Mosiah and Amlici

by Autumn Dickson

Within the chapters this week, we see two contrasted examples of men who are types of the Savior and Satan. It’s remarkable that these two examples were so closely put together within these chapters, and it’s very easy to observe the Plan of Salvation on a minute scale because of it.

King Mosiah

First, we have King Mosiah. He is obviously the representation of the Savior. He had all of this power bestowed on him, true power that was valid and recognized among the people. Here are two verses that very clearly put forth the Savior’s stance during the war in heaven as we were trying to decide how to proceed with the rest of our very long lives.

Mosiah was king over the Nephites and decided to form a new government. The people would elect judges and acknowledge laws and all live according to those laws. This is what King Mosiah had to say about it.

Mosiah 29:31-32

31 For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings.

32 And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.

The second verse is very easy to find the parallel. Our Savior wanted us to have our freedom to choose. He wanted us to have the right to design our own eternal lives, to build what we wanted our eternal futures to look like. He was wise enough to understand that this was the only way we could truly be happy, to have the freedom to choose happiness. You can’t force someone into happiness even if you can force them to make choices that were meant to bring happiness.

The first verse that I included was also important because it describes the other side of the coin of freedom. King Mosiah teaches his people that sin can be caused by kings which equates to that sin falling upon the heads of the kings rather than on the heads of the people. Responsibility is as crucial to our happiness as freedom. We need the opportunity to take control of our own futures because it is only in the building of those futures that we find true happiness.

Let me give an example. I dated Conner for a year and a half before we got married, and I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed for an answer about whether to marry him. I know that some people do receive answers when they pray about that kind of thing which is awesome, but I had a slightly different experience. Heavenly Father never truly answered me, and as I’ve made my way through marriage, I learned why.

I chose Conner on my own. I had known him for a very long time. We had seen the worst of each other if I’m being perfectly honest, but we had also seen plenty of good. After we got married, I don’t feel like I was completely caught off guard by choices he made because I knew what I had married.

There was beauty in this. I had desperately craved that validation from Heavenly Father, and I think Heavenly Father is wise in whether He chooses to bestow that validation or not because we’re all learning different lessons at different times in our lives. But for me, at this time in my life, He knew that I needed to make my own choice.

I needed to make my own choice so that when hard things came up in my marriage (which they inevitably always do), I couldn’t shake my fists at the heavens and ask why Heavenly Father had put me here. I had to look at myself, take responsibility for the choice I had made, and decide what I was going to do with those hard things. That doesn’t mean I leave Heavenly Father out of the equation, to the contrary. I ask Heavenly Father for help all the time. The difference is that I decide to make my marriage what I want my marriage to be. When something difficult comes along, I don’t throw up my hands and say, “Well this is where Heavenly Father put me so I guess I just have to deal.” I decide how I’m going to change, how I’m going to approach Conner, and a million other little choices. I’m very blessed to have a husband who makes these same choices.

The Lord let me own my marriage, and because He let me own it, I’ve been able to create something beautiful with my own choices and His help. It’s been an exhilarating and fulfilling process that has brought me far more happiness than I thought possible. It has brought me far more happiness in comparison to hoping that happiness would just fall on me; happiness simply doesn’t happen that way. We need freedom and responsibility to own our lives and build what we want.

Sometimes Heavnely Father gives us an answer, and that’s comforting and wonderful and definitely has its purposes in our life that can teach us important lessons. Sometimes He’s silent, not because He doesn’t care or doesn’t love us, but because He’s trying to push us into our big kid shoes. He’s trying to make us like Him, where we get to create what we want. We get to make choices, tell Him what we want, and then He helps us build that kind of future. He does this because He knows it’s an incredible process. King Mosiah also wanted this for his people.

Amlici

On the other end of the spectrum, we find Amlici. Amlici wanted to get rid of this new system of government five years after Mosiah put it into place; he wanted there to be kings again and he wanted to be king. So everyone got together and put in their votes, and the voice of the people came back. Amlici was not to be king. Not enough people wanted it. When Amlici was not chosen as king, this happens:

Alma 2:9-10

9 And it came to pass that they gathered themselves together, and did consecrate Amlici to be their king.

10 Now when Amlici was made king over them he commanded them that they should take up arms against their brethren; and this he did that he might subject them to him.

Can we not see the parallels between Amlici and Satan?

When Satan lost the war in heaven, he threw a hissy fit and dubbed himself powerful over the world. He enlisted those who had followed him to try and bring as many people under his control as possible.

And that is where we observe the true Satan. That is where we get a glimpse of Satan as he truly is, not as he is promoting himself to the people. Amlici wasn’t going around telling people that he wanted to be powerful and rule over everyone. He was arguing the merits of having a king to protect them. He was whispering and promising power to those who would be loyal to him. Amlici’s arguments were attractive.

But the second he didn’t get what he wanted, he tried to force them.

This is Satan. Satan had an “attractive” plan. Everyone would come home after going down to earth because Satan was going to make sure of it. Anyone who has had a loved one leave the gospel and felt fear or whether that loved one would be coming home can feel the attraction of Satan’s plan. You don’t have to look around you and wonder who is going to be missing. You don’t have to look internally and wonder whether you’re going to be missing. Satan told you he loved you, that he wanted to bring you home, that he would never risk your soul by sending you down to make mistakes. You have a “king” who will protect you and bring you home no matter the cost.

And that was precisely the problem. No matter the cost. What was the cost of Satan’s plan? Everything.

The point of the Plan of Salvation was to come down here, make mistakes and struggle and grow, and go home prepared to live like our Heavenly Father. It is only in this manner that we can find eternal happiness.

Satan’s “Plan of Salvation” would have brought all of us home. But the cost was the entire purpose of the plan. We would have returned unchanged. We would not have been prepared to live like God which means we would have been damned in our capacity to experience happiness forever. We would have been stuck right where we were, forced to do what’s right forever but never tasting the goodness of those right choices because they weren’t really our choices.

Amilici didn’t want to protect the people as king. He wanted to own the people as king. He was willing to risk the lives of his followers and those who voted against him because no one mattered to Amlici except Amlici. He didn’t care about those who died in battle. He cared about whether he won.

Satan didn’t love us enough to want to bring us all home. He loved himself enough to be willing to sacrifice the happiness of all of his brothers and sisters because he believed that power over us would make him happy. The ultimate narcissist. When he lost, he just went on a rampage working to destroy any shred of happiness on the earth. If he had truly loved us, he would have still worked for our happiness under any conditions he was given. But he doesn’t love us. He loves himself, and he’s willing to sacrifice us.

These are powerful stories and characters that can teach us so much about Heavenly Father’s choices for our lives here on earth. We hear people cry about the trauma and devastation on earth, and those are valid cries. But the opposite, a removal of agency, was a fate worse than death literally. It was an eternity stuck in the same state. It was an eternity of boredom and unhappiness and damnation in our progression.

Agency was necessary and beautiful. There were some immensely tragic consequences to agency, but we can look to two facts for comfort. One. The alternative was worse. Two. We have a Savior who suffered and promised to take care of everything. No hurt will stay hurt with the Savior. No wound is too deep. No consequence of agency is too far for the Savior to reach.

Our Heavenly Parents and Savior love us. They chose this plan for us, and then They took care of absolutely everything. They know how to be happy, and they have provided us with the perfect plan to find that happiness and to build it in our lives forever. And then the Savior paid for it. We are so loved; we have every reason to trust Them.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives.

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