Mosiah 19

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 6/20 Green 3/21 orange 6/22  Brown 6/23.)

Chapter 19

Gideon seeks to slay King Noah—The Lamanites invade the land—King Noah suffers death by fire—Limhi rules as a tributary monarch. About 145–121 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that the ^aarmy of the king returned, having searched in vain for the people of the Lord. I want to be among 'the people of the Lord'. The “in vain” part of this for the army was not realizing that God was the reason they couldn’t find them. God’s protection is better than any hiding place or plan of man.
  2 And now behold, the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, by the king? Was he so vain as to think no one would dare to attack them so he didn’t need a large army? Large armies need support, and I’ll bet the king wanted the resources for himself. Or it’s possible the forces were reduced by the lack of men wanting to serve (assuming it was a choice) and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people. Hmm...we are seeing a division now. Is it over the same thing?
  3 And the lesser part began to ^abreathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them. Civil war? Why did part of the people begin to have courage they could make their dissatisfaction known? Because the forces were reduced? 
  4 And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.
  5 And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the ^atower which was near the temple. If this was actually in the act of fighting, how did he gain power to flee? 
  6 And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of ^aShemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.
  7 And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, ^aspare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us; yea, they will destroy my people. I can just hear the king say with a patronizing fake love, “...my people...” I don’t think he cared at all for “the” people that he clearly didn’t slaim has his own. Noticing that the king knew Gideon's name. I wonder how he knew him...
  8 And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his ^aown life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life. Why? Why was the king so necessary just because they were being attacked? Was it because the forces were so small that they’d need those who supported the king to fight as well? How likely would they be to do that if the king had been murdered by the opposition? There might be internal civil war at the same time they were being invaded. Bless Gideon for making this “split second” decision. Assuming it was a righteous decision to kill him...
  9 And the king commanded the people that they should flee before the Lamanites, and he himself did go before them, and they did flee into the wilderness, with their women and their children. Oh...no command to fight them after all...I wonder if Gideon knew this is what he’d tell the people to do...I wonder if the king went first, not as an act of leadership, but to be furthest away from the attacking Lamanites!
 10 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue them, and did overtake them, and began to slay them.
 11 Now it came to pass that the king commanded them that all the men should ^aleave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites. What is this garbage? I guess if you got men to “obey” you, then whoever was left with you wherever you fled, you could count on them still letting you be their king. Again, no actual “my people” belief here by the king, which is clearly made known by his willingness to sacrifice the most vulnerable to save his own life. The women and children must have been slowing everybody down.
 12 Now there were many that would not leave them, but had rather stay and perish with them. And the rest left their wives and their children and fled. How would you like to be the child or wife that watches your father/husband run off and leave you to be slaughtered by the Lamanites...talk about trauma to the soul!
 13 And it came to pass that those who tarried with their wives and their children caused that their fair daughters should stand forth and plead with the Lamanites that they would not slay them.
 14 And it came to pass that the Lamanites had compassion on them, for they were charmed with the beauty of their women. I’m trying to picture the movie version of this...These men had already made the choice to stay with their families, but they must have not had any weapons to fight or knew that fighting was useless. I don’t know who had the idea, but it must have been from God. I give the “fair daughters” much honor for having the courage to walk toward the attacking Lamanites. Did they do this out of faith? vanity? desperation? honor for their fathers? 
 15 Therefore the Lamanites did spare their lives, and took them captives and carried them back to the land of Nephi, and granted unto them that they might possess the land, under the conditions that they would deliver up king Noah into the hands of the Lamanites, and deliver up their property, even ^aone half of all they possessed, one half of their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things, and thus they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites from year to year. I'm surprised that they didn't take the "fair daughters" as concubines...and I have to think the fathers knew that was a possibility if they saw their "beauty".
 16 And now there was one of the sons of the king among those that were taken captive, whose name was ^aLimhi.
 17 And now Limhi was desirous that his father should not be destroyed; nevertheless, Limhi was not ignorant of the iniquities of his father, he himself being a just man. "I know he’s a bad man, but....” 
 18 And it came to pass that Gideon sent men into the wilderness secretly, to search for the king and those that were with him. Gideon had let the king go, and now he’s probably even more angry that he did. He’s out to get that guy! I wonder why he didn’t go himself? Was he in some kind of leadership position? Was he needing to protect the people? Was there still a “division” among the people after all this?  And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness, all save the king and his priests.
 19 Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if their ^awives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them. It’s good to know these “weak-minded” men had a conscience and that it “burned” (pun intended) within them to the point that they wanted to go back and now were willing to make the sacrifice to do what was right. 
 20 And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto ^adeath by fire. Why did they choose this way to kill him? Were they also repenting for Abinadi’s death? Did they know of Abinadi’s prophecy? Surely the priests knew...
 21 And they were about to take the priests also and ^aput them to death, and they fled before them.
 22 And it came to pass that they were about to return to the land of Nephi, and they met the men of Gideon. And the men of Gideon told them of all that had happened to their wives and their children; and that the Lamanites had granted unto them that they might possess the land by paying a tribute to the Lamanites of one half of all they possessed.
 23 And the people told the men of ^aGideon that they had slain the king, and his ^bpriests had fled from them farther into the wilderness.
 24 And it came to pass that after they had ended the ceremony, what was this ceremony? that they returned to the land of Nephi, rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain; and they told Gideon what they had done to the king.
 25 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an ^aoath unto them, that his people should not slay them. I’m assuming they told the Lamanites they couldn’t deliver King Noah to them since he was dead...
 26 And also Limhi, being the son of the king, having the kingdom conferred upon him ^aby the people, made ^boath unto the king of the Lamanites that his people should pay ^ctribute unto him, even one half of all they possessed. Is there a difference in what one should do when all of the people are threatened with destruction? Alma “rebelled” by teaching the Word of God secretly, rather then openly rebelling until it was time to flee. Limhi wasn’t quite there spiritually, and determined it better to live in bondage than die in rebellion. Plus they weren’t really fighting for “truth”... just to live or die. 
 27 And it came to pass that Limhi began to establish the kingdom and to establish ^apeace among his people. Even though they were taxed at 50%, they were still free to do as they pleased. Way better than actually slavery. We are in similar circumstances. We pay high taxes but are free to move about and do as we please...
 28 And the king of the Lamanites set ^aguards round about the land, that he might ^bkeep the people of Limhi in the land, that they might not depart into the wilderness; and he did support his guards out of the tribute which he did receive from the Nephites.
 29 And now king Limhi did have continual peace in his kingdom for the space of two years, that the Lamanites did not molest them nor seek to destroy them. It was possible to have peace, even in bondage.