Alma 24

The Amalekites and Amulonites are people who believed in the gospel at one time, but now have become the most hardened and most wicked of all the Lamanites. The armies of these three groups come to war against the Lamanites who have converted to gospel, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies enter into a covenant with each other and with the Lord that they will never take up their swords again. They do this because they have murdered with those swords and they fear they will sin again. In a way, this is similar to me to a reformed alcoholic who has recovered and will never drink again for fear of returning to the same state he was in before. Once someone realizes the extent of their sins and repents, they do not want to come anywhere near anything similar to those sins again.

It is in this chapter that we see that murder can be repented of and is a forgivable sin. In verse 10, Lamoni thanks God that "he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he has forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son." This whole chapter deals with these Lamanites repenting of their sins, including murder, and being willing to die rather than giving the appearance that they have not repented.

As the Amalekites, Amulonites, and other Lamanites attack the Anti-Nephi-Lehies all of whom have buried their swords, they find them lying on the ground praying and they being to slay them. Finally, they stop the slaughter after killing over a thousand of them. But of these three groups attacking the Anit-Nephi-Lehies, it's only those who aren't Amalekites and Amulonites that are moved to compassion and stop and end up being converted, and the number of the converted is more than the number that was slain.

Mormon makes this sobering observation about the Amalekites and Amulonites, "And thus we can plainly discern that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things." There were people who were living normal lives who joined the church and accepted Joseph Smith as a prophet. They later left the church and ended up being people who were willing to murder Joseph and others that followed him. Apostates are similar in that they are usually people who once believed and having committed sin, and rather than repent, leave the church and fight against those who believe in it.