Secret Combinations, Part 1

                The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns secret combinations and how they work to destroy individuals, communities, and nations. With all the intrigue in government circles today, I find myself thinking more and more about secret combinations.  I decided to do some research on them and found enough information to make several parts.  I first learned of secret combinations when I read the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, but I discovered that Moses coined the term “secret combination” during my research.  

                The first secret combination on this earth originated with Cain when he swore an oath with Satan, and there have been secret combinations on the earth since the days of Cain.

                “And Satan said unto Cain:  Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.

                “And Satan sware unto Cain that he would do according to his commands.  And all these things were done in secret. 

                “And Cain said:  Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain.  Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 5:29-31).  [“Mind,” “destroyer,” and “great one” are all possible meanings of the roots evident in “Mahan.”]

                “For Lamech having entered into a covenant with Satan, after the manner of Cain, wherein he became Master Mahan, master of that great secret which was administered unto Cain by Satan; and Irad, the son of Enoch, having known their secret began to reveal it unto the sons of Adam;

                “Wherefore Lamech, being angry, slew him, not like unto Cain, his brother Abel, for the sake of getting gain, but he slew him for the oath’s sake.

                “For, from the days of Cain, there was a secret combination, and their works were in the dark, and they knew every man his brother.

                “Wherefore the Lord cursed Lamech, and his house, and all them that had covenanted with Satan; for they kept not the commandments of God, and it displeased God, and he ministered not unto them, and their works were abominations, and began to spread among all the sons of men.  And it was among the sons of men [not among the daughters]” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 5:29-31, 49-52).

                “And the children of men were numerous upon all the face of the land.  And in those days Satan had great dominion among men, and raged in their hearts; and from thenceforth came wars and bloodshed; and a man’s hand was against his own brother, in administering death, because of secret works, seeking for power” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 6:15).

                The Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ and the Doctrine and Covenants are additional witnesses that Satan works through secret combinations to destroy individuals and nations.  I will quote numerous scriptures from these books to support other principles.

                Satan is the founder of all secret combinations and puts evil ideas into the hearts and minds of men.  Wicked men are vulnerable to the influence of Satan.  Satan teaches men to get gain through murder and robbery from the time of Adam.

                “And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness” (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:9).

“And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever” (2 Nephi 26:22).

“Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time back until the creation of Adam….

“And this account shall be written hereafter; for behold, it is expedient that all people should know the things which are written in this account” (Mosiah 28:17, 19).

“Now behold, those secret oaths and covenants did not come forth unto Gadianton from the records which were delivered unto Helaman; but behold, they were put into the heart of Gadianton by that same being who did entice our first parents to partake of the forbidden fruit –

“Yea, that same being who did plot with Cain, that if he would murder his brother Abel it should not be known unto the world.  And he did plot with Cain and his followers from that time forth.

“And also it is that same being who put it into the hearts of the people to build a tower sufficiently high that they might get to heaven.  And it was that same being who led on the people who came from that tower into this land; who spread the works of darkness and abominations over all the face of the land, until he dragged the people down to an entire destruction, and to an everlasting hell.

“Yea, it is that same being who put it into the heart of Gadianton to still carry on the work of darkness, and of secret murder; and he has brought it forth from the beginning of man even down to this time.

“And behold, it is he who is the author of all sin.  And behold, he doth carry on his works of darkness and secret murder, and doth hand down their plots, and their oaths, and their covenants, and their plans of awful wickedness, from generation to generation according as he can get hold upon the hearts of the children of men” (Helaman 6:26-30).

“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” (3 Nephi 6:28-29).

Part 2 will provide more information about secret combinations.