King Noah was dead, but his evil legacy lived on. His people, now being ruled by his son, Limhi, were living in virtual prison and poverty with no hope of escape. Most of the men who ran away with him had returned to their families. The one priest who listened to Abinadi, Alma, had been forced to flee with his followers into the wilderness before the Lamanite attack. The other wicked priests had also run away into a different part of the wilderness when Noah was assassinated.
When I first read about the wilderness, I thought of the wilderness around my home town in Nevada - the Mojave Desert. I couldn't imagine all these groups stumbling around without running into one another. But having studied the area of Guatemala in which these events occurred, I have realized that these people could have walked past each other within a few feet and, if no one moved or made a noise, not be discovered!
These evil men, who - remember - had abandoned their own wives and children, stumbled upon a group of young Lamanite daughters. They were gathered near the Lamanite city of Shemlon. This is how the Book of Mormon tells the story: And now the priests of king Noah, being ashamed to return to the city of Nephi, yea, and also fearing that the people would slay them, therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children. And having tarried in the wilderness, and having discovered the daughters of the Lamanites, they laid and watched them; And when there were but few of them gathered together to dance, they came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness. (Mosiah 20: 4-5)
The Lamanites were furious and rightly so. It appears from this story that they cared more for their women than did the wicked priests. Naturally, they thought the people of Limhi had taken them. They took up their weapons of war and attached the City of Nephi.
Limhi saw them coming from his tower and his people met them in battle. The Nephites held their own and, in the midst of the fighting, the King of the Lamanites was wounded. Limhi had him brought before him and asked him why he had broken his oath to Limhi when Limhi's people had not broken their oaths to the Lamanite king. The king told him about the young women who were kidnapped. Limhi swore that if the culprits were among his people, he would ferret them out and punish them with death. Gideon, who had led the attack against Noah reminded Limhi of the wicked priests who had fled. They determined among them that these man must be the culprits.
The Lamanite king departed in peace and swore to find this band of kidnappers himself. This was to have serious ramifications for yet another group of Nephites - a group we will discuss on Saturday.
Text copyright August 2013, Gebara Education
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Guatemalan Jungle from 360bigsky.com
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