Mosiah 29

After passing the accumulated records on to Alma, King Mosiah sought guidance from his people as to who should succeed him as king. The response was unanimous. The people wanted his son Aaron1 to be the next ruler. But, Aaron had not wanted to be king, and had gone to the land of Nephi.

He let the people know that Aaron was neither available nor willing to take his place. “Now that I’ve asked you and cannot give what you request,” he said, “I’m afraid that conflicts will arise over anyone else I choose. The last thing I want is bloodshed or wars over the royal succession. Let us be wise and figure out how to sustain the peace.

“I will remain king for the rest of my life,” King Mosiah decided, “but let’s appoint judges, instead of kings, to keep the law and rule the people according to God’s commandments. Men make mistakes in their judgment, but God’s judgments are always pure. If we could always have honorable men to be king, as my father Benjamin was, then having kings would be fine. But, remember what happened when corrupt men like King Noah ruled? Remember the destruction and slavery that he brought upon his people?

“Without the intervention of God, Limhi’s people would still be enslaved. Because they humbled themselves before him and cried out for his help, they were delivered into freedom. This is how God uses his power. He supports those who put their faith in him. I have learned that you cannot depose a bad king without tremendous conflict and bloodshed. Bad kings surround themselves with bad people and hold onto power by revoking fair laws, trampling on God’s commandments, and destroying those who oppose them. Corrupt kings corrupt the righteousness of their people. I don’t want these things to happen to my people ever again.

“I want you to choose your own judges so that you can be ruled by the laws of God that have been passed down to us from our ancestors. I trust the collective voice of the people to choose what is right, and make the laws accordingly. If the time comes that the people choose evil over good, then God will bring his anger down and destroy them as he’s done before. If the judges you select violate God’s laws, make them answer to higher judges that you also select. If the higher judges also violate God’s laws, they should be judged by the voice of the people.

“Therefore, I command that you have no king,” he concluded, “but instead become responsible and answerable for ruling yourselves. I want you to live in equality and freedom forever. I want every man to enjoy his rights and privileges as long as God lets us live.”

King Mosiah wrote about the burdens of trying to be a righteous king and the benefits of spreading that burden among all the people. He expounded upon the liabilities of having bad kings, and in the end the people saw the truth of his words, and abandoned their desire to be ruled by a king.

The people gathered together throughout the land and cast votes for whomever they wanted to be their judges and rule over them. They came to see the wisdom of this, and were happy with their freedom of choice. They now loved and respected King Mosiah more than ever. He had ruled them fairly, established peace, and delivered them from the rule of kings.

The judges who were selected to rule were headed by Alma2, who was also the head of the church. Alma observed the laws of God and judged the Nephite people fairly. The peace of King Mosiah was sustained throughout Zarahemla under the new reign of judges.

Alma’s father, the founder of their church, died at the age of 82, having lived to see the commandments of God fulfilled. King Mosiah died at the age of 63, after having ruled for 33 years. Five hundred nine years had now passed since Lehi and his family left Jerusalem. The reign of kings had ended, and the Nephite people now ruled themselves through their selected judges. [91 BC]