Even as the minions of the devil know not the mind of God, so the Lord may use all things and all people to work his purposes. It was by the authority and decree of a pagan king that Israel was allowed to return from her Babylonian captivity and rebuild her precious temple. In like manner it was prophesied that the protection of rights offered by a Gentile nation would allow the Book of Mormon and the fulness of the gospel to be brought forth in the last days (Isaiah 44:28-45:1; 3 Nephi 21).
So it is in our present text that we find the hand of the Lord at work among a people who refuse to acknowledge him. The priests of Amulon are placed in a position to teach the language of the Nephites to the Lamanites, in order that proper records may be kept. Unwittingly, this action would facilitate the subsequent teaching of the gospel among the Lamanites by such great missionaries as the sons of Mosiah and their missionary associates.