Zeniff passed the kingdom on to his son, Noah.
"1 And now it came to pass that Zeniff conferred the kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons; therefore Noah began to reign in his stead; and he did not walk in the ways of his father.
2 For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart." (Mosiah 11:1-2)
Noah turned out to be a pretty different leader from his father. He was wicked. He placed a burdensome tax on the people to support himself. He "fired" all the priests that Zeniff had put in place, and appointed wicked priests.
Because of this wickedness in the leadership of the kingdom, the people began to be wicked as well. They were convinced to be this way by the cunning and crafty words of King Noah and his priests.
"And it came to pass that he placed his heart upon his riches" (Mosiah 11:14)
This is a profound statement. Zeniff had placed his heart on the Lord, and we will serve whom we love. Noah, it is mentioned, had his heart on the things of the world.
Slowly, small bands of Lamanites started attacking them and things from outside, and the people no longer had the strength of the Lord to protect them, because they had become wicked.
"thus the Lamanites began to destroy them, and to exercise their hatred upon them." (Mosiah 11:17)
They tried to do battle, and they sometimes won, so they got prideful. They also became bloodthirsty.
As always happens when the people become wicked, the Lord tries to give them opportunities, by sending people to proclaim the gospel.
"And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy" (Mosiah 11:20)
Abinidi was a man who boldly spoke the truth: that if the people didn't repent, they would be visited in the Lord's anger. He warns them that the people will be brought into bondage if they didn't repent. He tells them that the Lord would be slow to hear their cries if they didn't repent, just as they were slow to hear his words.
"Now when king Noah had heard of the words which Abinadi had spoken unto the people, he was also wroth; and he said: Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?" (Mosiah 11:27)
King Noah was so wicked, that he gave no second thought to the fact that maybe, just maybe, Abinidi knew what he was talking about. He was just angry at Abinidi and wanted to kill him.
"Now the eyes of the people were blinded; therefore they hardened their hearts against the words of Abinadi, and they sought from that time forward to take him. And king Noah hardened his heart against the word of the Lord, and he did not repent of his evil doings." (Mosiah 11:29)
I think this is the key of the peoples' wickedness. Noah taught his people to harden their hearts. He taught them to focus on the vain things of this world, and this never leads to righteous living.
The people became very wicked in a single generation, and a lot of that wickedness can be attributed to the wickedness of a single king. Someone who should be able to be trusted to lead the people.
We must be careful of who we follow and that we choose the right leader. Ultimately, it was up to the people to keep the faith, whether they had a righteous king or not. It certainly makes it more difficult when you go against the leader, but we are still each free to make our own choices and live the way we know to be best.
Abinidi shows us that.
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