The Limhites

When Abinadi came to King Noah's people he had a very simple message: Repent or be destroyed. To explain what he meant he had the opportunity to give an eloquent sermon on the Savior, but his underlying message was the same. 

The Lord has asked dozens of prophets to deliver the same message to different groups of people throughout history with varying results. 

When Jonah finally delivered his message to the people of Ninevah they repented and were not destroyed. After giving multiples warnings to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jeremiah, Lehi and others tell Jerusalem to repent or be destroyed but they don't resulting in the Babylonian captivity. I think it's interesting to note that whenever a nation reaps the consequences of their rebellion against God the Lord protects his righteous people. Sometimes he leads them away before things get bad, like with Lot and Lehi. Sometimes he consecrates the circumstances for the good of the righteous like with Daniel. 

In any case, King Noah's people were warned to repent or die. Alma repents, he teaches other people and they repent. Then they all leave. 

As soon as they leave the destruction comes. Once all the righteous people are gone, the Lamanites come to wage war against the Limhites. 

But here is what I love about this story and what it teaches us about the Lord. King Noah, who is very wicked dies. The wicked priests are scattered. The remaining people are enslaved. 

But they learn! 

It's a bumpy ride. They end up being attacked by the Lamanites once, then attacking the Lamanites three times themselves all with disastrous results. But eventually they repent.

What happens when they repent? 

Ammon shows up and they escape without any bloodshed to Zarahemla where they join the church of Christ.

It reminds me of this quote from President Benson: "The Lord will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble."

The Lord is not interested in punitive destruction. He doesn't destroy the people because he's angry at them. He creates circumstances that will lead the people to him, that cause them to turn to him in prayer and rely upon him for their support. And he gives them lots and lots of chances. 

Why did the Lord command the Israelites to kill all those people?

Sometimes when we read the Old Testament we can get the impression of a vengeful, vindictive God. You know, the one that will strike you with lightening if you say something wrong. When the Israelites finally make it to the promised land they seem to leave a trail of blood and suffering behind them.
I love these verses 1 Nephi 17:33 & 35 "And now do ye suppose that the children of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous? I say unto you, Nay... But behold this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon them."
Nephi clears it up a little for us. The people who inhabited the land before the Israelites had a chance to repent, probably a thousand chances, probably more.
Nephi also says in this passage "the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one." Which of course means that he loves us all and doesn't marginalize anyone. But I think there's another meaning here. As difficult as it is for our Anglo-Saxon culture to understand, the Lords loves us holistically. He loves mankind and He will do things for the greater good of all. Nephi learns this poignantly when the Lord commands him to kill Laban.
Yes the Lord loves us individually more than our mortal minds can understand, but he also loves us collectively as his children. The best chance for all mankind to return to live with him again was for the Israelites, the covenant people of God, to inherit the promised land.
But! As Nephi points out, he gave the wicked people a million and half warnings and chances to repent, to become covenant people, to develop faith in Jesus Christ and come unto him.
Elder Renlund says, "God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were."
In fact, one of the repentant non-Israelites in the area joins the covenant people and becomes the great (many generations back) grandmother of the Savior. Her name was Ruth.