3rd Nephi 6-7

These chapters had more information on Satan and secret combinations, something I wrote about before. The Nephites had just defeated the gadianton robbers in chapter 4 and they all believed the prophets but they quickly turn wicked and form secret combinations again, which eventually destroys the Nephite government.

3rd Nephi 6:15

Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this- Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world.

We see multiple times that people seeking for power and authority causes them to form secret combinations. Here's another thought though, do we ever seek for power and authority in our Families? In our relationships with others? Do parents seek for power and authority over their children? And to what extent can we righteously exert power and authority over them? Maybe the key to this is pride, why do we enforce rules or punish. We will say it's because we love them but is any of it really because we want to be "the boss". Do we want to be the ruler of our families or do we make God the ruler and ourselves the stewards? This seeking for power and authority is dangerous in relationships, in families and as we saw with the Nephites, in societies as a whole. In societies seeking for power causes a division between the righteous and the wicked. Righteous people do not seek for power. We can contrast the attitude of the people in verse 15 with Moroni's attitude in Alma 60.

Alma 60:36

Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country. And thus I close mine epistle.

So we see that the attitude of righteous men like Moroni is in direct opposition to the goals of the power hungry people in from the previous verse. The prophets also testified constantly concerning their iniquities and these things made these people angry..

3rd Nephi 6:28-29

And they did enter into a covenant one with another, yea even into that covenant which was given by them of old, which covenant was given and administered by the devil, to combine against all righteousness. Therefore they did combine against the people of the lord, and enter into a covenant to destroy them, and to deliver those who were guilty of murder from the grasp of justice, which was about to be administered according to the law.

Here we see the idea again that one of the goals of secret combinations is to deliver people from the consequences of sin. This is one of Satan's great lies, that you can escape the consequences of wickedness, or that there are no consequences. And like I discussed here this wickedness caused a separation in the people.

3rd Nephi 7:2

And the people were divided one against another; and they did separate one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; and thus they did destroy the government of the land.

3rd Nephi 7:5

...and all this iniquity did come upon the people because they did yield themselves unto the power of Satan.