Latest / Scripture Central / Alma 13–16 | June 24–30 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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Alma 13–16 | June 24–30 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

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Hello, Welcome back to Scripture Central.
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I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson. I'm Jack Welch.
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And we get to talk about Alma chapters 13 to 16 today.
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These four chapters are beautifully described.
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The second-half of Almas mission.
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Emma, Aha. And as we mentioned last week,
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it's really a continuation. Chapter 12 is not the right
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place to end this chapter, I'm afraid.
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So I want to step back and look at this beautiful chiastic
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structure of this whole mission in Ammaniha that Alma tried so
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hard to put together as one unit.
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So he begins by, of course, arriving in Ammaniha and warning
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the people as we talked about, but is rejected.
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Notice at the end, Al Amaniah will be, as prophesied, utterly
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destroyed. And Alma and Amulek are received
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throughout all the land. So even though they will be
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rejected in Ammaniah, the balance and the ending of this
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episode has them being well received throughout the land.
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And 2nd, we have Amalek receiving Alma in his house and
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he's converted in the second-half.
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Now in Chapter 15, Zezrum is healed and converted, and they
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will go to Alma's house in Zarahemla at the end of Chapter
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15, just as Amulek invited Alma to his house back in Chapter 10.
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And in back in Chapter 11, we had Zezrum who was tried to
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bribe Amulek and he withstood them.
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Now in chapter 14, we'll see the consequence of that tragedy when
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the words that those who believed those words, who stood
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up for their God, who would not deny their God, were were burned
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and others were imprisoned and escaped.
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So in that point in the C sections we have the epitome of
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the wickedness of Amaniah, represented by Zezrim, who not
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only discusses things theologically, but takes this to
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a legal level where he accuses Alma and Amulek of reviling
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against them and lying. But he repents in the
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second-half. But in the second-half he comes
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around. Yeah, he repents and he becomes
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a great follower, but the center point is the most important, and
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that's where we get to talk today about Melchizedek as the
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high priest, as he helps his people repent and enter into
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God's rest. Just as Alma had answered those
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questions and already introduced the resurrection, the judgment,
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now we see the fulfillment of that in this great High Priest
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Melchistic. And as we talked about last time
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at the end of Chapter 12, Alma will talk about Adam and
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partaking of the fruit and falling, but there being a
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probationary time because of the great plan of redemption that
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God had. And that is taught and
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especially administered by the priests as an ordinance that
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will let them know how they can repent and take advantage of
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that atonement. And whether it's one kind of
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atonement by the high priest under the law of Moses, or the
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earlier and more eternal atonement by the priest
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Melchizedek, in both cases we become one.
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Christ suffers once for all, one for all that we might be then
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one with him and one with God. And that's why the English word,
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which I think Tyndale made-up. For at one meant.
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That's right. The atonement is the at one
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meant, and I think it would be good if we actually called it
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the at one meant a little more because that's what's happening
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here. And before Melchizedek, it was
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always referred to as the order of the Son of God or the holy
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order of God. And that's what we find all
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through the Book of Mormon. Up to this point, we've been
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mentioning this with Lehi and Nephi's writings and Jacob's
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writings. They're called after the order
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of God. But so way before Melchizedek,
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who actually was living at the time of Abraham, we found the
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order of God. So let's begin with Alma chapter
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13 verses one through 9, where several people have identified a
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chiastic structure here. But I think, Lynn, you have
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refined what I've ever seen before to a higher state here.
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This is a really good explanation.
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And particularly what we see now focusing in a clearer way, is
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the center point where people who will receive this holy order
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of God are called with a holy calling, and that holy calling
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was prepared according to a preparatory redemption, and thus
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they have been called to this holy calling.
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That's the center turning point of Alma chapter 13 verses 1:00
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to 9:00. And of course it's picking up
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from what was said at the end of chapter 12.
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So the continuity there is is well worth noting.
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Yes, that center point as verse four.
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And thus they have been called in this holy calling on account
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of their faith. That's right.
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The echoing point there in verse, the end of verse four and
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on into verse 5 is that you have to do something in response to
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the preparatory redemption and the plan of redemption.
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And that is that we must answer with faith and being willing to
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be called and ordained and serve in this holy order of the high
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priesthood. And part of that responsibility
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is at the end of this chiasm, to teach His commandments to the
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children of men. And that's a responsibility of
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the high priest. Well, and everyone who then
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participates in this holy High Priestly order.
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That part about the teaching Jack at the end of verse 6 opens
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the way then for him to repeat it sort of summarizes everything
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he said up from 1:00 to 6:00 in another beautiful little
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chiastic structure that has another center meaning in verse
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seven. Being without beginning of days
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or end of years, being prepared from eternity to eternity.
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He is writing this in a way for us to look at the eternal
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perspective of the priesthood for men and women who are all
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becoming priests and priestesses to God.
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It's a very different look than the priesthood of the Mosaic
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order that was just the first born of Aaron, who'd become the
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high priest in the Melchizedek order.
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It is for men and women. Yeah.
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And we certainly learn here that Alma understood that this was
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prepared not just while Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden,
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but from the very beginning. This was an order that was laid
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from the foundation of the world without beginning of days and
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end of years. This is I think one of the most
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important scriptures we have in the Book of Mormon, Speaking of
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the pre mortal world and how according to God's
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foreknowledge, we were ordained after this manner being called
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with a holy calling and ordained with a holy ordinance.
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So there's an ordinance involved here.
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It's not just teaching and accepting, but through that
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ordinance, he says, taking upon them the high Priesthood of the
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Holy Order, which calling an ordinance and high priesthood is
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without beginning of days and end of years.
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Yeah, and that's the clarification.
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We have very little about Melchizedek in Genesis.
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Do you want to talk about some of that research?
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Because the JST adds, you know, many, many more times the
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information that we have on him. But he is such a rich figure in
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the history of the world. And I think the reason why Alma
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wants to include him, and why the Joseph Smith translation
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added more, is because he is a type of Christ.
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That's certainly true, and we see that as you read carefully
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through Alma 13, knowing that Christ is always behind this and
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in front of it and around it, because this is the holy order
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after the Son of God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is
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a part of this holy order. But he's the founder.
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It's not Melchizedek's priesthood, it's Jesus
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priesthood. That's correct.
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It's true that the Joseph Smith translation adds many more
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details about who Melchizedek was and what he was a king for
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and why he was accepting tithing and other things.
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But remember that these verses in Alma 13 were translated well
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before the Joseph Smith translation was ever begun.
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These came probably from the brass plates.
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And so this I think if we stay first with Alma 13 and digest
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and absorb it, we will understand what this high
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priest, Alma wants his people to know.
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Now, it's true that he can't tell them everything, so he
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speaks in a way that is kind of what's he talking about, you
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know? You mean because he's talking to
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the people of Amanihah? That's right.
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Because they don't understand much yet.
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They're they're, they're wicked. They don't understand much at
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all. And how much can you tell a
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wicked person? Alma has told us that these
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kinds of things can only be imparted to people according to
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the heed. What does that mean?
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The Heed. Your diligence, your obedience,
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the heed. And diligence that you provide.
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And with that, then the Lord can bless us with greater light and
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knowledge. But I think Alma is giving them
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their last warning, and I think he is willing to go farther than
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he normally would have, knowing how desperate the situation is.
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He wants them to know fully and maybe accept it.
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Well, some do, some do. I mentioned that last week and
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I'm, I'm convinced there are many that did.
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But let's go back and talk about Melchizedek a little bit more.
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Let's get some of these details that we that these rich, rich,
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rich verses. It's from Alma chapter 13 all
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the way past that chiasmus chapter one all the way.
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I mean chapter 13, verse one all the way to like 20.
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Is it all Melchizedek? Well, let's begin with just a
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few points. In general, I think it's unusual
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for a Christian religion to talk about Melchizedek very much.
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Oh, of course it is. Yeah.
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Melchizedek is found of course, in Genesis 14, but just a very
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brief little introduction. Hebrews talks about him.
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Hebrews 7 has a beautiful section on he.
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On and the difference between the Melchizedek and the ironic
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levels and but people lose this information.
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This is one of the plain and precious things that the Book of
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Mormon says. They're going to be removed by
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the satanic forces in the world. But if you go back into the
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earliest times of Christianity, you will find that they talked
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about Melchizedek more than in later centuries and in the
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patristic literature, especially the Eastern Orthodox.
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And there is also a Dead Sea Scroll 11 Q Melchizedek that
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talks about the coming of Melchizedek in the days of
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judgement at the end of the world.
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So he was a bigger figure than he will become.
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And I think when you lose the ordinances and the priesthood
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and all that goes with Melchizedek, his significance of
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course fades. Well, he was also taken up to
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the city of Enoch. So his message is all the law of
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consecration. He's trying to develop a people
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who are holy enough to become a Zion society.
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So of course they're going to lose it.
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They want to lose it because it's important.
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But there are actually some mosaics in Ravenna, Italy that,
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well, let me show you a couple pictures of them showing the
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prominence of Melchizedek in early Christian literature.
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And these mosaics, this is a 4th or 5th century mosaic.
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And notice some interesting things here.
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First of all, it is Melchizedek who is standing behind what is
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clearly an altar. His name is written on top.
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Yeah, and on the altar you have two loaves of bread and a cup of
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wine. This comes partly from Genesis
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chapter 14, where Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine on
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the right side. On Melchizedek's left, we have
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Abraham making the OR offering the sacrifice of his son Isaac.
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On Melchizedek's right hand we have Abel making the sacrifice
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of. Both the most righteous examples
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of sacrifices we have, yeah. Right on the table you can see
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these four right angled square marks in Greek, the letter G,
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the gamma. It looks like just a right angle
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and these four gamma marks on the front of the altar and the
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four gamma marks on the top are called Gamadia.
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You see them also on the veil there on the curtains.
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You see them up there and you often see them on on Christians
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in early Christian literature. They also.
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Have these gamma on their They're always on their priestly
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roads. Garments.
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Yeah. And so they did have marks of
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the square, you might say that helped them to understand that
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within those areas were special holy things or within the
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garments that are worn is someone who is special.
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And you notice, right coming out of the curtains there from
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heaven, is the hand of God going to bless or receive these
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sacrifices? Is that what that is?
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We see the hand coming from heaven in several of these
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depictions, and in some ways it is the hand pointing and saying
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these are all types of Christ, types of things to come. 8
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pointed star on the front of the altar is the sign of
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Melchizedek, and we see the use of the 8 pointed star in several
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places, particularly the temple in San Diego.
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We have another one of these mosaics emphasizing Melchizedek.
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Here we have on the left side of the screen Abel with his sheep
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that he's offering with his modest house behind him.
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On the right we have Melchizedek, and here now he is
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offering the bread or sanctifying the bread, the bread
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of life and Jesus Christ being the bread of life.
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And his home looks more like a temple structure.
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His home is the Temple of Solomon, of the way it looks.
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Yeah, even though he lived way, way, way before this time
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period. That's right.
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Symbolically, it fits in beautifully.
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And you have the hand. Coming again from heaven.
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Pointing down and you can see the veil of the temple here just
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as the veil of heaven. And on the the big veil behind
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this you have angelic beings, the angels of heaven.
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And Alma likes to talk about the angels who come and deliver
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these messages. And as you can see, these two
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angels are delivering the cross, the sign of Christ.
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Saviors Redemption. And on that are the letters
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Alpha and Omega. And then you have Moses over on
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the left side. And Moses is taking off his shoe
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there in the presence of God. Right, look at that.
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That's very good that he's taking off his shoes because
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that. Sacred space.
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And they've tried to depict the burning Bush with those little
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red flames. We're all in sacred space this
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Ravenna chapels. They think we're used for
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Christian ordinances. We also find a lot about
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Melchizedek in the restoration section 68, section one O 7.
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You know, you can just look up his name and and read those
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verses. But there's more here in Alma
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that I don't want to miss. And Melchizedek, you know the
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name. Melek Zadak.
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What does that mean? MLK again.
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We're back to King. King and Zedek, what does that
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mean? Righteousness, King of
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Righteous. Righteous.
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So my king Melki Zedek is righteous or is righteousness?
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And some people have even suggested it was a title rather
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than the name, his first name when he was a little boy.
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But this became part of his role and his responsibility as the
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King of Salem or the king of the he he's called peace, too.
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That's right, He is the king of peace because he was able to
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bring about repentance. Because the city was wicked
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initially. And what Alma tells us is that
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with all this power and this royal authority, as King
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Melchizedek preached to the people and it says, and behold,
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they did repent. That's that's the hope of
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Ammonihawk, that's what. Alma's hoping for, and that is
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the greatest miracle you can imagine.
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I mean, there are. Lots of wonderful things that
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happen miraculously, but they're all there to help us come to
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Christ and to repent. That's what Melchizedek was
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known for more than any other king or priest.
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Is that he was able to bring. He could bring about that
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repentance. I love verse 18.
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It doesn't say he was called the king of peace.
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He's called the Prince of Peace for he was the king of Salem and
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he did reign under his father Jack.
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These are types of Christ right here.
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I I think he's specifically pointing them out.
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He's the Prince of Peace, he's reigning under his Father, and
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these are really powerful messages to look to our Christ.
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What will this order do for each of us?
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It will bring us peace. And it will bring us eternal
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salvation. We learn from what this great
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king did. He accepted tithing.
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Oh, that's up in verse 15. Abraham paid not only tithing,
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but also some of the spoils of the war that he had he had won.
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That's actually in Genesis 14 too.
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Why is Melchizedek receiving these goods?
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Is it so he can build a big temple?
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I think he's already living some sort of a law of consecration,
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and Abraham wanted to join the city of Enoch.
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That's how the Book of Abraham begins.
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I sought the blessings of my father's.
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He wanted to join the city of Zion because I think they all
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knew that it was going to be translated.
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And they had no poor among them. And because they brought their
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money together, because they brought their goods, they could
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then give to the poor and the needy and take care of them.
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Now remember, it's King Benjamin who will place his people under
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a covenant to keep all the laws that he has given.
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Including. Taking care of the poor.
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No poor among us. That's right.
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And so Melchizedek also sets the pattern for that.
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And when Alma will end this chapter, look at chapter 13,
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verse 28. I would that ye would humble
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yourselves before the Lord and call on his holy name.
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We've been talking about these very things.
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And watch and pray continually that ye may not be tempted above
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that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit.
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Becoming what? Humble, humble, meek,
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submissive, patient, full of love.
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And all long-suffering. That is the center chiastic
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exclamation point in King Benjamin's speech.
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Those very words to put off the natural man by becoming.
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Humble makes. Submissive patient.
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Wow. So Alma ends this.
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By referring back to the covenant that they were living
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then. And, you know, by quoting that
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central turning point of King Benjamin's speech.
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He knew his scriptures. What he's also doing this is a
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way of invoking the entire speech of King Benjamin.
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Of course it is. When you hit the turning point
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that precisely. Let's remember here.
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Then everything that went with King Benjamin's speech is
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implied. So he's asking them to come to a
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covenant as well. And those people there in
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Amanoi, they as followers of Nahor, probably were Mulekites.
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They say we are not part of your people by referring back to the
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one place where everyone in the land of Zarahemla agreed when it
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was under covenant. I think Alma is saying, and they
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know full well. Yeah, it's not that long ago.
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That your ancestors Amulek has told you his ancestry.
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Think of your ancestry. That's great you read in verse
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28 this interesting commandment from God.
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Watch and pray continually that you may not be tempted above
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because some people have said, I, I know God will not tempt me
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above when I can be able, but I think this is very significant.
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We have got to watch and pray so that we are not tempted above
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what we can bear. It's our responsibility to, as
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the Lord taught in the Sermon on the Mount, pray that you are not
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LED into temptation. You know, I, I think this is
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really a doctrinally very important message here.
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Indeed, and but if you are LED into temptation.
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There is repentance. And what Alma says and what,
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what does he want these people who are hearing him?
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What does he want them to take away?
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Well, look at verse 21. Now is the time to repent.
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He wants them not to procrastinate the day of their
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repentance. Who will tell people not to
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procrastinate the day of their repentance in Alma chapter 34.
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Amulek. Once again.
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As he is preaching to the people in the city of Antionum, the
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Zoramites. So these themes are going to be
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repeated by our same. So these very words now I think,
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where does Amulek get those words?
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Right here. Well, he learned them because
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Alma had spent those days teaching him.
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Yeah, and they're they're together, preaching here
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together this time. And in verse 22 he says that
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this is to go to all nations, not just Israel.
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Now this is important and another Melchizedek factor.
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Melchizedek is not the high priest in Israel.
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No, there's no Israel at that time.
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This is He's older than Abraham. That's right.
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And so Melchizedek becomes a symbol of a king to all the
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world. Yes, yes.
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Where the plan that was laid down before the foundation of
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the world for all of us is now implemented through the
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Melchizedek Priesthood. And so I think that Alma is
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saying that here to these people.
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They may be claiming, well, maybe we're not a part of the
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House of Israel. We don't know where they came
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from. Maybe they are other people who
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were neither Mulekite nor Israelite, and in which case
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including all nations. Here is Alma's way of saying I
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don't care what nation you're from.
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The universality of God. This is now open to you too.
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Well, it sounds to me like they know their scriptures a little
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bit, but they certainly are using them incorrectly.
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And let me mention one last thing about Melchizedek and how
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important he was. You know, as a king, he was a
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king and a priest. But as a king, he would also
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have been a warrior. He would have led his forces, as
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all ancient kings did, in battle.
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And so when this scroll was found in Cave 13 at Qumran,
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which has been called the Melchizedek Scroll, and you can
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look it up, it's a very interesting text that talks
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about when the Lord God will come with all of the hosts of
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heaven, all of those soldiers to vindicate the righteous and to
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destroy the wicked. And it's a military setting.
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And the commander in chief of the forces in heaven, according
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to those Dead Sea Scrolls priests, would be Melchizedek.
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I didn't know that. And so he will come with not
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just earthly power, but also heavenly and priesthood power.
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And it sounds like the second coming of the Saviour.
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And, you know, Alma also focuses now on the coming of Christ.
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Yes, he does. That's the last thing he says.
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I don't know when he will come, but we need to be ready and we
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need to keep our covenants and be prepared to stand together.
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And Alma and Amulek, they're there at a final showdown and
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they stand their ground. There's something else in verse
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22 that's rather interesting. When you look for antiquities
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and evidence of the Book of Mormon, that there are multiple
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authorships. It's fun to look for different
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words, and the word wherefore is not one that Alma usually uses.
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In fact, it's only mentioned by Alma the younger two times, and
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I think both of them he may be quoting another text because he
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uses the word therefore hundreds of times as we look at how each
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author uses the word, not each book.
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But what if we pull out Lehigh and Zenis and Jacob and Mosiah
26:21
the second you know, and we look individually.
26:23
Even Samuel, the Lamanite, do they use wherefore or therefore?
26:28
It's very interesting to see that perhaps it was a different
26:33
glyph, a different Egyptian reformed character.
26:36
I don't know because Joseph Smith in his vocabulary, Oliver
26:40
Cowdery's vocabulary, even you just go down the list Party P
26:43
Pratt, John Taylor zero times. Do they use wherefore in their
26:47
personal writings 0 times, and yet it saturates the Book of
26:52
Mormon and the Doctrine Covenants, and each author uses
26:56
it very differently, as we look in the Book of Mormon, and
26:59
therefore is Alma's word of choice.
27:06
Well, Chapter 14 they are put in prison.
27:10
Let's talk about chapter 14. And it's interesting to me that
27:13
even though they're the Lord's servants and they have promised
27:16
that they wouldn't be killed, they have to suffer and they are
27:18
in great punishment and they're there a long time.
27:21
You know, if we look at the dates in this chapter, and I
27:23
think the calendaring system in throughout the Book of Mormon is
27:26
very, very careful. They tell you it's the second
27:29
month, it's the 14th day, you know.
27:31
And so we learned that they are in prison for a long time
27:35
because they're there until the 10th month.
27:37
We don't know when they go in, but we know when they're
27:40
preaching. We know when they're having very
27:44
lawless suffering here. Yeah, it appears that they were
27:46
taken to prison, as we've mentioned, to just kind of wait
27:50
and let's see what happens. There are some people who
27:54
believe Alma and Amulek. Yes.
27:57
And what happens to those believers?
27:59
OK, so they first are going to try to stone them, it says which
28:02
is the law of Moses, but it sounds like some of them.
28:05
Why would they stone these people under the law of.
28:08
Moses, the law of Moses says if you are a worshipping a false
28:11
God that's correct and taking people away from the true God
28:14
then you need to be removed and the choice was by stoning.
28:19
And I think they're kind of mocking this.
28:21
They don't believe the Law of Moses.
28:23
No, no, no, no. They are saying, however, if you
28:26
believe the Law of Moses, this is what should happen to you.
28:30
And but they. Aren't you glad?
28:32
Some of them are able to escape to a nearby city of Sidom and
28:36
others are not able to escape. And it says the women and
28:40
children are burned and their books, they're religious things.
28:45
So it it wasn't that Alma's just speaking.
28:49
They had time to preach and record the scriptures and share
28:53
the scriptures. This lets you know these are
28:56
days and days and days of establishing a church.
28:59
So I think within this window of time that we have during that
29:03
year, Alma and Amulek would have spent maybe a couple weeks
29:06
together, and then Alma and Amulek are put in prison while
29:11
these people are some following them and others not.
29:16
And then finally they are executed and the books are
29:19
burned. That's how you want to eradicate
29:22
these things, the women and children.
29:24
You can't kill the men so readily.
29:29
You have to and some of them will be he.
29:31
Says he wants to stone some of them.
29:33
Well, that's chapter 14, verse seven.
29:37
They cast them out and sent men to cast stones at them.
29:41
So just I think they are just throwing stones at them to say
29:45
don't come back. But verse 8 says they brought
29:47
the wives and the children together, and whosoever believed
29:50
or had been taught to believe in the word of God, they caused
29:54
them that they should be cast into the fire.
29:56
Amaniah is a city in the land of Zarahemla, and so if they were
30:02
to kill those men, I think that would bring upon them a charge
30:08
from Zarahemla A. Legal issue here.
30:10
Of homicide, that you can't kill these men, women and children.
30:15
Unfortunately, we're not as protected in the ancient world.
30:18
And probably even less here than elsewhere, especially in
30:22
Ammaniah. Typically, women didn't own
30:25
property. Women couldn't vote.
30:29
There were lots of things that women hadn't yet been allowed to
30:34
do. And this is unfortunate, but
30:36
it's true. And it's not just in the Bible
30:39
or in Israel. Oh.
30:40
No, it's across the ancient world, but it's interesting that
30:43
two witnesses are called out, Alma and Amulek, to watch this
30:47
burning. It's horrific.
30:49
And here they are, men with great power and authority, and
30:54
they are not allowed to stop it. God sends a message to the high
30:59
priest, to Alma and says allow this to happen.
31:03
I will take these people who are being burned into my glory and
31:09
this is needed to seal the fate of this wicked city.
31:13
It's it's tragic, but to me it goes back to the question of why
31:15
do bad things happen to good people?
31:17
We have to trust God. It's we do all we can to follow
31:22
him, but bad things happen to good people.
31:25
And Elmo, I think, would have known that they were simply
31:27
sealing their own fate, because it will only be a short time
31:32
later that the city of Amanaha will be destroyed.
31:36
That's chapter 16. And we'll get to that.
31:38
The next year. And I think he say, why would
31:42
they have burned the women and children and the books?
31:46
We know that there are connections between the order of
31:49
Nahors and the priests of Amylon, who was the chief priest
31:55
under Noah. That comes later when they're
31:57
all living down in Jerusalem or something down in this another
32:00
city of the meat of the Laman. But we learn of that connection
32:03
there. Yes.
32:04
And remember that Amylon had caused a Benedi to be burned.
32:09
This burning has now become part of that culture and whether or
32:13
not they have direct affiliation, we unfortunately
32:17
are seeing the ramifications of a Benedize prophecy even here in
32:21
Ammaniha. But it is something that was
32:23
planned. They maybe want to burn the
32:26
women and children and books so that there's no evidence.
32:29
They say, well, the men left and they must have taken the women
32:31
with them. We don't know what they're
32:35
thinking. However, they want Alma and
32:39
Amulek to see what's happening. I think to tell them this is
32:44
what will happen to you if you will not retract your statements
32:50
because you remember they were accused of having lied and
32:54
reviled against their system. Actually Amulek asked that in
32:58
chapter 14 verse 12, he says behold, perhaps they will burn
33:02
us and Alma said be it according to the will of the Lord, but
33:06
behold, our work is not finished.
33:09
Therefore they burn us not we learned that they have they're
33:12
in prison many days after that. They're hungrying, they're
33:15
thirsting, they're naked. The the ropes are giving them
33:18
terrible skin sores and that's when we see the great miracle.
33:24
But something happens. 1st is slapping you were you've written
33:28
about this of this good book. Tell us about this.
33:30
Well, yeah, they do come when they slap them.
33:32
All of them, one at a time. Yeah.
33:34
When you accused someone, if you wanted to bring someone to
33:37
court, you would go and you would slap him in the face.
33:41
That's how you accuse. Him and that's like getting
33:44
service of process where you now have put them on notice.
33:48
I am accusing. You get it?
33:51
And they can't say I didn't know this court was going on.
33:54
If they don't appear in court then the judge can rule in their
33:58
absence. So there was this form of legal
34:02
notification. And it was a slap.
34:04
And it's a slap in the face. We still say that's an insult,
34:07
but it's it's more than an insult.
34:10
And here it was a legal, a legal warning.
34:14
Now you've mentioned a lot of, we said several details here.
34:19
We mentioned this book, the legal cases in the Book of
34:21
Mormon when we talked about trial of Cherum and the the
34:25
trial of Abenidai Jacob 7 Nahor. And we also have here a long
34:32
chapter on all of these stages analyzed from a legal
34:37
perspective. And and you wonder why Alma is
34:40
dragging us through all these details when most of us haven't
34:42
been to law school in the city of Zara Hemla.
34:46
He was the chief judge. That's.
34:47
The point you got it. And this is important to him.
34:50
He knows these things. Jack It's another evidence that
34:53
this book is written by ancient text and the details are so
34:57
clear. This is an ancient text, and
35:00
it's consistent. It is consistent within itself
35:04
and within the context that it tells us that it has come from.
35:08
But while they're suffering, in verse 26, Alma says how long
35:12
will we suffer? They're getting these slaps in
35:14
the faces give a strength according to our faith, which is
35:19
in Christ even into the deliverance.
35:21
And they broke the cords by which they were bound.
35:23
And when the people saw this, they began to flee.
35:26
And that's when the earthquake happens again.
35:28
I say it's the miracles and the timing.
35:30
Everyone in the is killed except for these two who walk out.
35:35
Who else broke cords that had bound him?
35:38
Nephi. Remember when he's out in the
35:41
ON? The boat.
35:42
Yeah, and out in the desert too. Certainly this happened to Alman
35:46
Amulek. I think they're remembering that
35:49
how Nephi, through his righteousness, had been able to
35:53
escape that bondage. May we have the same gift?
35:56
And more than that, as they are bound and they then break that
36:04
these people in Ammaniha, they know enough about the Nephite
36:10
history to know the sagas of their.
36:13
Early fathers? Yeah, they're their founding
36:15
fathers. Yeah, I think so.
36:17
And they would know the story of Nephi breaking loose.
36:20
Well, if if you would think, what can the Lord do to possibly
36:26
show these people one last time that Alma and Amulek do have
36:32
divine power? And yet they don't receive him.
36:34
They don't they still. Turn away 1st 29.
36:37
The people came running, hearing the noise.
36:39
They're filled with fear and they fled.
36:42
They asked them to leave. That's where we go to Chapter
36:45
15. And that's when they depart over
36:52
to this other city named Sidim. Not to be confused with the
36:56
River Sidin. Yeah, but that's where they find
37:01
the people who had left, who believed that were not burned.
37:06
These were the people that were able to escape.
37:08
And one of them is Zezrim. And he will be sick.
37:14
He's not too well, but he will be healed.
37:17
But it's turned into a beautiful chiasmus, so you want to look.
37:20
At that, yes, this is a chapter 15, verse 3.
37:23
Also Aziz room lay sick at Sidon with a burning fever and if you
37:27
look at the bottom of verse three it says he was scorched
37:29
with a burning heat. You see the parallels there and
37:33
going back up to the beginning of verse 3, which was caused by
37:35
the great tribulations of his mind.
37:38
And in the second-half, and this great sin and his many other
37:41
sins did Harrow up his mind. Why is this happening?
37:45
On account of his wickedness. And because of his iniquity.
37:51
And then the center point for he supposed that Alma and Amalek
37:55
were no more, and he supposed that they had been slain.
37:58
So the center point is about our good prophet and his companion.
38:02
And the tragedy of all of this is that he heard the message
38:07
that there was a Redeemer, but he hasn't applied it because he
38:10
feels so guilty. So the rest of us, when we hear
38:14
the song of redeeming love, when we hear the plan of redemption,
38:17
we can go straight to the Lord. We do not need to be suffering
38:21
in guilt and torment if we can have our hearts changed.
38:26
You know, and one other thing on these chiasms that we we point
38:29
out to people in the ancient world, they didn't have
38:34
punctuation, no periods, commas, question marks, none of.
38:38
That words like and it came to pass every sentence.
38:40
These were stylistic markers that helped you to know that
38:43
this thought has been finished and another one is now.
38:45
Moving on, chiasmus. Chiasmus and parallelism help
38:49
people to see sentence structure and paragraph structure.
38:53
And here you get a very nice little example of this in verse
38:56
3 where it's very clearly a paragraph.
39:00
And Alma, who's writing this? And remember, he had used
39:07
Chiasm's in the argument that he made before Zezrim.
39:12
So I think he's pleasing this audience.
39:14
I love when Alma arrives, he asks, believest thou that the
39:18
power of Christ unto salvation? Verse seven.
39:21
And he answered and said, yeah, I believe all the words that
39:24
thou has taught. I just can't imagine this
39:27
reunion. You know, he's just watched the
39:29
death of so many people and they've been suffering
39:32
physically so horrendously as well as spiritually and
39:34
emotionally, I'm sure. And then to have this beautiful
39:37
message, verse 8, Alma said, if thou believest in the redemption
39:42
of Christ, thou canst be healed. Not only has Alma forgiven him
39:48
for persecuting him, I think this speaks highly of Alma as
39:50
well as our repentant Sinner, our repentant lawyer.
39:55
Well, at the end of chapter 15, Alma closes that with verse 19.
40:01
And thus ended the 10th year of the reign of Judges over the
40:04
people of Nephi. So Alma had been the chief judge
40:07
and the high priest for eight years.
40:09
And in the beginning of the ninth year, we see him then
40:12
going and doing missionary work. So he'll get two years of
40:17
missionary work in like that, where his friends, the four sons
40:21
of Mosiah, they're down in the land of Nephi and they'll be
40:25
there for 14 years. But we're almost to the end of
40:29
that. We're ending the 10th year here.
40:32
And in only four more years, they will have the reunion with
40:36
the four Sons of Mosaic. Chapter 16.
40:38
We cover four years of the chief judges.
40:47
Let's begin with chapter 16, verse one, and notice there's a
40:51
nice little chiasm here too, telling us we've started a new a
40:57
new segment. In the 11th year of the reign of
41:00
the judges over the people of Nephi, on the 5th day of the
41:03
second month, there having been much peace in the land of Zarah
41:06
Hemla, there having been no wars or contingents.
41:09
That's the center point right there.
41:11
And then he comes out even until the 5th day of the second month
41:16
in the 11th year. So it comes right?
41:19
Around, yeah, very short and crisp and but it just lets you
41:23
know how they structured their writings.
41:25
Joseph Smith would never have known this Jack.
41:28
That's an important day. He wants us to know that on that
41:34
day, verse 2, the armies of the Lamanites come upon the
41:38
wilderness side, in the borders of the land, even into the city
41:42
of Amaniah. They're going to destroy it in
41:45
one day, so this day becomes a very important Day in History.
41:49
For them. Because it's destroying the
41:51
false gods. Yes, and it's vindicating what
41:56
Alma and Amulek had done. It's fulfilling prophecy.
42:01
It is a day never to be forgotten for the Nephites.
42:06
But I think the way Alma describes it here in chapter 16
42:10
is so interesting because it's consistent with Deuteronomy
42:14
chapter 13. And you were right telling me
42:17
about this. Can you share it again?
42:19
It's fascinating. People don't use this anymore
42:22
because of course these laws were fulfilled and we don't
42:26
follow them anymore. But in Lehigh's day and in
42:30
Alma's day, this was still the law.
42:33
The Law of Moses, Yeah. And after talking in Deuteronomy
42:37
chapter 12 about the punishment of false prophets and how they
42:43
are to be put to death, it turns to chapter 13 talking about an
42:49
apostate city. But what happens if a whole city
42:53
becomes apostate? And while I talk about this
42:56
briefly in the book about the legal cases and the case of
42:59
ammonia, there's another book that was done quite a while back
43:04
called Warfare in the Book of Mormon.
43:07
And this was a farms collection with lots of people putting in
43:10
different articles. And my chapter in this book,
43:13
which again is also available on the archive, talks about law in
43:20
war. Their laws in all of the ancient
43:23
societies regulated what you could and could not do in
43:28
warfare. And so this law of what you do
43:33
with the apostate city was. Deuteronomy chapter 13 it it
43:38
lists exactly starting about verse 12 what you can be done.
43:43
And what it requires, first of all, is that the officers must
43:47
investigate the situation thoroughly.
43:50
Says you must inquire, search, ask to ensure that, in fact, the
43:55
city is now completely apostate. Alma and Amulek did that.
43:59
They are there. They are trying to solve the
44:02
problem. But more than that, they're
44:03
telling us that anybody that was good has been driven out of the
44:07
city, and the women and children even have been driven out.
44:10
There is no righteous left. So that fact he says that they
44:15
have discharged their legal duty to be sure that it was it was a
44:20
completely a wicked city. And he goes on to say the
44:22
prescribed mode of execution of the inhabitants of an apostate
44:27
city was quote by the sword destroying it utterly.
44:33
Remember how many times utter destruction was mentioned in the
44:37
prophecy about the city? It's several times we've run
44:41
into this where Alma prophecies and you will be destroyed
44:44
utterly. Alma knew Deuteronomy 13.
44:46
He. Does this is the only text in
44:49
the Law of Moses that calls for slaying by the sword?
44:54
Oh, I didn't know that. So, and it's because it's a
44:56
military setting where you have to come in and execute all of
45:01
the apostates in the city. And it says the Lamanites use
45:04
swords in other texts at least. And it says that they have to be
45:10
entirely destroyed completely. Additionally, in verse 16 of
45:16
Deuteronomy 13, the law demanded that the property of the city be
45:22
totally destroyed by fire. And remember the fire that you.
45:27
Haven't heard about before. That's palaonic here.
45:30
They killed people by fire. Well, their city will be
45:33
destroyed by fire, and it goes on to say, and it shall be an
45:38
heap forever. And don't you remember, it says
45:42
that they gathered the bones of the people that had been
45:45
destroyed because it stank so much.
45:47
They couldn't handle the the smell.
45:49
They didn't have time to bury them thoroughly.
45:51
They just put them all together. And it was such a revolting
45:54
city. No one came to live there for
45:56
years, it says. And finally, Deuteronomy 16 says
46:00
that the city shall not be built again.
46:03
You're going to destroy it and you can't say, well, this is a
46:06
great place, we're going to reset it, repopulate this.
46:08
No, verse 16 is very clear on that.
46:10
You cannot use it again. And that's just what happens in
46:12
the city of Amaniah, it says. The ancient text, whether it
46:15
means never again or simply not, we can't tell.
46:19
But the people, it says they do not possess the land of Amaniah
46:24
for many years, So it was then called the Desolation of Nahors.
46:30
Destroying those people that did not.
46:31
So there I guess there was a sign saying don't come in here.
46:35
This is the desolation of Nahors.
46:38
But if you go to Alma chapter 49 verse two, you will find that as
46:47
the Nephite armies need to occupy and fortify Amaniah,
46:54
apparently it's in a strategically significant place.
46:57
So they're back living there at that point.
46:59
Go then to Alma 49 verses one and three and you will learn
47:04
that they came back in to rebuild in part the city of
47:08
Ammaniah on the 10th day of the 11th month of the 19th year.
47:14
That's a little more than eight years.
47:17
And so it looks like they have allowed it to lie fallow for A7
47:21
year period. A sabbatical.
47:23
A sabbatical and, and there is one city that we know of that
47:26
was destroyed in the Christian era.
47:29
And because of the bodies and the contamination and things
47:32
that were there, the city was not allowed to be resettled for
47:37
seven years. So it may be more than just
47:40
counting the days. It may also be some kind of
47:42
waiting period like that for purification.
47:46
You have not only disease and other kinds of things, but
47:49
contamination from corpse impurity.
47:53
And people in the ancient world feared corpse impurity more than
47:56
bugs and germs. They didn't know about bugs and
47:59
germs, and so here we have more than seven years before the
48:04
Nephites even will go back in to resettle it.
48:07
To resettle it, we're told that Alma is able to open up
48:10
sanctuaries and temples. I thought this was interesting.
48:13
Verse 13. They're opening up places of
48:16
worship after the manner of the Jews.
48:19
So there is more than just one temple in Zarahela.
48:22
These smaller temples and church areas of gathering are are
48:26
forming around and it sounds like the people are growing
48:30
really well. In verse 17 it says that they
48:36
might receive the word with joy as a branch be grafted into the
48:40
true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their
48:44
God. I think Alma is also trying to
48:46
establish just like Melchistic did, a Zion people remember his
48:50
father Alma the Elder was living the law of consecration at the
48:53
waters of Mormon. And now here we are again in
48:57
verse 18. They did preach against all
48:59
lying, deceivings, enving stripes, malice, revilings,
49:03
slundering, you know, and and they're trying to develop a Zion
49:07
society. And this is similar to the
49:08
lawless that we saw at the beginning of Alma chapter one.
49:13
And so you have the record of Alma, which is more or less
49:17
chapters one through 16 with that bookend that we begin and
49:22
end with these laws, which are also an expansion of the laws
49:26
that King Benjamin had required his people to live by.
49:31
No murder, plunder, stealing, committing adultery, or any
49:34
manner of wickedness. And then the chapter ends with
49:37
this beautiful message in 21. Now after the church had been
49:41
established throughout all the land, having got the victory
49:45
over the devil, and the word of God being preached in his purity
49:49
in all the land, and the Lord pouring out His blessings upon
49:52
the people, thus ended the 14th year of the reign of the Judges
49:57
over the people of Nephi. And so next week, at the end of
50:00
this 14th year of the reign of the Judges, as Alma is walking
50:05
to visit another part of the vineyard, he comes across the
50:09
sons of Mosiah. And that's where we'll start
50:11
next week. This record is so realistic in
50:16
many ways. I testify that is true, that
50:20
it's accurate, it's precise, it's inspired, it's everything
50:25
we need to do similarly in following the wet ways and will
50:29
of the Lord that we might be blessed in every way that they
50:33
were blessed and became the happiest of all people.
50:39
And we too can receive these blessings.
50:42
I know with joy. And I testify that this book is
50:47
a manual of righteousness and happiness and pray that it will
50:51
be so for you and all your family and everyone around you.
50:56
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
50:58
Amen.