Book of Mormon Lesson
# 24 Alma 13–16
Give Us Strength According to Our Faith-in
Christ
Introduction
Alma and Amulek are coming to the end of their sojourn in Ammonihah—not
necessarily of their own volition, but they are about to be imprisoned. Not
only that, they are forced to watch as those people who believed in their
words—the message of the gospel—are brutally martyred. We can empathize with
Amulek as he asks why this cannot be stopped “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). How often do we
wish to stop or reverse bad things happening to people we love? It is hard to
imagine the mindset of people who inflict pain and suffering on others. But
Alma’s words are a reminder as well as an instruction, that the Lord knows the
end from the beginning and His plan is just: “The Spirit constraineth me that I
must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself,
in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people
may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that
the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and
the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry
mightily against them at the last day” (v. 11).
1. Alma gives a powerful
discourse on the priesthood and foreordination. Alma 13.
After being questioned by Antionah
and explaining the plan of salvation, Alma continues his discourse—principally
directed at Zeezrom still, I think, but of interest to all readers—on the
Priesthood of Melchizedek after the order of the Son of God. You will remember that the people of Ammonihah had challenged Alma’s authority to preach to them (see Alma 8:11–12 ) now he establishes that authority—not the priesthood of Nehor, but the Priesthood of Melchizedek. We all know
Abraham 3:22–23 and that we are part of that body of “noble and great ones.”
Here in Alma 13:3 we learn that the Priesthood is given to those who are called
and prepared “from the foundation of the world.” Men (and women also through
delegated authority) who have achieved their first estate have this great blessing.
Elder Maxwell, “It is all so wondrously Christ-centered. Whether in the
structure of the atom or of the galaxies, or in the truths about temples and
families, for those who have eyes to see, all things “from the beginning of the
world” (2 Ne. 11:4) “bear record of [God].” (Moses 6:63.) They are designed to
point us to Christ, typifying Him, so that we might follow Him, have faith in
Him, and keep His commandments. . . . To life’s great questions about identity
and meaning come the Restoration’s resounding answers. Accompanying these
affirming ‘Yes, yesses!’ are the guiding rules or necessary ‘No, noes!’ These
restored truths are not mysterious, but wondrous. These truths do not represent
the gossip of the galaxies, but, instead, the universe’s simple, stunning
secrets—such as those God shared with Enoch, Abraham, Moses, and Joseph Smith—a
few of which I have noted. Nothing could be more relevant, more resplendent,
more true!”[1]
Alma talks about “the rest of the
Lord” (vs. 12). What does this mean? Joseph F. Smith: “It means entering into
the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to
such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for
something else; we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the
cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive. . . . Rest from the
religious turmoil of the world; from the cry that is going forth, here and
there—lo, here is Christ; lo, there is Christ” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th
ed., pp. 58, 125–26).
In verse 20 Alma talks about the dangers of wresting the scriptures. This is a
pointed dig at Zeezrom who was doing just that before his conversion process
started—twisting the words to suit his own meaning, not God’s—Elder Delbert
Stapley said, “The oppositions of man cannot change truth or principle, or
moral or ethical standards as revealed of God; therefore, men have no excuse
for not arriving at right answers and decisions in all matters which come
before them. By inquiring of the Lord and listening to the voice of his Spirit
and having a willingness to be guided thereby, we will always find ourselves on
the Lord's side of every issue and be strengthened to defend and hold fast to
that which is good and acceptable to our God.”[2]
Despite all that had happened to Alma in Ammonihah, and all
that would happen, Alma’s love for the people causes him to finish his message
by pleading with them, “And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my
heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my
words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your repentance”
(vs. 27). A few weeks ago we talked about how to call people to repentance—this
is a wonderful example of how we teach out of love. One final quote for this
chapter, and it has to do with angels, Elder Holland, “I am convinced that one
of the profound themes of the Book of Mormon is the role and prevalence and
central participation of angels in the gospel story. … One of the things that
will become more important in our lives the longer we live is the reality of
angels, their work and their ministry. I refer here not alone to the angel
Moroni but also to those more personal ministering angels who are with us and
around us, empowered to help us and who do exactly that (see 3 Ne. 7:18; Moro.
7:29–32, 37; D&C 107:20). … I believe we need to speak of and believe in
and bear testimony of the ministry of angels more than we sometimes do. They
constitute one of God’s great methods of witnessing through the veil, and no
document in all this world teaches that principle so clearly and so powerfully
as does the Book of Mormon” (“For a Wise Purpose,” Ensign, Jan. 1996, 16–17).
2. Alma, Amulek, and other believers are persecuted for
their righteousness. Alma 14.
Throughout the Book of Mormon we
see how wicked men bend the law to suit their own purposes. So too here, Alma
and Amulek are brought before judges who condemn them in a bizarre twisting of
the truths they teach (Alma 14:5).
There are several accounts of
imprisonment in the Book of Mormon: the Lamanites imprisoned the sons of
Mosiah, here the Ammonihahites imprison Alma and Amulek, and later Nephi and
Lehi, sons of Helaman are imprisoned by the Lamanites. In each case, it would
seem to be a form of restricting religious freedom. I don’t want to get
political necessarily, but here are a couple of links to Elder Oaks on the
subject.
But before that, we see the power
of conversion in Zeezrom (Alma 14:6–7). Have you ever turned your opinions
completely around as a result of being converted to a principle of the Gospel?
Defending something you previously criticized? Marion G. Romney described the
effects of such a conversion, “For today, as well as in days of old, there is
hope, there is peace, there is rest in Christ for all whose godly sorrow brings
them to that repentance which worketh salvation. Forgiveness is as wide as
repentance. Every person will be forgiven for all the transgression of which he
truly repents. If he repents of all his sins, he shall stand spotless before
God because of the atonement of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ; while he
that exercises no faith unto repentance remains ". . . as though there had
been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death"
(Alma 11:41), Such is the gist of God's merciful plan of redemption.”[3]
In this chapter we have the very
hard experience through Alma and Amulek’s eyes of watching people they love,
whom they converted, being martyred. Not only that, it is the wives and
children of the men who had been cast out, which seems particularly cruel. Here
is Pres. Kimball, “If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then
pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon
life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past and on into the
eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper
perspective. Is there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise
above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles,
sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our
strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be
immortalized and glorified? If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if
all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of
the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free
agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith. If joy and peace
and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no
evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There
would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers,
no free agency, only satanic controls. Should all prayers be immediately
answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then
there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death,
and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor
eternal life and godhood” (Faith Precedes
the Miracle [1973], 97).
Alma and Amulek were imprisoned
and tortured to try to get them to recant—not to save their own souls but so
those followers of Nehor who had such great power in Ammonihah could no doubt
parade their confession and maintain their hold over the people. But now is the
time for the power of righteousness to be demonstrated in a dramatic fashion
(vss. 25–27). As always it is the Lord’s timing we need to follow and be ready
for. Elder Scott, “The Lord will give relief with divine power when you seek
deliverance in humility and faith in Jesus Christ” (Ensign, May 1994, 7–8).
3. Zeezrom is healed and baptized. Alma
15.
The narrative now turns to Zeezrom
who had been cast out with other men who believed Alma and Amulek, and were now
in Sidom. Zeezrom bore not only his own guilt but the suffering of his
companions who had lost their wives and children—to the extent that “he began to be scorched with
a burning heat” (15:3). Alma and Amulek come to him and as they had called upon
the power of Christ to free them miraculously from the prison, they now invoke
that power to heal Zeezrom. President Packer spoke of the reality of spiritual
disorders that can cause powerful suffering: “There is another part of us, not
so tangible, but quite as real as our physical body. This intangible part of us
is described as mind, emotion, intellect, temperament, and many other things.
Very seldom is it described as spiritual. But there is a spirit in man; to
ignore it is to ignore reality. There are spiritual disorders, too, and
spiritual diseases that can cause intense suffering. The body and the spirit of
man are bound together. Often, very often, when there are disorders, it is very
difficult to tell which is which” (Ensign,
Nov. 1977, 59). Through the Atonement of Christ, we can be healed from all
disease—spiritual, physical, and mental. And through the Atonement He has
experienced them all.
Amulek forsook all for the Gospel, so now Alma takes him “to
his own house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and
strengthened him in the Lord.”
4. The words of Alma are fulfilled as the Lamanites destroy
Ammonihah. Alma 16.
We read earlier how Alma pleaded
with the people of Ammonihah who were after the profession of Nehor to repent
and come back to the true Gospel, but he also warned what would happen if they
did not. Alma 9:12 “Behold, now I say unto you that he commandeth you to
repent; and except ye repent, ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. But
behold, this is not all—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.” A year or so later, the Lamanites
entered Ammonihah and annihilated the people. “But behold, in one day it was
left desolate; and the carcasses were mangled by dogs and wild beasts of the
wilderness” (Alma 16:10). A sober reminder of the consequences of wickedness.
As the Institute Manual informs us, “The Lord has promised to fulfill all the words of his
prophets (see D&C
1:37–38).”
No comments:
Post a Comment