The Lord gives the reason for the imminent destruction of Ammonihah. That reason is the plans that were afoot to “destroy the liberty of thy people.” This is an interesting warning. What was happening in Ammonihah that threatened Zarahemla? In particular, what is so serious that the Lord is concerned for the “liberty of thy people?”
The answer to this question lies in the nature of the politico-religious climate in Ammonihah. As we have noted, although Ammonihah has political ties to Zarahemla, they are somewhat weak. This is not altogether surprising if they lie over three days journey from Zarahemla (three days from Melek to Ammonihah, added to the distance from Zarahemla to Melek). The final piece of the puzzle lies in the divergence of the religious system even though the political alliance is still nominally Nephite.
As we will find out in later chapters, Ammonihah is firmly after the order of Nehor:
Alma 15:15 But as to the people that were in the land of Ammonihah, they yet remained a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people; and they repented not of their sins, ascribing all the power of Alma and Amulek to the devil; for they were of the profession of Nehor, and did not believe in the repentance of their sins.
It is in this context that we need to remember Alma’s condemnation of Nehor himself:
Alma 1:12 But Alma said unto him: Behold, this is the first time that priestcraft has been introduced among this people. And behold, thou art not only guilty of priestcraft, but hast endeavored to enforce it by the sword; and were priestcraft to be enforced among this people it would prove their entire destruction.
It is no accident that the “destruction” of the Nephite way of life is part of this comment as well as that describing the danger in Ammonihah. The order of Nehor was clearly dangerous to the entire Nephite way of life, and Alma rightly understands that the spread of the order of Nehor would be destructive to Nephite religion. With the crumbling of the particular Nephite religion, the influence of that religion over the political structure would also be broken, and the society would inexorably move to the cultural order espoused by the Nehors, as has been noted previously (see the discussion following Alma 1:12 in this commentary).