A Tragic and Recurring Cycle

Church Educational System
An ever-recurring theme of the Book of Mormon is a tragic cycle: When the people of God are righteous, they prosper. When they prosper, they become proud and forget God, the source of their blessings. When they become proud and forget the Lord, they fight, quarrel, make war, and commit all manner of wickedness. This wickedness in turn leads to a disintegration and destruction of nations. These calamities bring the people to repentance, they turn to the Lord in righteousness, and the cycle begins again.

The people of Nephi’s day were caught in this vicious circle to such an extent that the Gadianton robbers usurped almost complete control of the government. According to Nephi, the commandments of God were laid aside, and justice ceased to exist for a time. The righteous were persecuted “because of their righteousness,” while the guilty were usually permitted to escape “because of their money” (Helaman 7:5). All manner of wickedness set in. It was while Nephi contemplated the people’s rapid return to such wickedness that he was led to lament aloud in his garden.

Book of Mormon Student Manual (1996 Edition)

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