Modern Wickedness
Cain and the Origin of Secret Combinations
239 Helaman 6:15? “And it came to pass that in the sixty and sixth year of the reign of the judges, behold, Cezoram was murdered by an unknown hand as he sat down upon the judgment-seat. And it came to pass that in the same year, that his son, who had been appointed by the people in his stead, was also murdered. And thus ended the sixty and sixth year.”
Then what happened the next year? Read the next verse and see if things are getting better.
239 Helaman 6:17 “And in the commencement of the sixty and seventh year the people began to grow exceedingly wicked again.” Why? Read the next verse and it will tell you why.
“For behold, the Lord had blessed them so long with the riches of the world that they had not been stirred up to anger, to wars, nor to bloodshed; therefore they began to set their hearts upon their riches; yea, they began to seek to get gain that they might be lifted up one above another; therefore they began to commit secret murders, and to rob and to plunder, that they might get gain.”
239 That’s funny! They were getting rich so they didn’t need wars anymore. They were rather happy about it. With riches of the world they hadn’t been stirred up to bloodshed nationally, so they got rich and were stirred up to private bloodshed. Their wars are lowered to a private level now. They are going to start doing that sort of thing, and then we get our prime time, as I mentioned before, to commit secret murders, and to rob and to plunder, that they might get gain.”
239 Helaman 6:20,21 Now these two, Kishkumen and Gadianton, had put their heads together and formed a gang. These gangs, we noticed, are very enduring. They were called Gadianton robbers. “When the Lamanites found that there were robbers among them they were exceedingly sorrowful; and they did use every means in their power to destroy them off the face of the earth.” How did the Nephites react? Verse 21 has a lot of dynamite in it. “But behold, Satan did stir up the hearts of the more part of the Nephites, insomuch that they did unite with those bands of robbers, and did enter into their covenants and their oaths, that they would protect and preserve one another in whatsoever difficult circumstances they should be placed, that they should not suffer for their murders, and their plunderings, and their stealings.”
240 Remember, Plato says the honest man is a man who will do right even with the “ring of Gyges.” Gyges was one of the tyrants, and he had a ring that made you invisible. Now, if you had the ring of Gyges, you could do anything you wanted to because you would be invisible. That shouldn’t change your behavior at all. You should do the right thing because it is the right thing—not because it will make you money, bring you financial success, or in the long run dollars and cents. That’s positively cynical, if you ask me
245 Helaman 6:25 “Now behold, it is these secret oaths and covenants which Alma commanded his son should not go forth unto the world, lest they should be a means of bringing down the people unto destruction.” There are things that have been held back and never told to us because they could do great damage if we knew them.
245 This will take us back to one source though. These things all follow a pattern. Do we need Satan to help us do these things? Can we do them without Satan? There are parts of the Book of Mormon where people are not influenced by Satan at all. There are societies where people are not. You don’t have to be. But it is something that comes in from outside. It is something that grasps your mind. It is not just power, gain, and ambition— the basic wishes of human beings to assert themselves. Like I said, the dogs start fighting, and then the whole pound breaks into pandemonium if the kennel keeper isn’t there. We will go into these things just of our own [nature] without Satan’s assistance at all. These things come without the Lord. That is why Jesus Christ is so important. There is no other defense. There is nothing else. No one else has an inkling of an idea what else could be done about this. This just goes on forever and ever. Without Jesus Christ you are not going to get out of it at all.
245 Helaman 6:26-29 So, he says they didn’t keep record [of these secret oaths and covenants]. “They were put into the heart of Gadianton by that same being who did entice our first parents to partake of the forbidden fruit.” Notice that he says “that same being” five times in verses 26-29. He keeps emphasizing this; he wants us to know that there is a being. That’s the way he describes it. There is that being, something at the core and center of things. There is a control here, something working in that direction. It could be like an abstract principle, you know. “. .. that same being that enticed our first parents to partake of the forbidden fruit—Yea, that same being who did plot with Cain, that if he would murder his brother Abel it should not be known unto the world. And he did plot with Cain and his followers from that time forth.” Of course, that story is told to us in the book of Moses, how Cain manages those things.
245 Moses 1:13,19 Well, we should consider this because this takes it back to its source and shows us how it operated here. You remember Moses said [to Satan], “I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten [Moses 1:13]. Satan wanted to run the thing. Notice Moses 1:19: “Satan cried with a loud voice and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten, worship me.”
246 It is an interesting thing that he never commands Adam to do anything wrong. He commands Cain to sacrifice unto the Lord, to take oaths by the most High God, the Creator.
246 What is he doing here when he tells Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit? The same thing that had been done in other worlds. “What’s wrong with that?” he says. The thing is that he wants them to be taking orders from him—that’s the whole thing. He wants us to be saved, but he wants to be the author of salvation. It says that right at the beginning, in Abraham 3. He came to the Lord and said, give me thy glory and I will see to it that they all get saved. I’ll get the glory, I’ll get the credit, and I’ll get them all saved. That was his plan. He wanted to save them, not to damn them. So, they don’t take oaths by devils or anything. They take oaths by their Creator and God. So, here he goes and he wants to run the whole show.
246 Moses 1:22 Moses was intimidated. He began to fear. He saw the bitterness of hell, and he called upon God to denounce Satan and tell him to depart. Moses 1:22: “Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and he departed hence ... that Moses beheld him not” But he is going to come back again, you see. He works on Adam first of all, but he doesn’t sell Adam on it at all.
246 In Moses 4:3,4 we have the account of the council in Heaven, which is well documented in early Christian and Jewish sources. They skip it because it isn’t part of their theology, but it is there. Verse 3: “Satan rebelled against me and sought to destroy the agency of man [his agency was going to be Satan’s agency; he laid down the rules; he’d tell them what to do, and that’s what dictatorial, autocratic states do], which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down. And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies.” He loves and makes a lie. Remember the various titles. Master Mahan means “the hater.” He is the great hater. He aspires, he contends, and he uses violence. This is the way he works, to deceive with strategy. Deceiving is his method. So there is only one crime, after all. The word tells you what I think is going on, and by the easiest thing in the world I can fool you. I can tell you what I don’t think and make you think it. I can put on an air of great sincerity, and it becomes a fine Jesuitical art. “... to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will [and notice this], even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.” If you do not live up to every commandment, you will be in my power, Satan says, and he is right. If you don’t hearken unto my voice, the Lord says, you will be subject to his [Satan’s] will. And that’s what he wanted.
246 Moses 5:12,13 “And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent ...” And then the sad thing happened. Adam and Eve receive the gospel in Moses 5. They see it in its fullness and absolutely glory in it. But then what happened? Verse 12: “And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters. And Satan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and commanded them saying: Believe it not [there it is, the straight denial, and they went for it; they all believed him]; and they believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish.”
246,247 We are not born carnal, sensual, and devilish. It was from that time forth that they yielded to the temptations of Satan. That is not our nature at all, coming from the other world. That’s the doctrine of Calvinism. St. Augustine said, “Man is a mass of perdition and utterly corrupt.” Or as the Calvinists put it, “total depravity.” We are by nature totally deparaved. Well we are not totally depraved. It was from that time forth that men began to become carnal, sensual, and devilish.
247 Moses 5:18-22 Adam and Eve “ceased not to call upon God” and did everything they could, but all they could do was mourn before the Lord. “Cain harkened not, saying: Who is the Lord that I should know him? [Cain had his own plan, you see.] ... And Cain loved Satan more than God. And Satan commanded him, saying: Make an offering unto the Lord.” Notice he said, “an offering unto the Lord.” We are in Moses 5:18. He didn’t say, make an offering unto me; he didn’t say, make an offering unto the devils or to idols. He said, “Make an offering unto the Lord. And in the process of time ... Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. ... But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect.” Now, Satan knew he [the Lord] wouldn’t have respect. He couldn’t have respect; Cain had already denounced him. He said Cain loved Satan more than God, and Satan commanded and he obeyed. See, Satan has what he wants. He is taking orders from me. He is offering to the Lord, which is good, but he is offering on my instructions. I’m the leader here [Satan thought]. “But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect.” Satan knew that was exactly what would happen; the Lord couldn’t accept an offering since Cain had already denounced him. “... and it pleased him. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain: Why art thou wroth?”
247 Moses 5:23 And then the Lord very kindly protested and explained to him, and look what happened [in Moses 5:23]: “If thou doest well thou shall be accepted. If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments [there it is again—all who do not live up to the commandments will be in his power], I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire [he shall have power over you]. And thou shalt rule over him.” (That last statement is very important, but we won’t take that up now.)
247 Moses 5:25,26 The Lord was protesting. He was going to teach Cain the right way, but look what happened in verse 25: “And it shall be said in time to come—That these abominations were had from Cain; for he rejected the greater counsel which was had from God; and this is a cursing which I will put upon thee, except thou repent.” He said you can always repent, but there is a cursing on you except you repent. What was his reaction to that in verse 26? “And Cain was wroth [hot as a firecracker], and listened not any more to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel, his brother, who walked in holiness before the Lord.” He turned his back on God and walked out; he wasn’t going to have any more discussion with him.
247 Moses 5:27,29 So Cain brought it all on himself, didn’t he? Then he went out and started to work at things. We can understand his psychology here. If you get miffed and puffed up, you make yourself worse and worse and dig yourself in deeper and deeper. You can become very dangerous. Notice, what can poor Adam do? Verse 27: “And Adam and his wife mourned before the Lord, because of Cain and his brethren.” He had his following; he had his brotherhood. In verse 29 they are starting to take their oaths and covenants, which are the same as those in the temple. Therefore, he says, we mustn’t let Adam find out about this, because he will know what it is. Verse 29: “And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God [see, they are swearing by the living God] that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it.” Adam must not know about this for he would immediately denounce and discredit it as phony, because that’s what it was. They were establishing this as the real rites in the world.
248 Moses 5:31 Verse 31,33: “And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret [all these things are done in secret], that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.” As we know, he killed his brother by a conspiracy. He formed an organization, we learn in the [Pearl of Great Price]. When he killed [Abel] he gloried in what he had done and was not ashamed. Why? Because he said, now I’m rich, and being rich will make me free. Verse 33: “I am free; surely the flocks of my brother falleth into my hands [I’ll get his flocks, and I’m rich]. And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother?” So Cain became a fugitive and a vagabond and went to the land of Nod. That’s the same as our word nod. When you nod you go back and forth. You wander and don’t have any center. So, the land of Nod is the land of the migrants, the land of the everlasting wanderer. That is the curse that Cain is under.
248 Moses 5:52 This thing is right at the center. We go very deeply into these things. This is a very interesting thing: Lamech becomes [Cain’s] successor. He holds the office of Master Mahan after [Cain]. Somebody breaks the oath of secrecy and Lamech murders him. Then he is betrayed by his two wives, and then it says [verse 52] “Wherefore the Lord cursed Lamech, and his house, and all them that had covenanted with Satan; for they kept not the commandments of God, and it displeased God and he ministered not unto them, and their works were abominations, and began to spread among all the [children] of men.”
248 Helaman 6:26 “... by that same being who did entice our first parents [that is Satan] to partake of the forbidden fruit—Yea, that same being who plotted with Cain “to make him rich if he murdered his brother. That is why he did it. He murdered his brother to get gain. And notice, this is the great secret of Master Mahan—that I can convert life into property. All of these things I’ve been reading here [from the newspaper, for example] jeopardize life; they all destroy some of the quality of life. They all distract from life. They are all anti-life, but they get gain. The only way you can get money is to convert living things into gain. So the earth is being made absolutely desolate in our time in an astonishing manner.
248 Helaman 6:28 “And also it is that same being who put it into the hearts of the people to build a tower.” That was Nimrod [who built the tower] who was a descendant of Cush, who was a descendant of Noah. He built the tower from which the Jaredites came. “And it was that same being who led on the people who came from that tower into this land; who spread the works of darkness and abominations over all the face of the land, until he dragged the people down to an entire destruction ... that same being [there it is again] who put it into the heart of Gadianton to still carry on the work of darkness, and of secret murder; and he has brought it forth from the beginning of man even down to this time.”
249 Notice again, they are a brotherhood, a closed society. They have plots, oaths, covenants, and plans. We think they would be rid of that in these modern, sophisticated, scientific times. They wouldn’t go back to this crazy mystique, but everybody is in it up to their ears now.
249 Helaman 6:31 : “And now behold, he had got great hold upon the hearts of the Nephites. ... The more part of them had turned out of the way of righteousness ... and did build up unto themselves idols of their gold and their silver.” Not gold and silver idols, but they made idols of their money. They worshipped that. Suddenly, this bursts on us like a clap of thunder—like a shocking expose* of things we hadn’t expected. It’s [like] a report to a grand jury that’s come out—so circumstantial, so clear, so detailed here. Who could have worked it out then? All of this happened so fast, in the space of not many years. That’s another thing. It works very fast, doesn’t it
249 Helaman 6:32-35 “These iniquities did come unto them in the space of not many years, insomuch that a more part of it had come unto them in the sixty and seventh year of the reign of the judges. ... And they did grow in their iniquities. ... And thus we see that the Nephites began to dwindle in unbelief, and grow in wickedness and abominations, while the Lamanites began to grow exceedingly in the knowledge of their God [turning the tables], .. . The Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts.”
249 The hard-hearted ones that are set and decided can’t be moved. (See, that was Cain. He was hard; he wouldn’t listen to the Lord. Nothing could move him; he just walked out.) The Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from them; “the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites” on the other hand.
249 Helaman 6:37 This is too fantastic, you might say. Verse 37: “And it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites.” Just by preaching the gospel to them they utterly destroyed them? What strange changes come about!
250 And so they preached the gospel, and they [the robbers] weren’t such bad guys after all— like the good bandits. Were the Gadiantons so bad? Ammon was right. Remember, Ammon went out to speak to the worst and most vicious of people. They [the Nephites] told him he would not last for five minutes—you will be [like] a snowball in hell. He went out and those were the very people he preached to, and they became the most righteous people in the land. They became more righteous than the [Nephites], the ones that Ammon went out to preach to. So we have strange shifts, tides and winds going on now. We are living in a tumultuous time, in case you don’t know it.