Powerful Teachings to a Wicked City – Alma Chapters 14 – 16

This is a continuation of my previous post about the results of Alma’s visit to the city Ammonihah.  To review:

In Alma, chapters 14 – 16 we read of the aftermath of Alma’s and Amulek’s teachings to the Ammonihahites.  You’ll recall that after Alma and Amulek finished addressing the people of Ammonihah, some of the people believed what they had been taught, but most did not…  they were angry about being called to repentance. They took Alma and Amulek, treated them roughly and put them in prison.

In considering the events of these chapters, I saw four different viewpoints... In my last post I told the story of Zeezrom and the story of the Believers… those that believed Alma’s and Amulek’s teachings.  I now continue with two more perspectives.

The Ammonihahites story:

We read about this group:  “Now Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people of the city of Ammonihah; therefore they would not hearken unto the words of Alma” (Alma 8:9).   Satan had done his work well in this city. 

If I were to describe this group’s point of view in one sentence, it would be:  “They liked things the way they were”.  The composition of this group of people included the leaders of the city, i.e. the chief judge, lawyers, teachers and others who opposed Alma’s and Amulek’s words.  Alma tells us that the people were primarily of the Order of Nehors, with beliefs that were contrary to the true Gospel.   You will remember that Nehor was a public figure in the first year of the reign of the judges (approximately ten years before Alma comes to Ammonihah).  He gained popularity by teaching his ‘beliefs’:  that Preachers should become popular and be supported by the people; that all people would be saved at the last day, and people need not fear God but rejoice because everyone would be redeemed no matter what they do.  Nehor killed the elderly Gideon, who testified of the true Gospel and vigorously disagreed with Nehor (see Alma 1 for the story).

So Nehor’s “beliefs” were practiced by the leaders of Ammonihah.  The leaders in Ammonihah used their Nehor faith to “get gain” – enhance and justify their lives.  They were supported by the people, they reveled in their sins, and they probably had lavish and expensive life styles.  Furthermore, the teachings of Alma and Amulek would have destroyed their way of living.  This gave the people every reason to try to discredit, persecute and even prosecute Alma and Amulek.

These people were clearly in charge and held power in Ammonihah.  Over the course of the next few days, weeks and months they abused their power to do unspeakable things to Alma, Amulek, the people that believed their words, and to innocent women and children. 

This part of the story should be noted:  I don’t doubt that there were good people in Ammonihah; in fact Alma and Amulek converted many.  But there were many more in Ammonihah who followed their misguided leaders, allowed terrible things to happen, and ultimately perished.  Let’s take a lesson from this story:  In our lives we will have questions about the church and the gospel.  Ideas, beliefs or practices may be presented to us that sound plausible, or even sound true.  We need to be on guard against what the Nehors of our time may tell us.  I would suggest that there are three questions that we can ask ourselves when presented with a concept that we’re unsure of.  1) Did this concept come from the prophet (or apostle, or an authorized representative) of the Lord?  2) If I pray about this concept, do I get an assurance of its validity?  3) If I believe and/or live this concept, will it bring me closer to the Lord and will my testimony be strengthened?  The Holy Spirit will guide us as we ask these questions.  May we always heed and adhere to Moroni’s promise:  “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:4-5).

Satan’s efforts were fruitful with the Ammonihahites; they already had a grudge against Alma from his first visit there.  They would only hear the things that offended them and refused to listen to the truths spoken by Alma and Amulek.  The lawyers and teachers tried their best to trip up Alma and Amulek in the things that they taught.  It’s interesting to note that these people obviously knew the gospel to some degree.  The questions they asked Alma and Amulek were gospel-centric and they knew enough to phrase their questions and statements correctly.   It appears that they were willingly ignoring the truths that they were being taught by Alma and Amulek in order to promote their own agendas.  I hope that I never will disregard a gospel lesson, even if it is inconvenient.  Perhaps this happens more than we may think, though.  Do we follow the prophet?

Even though the Ammonihahites couldn’t stop Alma and Amulek from completing their assignment, the wicked people temporarily prevailed against them.  They took Alma and Amulek, bound them and roughed them up, spitting upon them and "gnashing their teeth upon them" (I’m not sure how that worked).  The people imprisoned them, bound and naked, in the local prison and withheld food and water from them. 

Shortly after imprisoning Alma and Amulek, the chief judge had them brought to a place where they were forced to witness women and children being burned to death in the fire that was fed by the scriptures and records of the true believers.  The Ammonihah leaders felt they had really disgraced Alma and Amulek.  “…The chief judge of the land came and stood before Alma and Amulek … and he smote them with his hand upon their cheeks, and said unto them: After what ye have seen, will ye preach again unto this people, that they shall be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone?  Behold, ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them because they were of thy faith. And the judge smote them again upon their cheeks, and asked: What say ye for yourselves?  And it came to pass that Alma and Amulek answered him nothing; and he smote them again, and delivered them to the officers to be cast into prison” (Alma 14:14-15, 16).  I find it remarkable that a people who have embraced liberty, as the Nephites had done, would degrade into such a lawless society, as they had in Ammonihah.  As we have already read, Satan had a great hold upon the hearts of these people.  And King Mosiah spoke truly when he said “… if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land” (Mosiah 29:27).  As we live our lives trying to be righteous, we have a responsibility to assure that “the people” do not choose iniquity.  It is a daunting task, I know – just look around at our society.  Still, we are not excused from keeping our society from completely becoming an Ammonihah.

After this horrible experience, the Ammonihah leaders regularly came to the prison to mock, abuse and degrade Alma and Amulek.  I imagine that these leaders, lawyers and teachers reveled in their depraved “fun”, thinking that they could do these things with impunity.  After "many days" of this treatment, one day a large group of the judges and lawyers, including the chief judge, came to Alma and Amulek and once again repeated their brutality.  As the group stood there mocking the prisoners, Alma and Amulek arose and somehow burst their bands.  The Ammonihah leaders were so astonished that they fell to the ground and couldn’t move. The earth started shaking and the walls of the prison fell upon the chief judge and all of his wicked entourage, crushing them to death.  I wonder if the last thing they thought of was that somehow Zeezrom had managed to avoid this calamity.

Hearing the tumultous racket from the earthquake and the subsequent prison collapse, the remaining people of Ammonihah ran to the prison and saw Alma and Amulek emerging unscathed.  The people were so shocked that they ran away in fear.  Later, recovering from the whole affair, the Ammonihahites explained away the events by telling each other that Alma and Amulek were devils and used the devil's power to escape.  Self-justification (a.k.a. self-deception) is quite commonly used by people, and even more-so by Satan and his minions.

We learn from chapter 16 that shortly (2 to 3 months) after Alma and Amulek left Ammonihah, a Lamanite army came “into the city of Ammonihah, and began to slay the people and destroy the city…  before the Nephites could raise a sufficient army to drive them out of the land, they had destroyed the people who were in the city of Ammonihah; yea, every living soul of the Ammonihahites was destroyed, and also their great city, which they said God could not destroy, because of its greatness” (Alma 16:2-3,9). 

The take-away lesson from this story may be that Satan does not support his followers in the end.  At Ammonihah, he accomplished his goal – to cause men “…to choose captivity and death... for [the devil] seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne 2:27).  Who does support each and every member of mankind no matter what?  Our Father in Heaven does.

Alma and Amulek's story:

I think Alma felt good about the delivery of the warnings, messages and teachings to the people.  Alma had fulfilled the Lord’s commandment to warn the residents of the city of their impending destruction.  Both Alma and Amulek were guided and uplifted by the Spirit throughout their confrontation.  When Alma finished his discourse, many cried to the Lord for forgiveness and sought for repentance.  Alma must have been delighted that these people would recognize the truths he had taught and that it had affected them so.  If you have you ever been present when a person who is being taught the gospel begins to feel the powerful message the Spirit delivers, you probably know how Alma felt.  If only we could feel this way each time we bear testimony.

On the other hand, imagine Alma's dismay when the rest of the people were angry because of the things he had said.  But Alma and Amulek had delivered the message that God had commanded them to.  They submitted themselves to the Ammonihahites, and endured the awful treatment at the hands of the leaders of the city.  The leaders "arrested" them and had the people bind them by the hands and feet to be carried off to be “tried” and imprisoned.  “And the people went forth and witnessed against them—testifying that they had reviled against the law, and their lawyers and judges ... and also of all the people that were in the land; and also testified that there was but one God, and that he should send his Son among the people, but he should not save them” (Alma 14:5).  

Throughout the proceedings the wicked people of the city hit them, spit on them, "gnashed their teeth" upon them and tethered them, naked, in strong ropes.  While this happened, the people, led by the chief judge, lawyers and teachers, drove those that believed Alma and Amulek's words from the city and sent men to throw stones at them. The people then took the families of the believers and slaughtered them in the most barbaric way - by fire.  Alma and Amulek were taken to see these innocent people being burned to death.  Amulek, obviously agonizing over what was happening, said to Alma:  “How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames” (Alma 14:10).  Alma, in what must have been a monumental and difficult moment of obedience to the spirit, replied: “The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory…” (Alma 14:11).  I’m sure that Amulek was supremely disappointed by this.  He said: “Behold, perhaps they will burn us also. And Alma said: Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore they burn us not” (Alma 14: 12-13).  John Bytheway teaches this lesson from Alma and Amulek’s interchange:  We are on the earth at this moment because our work is not yet finished.  No matter how things are going in our lives, we are still on the Lord’s errand.  Do you know what the Lord wants you to be doing?  Are you actively doing it?

Alma and Amulek were held prisoners for a long time*, being mistreated, starved, left bound and naked, and regularly beaten and abused.  After "many days*" of being being beaten, spit upon, and mocked by the chief judge, his lawyers and his teachers, Alma and Amulek stood in the majesty of righteous dignity, calling upon God to break his bonds.  When Alma and Amulek were miraculously freed, the dumfounded group of tormentors fell to the floor of the prison in fear.  Alma and Amulek walked out of the prison safely, while the ground quaked, causing the prison walls to fall, killing the chief judge and his followers.  As Alma and Amulek emerged from the prison, the wicked Ammonihahites who had come to see what the commotion was all about fled from them in fear.

Alma and Amulek were commanded to leave Ammonihah, and made their way to the city of Sidom, a much more righteous community.   There they were cared for, and proceeded to teach the people.  In Sidom they found the people who had been driven out of Ammonihah, including Zeezrom.  They were summoned by Zeezrom, who was deathly ill, a result of the guilt he felt for his part in the Ammonihah fiasco.  He was healed by the ministration of Alma after professing his belief in Jesus and in Alma's teachings.  Zeezrom, a changed man, went about ministering to the people of Sidom thereafter.  Alma and Amulek also had the unenviable task of breaking bad news about the families of those who had been banished from Ammonihah.  Sometimes in our service to God and to others we are burdened by a duty like this.  I’m sure Alma, guided by the Spirit, was gentle and comforting.  This is a good example for us in dealing with a hard task that is part of our callings.  All things can be done better or easier when we are guided by the Spirit.

Alma, Amulek and Zeezrom proceeded to do God’s work…  “And Alma established a church in the land of Sidom, and consecrated priests and teachers in the land, to baptize unto the Lord whosoever were desirous to be baptized.  And it came to pass that they were many; for they did flock in from all the region round about Sidom, and were baptized” (Alma 15:13-14).

Finally, after being away for almost a year, Alma took Amulek, who had “forsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things, which were in the land of Ammonihah, for the word of God, he being rejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred… therefore, Alma took Amulek and came over to the land of Zarahemla, and took him to his own house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord” (Alma 15:16-17).   May the Lord bless all who, like Amulek, have given up all to live the Gospel.  May we all have the courage and convictions that Amulek had.

I have only pointed out a few of the things I have learned from this story.  Read the chapters about Alma, Amulek and Ammonihah and I know you’ll get a lot from the experience.  I’m grateful for my life and my heritage.  I’m grateful that I haven’t been burned, mocked or beaten for my testimony.  Perhaps we will someday have to face dire circumstances and stand up for what is right; I hope I can live up to the example shown by Alma and Amulek.

Don

* “Long time” and “Many days”

A long time is a relative term…  Alma wrote that they were imprisoned for “many days”.  If we look at the timeframes involved we can get a sense of how long Alma and Amulek endured imprisonment.  In chapter 8 of Alma we learn that Alma left home bound for Melek and Ammonihah at the beginning of the 10th year of the Reign of the Judges.  At the end of chapter 15 we read that he returned to Zarahemla with Amulek at or near the end of the 10^th year of the Reign of the Judges.  This means that the events in Melek, Ammonihah and Sidom took an entire year.

Here is my attempt at assembling a time line for year 10 of the Reign of the Judges as it pertains to Alma’s experience.  I’ll use a calendar familiar to us so that we can more fully appreciate the elapsed time.

January	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
	29	30	31

Beginning of year 10 (let’s say the 3^rd week of the month; January 16^th:  Alma departs for Melek.

3^rd week plus 4 days; January 20th:  Alma arrives at Melek and begins to teach the people.

February				1	2	3	4
	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
	26	27	28
March				1	2	3	4
	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
	26	27	28	29	30	31

6 weeks later; March 3^rd:  Alma finishes his work at Melek and leaves for Ammonihah.

3 days later; March 6^th:  Alma arrives in Ammonihah and prepares to teach the people there.

2 weeks later:  March 20^th:  Alma tries to teach and warn the people, but is cast out of Ammonihah.

2 days of traveling; March 22^nd:  Alma returns to Ammonihah after journeying toward the city of Aaron.  He meets Amulek.

April							1
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
	23	24	25	26	27	28	29
	30
May		1	2	3	4	5	6
	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
	28	29	30	31

8 weeks later; May 17^th:   Alma and Amulek began to address the people of Ammonihah.

Three days later; May 20^th:   Alma and Amulek complete their assignments to the warn and teach the people and are taken into custody.

1 week later; May 27^th:  Alma and Amulek have been falsely accused, tried, and imprisoned. 

June					1	2	3
	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
	25	26	27	28	29	30

1 week later; June 3^rd:  The believers are driven out of Ammonihah and their families are put to death by fire.

July												1
	2	3		4		5		6		7		8
	9	10		11		12		13		14		15
	16	17		18		19		20		21		22
	23	24		25		26		27		28		29
	30	31
August				1		2		3		4		5
	6	7		8		9		10		11		12
	13	14		15		16		17		18		19
	20	21		22		23		24		25		26
	27	28		29		30		31

12 weeks; August 26^th:  Alma calls upon God for strength, the prison walls fall, Alma and Amulek leave the prison and Ammonihah 

September						1	2
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
	24	25	26	27	28	29	30

1 week later; September 2^nd:  Alma and Amulek arrive at Sidom after a hard journey from the city of Ammonihah

October	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
	29	30	31

8 weeks after; October 28^th:  Alma and Amulek heal Zeezrom, teach and baptize  people; organize churches in the area; preach, teach, and set the spiritual affairs of the people in and around Sidom in order.

November				1	2	3	4
	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
	26	27	28	29	30
December						1	2
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
	31

1 week later; November 4^th:  Alma, Amulek and Zeezrom return to Zarahemla.  Remainder of the year Alma gets Amulek situated and comfortable in his new life.

As I’m sure you realize, these dates are complete speculation, guided by the small amount of information I could glean from the Ammonihah chapters.  Your guess is as good as mine, but I think the time frame is plausible.  Certainly, it is at best a thought-out guess and at worst a total mess of inaccuracy.  What it did, though, was satisfy my curiosity.  I hope you are intrigued by the scriptures and have a curiosity that is anchored by the knowledge that the scriptures are true.

Don

Powerful Teachings to a Wicked City – Alma Chapters 14 – 16

Chapters 14 – 16 of the book of Alma relate the aftermath of Alma’s and Amulek’s teachings to the Ammonihahites. I hope you’ll forgive my wordiness, these chapters give us much to learn from with respect to fulfilling our duties, withstanding abuse, faithfulness in the face of catastrophe, and other great lessons.

After Alma and Amulek finished addressing the people of Ammonihah, some of the people believed what they had been taught. “But the more part of them were desirous that they might destroy Alma and Amulek; for they were angry with Alma, because of the plainness of his words unto Zeezrom; and they also said that Amulek had lied unto them, and had reviled against their law and also against their lawyers and judges. And they were also angry with Alma and Amulek; and because they had testified so plainly against their wickedness, they sought to put them away privily” (Alma 14:2-3).

The angry people, mostly of the Order of Nehor, included the chief judge of the land, lawyers, teachers and others. They took Alma and Amulek, treated them roughly and put them in prison.

I thought it would be interesting to consider the events of these chapters from four different angles... These are versions of what happened from the perspective of each of the major participants discussed in chapters 14 through 16 of the book of Alma.

Zeezrom's story:

Although he led the charge to discredit and convict Alma and Amulek, it turned out that Zeezrom had a conscience and a spark of spirit. As Amulek and Alma spoke, Zeezrom became more and more weighed down by their words and began to tremble with his guilt. Eventually he was so affected that he was astounded at the crowd’s reaction to the teachings that profoundly affected him. Zeezrom protested to the treatment of Alma and Amulek by his former allies, saying “Behold, I am guilty, and these men are spotless before God” (Alma 14:7). As a result, Zeezrom is mocked, accused of being insane, driven out and had stones thrown at him. Heavily weighed down by his guilt, Zeezrom made his way to Sidom with the other outcast believers. He was so affected by his sins and actions that he came down with a burning fever.

When Alma and Amulek finally arrived in Sidom, Zeezrom took heart because they were alive, after he thought they had been killed because of his actions. Zeezrom asked to see Alma and Amulek, and they came to his sick bed where he asked for them to heal him. Although it doesn’t mention it in the narrative, I believe that Zeezrom sincerely sought for Alma’s and Amulek’s forgiveness. Lesson alert: Can we truly be magnanimous toward someone who may have offended or harmed us in some way? As the Savior said: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (Doctrine & Covenants 64:10).

Alma, desiring to heal Zeezrom, asked him if he believed the Savior could heal him. Zeezrom replied "yea, I believe all thy words" (Alma 15:7). Alma clarified his first question, saying “If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed” (Alma 15:8). This clarification should be noted: When we truly believe in Christ, many blessings can be, and are, given to us. What does it mean to truly believe in the redemption of Christ? Ponder that carefully, and remember that Jesus himself said: “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Ne 27:27). Live our lives to emulate the Savior’s example.

Zeezrom told Alma “Yea, I believe according to thy words” (Alma 15:9). Alma blessed Zeezrom and he was healed by the power of God; he leaped to his feet, cured of his maladies. We read that he went about teaching the Gospel... Later in the book of Alma we read of Zeezrom accompanying Alma on a mission to the Zoramites. Clearly Zeezrom’s life was turned around from his encounter with Alma and Amulek. I think Zeezrom’s conversion is comparable to Alma’s conversion, with Alma playing the part of the angel of the Lord. I wonder if Alma felt there was a similarity between Zeezrom and himself. I wonder if we feel gratitude to those who helped us obtain and build a testimony. I hope we each have the opportunity to be a spiritual mentor to someone else.

The Believers’ story:

“And it came to pass after he had made an end of speaking unto the people many of them did believe on his words, and began to repent, and to search the scriptures” (Alma 14:1). Is it any surprise that such powerful spiritual addresses as was given at Ammonihah would touch many people listening? Have you ever been moved to tears by a general conference talk? I have.

Unfortunately, the bulk of the people at Ammonihah were beyond feeling spiritual things and took it out on the people who believed Alma and Amulek’s teachings. The people evicted the believers from Ammonihah, throwing stones at them to drive them away. Furthermore, they took the women and children of these believing people into custody and all those who believed were burned to death, along with their scriptures and records. I can’t imagine a more painful and horrible way to die. The interesting thing of this story is: the wicked Ammonihahites purposely, but unwittingly, destroyed the only things in their city that would prevent their total destruction… This is analogous to the Old Testament story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah… Abraham asks if the city will be spared for the sake of 50 righteous people… He then asks if it will be spared for the sake of 45, then 40, 30, 20 and finally 10 righteous people, and each time is given an affirmative answer (see Genesis 18:16-33). The wicked Ammonihahites basically cooked their own goose.

The believers who fled Ammonihah went to the more righteous city of Sidom and were cared for by the good people there. They probably became part of the church that Alma later established in Sidom and would have added greatly to the spirit there.

Imagine, though, receiving the awful news that their loved ones had been burned to death by the dastardly people who had so recently driven them out. Hopefully their new-found faith sustained them in such a terrible event. Many good people have terrible things happen to them. Some might rend their clothes, curse God, say “why me?” Others might cling to the hope that the Gospel Plan gives us. God’s love can bring us peace, even in awful circumstances. Testimony of God’s plan can bring us hope in the face of devastation. It’s important to fortify our faith in God and build and strengthen our testimonies on a daily basis.


The other two stories will be in my next post…


Don

Alma Continues at Ammonihah... Alma 12 - 13

In these chapters Alma addresses Zeezrom directly, but makes it clear that he was also speaking to all who were listening.   Alma was employing a good teaching tool by interacting with one person who, as a proxy, represented the entire crowd.

Alma's teachings in these chapters built upon what Amulek taught about mortal and spiritual death, the atonement, and the need to repent.  Alma expounded on the concepts Amulek taught to the people.  Being a master teacher, he used repetition to verify Amulek’s concepts, and expanded the doctrine when further instruction was possible.  This is a good example for us to follow as we are called upon to teach in our callings where there is a need to give lessons and other instruction.

These chapters are spiritual goldmines.  I don’t want to gloss over any of the things Alma covers, but due to space and time considerations, I have limited my comments to a few points of Alma's teachings:

-- On the one hand, the power of the Holy Ghost enabled Alma and Amulek to perceive Zeezrom's crafty intentions to trip them up.  On the other hand, Zeezrom's intentions were in harmony with, and inspired by, Satan.  Both parties were in tune with the one they served.  Confrontation and contention are not the best way to preach the Gospel, but sometimes cannot be avoided.  We must be in harmony with the Spirit of the Lord when we are faced with such an event.

-- During Amulek’s and Alma’s discourse, Zeezrom came to recognize that he was seriously in the wrong.  As he recognized the truth that was being taught, he began to tremble with his guilt.  As is usually the case, Satan abandoned his minion and did not support him in the end.  Satan is not out to gain our love and support.  It is not his intent to help us in our lives, or to guide us to be better people.  His only desire is to circumvent God’s work and to draw us away from God’s plan.  No matter what anyone tells us, we will only get loving, Godly support and guidance from our Heavenly Father and His servants.  We should remember this.

-- Alma reiterated that people who will receive God's word are given more and more of His word until they have a fullness of knowledge of that spiritual topic.  This is why it is important to read and study the scriptures, to attend church meetings, and to ponder Gospel concepts continually.  Those who refuse to receive the word of God, who reject gospel teachings and turn away from learning about the Gospel, are given less and less spiritual knowledge until they have none.

-- Every human being who lived, lives now, or will live will come before God to be judged of their earthly experiences and actions.  It will be a bad experience for those who haven't heeded God’s teachings or who have rejected God’s commandments.  Alma points out that for those people it is as if the atonement by the Savior did not happen.  Furthermore, these people will have never felt the hope of the atonement in their lives.

-- Alma taught that because of the events in the garden of Eden – Adam and Eve’s transgression –  mankind became a fallen people, creating a need for a Savior and for the plan of redemption.  Heavenly Father knew men needed to learn about the plan of redemption and needed to learn His commandments, and so He sent angels to teach people about these things.  God's servants teach us that we are in a state of preparation in this life and must learn and live the things His servants teach us.  He has commanded that men should refrain from sin, and if we heed His call we will be saved from spiritual death.  Heavenly Father is continually calling on us, in the name of His Son, to repent and not harden our hearts, with the promise that He would have mercy on us through the power of the atonement.  If men do harden their hearts, their iniquity provokes him to send down his wrath upon them.  Notice that this scripture says that their iniquity provokes Him, not that the sinner provokes Him.  God loves us all, equally and totally.

Alma spent time teaching the people of Ammonihah about Heavenly Father's messengers, particularly high priests.

-- Those who hold the high priesthood were (and are) called and prepared from the foundation of the world.  They exercised great faith and were chosen for their faithfulness.  Other men had the same opportunity; they started from the same background but did not exercise faith or show faithfulness.  Therefore, they were not called to be High Priests.

Faithful high priests serve in their office forever due to their faith, their repentance and their righteousness.  Melchizedek is mentioned as the exemplar high priests.

-- The high priesthood, which is also known as the priesthood after the order of His Son, is without beginning of days or end of years.  It has always existed.  This humbles me and makes me thankful for God’s willingness to share it with us.

Many of the high priests I have known truly live up to this description.  While not perfect, they strive for perfection.  If they fall short, they do their best to make up for their shortcomings and do the Lord’s work.  This is an ideal that I try to live up to, sometimes more successfully than at other times.  It is important to remember that Heavenly Father wants us to do our best, but has provided us with a way to overcome any mistakes and slip ups that may occur.

Alma then urged the inhabitants of Ammonihah, particularly those who were being so combative, to repent, without delay.  Alma taught the people that the Lord was declaring repentance to them, and would declare repentance through His angels to all people that they might avoid the second, or spiritual death.  We would do well to seek to hear His voice, spoken by His servants.  We would do well to heed Him and change ourselves to be in harmony with His word.  Although this may seem to be a hard thing to do – to transition from earthly mortal beings to Christ-like saints – it is wholly possible, with God’s help.  The atonement is for all of us.  It is meant for us to apply to our lives.

There is so much meat in these few passages, yet the concept is simple.  If we love our Father in Heaven, we will obey Him and live His commandments.  He will reward us with eternal life in His kingdom.  If we don’t obey Him and live His commandments, He cannot bestow these blessings upon us.

Don 

Round 2: Amulek vs the Ammonihahites - Alma 10 – 11

Alma chapter 10 and 11 detail Amulek’s interactions with the people of Ammonihah and the things he taught them.  After Alma's blazing condemnation of the people's wickedness, Amulek stands and addresses the crowd.  He first talks about his successful and blessed life, but admits:  “Nevertheless…  I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power… but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people.  Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear” (Alma 10:5-6)

Amulek then tells the people about being led to Alma by an angel and his spiritual conversion at Alma's hand.  My favorite part of this narrative:  “For behold, he [Alma] hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed, and the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake” (Alma 10:11).

Remember that the people had just finished rejecting Alma because he was only one man testifying of their wickedness… the people were astonished that a second witness stood to address them, and especially that he was a local man.

Some try to trip up Amulek's testimony by questioning him, thinking that they could make him contradict himself.  Alma tells us of these people:  “Now it was those men who sought to destroy them, who were lawyers, who were hired or appointed by the people to administer the law … at the trials of the crimes of the people before the judges… these lawyers were learned in all the arts and cunning of the people; and this was to enable them that they might be skilful in their profession.  Now, it was for the sole purpose to get gain, because they received their wages according to their employ, therefore, they did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ” (Alma 10:14-15, 11:20).  It sounds like Alma had had to deal with this kind of people before, probably when he was the chief judge of the land.

Alma tells us that through the influence of the Holy Ghost Amulek perceived their thoughts and knew that they were trying to trap him.  In response to their tricks, Amulek reiterates Alma's message forcefully,  and tells them twice: "O ye wicked and perverse generation". Alma also tells us that one of the main accusers was Zeezrom, who is a major part of the next chapter.

Almost half of chapter 11 is about the monetary system used by the Nephites.  I find this to be interesting and have pondered why Alma would devote so much attention to it.  He must have thought it was important to future readers to document the Nephite money system.

Amulek contends with Zeezrom, who tries to get him to deny his faith.  First Zeezrom tries the easy way and offers Amulek a great sum of money to deny his testimony.  It went something like this:
Z: Will you answer some questions?
A: if the spirit allows me to.
Z: I'll give you a lot of money if you'll deny that God exists (not exactly a question)…
A: Nice try, you child of hell. You would never have given me any money no matter what I said. And by the way, you well know that God exists but all you care about is money and power.

Changing tactics, Zeezrom asks about the Savior and twists Amulek's words to make an accusation.  I can imagine it going like this:

Z: You say there is a god…
A: Yes there is.
Z: Is there more than one God?
A: No.
Z: How do you know this?
A: An angel came to me and told me.
Z: Hmm… Who is this that you say will come?  Is it the son of God?
A: You got it.
Z: Will he save the people in their sins?
A: No,  he can't because he can't deny his word.
(At this point we see Zeezrom’s second attempt to trap Amulek by misrepresenting what he said):

Z:  (to the people) Did you hear what he just said?  He said there is only one God, and the son of God will come, but He won't save his people.  This guy acts like he can command God.

But Amulek doesn’t let Zeezrom get away with his fraud.  He replies:
A: Zeezrom, you’re such a liar.  You lied to these people because you said I spoke like I could command God.  What I said was that God can't deny his word.  God has said no unclean thing can enter his kingdom, so He can’t save the people in their sins.

When Zeezrom continues to ask questions about God, Amulek teaches a powerful lesson about the coming of the Savior.  He teaches:

• Jesus created the heavens and the earth.
• Jesus can't save us if we don't repent of our sins.
• Jesus came to this world to redeem his people.
• Jesus took upon himself the sins of the world.
• Jesus and his Father are one God (what we call the Godhead).

Amulek then teaches Zeezrom and the people about physical death, the resurrection and spiritual death. He teaches so well and so profoundly that the people are astonished.  In a nutshell, we learn:

• Every soul who has walked the earth or will walk the earth will experience physical death, which is the separation of our bodies and our spirits.  Because of Jesus Christ’s mission, our bodies and our spirits will be reunited again forever.
• Spiritual death is the separation of a soul from the presence of Heavenly Father.   Everyone is allowed to (and must) choose whether they will face this death or live eternally in God’s glorious presence. We will all be judged to determine if we will experience spiritual death or not.  Thanks to Jesus Christ, we can choose for ourselves.

Some lessons learned from these two chapters:

     1.     Although Amulek was a well-respected citizen of Ammonihah, he was put through the mill because of his powerful testimony.   Doing good and making right choices often isn’t easy or popular.  We must do what is right and accept the consequences (and blessings) of doing so.  We must not let anything turn us from keeping God's commands and doing what is right.
2.     Alma felt it was important for us to know the background (i.e. their monetary system) of the circumstances in these chapters.  I have always learned better when I understood the background or basis of a concept. For me, rote learning does not stick. I think this is why study of the gospel is a life long pursuit; the more we learn, the more we can learn.
3.     We each are going to die eventually, but thanks to the Savior we can look forward to living again, in perfect bodies.  What a precious gift he has given us.
4.     We each have been given the opportunity to choose if we will die spiritually.   It is not predetermined.  It is not decided for us.  We, by our choices and actions, make the decision.   The beautiful thing, the icing on the cake - so to speak - is that if we make some missteps, the Savior has paid the debt.  If we repent and live more worthy lives our mistakes will be erased and forgotten.  This is a truly remarkable gift, and how grateful we should be.
5.    The Lord loves His children… even those who are wicked and unrepentant.  He loved the Ammonihahites so much that he sent Alma to warn and teach them, and then sent him back again, this time with Amulek, another holy man.   Remember this if you are ever sad or depressed for having made a mistake… the Lord Loves You!  He wants you to return to His presence!

     May we each become as converted and stalwart as Amulek.  May we each be as brave and unwavering as Alma!

   

      Don

Alma at Ammonihah: Alma’s Address Part 2 - Alma 9

Just a few more comments about Alma chapter 9 before I move on to Alma 10…

Interesting thing 1:  Alma challenges the Ammonihahites apparent poor memory of God six times during the first 14 verses of the chapter, saying “have ye forgotten”, “do ye not remember”, and “how soon ye have forgotten”.  In verse 14 he challenges the Ammonihahites “I would that ye should remember…”.  How important it is to remember our relationship to the Lord.  How important it is to remember His commandments.   How important it is for us to remember the way we feel when we have the Spirit of God in our lives.  Too often we allow the busy-ness of daily living to blur our memory of spiritual living.  Let us keep the Lord ever fresh in our memories, and the spirit of His gospel and His commandments fresh in our minds.

Interesting thing 2:  In the same 14 verses, Alma refers to the commandments of God four times.  Obedience is a measure of faithfulness; indeed, it is a measure of love and commitment to the Lord.  Lack of obedience is a long step towards rebellion and rejection of the Lord in a person’s life.  Willing obedience shows respect and love.  Why is a child willing to be obedient to his parents?  Love; trust; desire to please his beloved mother and father.  I think that Heavenly Father is a pleased parent when we willingly obey His commandments.

Interesting thing 3:  Alma pulls no punches in accusing the Ammonihahites of wickedness.  “Oh ye wicked and perverse generation…”;  “it shall be more tolerable for [the Lamanites] in the day of judgment than for you…”; “if ye persist in your wickedness… your days shall not be prolonged…”; “...he will not suffer you that ye shall live in your iniquities…”.  How bad would you have to be to have a prophet of the Lord speak to you with these phrases?  Oh, may we never fall to that depth!

Interesting thing 4:  Alma reminds the people of the many times the Lord had intervened for their benefit and gives twelve different specifics, such as:  “Having been visited by the Spirit of God…”; “having had so much light and...knowledge given unto them”; “having been brought out of bondage…”; “...having been delivered of God…”.  These people had been blessed greatly with a multitude of spiritual blessings.  Have we been given physical and spiritual blessings?  Do we acknowledge them to our Father in Heaven?  I hope that we all may use these blessings to strengthen our faith and to praise and thank God for them.

Interesting thing 5:  As he did in Melek, Alma uses this address to teach the people of Ammonihah of the Savior and His mission.  Unlike the people of Melek, the people reject this testimony and instruction, to their detriment.  How do we respond to being taught of the Savior?  I hope that learning about the Savior helps us to feel closer to Him and makes us appreciate His life, His mission, and His sacrifice.

Interesting thing 6:  Alma tells the people that the Lord sent His angel to warn them so that they would not be destroyed.  This is an instance where a mortal being is referred to as the Lord’s angel.  I believe that when we are on the Lord’s errand, we are His angels, performing His work and ministering to His children.  Let us ever live to be the Lord’s angels.

Alma’s address to the Ammonihahites is one of the most powerful messages of warning I can think of in the scriptures.  May we live so that we will not be on the receiving end of such a message.  May we ever live that the Lord will say to us:  “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:21).

Don

Alma at Ammonihah: Alma's Address, Part 1 - Alma 9

I would be remiss if I didn't comment about my long hiatus from posting on this blog.  My sincere apologies!  I hope my future posts will not be so few and far between.  All I can offer as a flimsy excuse is writer's block, or intimidation, or time constraints, take your pick.  I certainly did not lose my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  For some reason (as I said, pick one above) I delayed my posts...

That said, I will proceed with my comments, continuing with Alma chapter 9.

This chapter contains Alma's address to the people of Ammonihah, a city whose people " ...Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of... " (Alma 8:9).  You'll recall that Alma had already been to Ammonihah and had been forcibly removed from the city.  In this chapter Alma delivers a fiery message to the people, and the people responded angrily: "...they began to contend with me, saying:  'Who art thou? Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of one man, although he should preach unto us that the earth should pass away?  We will not believe thy words if thou shouldst prophesy that this great city should be destroyed in one day.  Who is God, that sendeth no more authority than one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?'" (Alma 9:1,2,4,6).  I would speculate that they had not forgotten Alma’s previous visit.  I can imagine their reaction to be something like “didn’t we throw you out once already?”  I think that Alma’s previous visit must have hit some tender spots with the people of Ammonihah for them to react so strongly.  Have you ever had a rocky relationship with someone and then had a heated discussion with them?  It seems that things past always come out in such a situation, doesn’t it?   Do we hold any grudges?  I would think that a grudge is not something that the Lord would have us nurture.  “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.” (D&C 64:9)

The Ammonihahites, stirred by their anger and undoubtedly by Satan's promptings, tried to take Alma physically.  Alma comments simply that they did not.  I wonder how he avoided being accosted...  Perhaps his next words stopped them short, for Alma asks them:  “... have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God…  Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?  And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies…  do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land?” (Alma 9:8, 12-14,18-19,24)

Verse 14 of chapter 9 gives us Alma’s main theme of this part of his address:  “Now I would that ye should remember…”  This is good advice for each of us.  When we are tempted, we should remember the goodness of the Lord in our lives.  I know that each of us has been touched in some way by the Lord’s goodness.  He has blessed me many times, almost too many times to remember, yet if I do remember these times, and remember them vividly, my testimony is bolstered. 

Alma then delivers the message that the Lord sent him back to give.  To the Ammonihahites, it should be taken as a dire warning.  He asks the people if they have forgotten the commandments of God, then proclaims:

“Behold [the Lord] commandeth you to repent; and except ye repent, ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God... he has commanded you to repent, or he will utterly destroy you from off the face of the earth; yea, he will visit you in his anger, and in his fierce anger he will not turn away” (Alma 9:12).  Alma reiterates this grave warning and makes it clearly understood:  “if ye persist in your wickedness ... your days shall not be prolonged in the land, for the Lamanites shall be sent upon you… and ye shall be visited with utter destruction; and it shall be according to the fierce anger of the Lord” (Alma 9:18).

Alma reminds the people of the Lord’s promise to father Lehi:  “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land [and] Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord” (Alma 9:13).  Alma then verifies the Lord’s promise “[The] Lamanites have not kept the commandments of God, they have been cut off from the presence of the Lord” (Alma 9:14).

Finally, Alma reiterates the Lord’s warning:  “…he will not suffer you that ye shall live in your iniquities, to destroy his people … after having had so much light and so much knowledge given unto [you] of the Lord … The Lord has expressly… decreed that if ye will rebel against him that ye shall utterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth” (Alma 9:18,24).

This should have been an alarming and sobering warning, coming from the servant of the Lord, the high priest of the Church.  Yet the people of Ammonihah, instead of being alarmed and chagrined, were angered.  In their anger, the people tried to cast him into their prison.  The Lord did not permit them to do this, though. 

There are several things to think about from this chapter.  I firmly believe that the Ammonihahites did not devolve into their wickedness suddenly… it involved a slow slipping away from righteousness, bit by bit, first inattentive to spiritual things, then neglectful, then indifferent and so on until they were fully ripe for destruction.  I hope I never fall away from the church, and especially so far that I would warrant such a serious warning.  But it makes me pause and wonder… what things do we allow in our lives that would draw us away from faithfulness?  We must evaluate our spiritual well-being while we are in the best position to remedy potential problems.  One way to assess our faithfulness is by taking a spiritual inventory of ourselves, coupled with sincere personal prayer on a regular basis. 

May we each strive to be obedient to the commandments our Father has given to us.  May we each partake of his love and approval in our faithfulness.

Don

Alma at Ammonihah - Alma 8

This post is a prelude to the things that Alma preached to the people of Ammonihah.  Before I discuss this, though, I should acknowledge that my posts have been less frequent of late.  Rest assured that I am still reading and studying the Book of Mormon and I will post more frequently, as time allows....

Alma is continuing on his travels to the Nephite communities, preaching repentance and putting the organization of the church in order.  He visits the city of Melek, where he baptizes many and organizes the the local church.  Not much else is said of this stop there.  He proceeds to the city of Ammonihah, and this is where we pick up his story.

The people of Ammonihah were not receptive to Alma's ministerial efforts.  Alma records: "Now Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people of the city of Ammonihah; therefore they would not hearken unto the words of Alma" (Alma 8:9).  Nevertheless, Alma was compelled by his concern and love for the people.  He first sought the Spirit:  "Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance" (Alma 8:10).  This can be instructive to us who have a difficult calling or challenging assignment in the church.  Alma recognized that he needed help with the job ahead of him.  We need to recognize that without the guidance and support of the Lord, we alone cannot do His work.  This is the Lord's church; without His direction, this is only a mortal enterprise.

This passage uses the phrase "wrestling with God in mighty prayer".   The scripture uses the word wrestle to indicate that there was much effort in seeking God's guidance.  Consider Enos, son of Nephi's brother Jacob.  He went to hunt in the forest and was moved by his father's testimony, which he must have heard many times.  Enos says:  "And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens" (Enos v4).  Alma must have struggled, labored, spent hours in prayer for the welfare of the people of Ammonihah.  I can't think of a time ever when I spent hours in continual prayer.  I do know, though, that I have had problems I was trying to deal with when I prayed formally and they had the spirit of the prayer in my heart for hours on end, as I went about daily tasks.  I don't know if that is "wrestling in mighty prayer" or not.  Perhaps we all need to be like Enos and like Alma, taking our troubles to the Lord, and seek opportunities as we struggle with the problem to kneel before him in "mighty prayer".

In spite of Alma's efforts, the people of Ammonihah treated him badly; they denied his former secular authority, defied his spiritual authority, and kicked him out of their city.  Imagine how this must have felt!  As he traveled on toward his next destination, weighed down in sorrow for the people he tried to serve, an angel appeared to him.  Alma is surprised when the angel tells him "Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city...say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will destroy them.  For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people..." (Alma 8:15-17).  The Lord's way of lifting Alma's spirit was to send him back into the fire...  Little did Alma know the things that this assignment would bring; what it did bring to Alma, though, was hope.  Need hope in your life?  Do the tasks that the Lord has given to you.

Alma returns to Ammonihah and is immediately meets Amulek, whom the same angel commanded to take care of a holy man.  After dwelling with Amulek and his people for a number of days, the Lord commanded that Alma should again preach repentance and destruction to the people; the Lord also commanded that Amulek accompany him.  In a later chapter we hear Amulek tell the people that he was instructed by the angel to find Alma and take care of him.  We learn that Alma, rather than being a burden to Amulek's people, blesses them all with his presence, his teachings, and his testimony.  Amulek becomes thoroughly converted and accompanies Alma on this assignment and others in the chapters ahead.

If you do what the Lord directs you to do, will you be protected, comforted, free from harm or danger?  Not always.  If you do what the Lord directs you to do, will you be blessed with the peace and comfort that only His spirit can bring?  Yes, always.  May we each follow the Lord's direction; may we each have His spirit with us.

Don

Alma's Ministry - Alma 6 - 7

After calling the people of Zarahemla to repentance, and re-staffing the church adequately, Alma proceeds to the city of Gideon.  There he finds that the people have been more in tune with God than the people he just left.  This provides Alma with the opportunity to teach them advanced principles of the Gospel, rather than spending his time correcting them.  This begs the question for each of us:  Are we striving to be righteous, readying ourselves for spiritual knowledge when the opportunity arises?  Or will the Spirit of the Lord have to spend precious time breaking down walls?

Fortunately for the people of Gideon, Alma was able to teach them instead of chastising them.  There are some great truths in these chapters to be read and pondered.  Here are a couple that I gleaned:

I already mentioned being ready for truth and knowledge so we may receive it properly when it comes.  Alma tells the Gideon people that he received information and direction from the Holy Ghost:  "...he hath given me to know, yea, hath given unto me the exceedingly great joy of knowing that they [the Zarahemlites] are established again in the way of his righteousness.  And I trust, according to the Spirit of God which is in me, that I shall also have joy over you; ... But behold... I trust... that ye do worship the true and the living God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come." (Alma 7: 3-6).  Moreover, Alma tells them that he received guidance from the Spirit of the Lord: "But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight..." (Alma 7:9).  The point is, Alma received guidance and instruction from the Holy Spirit, just we can if we are walking circumspectly. 

Alma taught the people about the coming of the Savior.  He taught: "For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people." (Alma 7:7).

He gave specifics of the Savior's coming and of his mother's circumstances:  "And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God." (Alma 7:10).

Alma taught the people of Gideon about the Savior's ministry:  "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.  And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities... the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance..." (Alma 7:11-13)

What a powerful testimony of the Savior, of His mission on earth, of His magnanimous love and charity toward us.  Alma's testimony of the Savior is an example for us; we should pursue such a testimony.  We MUST have such a testimony if we want to survive the attacks of the adversary.  Such a testimony comes from active seeking and active doing.  Alma showed us this by his example.  He was willing to give up being the most important leader of his country to do the Lord's will exclusively.

Alma continues with his address to the Gideonites by urging them to be humble, to serve, to submit themselves to the Spirit's guidance, and concludes by blessing them "And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever." (Alma 7:27).   This reminds me of every general conference, and the final address from the prophet.  The people of Gideon were blessed by Alma's presence and by his stirring admonitions.  We are blessed twice a year by such a man, the prophet of our days, President Thomas S. Monson.  May we treasure this great gift.

Don

Aftermath of war: Alma 4 - 5

Alma chapter 4 sets the stage for Alma's great oration to the people of Zarahemla.  The people have come through a tremendous civil war - a battle between Amlici and those who wanted him to be their king versus those who wanted to have the freedoms of a elected government.  The battle was very costly to the Nephite nation. Alma 3 indicates "...now the number of the slain were not numbered, because of the greatness of their number..." (Alma 3:1).  The Lamanite and Amlicite dead was also great although not mentioned in this reference. 

I compare this costly war to the battle of Gettysburg of the American Civil War.  What happened at the three-day battle at Gettysburg? 
  -- Union Forces Engaged: 82,289
  -- Confederate Forces Engaged: 75,000
  -- Casualties: 51,112 (23,049 Union and 28,063 Confederate).  This constitues almost 1/3 of the troops engaged in the battle!
(source: http://www.civilwarhome.com/Battles.htm)

Alma chapter 3 gives further indication of how many were lost: "...And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world..." (Alma 3:26).  In addition to warrior casualties, there were other losses:  "Now many women and children had been slain with the sword..." (Alma 3:2).  War is always costly to the armies and to the population as well.  The Nephite nations suffered greatly as a result of one man who wanted power. 

The aftermath of this catastrophe rested on the leaders of the Nephite nation, most notably Alma, who was both Chief Judge of the nation as well as the high priest over the church.  I can imagine what challenges this dual role brought to Alma.   Over the next 3 years, his duties of chief judge kept him busy.  He saw that many of the people in and out of the church were becoming less and less aligned with the things that Alma's father had taught.  Alma, in his frustration, determined that one of his responsibilities had to go.  He decided to leave the chief judgeship and devote himself to the needs of the church.  By the voice of the people, Nephihah was chosen to be the new chief judge of the land.

And so it was that Alma began to focus on the people of the church to stir them to become true to their faith.  Alma starts with the church at Zarahemla;  Chapter 5 contains his passionate plea to the people to be righteous.  Here are some of the highlites that meant much to me.

Authority:  Alma cites the authority that he holds by which he admonishes the people of Zarahemla. "I, Alma, having been consecrated by my father, Alma, to be a high priest over the church of God, he having power and authority from God to do these things..." (Alma 5:3).  When speaking on someone else's behalf, one must be authorized to do so.  I can't speak for the Queen of England, for instance, because I don't have the right to do so.... I haven't been given that authority.  I can't spend Donald Trump's money, I don't have the authorization for it.  Is it so hard to believe that an education doesn't give authority and that God would want to choose who speaks for him?

History:  I liked how Alma reminded the people he addressed of the history of their people and the roots of the church.  Given that they had just gone through political upheaval, it is fitting that Alma reminds them of the state that king Noah left his people in.  Alma probably feels like the people have moved close to this state themselves.

Delivery of the message:  I like the poetic way that Alma delivers his points home:  "Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.  And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not." (Alma 5:7-8).  Alma first teaches them a truth - God changed our fathers' hearts (and by logic, can and will change our hearts).  He then uses similes then to emphasize this point.  I see this as nothing less than poetry.

Content of the message:  The theme of Alma's entire address can be summed up in verses 11-13, which is this:  through faith we gain a change of heart.  Through this change we become humble.  Through humility we begin to trust in the Lord and his offerings.  This trust enables us to be valient and to endure to the end.  What a great message!

To me, parts of this address seemed like giving the people of Zarahemla a temple recommend-style interview.  "...have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?  Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption braised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?" (Alma 5:14-15).  Some of the things Alma then asked were more of a negative nature, geared to what they were doing wrong (like being called on the carpet) - see Verses 17 to 25.  I may be making judgments from this portion, but I think it's significant that Alma had to devote more time to chastising the Zarahemla church members than teaching them about spiritual things.  What do we learn from this?  I think that they needed to change their ways.  Perhaps we need to take our spiritual temperature...  If we use Alma's questions, are we ready to stand before God?

Alma gives the Zarahemlites the keys to getting on track in verses 27 through 33. 
  -- Keep yourselves blameless before God
  -- Humble yourselves
  -- Strip  yourselves of pride
  -- Remove envy from your life
  -- Avoid things that would drag you down (he specifically mentions mockery; it sounds like this problem was pervasive in the church).

There are many things in this address that I have not discussed, but the entire message to the people of Zarahemla is worth understanding and applying to ourselves.  May we read this chapter with a spiritual mirror.  May we each benefit from the things we read in these chapters and elsewhere in the Book of Mormon.  May we each rejoice with one another in the presence of the Lord.

Don

Political Upheaval - Alma 2 - 3

At this rate, I should be able to reach the end of the Book of Mormon by 2018 :).

I have read and re-read these chapters as questions popped into my mind about them.  Re-reading the chapters like this always seems to bring more insight about the things I wonder about.  I would urge you, as  you read the scriptures, to re-read parts that puzzle you or pique  your interest, then ask for guidance from the Lord as  you ponder.  I believe this is how we reconcile what is in the scriptures to our lives; this is how we apply what happened in a scriptural context to our real life.  (ok, off my soap-box).

I can see the events depicted in Alma 2 and 3 happening in any society.  The time-frame setting of these chapters is the fifth year of the reign of the Judges.  The government is still brand new; kinks in the system were still getting worked out.  I believe that in any societal situation there are people who, hungry for power, look for some way to advance themselves.  The Nephite nation was assailed by power-hungry Amlici, a man who wanted to be crowned king.  Amlici was a smooth talking flatterer who gained support with many of the people to the point that it was a real possibility that he would achieve his goal.  It all came down to a vote - the people cast their say in the matter and Amlici's attempt was defeated.

I guess Amilici was a sore loser...  He convinced his followers that they should make him king anyway and then arm themselves for civil war.  What followed this treasonous act was wide-spread bloodshed within the Nephite nation.  To make matters worse, Amlici allied himself and his people with the Lamanite army and tried to subject his Nephite people to forceful obeisance.  In the end, the freedom-loving Nephites prevailed, but at a terrible cost; many Nephites were slain; many, many Nephite families suffered loss of loved ones; the Nephite nation had been dealt terrible blow.

Thoughts about these events:

++  The voting process:  It appears there was a voting procedure in place.  This process was probably the same process that was used, when Mosiah proposed the judges system of government, to choose the judges in the first place.  It must have been adequate and trusted by the people; we don't read of any debate over the validity of the vote.  We only read that Amlici's rejection of the results.

++ Amlici's desire to be king was not a result of his concern for the people or for their society.  He incited displeasure for the current system among his followers and pushed for a monarchy which would give him power over all of the people.  When things didn't go his way, he pushed his followers into treason.  He rejected any concern for the people by arming his followers for civil war.  I believe that he corresponded with the Lamanites and made a compact with them before he started warfare.  This would explain how there happened to be a large Lamanite army right where Amlici and his followers could join up with them.  This would explain how there happened to be not one but two Lamanite armies.  Amlici was a traitor to his people and would have them become part of the Lamanites just so he could be called a ruler over the people.

++  The divisiveness that Amlici sowed became very costly to the Nephite nation.  Any group of people - families, wards, cities or nations - will fracture from divisiveness.  Divisiveness tears down, ruins, destroys.  "And Jesus ... said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand" (Matthew 12:25).   Unity brings people together, makes them strongly bonded, builds them up and provides a vehicle for happiness. More importantly, it is what God wants.  "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them" (Moses 7:18).  We must strive for unity in our families, in our churches, in our communities.

++  It is interesting that when war preparations were made, there was a list of weapons that the people armed themselves with:  "...they did arm themselves with swords, and with cimeters, and with bows, and with arrows, and with stones, and with slings, and with all manner of weapons of war" (Alma 2: 12).  It looks almost like a checklist.... Swords?  Check.  Cimeters?   Check.  Weapons of war of every kind?  Check.  I don't know why that fascinates me.....  Maybe because I'm a boy?  :)
.
++  There is a lot of details about the war and battles.  In fact, the book of Alma has what is sometimes called the "war chapters".  Why is war described in detail in this book, which contains such powerful spirit and numerous witnesses of it's divine origin?  There are several good answers to this question, but I think they boil down to this:  We are to learn a spiritual lesson from what is written here.  The spiritual lesson from the "war chapters" is just as important as the spiritual lesson from Jacob's olive tree allegory or from Nephi's narrative about the tree of life.  As I re-read these chapters with this in mind it occurred to me that in several places the Nephites are strengthened by the Lord.  "...Nevertheless the Lord did strengthen the hand of the Nephites..." (Alma 2:18).  "Nevertheless, the Nephites being astrengthened by the hand of the Lord, having prayed mightily to him that he would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies..." (Alma 2:28).  "And it came to pass that Alma... cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people.  Now when Alma had said these words he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened..." (Alma 2: 30-31).  The crux of this lesson, the one that to me is important enough to appear at least 3 times in this chapter, is that the Lord supports His people.  We can call on the Lord for strength in our time of need.  We must be prepared spiritually to be able to rely on His aid when we need it.

++  The effects of this brief but bloody war cannot be appreciated until you have read the beginning of chapter 3.   Verse 1 tells us that they could not count all of the dead for sheer volume.  Verse 2 tells us that there were many women and children that were slain.  This sounds like near-annihilation of the Nephite civilization.  I don't think that it is possible for us in this time to visualize what an experience this must have been.  It is a history lesson to us on how a proud, power-hungry, ambitious man can inflame people into a out-and-out disaster.  For us personally, how devastating is it to a person's life when a little sin is allowed to erupt into a full-fledged moral conflict.
As a side-note, I always pause at the phrase "...now the number of the slain were not numbered, because of the greatness of their number..." (Alma 3:1).  I wonder if this alliteration is the literal translation of a Nephite phrase, or if the phrase we see is Joseph Smith's interpretive wording.  In either case, the message is correct and very clear, there is no doubt.

++  Last note:  There is a lot of attention to why the Lamanites were marked.  This follows a description of how the Amlicites had marked themselves, which they did to distinguish themselves from the Nephites, or the people of God.  Unwittingly the Amlicites were fulfilling God's prophesy that anyone who rebelled against Him would be marked.  How convenient that they did it to themselves!   Anyone who pulls away from church activity and from living the Gospel standards marks themselves subtly.  They may not recognize the difference, but those who hold true to the Gospel can observe the difference.  The countenance of the person is different - almost like a light has left them.  This happened to the Amlicites.  It happens to people today and can happen to anyone who does not actively live the Gospel standards and obey God's commandments.

There is richness of wisdom in the Book of Mormon.  May we learn from it's passages and apply the lessons to our lives.