Kishkumen is killed by a servant of Helaman as Kishkumen is attempting to murder Helaman. Helaman is now the leader of the Nephites and holds the judgment seat. Gadianton is the leader of Kishkumen's followers and they are forced to go into hiding. The description of Gadianton is important. We will hear more, but note the adjectives Mormon uses to describe him: expert in many words, expert in his craft which is murder and robbery, he flatters people. Gadianton represents many people in our day. We cannot be naive concerning the nature of many who would be our leaders. We have to be wise in being able to perceive and know those who are sincere and have the true cause of their country at heart as opposed to those who are "expert in words" and "flatter the people" in order to obtain their own selfish gains.
Gadianton is a person who will always stay in hiding because he is a coward. People who will not openly stand for the principles they believe in are cowards. Many leaders today are cowards because they hide behind their rhetoric, say only those things that will advance themselves. There craft is to convince the people that what they are doing is a service when the people are the furthest things from their minds. They will represent the impoverished but those in poverty are never aided by them. They will be valiant in the fight against racism but they never provide solutions to the problem. This is because by perpetuating the problems, they perpetuate their positions.
The two things that motivate evil people are money and power. Those were the aims of the followers of Gadianton and they are the aims of those who are most dangerous to our country today. Mormon states: "Ye shall see that this Gadianton did prove the overthrow, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi." Mormon knew our times and knew who would be reading his words. I believe he's emphasizing these things for our behalf.
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