How the Gospel Changed Gideon

There’s an interesting contrast between two events in the life of Gideon in the Book of Mormon.  The first time we are introduced to Gideon was when he “swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.”  Gideon fought with King Noah and pursued him to the top of a tower, and had the king not seen the Lamanites coming Gideon would have slayed him with the sword (Mosiah 19:4-8).  Gideon was rightly upset with the abominable ways of King Noah, but surely murdering him was not a gospel-centered way to solve the problem of their people’s wickedness. 

The second event comes at the end of his life when Nehor was about in the land of Zarahemla, “bearing down against the church” and preaching priestcraft to the people.  As Nehor was spreading his doctrine, he met Gideon who “withstood him with the words of God.”  This time Gideon was not seeking to slay Nehor with the sword but rather sought to defend the Church and stood as a witness of Christ “with the words of God.”  This greatly frustrated Nehor, so much so that he “drew his sword and began to smite [Gideon]” until he was slain (Alma 1:7-9).  I think this highlights the great spiritual progress made by Gideon over the long time (probably about 40 years) between these two events.  In the first Gideon was a good man who saw the wickedness of the king, but he was not converted to the gospel nor had he repented of his sins.  As the people of King Limhi suffered because of Lamanite aggression while they were under bondage, Gideon recognized the people’s sins and showed at least his own progress towards repentance: “For are not the words of Abinadi fulfilled, which he prophesied against us—and all this because we would not hearken unto the words of the Lord, and turn from our iniquities?” (Mosiah 20:21)  Eventually the people of King Limhi escaped and made their way to Zarahemla.  Once Alma and his people were also there, “Alma did go forth into the water and did baptize” the people of King Limhi, which presumably included Gideon as well (Mosiah 25:18).  By the end of his life, Gideon was described as “a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their teachers” (Alma 1:7).  That may refer to his status as an instructor of the people, or it might be referring to his office in the Priesthood.  Either way, Gideon was a very different person by the end of his life than when he was trying to slay King Noah.  The gospel changes how we approach problems as is seen so clearly in these two stories.  Without the gospel, Gideon wanted to simply slay the person (Noah) that was the cause of so much evil among the people; with the gospel Gideon instead sought to preach the words of God to the person (Nehor) that was spreading wickedness among the people.  Without the gospel Gideon was willing to take a life; with it he was willing to give his own for the cause of Christ.