Latest / Scripture Central / Alma 36–38 | July 29–Aug 4 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

Transcript

Alma 36–38 | July 29–Aug 4 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

0:00
Hello, Welcome back to Scripture Central.
0:02
I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson. I'm John Welch and I'm glad to
0:06
be with you. And we are thrilled to be
0:09
talking about Alma 3637 and 38. These three chapters are
0:14
blessings from Alma to his first two sons.
0:17
And then next week we'll talk about the third son, Corianti.
0:20
And these are some of the most cherished records that we have.
0:24
They're sort of like Alma's last words, his last will and
0:27
testament, but they're also not just a testimony of Alma, but a
0:33
testimony of our Savior. And these words, because of
0:42
Alma's conversion, which we learned about way back in
0:45
Mosiah, and we remember that as the Angel appeared as Alma and
0:51
the four sons of Mosiah were making trouble, that conversion
0:56
of Jesus Christ, the Angel of the Lord, it says.
1:00
And I think that's a euphemism for Jehovah himself.
1:04
It's used in the Old Testament that way when the Angel of the
1:06
Lord appears to Abraham and the Angel Lord comes to.
1:11
Even in Daniel's visions we use Angel Lord and it says it was
1:15
the Lord. Lehigh, of course, sees God
1:18
seated upon his throne, surrounded by numberless
1:21
concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising
1:24
his God. We remember that from first
1:25
Nephi chapter one. And Alma sites it in this
1:28
beautiful chapter. 36 even all 21 words.
1:32
And that's amazing that he now can use that.
1:36
But why is he quoting that? I think because the point that
1:39
you're just raising, this is a wonderful testimony of Jehovah,
1:43
of Jesus Christ, and Alma is telling us who he had seen, me
1:50
thought I saw, even as her Father Lehigh had saw.
1:54
You know, you mentioned that there are three accounts of this
1:57
vision. I'm thrilled because we have
2:00
different audiences and different perspectives, and we
2:02
learn something in each one. This is my favorite one.
2:05
But as I look back, we see the same thing in the New Testament
2:09
with Paul. We see the same thing in Church
2:11
history with Joseph Smith. There are multiple accounts,
2:14
each one emphasizing a different point.
2:16
Yeah, that's right. Lynn, you, you point out
2:18
something very interesting that we do have these three accounts
2:21
of Alma's conversion. And if you want to make a real
2:24
careful study of these three, there is a chart, chart one O 7
2:28
that's available on the Book of Mormon Central archive that goes
2:32
through and shows you the shared words of these three accounts.
2:36
Of course, Alma 36 is the full account, but there are certain
2:40
words that were in the Mosiah 27 account enough that you can see
2:46
this is the same person talking about the same event.
2:49
This is authentic. And then in Alma 38, what Alma
2:53
gives to his second son is a shortened version where he only
2:57
goes through the first half of the actual conversion
3:02
experience. This is absolutely the same
3:04
person, and I think it's even more authentic that it isn't
3:08
just a rote memorization and recitation of the same thing.
3:12
That's how they determine anything that's authentic,
3:14
that's written. Is it coming in different words,
3:17
different vocabulary, different times for different audience.
3:19
They use this in forensics to see if they're using honest
3:24
authorship. Yeah, because what you want in a
3:27
witness is someone who's actually experienced something,
3:31
and then you can hear that experience underlying the words.
3:36
And that's what we have here in these accounts of Alma.
3:39
Let's go to Alma chapter 35 to see the situation that's set up
3:44
here. And at the end of chapter 35,
3:45
verse 16, he says, therefore he caused that his sons should be
3:50
gathered together, that he might give unto them everyone his
3:55
charge separately concerning the things pertaining unto
3:59
righteousness. And we have an account of his
4:03
commandments which he gave unto them according to his own
4:06
record, and whether Alma wrote these blessings before and then
4:11
delivered them, or had maybe a scribe there.
4:14
And as these blessings were being given, it was recorded.
4:18
Alma entered this into his own record, and I'm sure he gave a
4:22
copy of it to each of his three sons as well.
4:26
So it was a very formal occasion.
4:29
We might think of this in some ways like a patriarchal
4:32
blessing. It's interesting that verse 16
4:35
is in third person, as if these were written by Alma, and yet
4:40
because it says it's in his own words but included in the
4:42
plates, perhaps by his son Heilemann, because Alma is no
4:47
longer heard of within a year or so after this.
4:49
We'll get to there in a couple of chapters, but this is the end
4:53
of his time on earth. Yeah.
4:55
Heilemann goes on serving as the oldest son and we'll carry on to
5:00
the end of the book of Alma and we'll talk about those in other
5:05
their lessons. But let's go to Alma chapter 36.
5:14
What an amazing addition to our understanding of the gospel and
5:19
to Alma's conversion and what happened there.
5:24
Now, I hope that many of you know that Alma 36 has been
5:29
titled by Jack as the masterpiece of all Chiasmas.
5:33
And this one reason why this account to Heeleman of his
5:37
conversion is so beautiful is because it's all poetically
5:41
organized in the most amazing way.
5:43
In fact, amongst all the Chiasmas that have been found in
5:47
the world so far, nothing comes close to this.
5:50
And so as we enter this text, it is carefully, carefully written
5:56
by Alma. And this is this adds to its
5:59
importance. And the reason why these poetic
6:02
things have meaning is because they point to what's most
6:04
important to Alma. So go ahead.
6:07
You were the one that did this beautiful unearthing.
6:11
How did you find this? I was called to be the gospel
6:14
doctrine teacher in my BYU ward, and that year we were on a
6:22
different kind of timetable, but in February and March we were
6:28
doing the writings of Alma. And you know, there are about 10
6:32
speeches of Alma. And as we went through all of
6:36
these speeches in that Sunday School class, I challenged the
6:40
students to go back and read all ten of the speeches and try to
6:45
figure out what you can learn about Alma personally from those
6:49
speeches. Wonderful.
6:50
Well, that meant that I need to go back and read them all too.
6:54
And in preparing for the Sunday School lesson when we were going
6:57
to do Alma chapter 36, I had just returned from a temple trip
7:03
to the Manti Temple with our elders quorum.
7:06
And I sat down to prepare. And I decided I would read Alma
7:11
36 in this copy of the 1st edition, the 1830 edition of the
7:18
Book of Mormon. And the reason that this is a
7:21
good idea for anyone if you just want to read the text without
7:27
verses and two columns so you can just see the large picture
7:31
as you can see on this page. As I opened this and started
7:34
reading through Alma 36, I began seeing the repetitions and I
7:40
underlined some of them. These are the marks I made that
7:42
day as I first found Alma 36. And it was a very exciting
7:47
moment because of course I knew about King Benjamin using that,
7:52
and I'd gone back and started and found Nephi using chiasmus,
7:57
but pushing on ahead I hadn't done yet.
7:59
And now I found that Alma indeed knew the use of chiasmus.
8:05
And it's not just chapter 36. I don't think I've gone through
8:08
a singer chapter in Alma without finding beautiful poetic
8:12
structures. That's.
8:13
Right. And I think it's a formal way.
8:15
When Alma is writing his record, he wants to put it down in a way
8:20
that is high style, it is respectable and it's also it
8:24
communicates well. It shows you what he's trying to
8:27
say. The whole purpose why I like it
8:29
is it lets you know what the author is trying to say.
8:31
We can liken the Scriptures to our self, and that's good.
8:34
But I also want to know what was Alma trying to say?
8:37
And we get it here in Alma 36. See.
8:39
And you'd be a great seminary teacher, too, wouldn't you?
8:41
I am thank you, but just. Like I wanted my students to
8:45
learn about Alma by reading his speeches, and we can, you have
8:48
just made that point as well. This is how we get into the mind
8:53
and the spirit of people that we're reading of now.
8:57
In Alma 36, the turning point happened to be right on the top
9:01
of page 325. So as my eyes came here, I
9:05
remembered having heard my father speak of coming of one
9:08
Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
9:13
Now as my mind caught upon this thought, I cried within my
9:15
heart, Oh Jesus, thou son of God, have mercy on me.
9:18
Whoa. It was right there almost on a
9:21
billboard. And so I thank the typesetters
9:24
and the way this came, because that was the turning point.
9:28
And then I worked back and forth from there and the, the, the
9:32
chapter all just fell into place.
9:34
So much has been done with this. And of course, it, like you say,
9:38
it's not just famous in LDS circles, but it's one of the
9:42
best examples of this. I think the best one in the Old
9:45
Testament is Leviticus chapter 24.
9:49
And I'd like to you people may wonder, well, has anything
9:52
happened with chiasmus since this was published in 1969 and
9:59
and of course it was in church magazines in the 1970s and.
10:03
And the rest of the scholarly world does it outside of
10:06
scriptural texts. But I think in the New Testament
10:08
the best example is the book of Philemon.
10:10
The whole book is a beautiful chiastic structure.
10:13
Matthew has chiasms. That's right.
10:16
And when you think of, you know, what has been done.
10:19
Yes, we had a conference celebrating the 50th year of the
10:23
discovery of chiasmus. And this book is online.
10:26
It's also readily available. Published by BYU Studies the
10:30
conference. On our archives as well.
10:32
It's on the archive. Terrific.
10:33
You can get a free copy of it just by going to Scripture
10:36
Central and clicking on the archives and going down.
10:39
It's a fabulous resource. Quick to find on chiasmus the
10:43
state-of-the-art a well received collection of the state of
10:47
chiastic studies today and the at the end of this one of the
10:52
speakers was a statistician and he and his father take a
10:59
statistical approach to analyzing chiasmus.
11:02
His this is Boyd Edwards and Farrell Edwards.
11:07
They had published an article in BYU studies on just the the
11:13
question how do you analyze if a chiasm has occurred by chance or
11:17
not? And you can find that article in
11:19
BYU Studies 2004. But then they updated it with
11:25
even more statistical analysis here.
11:28
So what he concludes, by the way, is that there's one example
11:34
in Leviticus, Leviticus 24, and the the chances of that and the
11:42
chances of Alma 36 being accidental are the most remote
11:48
of the two ever found. And they conclude that it's
11:52
approximately one chance in about 50 million.
11:57
Oh, Jack, this is just amazing. And Joseph Smith translated it
12:02
in less than a day. Anyway, those that's a wonderful
12:05
pair. And Leviticus 24, I believe it
12:09
was on the brass plates and may have may have been where the
12:13
high priest Alma learned that this is the way you state things
12:19
that are to be well known and are significant.
12:24
And that chiasm centers on the law of reciprocal justice.
12:32
That an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and what that
12:35
should mean that the punishment should balance the offense.
12:40
And Alma, of course, had just experienced that with the
12:45
cursing of Corohore and cursing his tongue because of things
12:49
that he had spoken. And the Edwards, let me just
12:51
finally say that they came up with some other factors because
12:55
people, you know, may just cut discount this and say, well,
12:59
yes, it's it's a random or somehow not that significant.
13:02
But when you add what they call the density factor, you know, if
13:07
you go over a long enough text, you can probably find random
13:10
repetitions of a lot of words. So the density, the closeness,
13:15
they have to be in some proximity and statisticians can
13:18
calculate the density. So how many words are involved
13:22
in the chiasm? How many total words are there?
13:26
They're also characteristics of repetition and reversal.
13:32
And then they've added one other, which is what they call a
13:35
conceptual point. And what the conceptual level
13:39
aims at and helps us to understand is.
13:42
So what is the main point? And is this order a part of the
13:47
intentional structure and outline of it in a conceptual
13:51
way as well as in a nominal way? Yeah, you're building on your
13:54
argument as a good debate scholar.
13:57
You build your argument until you get to the main point.
13:59
Yeah, I totally. That's fabulous.
14:01
Thank you. Well, that's something that I
14:02
think people will want to know about.
14:04
And finally, just last year, a book was published by a man
14:10
named Edward Watson on Alma 36. And I think it's the latest
14:15
addition to our understanding. Ed Watson, he specializes in his
14:22
profession is in helping people who are making proposals,
14:27
applications for business ventures, especially up in
14:32
Canada where he's from like multi billion dollar oil
14:36
ventures. And you have to put together a
14:38
prospectus that will argue the case, and you want to be
14:42
persuasive. And everything has to be
14:43
relevant and has to turn to particular point to sell your
14:48
product. And he also then helps people go
14:52
through the stages of drafting and organizing and revising and
14:56
refining and finally coming up with a winner.
15:01
Well, what do you think he did with Alba, 36?
15:03
The same thing. He he looks at that from the
15:06
same perspective and he concludes there is no way this
15:11
is a first draft. This is much more.
15:14
This is well organized. This satisfies all of the kinds
15:18
of rules that I apply in going through something multiple
15:22
times, refining this, finally getting it pure and persuasive.
15:28
And actually we see that Alma has gone through this.
15:31
He's told people this story. Finally, it's his chance to tell
15:35
his first born son. In writing as a record before he
15:39
leaves. Thank you, Brother Watson, for,
15:43
you know, for that book, which, you know, not only shows how
15:48
persuasive it is, but I think his point that this couldn't
15:51
have been a first draft. And he also knows how people
15:55
begin when they dictate because that's how a lot of people will
15:59
commence writing. He knows the difference between
16:02
a dictation and then a revision and a polished final version.
16:08
This manifests none of the characteristics of a dictation.
16:11
When the Lord speaks, when a prophet is speaking, when a king
16:14
is giving, it's often in a parallel fashion and many times
16:19
in a chiastic structure. They take more effort at writing
16:21
down these things, as you said, that are more important.
16:24
And so as the reader, let's spend more time, slow down and
16:29
open up. Chapter 36.
16:31
Let's go through the chiasmus. I'd love to read Elder Holland's
16:35
comment on it. The process of repenting, of
16:37
course, is not an easy one. The experience of Alma the
16:42
Younger is a testament of that. Wrongs must be made right, and
16:46
there is no easy way to accomplish that.
16:48
But it must be done, however weary or wicked we may feel.
16:52
The story of Alma the Younger is an open invitation to every
16:55
child of God. And certainly and to every child
16:58
of Alma to. All of us?
17:00
Yes, exactly. And.
17:01
That's another interesting point when it's presented so clearly
17:05
in this text in Alma 36 speaks to multiple audiences, to young,
17:12
to old, to simple, to very complex situations.
17:18
It is why I call it a masterpiece.
17:20
It is something that speaks to everyone and that's hard to do.
17:25
Oh, of course. And yet the reason why it does
17:28
work is because it's God's plan. It's our Savior's atonement, and
17:33
as we build on this, I see not only the need for repentance,
17:36
but the need for parents to teach truth as He remembers the
17:41
words of His Father. Most of us don't get angels to
17:44
come and shake us up, but all of us get the Spirit of God to try
17:49
to correct us. And just as Alma remembered his
17:51
father's words, that's one of the first things that Alma says
17:55
to Helaman. Yes, he does.
17:57
Says I want you to remember to do as I have done.
17:59
Remember the captivity of our fathers Talks about how they
18:02
were in bondage and God did deliver them.
18:05
And that was the angels message in the Mosiah account that he's
18:08
repeating there. Alma goes on and says, Then,
18:13
Helaman, you must put your trust in God.
18:17
Trust and faith, of course, are very closely related.
18:20
Trust in Him and He will support you in all your trials, troubles
18:25
and afflictions. This is verse 3.
18:27
And you will then be lifted up at the last day.
18:29
And now Alma can say, I know this not of myself, but of God,
18:33
for I have been born of God. And then you can follow along,
18:37
as the outline of Alma 36 shows. What did he do in his conversion
18:43
process? He sought to destroy the church
18:45
and he was stopped. His limbs were paralyzed, and
18:49
for three days and three nights he was harrowed up by the memory
18:53
of his sins. That's verses 6-7 and eight and
18:56
I just like to pause on this three days and three nights.
18:59
This is a common use of time throughout the Book of Mormon.
19:03
We saw it with limb high. We see it with Alma.
19:06
We've, but I think we should all link them together with our
19:09
Savior, not necessarily that each one is, but let's just
19:13
pause and say when you're going through repentance, you're
19:16
coming to Christ. And we have to have remorse for
19:20
our sins. We have to want to change.
19:21
And the only way we can find forgiveness is through our
19:25
Savior's atoning sacrifice. Absolutely.
19:28
And as Alma went through those 3 days of torment, he could then
19:35
understand how the infinite Atonement could be made as Jesus
19:38
himself bore those sufferings. Although Alma of course doesn't
19:43
come close and none of us do to suffering as our Savior did, it
19:49
does help us to understand. And because of that, I mean, he
19:53
remembers this suffering. That's verse 13.
19:57
Yeah, I did remember all my sins and iniquities.
20:01
And I was tormented with the pains of hell.
20:04
And he refers to his his rebellion as murder in verse 14.
20:09
And then he says in 16 I suffered the pains of a damned
20:13
soul, and then here comes remembering again.
20:15
And at that point I remembered, Remember, Remember, O man, and
20:19
perish not. And that's King Benjamin and all
20:23
of these prophets telling us to remember.
20:25
And I remembered the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God.
20:29
That's the center, and here comes the pivot.
20:31
And I cried out, Oh, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
20:34
And that's the point I found in that first looking at that page.
20:38
And now you go backwards through it.
20:39
And I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins.
20:42
No more. That's the first thing that
20:44
happens in conversion. You know that you aren't
20:47
harrowed up. What does that word harrowed up
20:50
mean? Well, it comes to the word comes
20:53
from plowing, that a Harrow is when someone plows the ground
20:58
with a plow and you feel like your soul is just being plowed
21:03
up. You're being dug up.
21:04
You're now. It's interesting though, that
21:07
Alma uses this word because you do have to be plowed.
21:10
The soil has to be turned. The hardness of the soil has to
21:14
be softened before the seed can then grow.
21:17
And then in verse 20, his joy was exceeding, as was his pain.
21:22
And even though we all have sinned on various levels, the
21:28
smallest sin and the largest sin can experience this joy when we
21:33
feel forgiveness from the Lord. I feel like if we haven't felt
21:37
the Lord's love, try repentance, try repenting of even the small
21:41
things, because this joy that comes from forgiveness is
21:45
something that I can testify of. Probably not to the degree that
21:48
Alma could, though here. And notice that he says that his
21:51
joy was as exceeding as was his pain, but I think his joy was
21:56
even greater. Well, first of all, he goes on
21:58
and then says he sees the Lord. So I think it will be greater
22:01
because he's going to now describe quoting from the words
22:04
of Lehigh, which I think is significant as you mentioned
22:06
earlier here in verse 22. He longed them to be in the
22:10
presence of God. I've learned with lots of
22:13
studying of different chiasms that often the second-half is
22:18
not just a mechanical repetition identical to what had gone
22:23
before, but a development of and intensification of what had gone
22:29
before. Definitely 100%, especially in
22:31
the book of Alma. I've seen it page after page,
22:33
yes. And so we have that going on
22:35
here as well, that at first he feared being in the presence of
22:40
God, but now he longs to be in the presence and he develops
22:44
that. Notice that before he had sought
22:46
to destroy the church, but now he laborers to bring souls to
22:51
repentance. Now that's taking it to a whole
22:54
new level. And one thing to tear down, it's
22:57
another thing to build up. It's much more difficult, it's
23:01
much more satisfying. And Alma is now on the building
23:05
upside. He's been born of God and I love
23:08
the phrase. He's been filled with the Holy
23:10
Ghost in 24. He says my knowledge is not of
23:14
myself, but now my knowledge is of God.
23:17
That's verse 26. He then says that I have trusted
23:21
in him and he, I know that he will deliver me.
23:23
And then he adds something else, which is an intensification.
23:26
I've been delivered from this near death experience that I've
23:30
had, but I know that I will be raised up at the last day.
23:35
Now that is the ultimate being raised up.
23:38
So it was not just raised up from unconsciousness, but raised
23:41
up unto eternal life. And you know, Lynn, all of these
23:44
different chiasms that we've been finding, and you found some
23:47
new ones as we've gone along through here, has convinced me
23:51
that this is much more a part of Alma's rhetorical toolbox than
23:55
I'd realized before. Oh, 100%.
23:58
You don't create something like Alma 36 without those years of
24:04
working with the form and now sitting down to say I now want
24:09
to bless my first born son and I want to give him the most
24:15
powerful and beautiful blessing I possibly can.
24:19
And this then comes out as the brilliant result inspired,
24:24
drawing upon all of these wonderful tools that Alma had.
24:28
And he finishes right up. He then wants him not just to to
24:33
do as I have done, but now at the bottom he says, I want you
24:37
to know as I do know. And again he says, my son, give
24:43
ear to my words. That was his opener.
24:46
But at the end, this is according to God's Word.
24:50
So can you see those elevations coming through?
24:52
Yes, and such positives. I love that three repetition at
24:56
the end. Know, as I do know, in as much
24:59
as ye shall keep the commandments and prosper in the
25:02
land, that ye ought to know to keep the commandments, and not
25:06
be cut off from His presence. Now let's pause for just a
25:09
minute and ask. So what really converted Alma?
25:13
When you think about, you know, we think, well, the Angel.
25:15
It was not the Angel it. Wasn't the Angel.
25:17
Wasn't. It was remembering Jesus's
25:20
atoning. When he called upon Jesus, of
25:23
course the Angel was an instrument.
25:25
And so was remembering all of his sins.
25:26
And being harrowed up in his sins was an instrument.
25:30
Good point. It's not a simple process.
25:33
In fact it is a process and you go step by step and so using the
25:39
chiastic form like this helps you to walk through the process.
25:43
But this isn't where he ends his letter to his son.
25:51
He continues on to Helaman. And now he gives him the
25:54
practical manners of what's going to happen as now Helaman
25:57
is asked to step up and act as the high priest in the temple.
26:01
And he says, I'm going to give you the records.
26:03
This is now in our chapter 37. But remember, these chapters are
26:06
added later. This is all the same blessing,
26:09
and it's he not only gives him the records of the brass plates
26:14
and the records of Nephi, but he also gives him the records of
26:18
ether and he gives them specific commandments on what to do about
26:21
these records. Look at verse 13.
26:24
Oh, remember, remember my son Helaman, how strict are the
26:28
commandments of God? Then he goes and quotes Lehigh
26:31
again. If you will keep the
26:33
commandments, he shall prosper in the land.
26:35
But if not, you'll be cut off from his presence.
26:37
So Alma knows this text. And you remember when we talked
26:40
about Ammon and his missionary return and how well he knew
26:45
certain Old Testament passages? We now have validation that Alma
26:50
knew his records and he can quote from Lehigh and he is now
26:56
quoting a second time from Lehigh.
26:58
Bear in mind that when Joseph Smith translated Alma 36 and 37,
27:03
he had not yet translated First Nephi.
27:06
The small plates came later and I counted up.
27:09
This prosper in the land theme is mentioned 38 times in the
27:13
Book of Mormon and they haven't even come to 1st Nephi chapter 2
27:17
verse 20 when it's first mentioned.
27:18
Thank you for mentioning the plates here, because I believe
27:22
that Heilemann, as the oldest son and as the heir to the
27:30
office of High Priest, must have had a great experience with his
27:35
father, studying and learning how to read and write and keep
27:39
records. So when he carries on, I think,
27:42
as you know, Heilemann will carry on in a lot of ways as the
27:45
High priest. Remember, Alma leaves Heilemann
27:49
in Zarahemmela when he takes Shiblan and Koriant and the
27:51
others to go to Antionam. So Healman is already acting as
27:56
the. High priest at the temple.
27:57
Which means he must have these records and must know them.
28:00
But now he's entrusting those two healman, saying, you know
28:05
these, you know how to deal with.
28:06
These and you have to pick up not the quill, but some sort of
28:10
a marking implement that can be carved into this beautiful gold
28:14
plate, golden plates. OK, So what else does he give?
28:18
Him, well, I also appreciate it. He's already gone through the
28:20
beautiful process of repentance. But in verse 9 they repentance
28:25
is defined here as knowledge of the Lord their God and to
28:29
rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.
28:33
I love repentance as a means of rejoicing, as a means of one of
28:37
my daughter's calls it self love.
28:39
Repentance is helping me feel loved by God and it makes me
28:42
feel better. Well, these are little details,
28:45
but go back to verse six for a minute.
28:49
Alma's giving Helaman all these little things, all these little
28:52
details, But he says, Behold, by small and simple things are
28:57
great things brought to pass, and small means in many
29:02
instances doth confound the wise.
29:04
Haven't you seen that in your life, Jack?
29:07
Over and over. How does that play out?
29:09
Some things that we think are not important turn out to be the
29:12
most important event or the most important thing, and we look
29:16
back and say how could I have missed that?
29:17
I see God using that even in things like choosing a prophet
29:22
who's a young child born in Vermont and a family that are
29:26
trying to earn their living off the land and without much
29:29
education. And I just feel like by small
29:33
and simple things, David was raised up, Samuel was raised up,
29:37
and Joseph Smith was raised up, and so are each of us.
29:40
And I think in the context of this assignment, to keep the
29:43
records, being meticulous with the records, they must be
29:48
precise. We're not just keeping these as
29:52
rough drafts. And it's not just the record.
29:54
He's going to give them the stones as well.
29:56
I think he talks about the Leahona in this chapter.
29:59
He also, I want to read verse 23.
30:01
I will prepare unto my servant gazelium a stone which shall
30:05
shine forth in the darkness to light, and that it may discover
30:08
to my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the
30:11
works of their brethren. Now this is actually interesting
30:15
to see where that coma is placed, because either Gazalium
30:19
is the name of the servant or gazalium is the name of the
30:21
stone. But Jack, what do you take of
30:24
this verse here? Well, it's probably both.
30:27
Yeah, I think so. I think it could refer to Joseph
30:30
and the interpreters. But this stone is not the one
30:33
that we usually think of. That's described as Joseph's
30:36
seer stone, one that he just found.
30:39
This is a special kind of tool. This is one that is clear, that
30:44
is something that can be seen, works, can be seen in it almost
30:47
like a screen, and they are called.
30:48
Now these interpreters were prepared.
30:52
And so we're already hearing a little bit about what will come
30:58
in the Book of Ether with the Jaredite Stones.
31:02
Well, and he's just finished talking about the Jaredite
31:04
record. I just skipped over that.
31:05
That's verse 21. And so he is saying, do you
31:09
remember King Mosiah translated them and then now he's talking
31:12
about those. But he then also says, you know,
31:16
even though we know a lot of these things, we don't tell
31:20
everything to everyone. You have to be careful what you
31:22
tell. And in verse 27, he says we
31:27
don't want the oaths and and their apostate covenants and
31:34
their secret combinations. We don't want to put this into
31:38
the minds of people. Lest they fall Into Darkness and
31:42
also be destroyed, he says at the end of that verse.
31:45
Right. So you have to be careful that,
31:49
you know, in our record keeping, it's true that we might want to
31:53
write about problems that we've had and battles that we've
31:57
fought. We don't want to pass those
32:01
things on in a way though that they can be used as, you know,
32:06
somebody saying, well this is the road map or now I, I follow
32:11
a different way. In verse 33 is where he says to
32:14
preach. This is now he's going to tell
32:15
them what to record and to repentance and faith on the Lord
32:20
Jesus Christ. Teach them to humble themselves,
32:23
to be meek, lowly in heart. Teach them to withstand every
32:27
temptation. You know, Alma is very
32:29
consistent, isn't he? You hear this in his other 10
32:31
sermons. We'll go to 34.
32:33
Teach them also to never be weary of good works, but to be
32:38
meek and lowly in heart, for such shall find rest to their
32:42
souls. And rest in the restoration.
32:46
According to the doctrine, cabinets means to enter into the
32:49
presence of the Lord. So if we are entering into the
32:52
rest of the Lord, we are entering into exaltation.
32:54
So we will find rest to our souls when we have completed our
32:59
good works. We have to not be weary, though,
33:00
in these things. So after telling Helaman what
33:03
he's supposed to teach. And that's an awfully good list
33:07
of your curriculum. Yeah, emphasize these things,
33:10
please. Well, and I I hope, Lynn, that
33:11
we are teaching here in this course helping people to
33:15
understand, to repent and faith, humility, withstanding
33:21
temptations, faith in Jesus Christ and not being weary.
33:25
Here we are a little more than halfway through this come follow
33:28
me year and people may begin to grow a little weary of this, but
33:33
I hope they'll find that with the tools that are out there and
33:36
with all that they're learning. Every time you open the page,
33:40
there's something new there for. Us and for me it's rejuvenating
33:43
and exciting. He continues to give counsel
33:45
though in verse 36. Yay, cry unto God for all thy
33:49
support. Yay, let all thy doings be unto
33:51
the Lord. And Withers whoever thou goest,
33:53
let it be in the Lord. Do you remember back in Nephi
33:57
where he says, before you do anything, pray about it,
34:00
consecrate it to the Lord. I see again Alma giving the
34:03
counsel that was written in the small plates.
34:06
Helaman must still be somewhat in his youth because in verse 35
34:12
Alma will say, remember my son and learn wisdom in thy youth.
34:17
Yeah, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.
34:21
Nice little couplet there. So don't know what youth means.
34:26
Under 30, I don't know. No, I think more like under 20.
34:32
Oh, you think so? Because at the age of 20, you
34:35
then became subject to military duty under the law of Moses.
34:40
And I think that fits when you count up the years.
34:44
When was Alma the Younger married?
34:47
We don't hear about his marriage.
34:50
Was he married before he was stopped with the by the Angel?
34:55
It's possible. We don't know exactly where that
34:58
fits. But he's in his youth.
35:00
He can't. He has to be still fairly young.
35:02
Verse 37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will
35:06
direct thee for good. This is so encouraging because
35:09
sometimes we feel like we're not on the right path.
35:12
We don't hear the Spirit, we don't know what we're supposed
35:15
to be doing. But if we can stay meek and
35:18
humble and counsel with the Lord, he will direct our paths.
35:22
So many times I've thought the the light is not bright enough
35:26
for me to see. I need to know where to put my
35:28
next footstep, where to go and when.
35:31
I have taken this counsel to heart.
35:35
I have felt its faith. And as you said in verse 36,
35:39
he's telling Helaman to cry unto the Lord, to pray.
35:42
But now, in verse 37, it's more than just pray.
35:45
It's counseling. You counsel with the Lord.
35:48
So how does that work? Where you you ask and you thank.
35:56
But then there's another step where you stop and listen.
36:01
Stop and listen. And when should we do this?
36:05
He says, When you lie down, lie down unto the Lord at night so
36:09
that he can watch over you in your sleep.
36:12
Not only watch over, but sometimes dreams do come as
36:17
revelations. Oh, I ask for them, yeah.
36:20
One of Lehigh's great visions was a dream.
36:22
And when thou risest in the morning, let thy heart be full
36:25
of thanks unto God and. By the way, does that remind you
36:29
of a scripture? Deuteronomy chapter 6 Observant
36:33
Jewish families will have outside of their door.
36:35
Deuteronomy 6 is on the Shema. That's right.
36:38
Oh, it should have reminded me of that one.
36:39
OK, OK. But it's when you go in and when
36:41
you go out, when you rise up and when you go down.
36:43
You're reminded every time you go past that to remember the
36:46
words of the Lord. Of course.
36:48
Yeah, he's quoting again the Old Testament.
36:50
Absolutely. And now we're going to talk
36:52
about the Leahona. And this is the first time the
36:54
word Leahona is actually mentioned.
36:56
It's always been called the ball of curious workmanship.
37:00
And now we get get the name Leahona.
37:03
Some people have taken it apart in Hebrew like Brother Nibley to
37:06
say to God is the direction. But the point is he wants us to
37:10
liken this Leahona unto the Holy Ghost, the Spirit in our lives
37:16
seeking direction. We have our own personal
37:19
Leahona. But Jack, you also mentioned to
37:21
me that part of passing on the rights of the leadership to the
37:27
sun, whether they're an heir apparent king or whether they're
37:30
the high priest, is that they receive the record, the sword
37:35
and a ball that you said represents the earth.
37:38
But here we have the ball of the Leahona.
37:41
Do you think this is being passed down?
37:43
Oh yes, this is being passed down as one of the royal
37:46
Insignia or artifacts. And King Benjamin had the sword
37:50
of Laban and he used it and it, it must have been a pretty good
37:55
sword, but it's an old equipment.
37:57
But it's more than that. It's symbolic and it has a
38:01
leadership kind of quality to it.
38:03
All the way back down to Nephi. This is your lineage.
38:07
The compass we know was round, so we don't know what kind of a
38:10
ball it was, but kings usually had what was called an orb.
38:14
It could represent their whole Kingdom roundabout, or it could
38:19
represent the world. I've seen it in artwork, even
38:22
I've seen it in Christian artwork where God is holding the
38:24
world in his hand as well. And so as the the vicar or the
38:28
official of God, the King also has this, and Alma knows that
38:34
this is symbolic in some way. Yes, and that's why he talks
38:38
about it. It's symbolic of the spirit.
38:40
We, just as our ancestors were able to use this by faith and
38:45
could read words on it or directions on it, we can read
38:49
the Scriptures and we read those.
38:52
And when we read them and act in faith and act upon the
38:55
Scriptures, then the Scriptures can be as much a compass for us.
39:00
And over in verse 44, For behold, it is as easy to give
39:05
heed to the word of Christ, which will point you in a
39:08
straight course, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this
39:11
compass. So the words on the Scriptures,
39:16
we see those, they're not just ink on a page.
39:19
Now the scriptures can be revelation for us.
39:21
And sometimes as you read like happened to me there and I, when
39:26
I opened that page and they're those words just, they stood out
39:31
on the page in a way that was simple and there it was plain
39:36
and clear. And that certainly can happen in
39:39
a lot of ways people do still today, just open the Scriptures
39:44
and say, what do I have to lose? Let me put my finger on a verse.
39:47
And what does the Lord want me to do?
39:49
Before we end this beautiful message to Helaman, I want to
39:52
show that he's also repeating things he said at the beginning.
39:55
In verse 41 of chapter 37. He again repeats by small means.
40:02
It shall be shown unto them of these marvelous works.
40:04
He's back in verse six of chapter 37.
40:08
It used to say these great works.
40:10
And now he's referring to not the visitation and the
40:14
repentance, but now he's referring to the Leahona.
40:16
And he sees this pattern throughout his life where God,
40:22
when we allow God to intervene, great things can come to pass.
40:26
Should we move on to Shiblon now?
40:33
Chapter 38, this wonderful chapter to the second son who is
40:38
not only righteous, but he was also persecuted for his beliefs.
40:43
He was in prison. It says he was stoned, Jack.
40:45
This was on their mission to the Zoramites.
40:47
Nevertheless, he was steady in your faithfulness.
40:52
So he commenced in his youth, and he's even younger than
40:56
Helaman, and you commenced to look to your God.
41:01
Even so, I hope you will continue doing this.
41:03
So he as a second son, he, he knew that he wasn't going to be
41:10
the first son in the Jewish inheritance law.
41:15
The older son was entitled to the double portion.
41:18
Because he had the responsibility to take care of
41:20
the parents, so he needed the double portion to take care of
41:23
them. That's right.
41:23
So the way that worked with a man who had three sons like
41:27
Alma, he would divide his estate into four parts, right?
41:32
And the first son would get 2 fourths and the other two would
41:35
each get 1/4. And so he knows that he's not
41:40
going to have those responsibilities.
41:42
But still he was very, very careful because of the
41:48
steadiness and faithfulness of this young shiblon.
41:52
Well, Shiblon also gets a portion of the record of Alma's
41:57
conversion. Yes, Lynn, as you say, Alma
42:00
gives Shiblon a reduced version of his conversion story.
42:08
It's word for word, a lot of it. And it's, but it's only the
42:11
first half of the conversion story.
42:14
I mean, he in Alma 36 talked about trials, troubles and
42:19
afflictions. And of course he begins by
42:20
talking about the troubles and afflictions that Shimlon himself
42:24
has experienced. And then in verse five, he goes
42:27
on and says, after that I want you to put your trust in God
42:31
that you will be delivered out of your trials, troubles and
42:33
afflictions lifted up at the last day.
42:35
Not think that I know these things of myself.
42:37
Wait a minute. We've heard these words in what
42:40
Almus gives to Helaman. And then in verse 7, behold, the
42:43
Lord in his great mercy sent his Angel to declare these things to
42:46
me, that I must stop the work of destruction.
42:48
And I have seen the Angel face to face, and he spake with me.
42:53
And his voice was Thunder, and it shook the whole earth.
42:56
And three days and three nights I was in this agony.
42:58
But then never until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ
43:03
for mercy did I receive a remission for my sins.
43:06
And I did cry, and I did find peace to my soul.
43:09
And that's where he stops. So he's gone right up to the
43:12
turning point of his conversion. So what's he done?
43:16
He's given Shiblon 1/2 blessing. But he does describe the rest of
43:21
repentance in verse nine. There is no other way or means
43:24
whereby man can be saved only in and through Christ.
43:28
So Shiblan knows the blessings he's hearing this.
43:32
And Shiblan actually gets the plates later on when Helaman
43:35
dies. Shiblan receives them for a
43:37
short time until Helaman's son Helaman receives them in the
43:41
Book of Helaman. These words in the second-half
43:44
of Alma 38, starting with verse nine, I've told you these that
43:48
you may learn wisdom. They're also like what Alma
43:51
added that you shall learn wisdom in thy youth.
43:55
And so Chapter 37, so some of the advice that Alma gives to
43:59
Helaman in chapter 37, he will now also give in a reduced form
44:03
to Shiblan. So he gets both halves are of
44:07
the blessing, but only half as much.
44:10
Helaman is getting the double blessing and Shiblon is getting
44:13
the portion, the first, the one part of it.
44:16
So I think it's it's very inspiring, very clever, very
44:20
true to life. It's the kind of thing you would
44:22
expect from someone like Alma who knows these records.
44:28
Such a master. He's a Shakespeare of the Book
44:30
of Mormon. And I love the way he ends.
44:32
Also, use boldness. See that you bridle all your
44:36
passions, that ye may be filled with love.
44:39
Elder Maxwell has said some interesting things about
44:41
bridling passions and how if we don't, they will spin out of
44:47
control. And our passions can be anything
44:49
from our fears and our anxiety to our every other aspect of our
44:56
life, our diets, our foods, our hormones.
44:59
And yet those those passions are sources of great power for us if
45:06
they are kept in control. And with bridling, we're not to
45:11
eliminate those passions, but to control them and turn them into
45:17
things that can be then used for our strength and for good and
45:22
for posterity and for family. And these passions are given to
45:28
us in order to be able to do that.
45:30
This is what Elder Maxwell said. However costumed or made-up,
45:34
lust is no substitute for love. Actually, brothers and sisters,
45:39
it chokes out the development of real love, causing the love of
45:43
many to wax cold. No wonder we are told to bridle
45:47
all our passions that we might be filled with love otherwise.
45:51
Oozing passions fill the available soul space, and double
45:56
occupancy is not possible. Previously, society has often
46:01
had helpful, though subtle balancing and restraining
46:04
mechanisms, including families and churches and schools to
46:08
check rain excessive individual behavior.
46:10
But too often some of these mechanisms are either missing,
46:14
malfunctioning, or equivocating. How appropriate to end with
46:19
Elder Maxwell of this these blessings that are written also
46:24
by a wordsmith. And may we all commit our time
46:30
and talents and energy to building the Kingdom as Elder
46:33
Maxwell did, as Alma did, as Helaman did, as Shiblund did.
46:40
Because it is only when we are in the service of our fellow men
46:43
that we are in the service of our God, and penitence is the
46:47
best way that we can use to experience His love.
46:51
And I testify that what Alma has done here is teach.
46:57
He knows how to lead and direct our thoughts and our lives.
47:01
And I never weary of rereading these chapters.
47:06
They speak to me, they have wisdom, they have beauty, they
47:13
have family connections, personal involvement, all of the
47:19
things that are really important in life.
47:22
And Alma, he then knows that equipped with this, and I
47:27
testify that he has equipped us all to know the word of God, to
47:34
be sober, which I think means to be wise, learn wisdom in our
47:40
youth and in our old age. And I testify that there is
47:45
wisdom here in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.