Mosiah 26:1 - 26:5

Mosiah 26:1 Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.

As time went on, the children of those people that had heard the speech of king Benjamin and had covenanted with him to live the gospel, were now approaching adulthood. However, they were not following in the footsteps of their parents as far as believing these same teachings.
[Wonder if the parents failed to teach their children or were there influences in the community that were pulling on them harder then the influences of their parents?]

Mosiah 26:2 They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ.

They did not, for example, believe in the resurrection of the dead or the coming of the Messiah.
[There must have been some people who were actively talking against gospel doctrines with various philosophies such as we see today. There must have been such things as atheism, self awareness methods, humanism and just plain other false Gods.]

Mosiah 26:3 And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened.

Because of their lack of the spirit they could not understand what their parents were believing and would not even listen to it.
[Again was it because of schools, if they had such things and were not home schooled, where people with personal agendas often work at because it does give a place to espouse their personal philosophies. Or was it just plain peer pressure?]

Mosiah 26:4 And they would not be baptized; neither would they join the church. And they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God.

These grown up kids, refused to be baptized or join the Church. They remained in this condition for their entire lives. They had no other faith to rely on and therefore were not a praying people.
[Sometimes it is comfortable not to have to worry about your actions in relation to God. Not having to go to Church on Sunday means two days off from work instead of one because you don’t have to go to Church on Sunday.]

Mosiah 26:5 And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissensions among the brethren they became more numerous.

Their numbers during king Mosiah’s reign were not large but because of problems in the general population, their numbers grew.
[I think what we see, if there is controversy, even in the Church, that there will many that will become disillusion and seek for spiritual things elsewhere. These dissatisfied persons and those who were looking for a life without the restrictions imposed by the gospel came together to discount the religion of Alma. Wicked always seem to want to flock together because they think it gives them a basis for their discontent. The more that are discontented and come together the more they think they are right and ok.]