The history of God's dealings with His children is replete with instances showing that men having once been enlightened by His Spirit and having once partaken of the great knowledge of His goodness and justice, "and then have fallen away into sin and transgression," have become more spiteful and their actions more malignant than even before they knew these things. Such was the case with the Amalekites and Amulonites. They had been taught the truth, and knew of God's love. Now they denied and ridiculed God's Holy Word; their hearts were thereby made harder, and the light within them turned into darkness. "Thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things," the Sacred Record concludes.