Poison by Degrees

Technique & Style

Abstract, Digital illustration

Figures

Amalickiah, Lehonti

Notes

Artist statement: "A couple years ago, the institute class I was attending had a very interesting discussion about Lehonti and Amalickiah that has stuck with me ever since. In that lesson, we compared Amalickiah's strategies with Satan's, and at the end of the lesson, our teacher asked us where Lehonti's first mistake was. Thinking i knew the answer, i said that it was when he agreed to talk to Amalickiah face to face and agreed to his plan. My teacher quickly corrected me and said that it was actually when he let Amalickiah's first messenger ask him to talk, citing that even just hearing a small idea allows Satan an opportunity to get to us. That was profound for me at the time as I've taken the time to study it more, just by allowing that first messenger in, Lehonti allowed his will to stay away from Amalickiah to start to eroded and was eventually open enough that Amalickiah was able to convince Lehonti to let him in. Because Lehonti let Amalickiah in, he was killed when Amalickiah "poison[ed] him by degrees"(v. 18). In my submission i tried to show that gradual poisoning that started at that moment on the mount Antipas. I hope that with greater understanding of this story that we can avoid getting poisoned by degrees ourselves whenever we face that temptations in our lives."

Commissioned Status

Submitted to the 2024 BYU Book of Mormon Art Contest.

Church Name

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints