Nehor and Noah

Just barely after the new system of judges had been established among the Nephites, Nehor came on the scene “bearing down against the church; declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people.”  As I thought about Nehor’s teachings yesterday, I realized why it makes so much sense that Gideon would be the one to stand up to him.  We read that Gideon “withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God” and that this ultimately led to Nehor slaying Gideon (Alma 1:3, 7).  This experience was probably about 40 years after Gideon had similarly stood up to King Noah, but I have to think that the evil that King Noah and his priests had caused among the people of his days was fresh on Gideon’s mind as he heard Nehor preach. 

                Nehor’s teachings matched almost exactly the way that King Noah and his priests lived—they would have been great followers of Nehor if they had had the chance.  King Noah consecrated priests that were “lifted up in the pride of their hearts” and they were “supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms” (Mosiah 11:5-6).  They were supported by the “taxes which king Noah had put upon his people,” thus adhering to Nehor’s principle that priests should “become popular” and need not “labor with their hands” but be “supported by the people.”  Nehor took money from the people just like Noah and “began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel.”  Nehor taught that “all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice”—in other words, there was no sin (Alma 1:4, 6).  Noah and his priests similarly seemed to believe that they could do no wrong in the sight of God.  Despite their blatant disregard for the commandments, the priests said to the king “And now, O king, what great evil hast thou done, or what great sins have thy people committed, that we should be condemned of God or judged of this man? And now, O king, behold, we are guiltless, and thou, O king, hast not sinned” (Mosiah 12:13-14).  Nehor’s seemingly generous belief that no matter what one did God would approve showed its limits as soon as someone disagreed with him (as his experience with Gideon showed), and likewise the king and his priests couldn’t stand the thought of someone contradicting them or their actions.  Abinadi suffered death because he wouldn’t “recall all the words which [he had] spoken evil concerning [Noah]” (Mosiah 17:8).  Clearly Noah was (unknowingly) a great disciple of the future Nehor.

                With all of these similarities then between Noah and Nehor, I have to think that Gideon’s soul was aflame with righteous indignation that these same principles were being taught again.  He knew the terrible effect that the philosophy of Noah and his priests had had upon the people—leading to great sufferings, much wickedness, and many deaths—and he must have been shocked and horrified that someone was trying to bring them back among the Nephites.  I believe it was with this on his mind that he went forth in faith to try to stop Nehor through the words of God.  It should have been someone much younger that went forth to confront Nehor who was “large, and was noted for his much strength,” but the younger ones didn’t have the vivid memory of Noah like Gideon did (Alma 1:2).  Gideon could not suffer that these philosophies of the devil come back to ruin the Nephites, and so he gave his life trying to prevent that.  He was indeed “a witness of God at all times and in all things” and a model for us to follow (Mosiah 18:9).