Lehonti was the leader of the Lamanite army. Amalickiah wanted to be the king over all the land. Amalickiah had an ingenious plan to make this happen, and it first started with taking control of the Lamanite army. He would then become king of the Lamanites, and from there would take over the whole land and be king of all. He was going to start with the Lamanites because the Nephites didn't have a king, and it's awfully hard to become king over a people who aren't in a monarchy. Amalickiah's plan began with Lehonti. When Amalickiah approached with his portion of the army that he was put in charge of, Lehonti took his men and they retreated up a mountain and refused to come down. Amalickiah then sent up an embassy, requesting Lehonti to come down and talk to him. Lehonti said no. The embassy came down and reported to Amalickiah, so he sent up another embassy to try to convince him to come down just to talk. Again, Lehonti said no. Once again, Amalickiah sent an embassy up and, once again, Lehonti refused to come down. Amalickiah saw that Lehonti was pretty set on staying up on his mountain. So, Amalickiah, in his cunning craftiness, went up the mountain, almost to the camp, and requested that Lehonti come down, just a little ways, with his guards. Lehonti didn't see much wrong with that, so he came down, just a little ways with his guards, and talked to Amalickiah. Amalickiah then laid out his plan: he told Lehonti that he didn't want to fight, and that Lehonti should bring his troops down in the night, and surround Amalickiah's troops, and Amalickiah would give them up into his hands, as long as he could be second in command. Lehonti is totally down with this idea, because it gets him more power, so he does exactly what Amalickiah says. Now, Amalickiah is second in command of the army. And how do you get from second in command to first in command? You kill the first in command. As it says in Alma 47:18 "And it came to pass that Amalickiah caused that one of his servants should administer poison by degrees to Lehonti, that he died."
Amalickiah in this story is just like Satan. He'll tempt you all the time, and sure, you can say no to the big ones, like coming all the way down the mountain, but eventually, he'll be more subtle. He'll come almost all the way up to your camp, so you just have to come down a little bit, and he'll even let you bring your guards. He'll lull you into that false sense of security, and he'll make you feel like you're in charge the whole time. And then, once you've fallen into his trap, he'll administer poison to you by degrees until you die. Notice, Amalickiah didn't have someone thrust a spear into his heart, or administer one big dose of poison and kill him instantly, rather he did it slowly, by degrees. Just like Satan. He'll slowly lower you, bring you down, until you're spiritually dead. We must always remember to resist even the little temptations. We shouldn't even go down from our camp a little bit. Never let the enticements of more power, or gain, or pride, or self satisfaction be a reason to lower yourself at all. Stay in your camp on your mountain. Never leave.
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| Don't leave here. You're safe here. |
This is the story I read yesterday morning while getting ready for the day! Great application to our lives today. Likening the scriptures is the best way to learn from them and to really draw you into the stories.
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