Alma 10:16 - 10:20

Alma 10:16 And it came to pass that they began to question Amulek, that thereby they might make him cross his words, or contradict the words which he should speak.

The individuals who were trying to trip up Alma now started in on Amulek. Again the object was to caught him in some kind of contradiction if possible to be able to convict him of some kind of crime against the people.

Alma 10:17 Now they knew not that Amulek could know of their designs. But it came to pass as they began to question him, he perceived their thoughts, and he said unto them: O ye wicked and perverse generation, ye lawyers and hypocrites, for ye are laying the foundations of the devil; for ye are laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God.

Well, Amulek was on to them. He knew their true intent. He told them their only motivation in their lives was to get gain by any means possible, cheating, lying, etc did not matter to them. They may profess being concerned for the welfare of the people but they were only doing so for show. They were a group of lawyers whose only motivation in questioning Alma and Amulek was to try to get rid of them by any means possible. And these tactics was going to be the foundation of their destruction. You cannot try to trip of prophets and get away with it.

Alma 10:18 Ye are laying plans to pervert the ways of the righteous, and to bring down the wrath of God upon your heads, even to the utter destruction of this people.

If they continued they would only bring down destruction on their heads by God and they would see their city and their fellow citizens killed along with them.

Alma 10:19 Yea, well did Mosiah say, who was our last king, when he was about to deliver up the kingdom, having no one to confer it upon, causing that this people should be governed by their own voices—yea, well did he say that if the time should come that the voice of this people should choose iniquity, that is, if the time should come that this people should fall into transgression, they would be ripe for destruction.

Amulek reminds the people of the last words of king Mosiah. That if the majority of the people choose evil over good that in time they would be destroyed. There is a point at which God will not let a people go on living if they get too wicked in their ways. With the government being under control of the people and power to control their destiny with their form of government, it is a fool proof indicator that the people are evil and not necessarily that they under control of wicked men which the people have little power to control when things get really bad.

With things like gay marriage and legalizing drugs, it is a sure indicator that things are moving towards a like situation as we see in this narrative on the history of Ammonihah.

Alma 10:20 And now I say unto you that well doth the Lord judge of your iniquities; well doth he cry unto this people, by the voice of his angels: Repent ye, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Well it is obvious to the Lord that the people of Ammonihah are getting to the point of being eligible for destruction. To try to prevent that from happening, He has sent angels and massagers to warn the people of the coming of the kingdom of God to the earth and if they are still in this condition, they will be wiped out before that.