In Ether 8:18-22 we learn four important things concerning secret combinations:
1. Secret combinations are wicked and forbidden of the Lord (see vv. 18-19)
2. Secret combinations are "had among all people" (v. 20)
3. Secret combinations "caused the destruction" of both the Jaredite and Nephite nations (v. 21)
4. Whatever nation upholds secret combinations "shall be destroyed" (v. 22)
[CES, Book of Mormon Student Manual, Religion 121 and 122, 1989, p. 140]