Lamanite Kings: Lamoni, His Father, and Anti-Nephi-Lehi

Before he was taught the gospel, King Lamoni wondered how Ammon could have such great power and knowledge, without being the Great Spirit. Ammon explained that he was only a man, but that God, in His great mercy, could bless those who served Him with great gifts, when necessary. Ammon explained, "A portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge" (Alma 18:35).

Significantly, Lamoni’s brother, King Anti-Nephi-Lehi also uses this phrase when he says, "I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts" (Alma 24:8). Ammon’s phrase was a helpful way of explaining to recent converts how an all-powerful God could extend His power to those who are imperfect, but who love Him and seek to serve Him.

Key Insights

The Lamanites, like the missionary Ammon, were not perfect, but wanted to serve God and do better. Knowing that we can be blessed with a portion of God’s Spirit to bless, help, and guide us is encouraging, and can increase our hope and strengthen our faith in and love for God.

Nephi taught his people, "And now, behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in no wise be cast out" (2 Nephi 25:29).

Aaron, the Nephite missionary, drew upon this very teaching from the plates of Nephi when he taught Lamoni’s father, who wanted to know how he could root out the dark influence of sin in his life.

If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day" (Alma 22:16-18).

Key Insights

It is difficult to adequately express the significance of this event for the people of Lehi. At the commencement of his record, Nephi wrote with sadness that Laman and Lemuel "knew not the dealings of the God who created them" (1 Nephi 2:12) and would not inquire of God because they assumed, "the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us" (1 Nephi 15:9). Yet in the account of one of their royal descendants, this powerful king of all the Lamanites bows down and offers all, including his sins, in order to know God!

According to Alma, it was the records on the plates of Nephi, which described "the rebellions of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael" (Alma 18:38), but also the doctrine of Christ and his redemption (Alma 18:39-41; 22:13-14), which gave these Lamanite leaders and their people the hope and faith needed to seek and partake of the very blessings that their fathers had once rejected.

As we read about the success of the Nephite missionaries, we should strive to follow the example of this Lamanite king, and come to know God better each day by bowing down in prayer before Him.

The term "Great Spirit" appears 18 times in the Book of Mormon, but not once in the Bible. When told of Ammon's exploits in protecting the king's flocks, King Lamoni thought, "Surely, this is more than a man. Behold, is not this the Great Spirit who doth send such great punishments upon this people, because of their murders?" (Alma 18:2). Mormon explained, "Now this was the tradition of Lamoni, which he had received of his father, that there was a Great Spirit. Notwithstanding they believed in a Great Spirit, they supposed that whatsoever they did was right" (Alma 18:5). When Ammon first began teaching Lamoni, he asked if Lamoni believed in God. Lamoni said that that he did not understand. Then, Ammon said, "Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit? And he said, Yea. And Ammon said: This is God" (Alma 18:24-28).

When Ammon's brother Aaron asked Lamoni's father, "Believest thou that there is a God?" Lamoni's father responded, "If now thou sayest there is a God, behold I will believe" (Alma 22:7). Then the king asked, "Is God that Great Spirit?" which Aaron affirmed.

Ammon and Aaron's clarification, linking "God" to the Lamanite conception of the "Great Spirit," was somewhat of a breakthrough in the Lamanite understanding, upon which Lamanite converts could build a growing understanding of the gospel. The few words of king Anti-Nephi-Lehi suggest that the Lamanite converts continued to substitute "Great God" for "Great Spirit." He speaks of "my God" (Alma 24:7, 9-10), "our God" (Alma 24:15-16), "my great God" (Alma 24:8, 10), "the great God" (Alma 24:14), and Jesus as the "Son of our great God" (Alma 24:13).

Lamoni testified to his father that Ammon and his brethren were "holy prophets of the true God" (Alma 20:15), reflecting the contrast between his new understanding of Deity and his earlier false views. Interestingly, Samuel the Lamanite might have been reflecting on his own cultural background when he combined this later idea with the revised understanding of a Great Spirit, in his title for God as "our great and true God" (Helaman 13:18).

Key Insights

Like effective missionaries build on their investigators' positive ideas to bring the perspective of the gospel into their lives, we can build on common ground to communicate with our friends and families, and preach the gospel by our example.

These men were kings during the fourteen-year mission of Ammon and his brethren around 90-77 BC. Each of these kings was a convert to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, along with many thousands of their people. These conversions were remarkable because the Lamanites had previously been inveterate enemies of the Nephites for hundreds of years. This led to dramatic political and social changes among the people of Lehi.

Alma taught his son Helaman that Nephite scriptures, including the plates of Nephi, were one of the keys to the Lamanites’ conversion.

Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect traditions of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer (Alma 37:9).

We, of course, do not have a full account of all the teachings of the sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites; however, there is evidence in the selection of words we do have, of the truthfulness of Alma’s observation that the words and ideas that the missionaries taught were incorporated into the language of these Lamanite kings. Consider the following ideas:

1. God is a Great Spirit,
2. The idea that a portion of the Spirit of God can dwell within the righteous,
3. The teaching that salvation from even the most awful sins is possible through the merits of the Son of God, and
4. The practice of bowing down before God.

Each of these is discussed in a separate cameo.

Key Insights

A comparison of the teachings of the Nephite missionaries with the language used by the converted Lamanite kings demonstrates the impact of the words of the Nephite missionaries on those they taught. When we read the story of Ammon, his brethren, and their missionary activities, we should ponder the impact of their words, and how those words could lead to such a mighty change in the hearts of those who responded to them. Can we experience such a mighty change in our hearts?

The Nephite missionaries benefited from the prophetic teachings recorded on the plates of Nephi (Alma 37:9). Lehi taught his son Jacob, "No flesh . . . can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah" (2 Nephi 2:8). Aaron taught king Lamoni’s father that "since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth" (Alma 22:14).

This central teaching introduced to the Lamanites by Nephite missionaries is reflected in the words of subsequent Lamanite converts. King Anti-Nephi-Lehi reminded his people that God had "taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son" (Alma 24:10). It is interesting that this inspired teaching is also found in the words of Samuel the Lamanite, who taught the Nephites that those who believed on the name of Christ might "have a remission of [their sins] through his merits" (Helaman 14:13).

Key Insights

Coming from a culture where violence, bloodshed, and many other abominable practices were the traditional norm, and were deeply ingrained into their way of life, the doctrine that one’s very nature could be changed through faith in the Messiah and the merits of His life and sacrifice would have been a powerful doctrine for those who thought of themselves as the least worthy of redemption. When we read the account of the Lamanite conversions, we should ponder the power, strength, and holiness that a knowledge of Christ’s redemption can bring to our lives as we strive to love and serve Him.