, whatever that is.  For today, it might be no more than alerting you, my reader, to take seriously your part in the election process.  Go to your Caucus meeting next week and make your voice count.  It seems like a little thing, but if our prophet is asking us to clear our calendars so we can do this, it seems to me to be pretty important.