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"They Should Be Taught," Omni 1:14-19,27-30

Omni 1:14-19,27-30

The difference between a righteous leader and one who is lead by their own ambitions is inadvertently addressed in this verses. It still impresses me how one righteous leader can make such an impact and influence for good on others.

How is it that a righteous leader leads? By persuasion and by instruction. In these verses, King Mosiah and his people discover a land that is inhabited by another people, who language had become corrupt and who had lost all knowledge of any existence of their Creator. Verse 18 is pivotal. "But it came to pass that Mosiah caused that they should be taught in his language." The way to end the corruption was to teach them.

The situation is an interesting one. King Mosiah and his people are the refugees, yet they have with them the plates of brass, and have maintained their language and their faith in God.  In very next verse, Mosiah is appointed king over the land. There was no hostile invasion; no show of arms. Quiet and peacefully, two very distinct groups of people with a common heritage (300-400 years prior) are merged, because of one righteous man who was their king.

At the end of Amaleki's account,  he talks about a "strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man." He persuaded a number of his brethren to go back to the land of Nephi, reasoning that it was theirs by inheritance. What's more, instead of being a teacher like Mosiah, this man "caused a contention among them." (verse 28) Amaleki had a brother who departed with this group, which seems his main reason for making this account. However, it does offer an interesting contrast between the two leaders, one who was a leader by principle and the other who was a leader by force.

Comments

  1. That's an interesting observation, the contrast between King Mosiah and the other unnamed leader. Both lead their groups to another region but with different objectives, with different attitudes about how to deal with the people they find there, and dramatically different outcomes.

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