Latest / Scripture Central / Mosiah 18 - 24 | May 20 - 26 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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Mosiah 18 - 24 | May 20 - 26 | 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. And I'm Jack Welch.
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It's nice to have you with us again.
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And we're excited to talk about Mosiah's chapter 18 through 24.
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This is a fabulous section of where wicked King Noah is
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attacking Alma and we are right now with a little colony outside
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of Zarahemla, back in the land near the first inheritance of
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the land of Nephi. They're up in the mountains and
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we have some high drama in these chapters.
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We're at a place called the Waters of Mormon that people
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remember. There were enough people who
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remembered Abinadai. You remember he made public
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speeches once at the beginning and then two years later.
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And so there were a lot of people who were wondering what's
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happened to Abinadai, and maybe some of them believed what he
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said. And so when Alma leaves the
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priests of Noah and flees for his life and goes out in hiding,
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there are people who ask about it and want to know and come
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out, and he teaches them. That's chapter 18, verse one.
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Let's start. And it's organized in a
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beautiful little chiasmus. And it came to pass that Alma,
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who had fled from the servants of the King Noah, repented of
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his sins and iniquities, and went about privately among the
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people, and began to teach the words of Abinadai.
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And then you see right in the center here where the the
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chiasmus, as it rolls in and out concerning that which was to
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come, concerning the resurrection and the redemption
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of the people who had brought to pass the power of the sufferings
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and the death of the Christ and the resurrection and his
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ascension into heaven. So the center there is the
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redemption of the people, and then he comes out again.
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But they had to hide. They didn't want the king to
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know. And of course, this is the main
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thing that Abinadai had explained back in chapter 15.
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Alma is preaching Abinadai's message.
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And he's interpreting for them that passage from Isaiah chapter
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53. So tightly.
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Written and he's interpreting that passage that the priests
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use from Isaiah 52. As he then says, read on and
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they have Chapter 53. So these servants, people who
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had been there in the court, they'd witnessed some of this
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and they are then the leaders of the group that will come out to
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find a bit to find. Alma at the waters of Mormon.
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It says that the waters of Mormon are out on the borders of
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the land and that the king named it that.
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So King Noah knows where this little Oasis, or whatever it is
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in the area is, but they are able to have enough time to
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gather there without being found that we get a group of 204
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souls. I look at it as the first branch
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of the Waters of Mormon or the first Waters of Mormon ward.
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Yeah, that's a that's a good point, that this must be a very
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beautiful place. It's described how beautiful,
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how wonderful, and that it's called the waters of Mormon.
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I think Mormon leaves that little point in this record
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because this is where his name will come from.
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Ah, good, good boy. That's great.
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It's the literature is so tightly woven.
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It's just beautiful. But as these people gather, he
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begins talking about the qualifications for baptism.
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That's chapter 18, verse eight and nine, And he says you have
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to repent in order to receive your redemption.
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And I think Alma emphasizes redemption so much because he
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needed to be redeemed. He had taken his position as a
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priest and used it incorrectly under the leadership of wicked
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King Noah. And so being redeemed is not
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just important to Alma, but for all of us who've ever sinned in
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our life, he really focuses on that, on these qualifications.
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And I think it's really interesting that twice he
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mentions the word desire. Oh, yes.
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What do you desire if you desire to be baptized?
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I You know, what do you really want?
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I think that's a very powerful question and insightful,
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motivating question. What is wanted?
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What? What do we really want in this
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world? And if we really want it, we'll
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fight for it. We'll get what we really want.
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That's right. And sometimes you know what we
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want. If we live in want, we need
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something, We lack something. But it's one thing to just know
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that we we lack certain things and then want to do something
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about it and what we desire. What you deeply desire, what
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does your heart really desire? And sometimes you have to ask
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for that desire to be changed. It's possible that we desire the
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wrong thing. But when we hear the gospel,
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when these people heard the words of a bennetti, all of a
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sudden they had vistas of eternal life open to them and
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they desire to know more. And how can we obtain and claim
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these blessings? After desire, the 2nd
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qualification in verse 8 is to be called his people and then #3
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to bear one another's burdens. Interesting there.
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Alma realizes that becoming a covenant person isn't a private
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matter. In a sense, you don't just do
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this by yourself. In order to be a baptized member
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of God's organization, you you must welcome other people and be
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willing to sacrifice to care for them, just as you hope to be
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cared for by them. So even though the ordinance of
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baptism is an individual ordinance, it involves
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acceptance into the people of God.
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And part of that being accepted into the people is verse 9.
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You have to mourn with those that mourn, comfort, those that
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stand in need of comfort and stand as a witness of God at all
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times. So this is where we get our
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young women, young men's theme coming from right here in this
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first branch of of Christians there in the waters of Mormon,
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and they serve him. And then we have to keep His
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commandments. This is such a contrast to
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wicked King Noah, and such a contrast to the what was being
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taught before. You know, Alma is taking his
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text from a benedai and from the Spirit, and we use it now.
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It's our I don't know if we ever call them qualifications for
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baptism, but we have to have a desire.
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We have to repent and receive the redemption of our Savior and
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mourn and be willing to work together.
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Well, you're you're right. And in many ways, texts like
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these in the Book of Mormon will become the administrative or
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priesthood handbook for the early Restoration.
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And still today, we use these texts to help us understand how
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the Church should be organized and the ordinances administered.
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It's Joseph's first experience of learning how to organize a
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church. Came right here during the
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translation process. That's right.
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And the baptism. Although he doesn't take them
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one by one and have a baptismal interview, he does interview
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them as a group, yes, and requires them to realize these
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are the things that are prerequisites.
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And if you want to go forward with this baptism, with this
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immersion, with this public display of your willingness to
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abide by these covenants and be God's people, whatever that
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might require you to suffer. If you are willing to do that,
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then the baptism can go forward. And they say it's the desire of
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our hearts. Again repeating your desire word
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in verse 11 and. And what do we learn about the
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way in which baptisms should be performed from this text?
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Well, I love verse 14 when it says he was buried in the water,
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it it's more than an immersion because he's talking about
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burying the old man. He's talking about taking off
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your natural man and and becoming a a child of God,
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becoming a a Christian, becoming a member of Christ's Kingdom.
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And I love that idea of burying us in the water.
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And I I found that that's not only used here in the Book of
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Mormon, but it's also used of course in the early Christian
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Church. Anytime we wanted to come into
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Christ, we are dying with him as we walk down this into the water
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and then coming out a resurrected being, you know?
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Isn't that a wonderful image? And of course, we do appreciate
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other elements of baptism, especially washing away of sins.
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But the thing that we need to, I think, realize more than just
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the washing away is the rising from the dead.
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From being spiritually dead in a way, and rising to a new life.
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And they do. This whole branch starts growing
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after the baptism. Initially we just have these 204
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souls that are baptized and then they grow and he has to ordain
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priests. He says one priest for every 50
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people. So first we have 4, then that
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grows. By the end of this chapter, 18
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to to 9 priests. You know we've got 450.
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But he he talks about what I want you to preach in your
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gatherings. I want you to come together.
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I'm now in chapter 18, verse 19. He gave them a commandment that
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they should teach nothing save it were the things which had
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been taught which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy
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prophets. Even he commanded them that they
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should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith in the
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Lord who had redeemed his people.
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Now it was wonderful. Judge Tom Griffith that pointed
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out to me of all the attributes of Christ, He's our Good
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Shepherd. He's our friend.
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He's the one he wanted to emphasize with the baptism was
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the redemption and and in in the churches now that we're talking
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and preaching of Christ he wants to emphasize the redemptive
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nature of Christ but it's this is just one of the commandments
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that he gives now so he's giving this commandment preach this in
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church but I counted them up. Jack I'm trying to follow your
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good example. I got 10 commandments that he
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gives not necessarily the word commandment but ten different
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things that he says I command you.
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And then he gives 10 ideas. And this is the first one.
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Preach of Christ, teach of Christ, which just Nephi has
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said earlier as well. We of course have to put this
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into the situation that Alma is in.
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These are brand new converts. As far as we know, they haven't
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had much instruction. Well, not from Wicked King Noah,
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at least. I don't think we we say that
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this is the only thing that you can ever preach in sacrament
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meeting. There are other topics that need
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to be displayed and explained. As long as they're tied to
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faith, and as long as they're tied to our Savior faith in the
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Lord Jesus Christ and the words of the prophets and the yeah.
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So we begin with kind of the first axiom, and this is the
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thing that we always want to be sure we're preaching.
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We aren't in sacrament meeting or in general conference to to
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talk about things that are economic or political or
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worldly, always tying them into what do these have to do with
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the teachings of Jesus Christ, increasing the testimony of
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Jesus Christ and looking forward to when he will return.
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So, Lynn, what are the other commandments on Alma's list
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here? No contention.
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I was thrilled to see that there, he says.
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We have commanded them that there should be no contention
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and then they have to look forward in unity.
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This is #3. Look forward with an eye, having
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one faith and one baptism and #4.
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Their hearts are knit together in love and then we have to skip
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down a little ways. Verse 23 is then talks about the
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Sabbath day. Now off the top of my head, the
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Sabbath day is one of Moses 10 commandments.
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But these other ones to me have been part of a higher law.
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These are higher commandments that he's giving number six.
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Give thanks every day that you should give thanks to God.
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That's verse 23. And then skipping down to verse
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24, the priests have got to labor.
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This is very important to him. You don't want to get too much
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in your head. Then in verse 27 he says Alma
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commanded that the people of the church should impart of their
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substance. Then in 29, having been
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commanded of God, they did walk uprightly, so they've got to be
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obedient. I see as as the 9th 1:00 and
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then #10. They impart to one another both
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temporally and spiritually. These are a higher lot, Jack.
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I see this as the law of consecration.
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I see this as as Alma first word living a Zion society.
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I think that's right, but let's not ignore the fact that one of
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the things that Abinadi quoted to the priests of Noah were the
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10 commandments. Right, yes.
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And So what Abinadi is recognizing is that even the
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priests of Noah, who knew the 10 Commandments hadn't gotten to
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the deeper meanings behind these texts.
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There are links, as you've pointed out, to some of these,
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and if you scratch the surface a little bit, you can find that
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the links into some of the 10 commandments are are there.
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For example, we'll take the last one that you must give both
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temporally and spiritually. So temporal things you give.
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Now the last of the 10 commandments is thou shalt not
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covet, and the one before that is thou shalt not steal.
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So it's not just enough to say you shouldn't want and shouldn't
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take, but you should give. So it's it's related to but it's
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kind of a reversal of the negative making it now a
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positive. Which then again is the higher
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law. Another way that Abenadai here
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is building on something in the 10 commandments is we do have
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the honor the Sabbath day as one of the 10.
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Commandments. But then what he says is you
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must give thanks. And not just on the Sabbath day
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or on the holy days, but anytime.
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I think that it was normal to give thanks on the Sabbath day.
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That's a big part of ancient Sabbath worship, thanks and
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praise. And I think a Ben and I is
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saying let's recognize. And do it daily.
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Now let's do it all the time, yeah?
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Does that make sense? Oh yeah.
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Oh yeah. Working back up the list of
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these 10 commandments, remember that there is one about no
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contention. Yeah, and leading to unity.
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Remember one of the first things that Jesus will say in 3rd Nephi
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Chapter 11 when he appears and will call his 12 disciples.
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There, he emphasized, There shall be no disputations among
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you. Which is contentions.
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Contentions and here Alma is calling these priests and he's
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giving them and the whole people.
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But these instructions to that the priests show labor and not
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be paid and so. It's a higher law.
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It's it's, but it's building on things that we've already seen
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in the 10 Commandments. And finally, I think that the
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first of Alma's instructions, that we should teach nothing but
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the word of God is very similar to the first commandment.
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You shall have no other God before me.
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So it's not just enough to say I don't worship any other God, but
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I must affirmatively now teach and make teaching a big part of.
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And it's not just teach, it's faith in the Lord.
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It's going from the word to the heart.
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But unfortunately this beautiful Zion society is still being
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hunted and chased. And so chapter 18 ends down in
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verse 34 saying that the armies of King Noah have found them and
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are going to come and get them. And so they flee.
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They take their tents. Whatever they're living in, I
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don't know if their flocks came with them.
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I hope everything came with them and they go to find a new place.
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Turning to Chapter 19, here's where we are taken back.
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We're taken back into the city of Nephi, and there we have
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Gideon with his military duties. And the military is about to
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kill King Noah. I think it's pretty consistent
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that Gideon was one of the judges in the Old Testament who
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was a military man, and now here we have a military man with the
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same name. And why were they wanting to
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kill King Noah? Kill their own king?
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At this point, Gideon was not one of the priests of Noah, so
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he is obviously a military commander, probably knows Noah,
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maybe had been some kind of a guard for Noah, but he knows of
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all of the wickedness that Noah has been engaged in himself and
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perpetrating upon the people. Yeah, and he's and he's and he
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sees his wickedness as so bad that he should be killed.
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So chapter 19 describes that Gideon in his anger, says, I'm
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going to kill the king. And as he climbs upon his tower,
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the king realizes I'm going to my life's over and he looks out
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and there's the lame lights coming upon them.
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And so he says, spare my life, I I want to.
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I'm so worried about my people. Well, he's not worried about his
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people at all. Within two or three verses, he
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tells his leaders, his military leaders abandoned the women and
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children and flee with me out to the wilderness.
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And some follow and some do not. Gideon is one of those that does
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not follow him, obviously, But the Lamanites come in and a lot
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of people are destroyed because this is the beginning of another
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battle between the Lamanites and the Nephites.
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So the Lamanites may have been coming, worried that they aren't
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getting paid enough, and it seems to me that as they're
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looking at the tribute or the tax that's coming to them and
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then comparing it with the opulence of King Noah, I think
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they're probably right that Noah is not paying a full tax.
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Or else he has plenty on his own.
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Or he's interpreting it somehow his in his favor.
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Yeah, so they want some of his opposite.
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So they come to make an enforcement of of this
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agreement. And did you notice who the
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mediators are? Who stops the war so wicked?
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King Noah the priest. Many of the men have run and
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fled and it is the mediation of the women in the Book of Mormon.
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Women are shown in a very good light here.
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It is the women and children that go before the Lamanites and
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try to come to some sense of peace and stop this war.
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And it is recorded in chapter 19, verse 13.
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And it came to pass that those who tarried with their wives and
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their children, 'cause that their fair daughters should
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stand before and plead with the Lamanites that they would not
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slay them. And the Lamanites had compassion
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and they were able to come to a peace treaty.
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You know, you could read this. Perhaps misogynistically,
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they're using women because of their beauty, but I don't read
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it that way. I say they were able to somehow
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communicate and come to a peace agreement.
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They're the mediators that are chosen and they do a good job.
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As we look at chapter 19, verse 20, it says that the people of
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King Noah were angry with the king and they caused that he
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should suffer even unto death by fire.
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So this is fulfilling A Benedite.
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This is fulfilling the prophecy that was given.
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However you kill me, you're it's going to happen to you.
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But they, the men of Gideon, come and they talked to the
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people that had killed the king. And then it says in verse 24.
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They had ended this ceremony that they returned to the land
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of Nephi rejoicing. So there must have been some
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unity. Because these were separate
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parties. Gideon was trying to get rid of
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the King men, so they have some sort of a ceremony.
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If that's a question we don't have a real good answer to, but
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the word ceremony and cremation sound a little bit alike, and
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there may be a manuscript issue here.
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Who knows? I think more likely in the
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ancient world, no one took regicide lightly.
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If you're going to kill your king, there has to be some kind
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of ritual or some kind of, you know, a kind of ceremony where
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the King's life is then taken. I don't know what it would have
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looked like here for these people, but I think it's not
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just, well, let's have a bonfire and get rid of him.
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They probably take his royal implements, probably take his
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robe off, take his crown off, or whatever he has.
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I don't know what he's carried with him out into the
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wilderness, but probably enough that they first dethrone him and
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then they they kill. Him and the ceremony is between
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the people of Gideon and these people who had fled.
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That's right. And so whatever they had done
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before, they probably tied him up and then put him on a
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bonfire, A pyre where where they did.
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It and Limhai then is a descendant of Noah who's back in
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the land, and he then is made king.
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It says Limhai, being the son of the king, having the Kingdom
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conferred upon him by the people, made an oath to the king
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of the Lamanites and his people that they would pay this tribute
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1/2 of all they possessed. And then they have peace for two
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years under this new contract. But in Chapter 20, we now go
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back to figure out what happened to the rest of the people who
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fled out in the wilderness, what happened to the wicked priests
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of Noah? And that's Chapter 20.
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And we get the daughters of the Lamanites.
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And at some time of year, it's probably good weather.
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They're out dancing, and it sounds like there's no men
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around. The women are just having a
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wonderful time and the wicked priests of Noah are too
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embarrassed to go home. So it says that they are laying,
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wait and watching, and when there's just a few of the women
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there, they go and kidnap 24 of them.
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Yeah, so this must be a place that was used for some kind of.
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Festival or something, Yeah. Some something on a regular
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occasion that they knew there was an appointment.
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There's a time when they'll be there.
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Maybe they even had been there once.
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So a war breaks out over these daughters, and it says that the
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people of Limhi are fighting for a higher cause and they have the
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Lord with them and they're defending their families.
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But I also have to add that the Lamanites are also fighting for
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their daughters, but they don't know the ways of the Lord and
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they actually are defeated in a in a sense.
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In fact, even the king of the Lamanites or the king of this
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area is defeated and and they leave him and the soldiers of
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Limhai and Gideon find him and bring him back to King Limhai
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and he says, what were you doing?
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You I've been paying you 50%. What's the problem?
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And that's when we get this beautiful understanding that it
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was probably the wicked priests of Noah, and they're able to
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pacify the warriors. And both the king and the
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soldiers of Limhi and Gideon's men are able to lay down their
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arms, do, and go forth to the army of the Lamanites without
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their weapons, and they're able to make another peace treaty.
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So they have peace again for a few years.
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The first battle, the people of Limhi are attacked by the
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Lamanites. But they're so upset about
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paying this tax that three more times they go after the
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Lamanites, they initiate a battle.
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This is Chapter 21. And of course, all that's
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happened is they're they're fought.
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They're they have more and more deaths and there's more and more
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widows and it's I'll appreciate verse 17, King Lim High.
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You know he's doing the wrong thing by going to war especially
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as an offensive warfare. But at least he's taking care of
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the widows. And he says in verse 17, he
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commanded that every man should impart to the support of the
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widows and the children that they may not perish in hunger.
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And they're finally becoming so humbled and so needy of the Lord
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that they send out some people to go up to Zarahemla and find
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help. We need to get out of here.
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We we need your help. And they don't find them.
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And look at verse 17. There again.
24:51
It says that there were a great number of women and there were
24:54
more than the men. So maintaining the policies and
25:01
the practices of King King Noah, there were several battles and
25:06
many people were killed. Men were killed.
25:09
And in a fairly small population, that means they're
25:11
going to be a lot of widows. And now this may also play into,
25:17
you know, the question of of why many wives were taken by the
25:21
priests, because there are a lot of these women, and who's going
25:24
to take care of them. So it's a complicated situation
25:28
and their needs are great. But they don't find Zarah Hemla
25:32
when they go to ask for help. No.
25:35
They go up. What do they find?
25:37
Clear up the land of Desolation. So it's further north as you
25:41
look at it very closely. It says they they go up to a
25:44
land where there's been this is verse 26, a land that's covered
25:50
with dry bones. Yeah, a people which had been
25:53
peopled and destroyed having supposed it to be the land of
25:57
Zarahemla. So they think that the people of
26:01
Zarahela have been destroyed. They go back to the land of
26:03
Nephi, but they bring with them a record.
26:06
This is verse 27, a record with them, even a record of the
26:10
people whose bones they had found and it was engraving upon
26:13
plates of ore. Now we've heard about these
26:16
plates of ore earlier. This is all really complicated,
26:19
isn't it, Lynn? It kind of hard to realize we
26:22
need kind of a road map to figure this out.
26:24
Because it's true that we say, yeah, we've heard about these 24
26:28
gold plates. It was back when Ammon comes and
26:31
he speaks with Lim High and he tells Reggie, we tried to find
26:35
you and we couldn't, but we came back with these plates and they
26:37
want to know back in chapter seven and eight, do you know
26:41
anybody who might be able to translate these?
26:43
And now we're learning how we're taking.
26:44
Up with that story and we figure out, oh, now we know a little
26:48
more about how they they found those plates and 24 gold plates,
26:53
24 priests. I think that's circumstantial,
26:57
but it's. Easy way to memorize it.
27:00
Maybe a curiosity, and that's why the fact was there, we don't
27:03
have to be told how many plates there were.
27:05
But in any event, this kind of duplication is kind of a a
27:13
trigger that you say, well, what else is doubled in the book of
27:17
Mosiah? And might this have something to
27:21
do with the overall composition of the book?
27:23
You mean that earlier we talked about the 24 plates and now
27:26
we're talking about them now. Is there any consistency?
27:28
Is that what you're saying? Yeah.
27:29
OK. Structurally.
27:31
Jack, are you suggesting Mosiah all of Mosiah?
27:34
Is it chiasm? Well, that was my first thought,
27:38
yeah. Having found it at the word
27:40
level, and knowing from this that chiasms can be not only at
27:44
the word level but at the book level, yeah, I started putting
27:48
together a little list of, well, what happens in.
27:51
The book of Mosai. And I think knowing this helps
27:55
readers. It helps me to follow what's
27:58
going on in the book of Mosiah and why they've included certain
28:01
stories and not told a lot of things that they might otherwise
28:04
have said. So, for example, then where I
28:07
began was with the beginning, where Benjamin Benjamin is going
28:11
to install Mosiah as his successor.
28:15
Well, at the very end, in chapter 29, Mosiah will install
28:19
Alma the Younger as his successor.
28:21
Yeah. Perfect.
28:23
Perfect little. And in a way, the whole book of
28:26
Mosiah is held together by by King Mosiah.
28:32
He's there from the beginning to the end, so it's all about the
28:34
time that Mosiah is the king. Benjamin announces that Mosiah
28:39
will be his successor. Mosiah then receives the
28:43
records, and that's important that the king be entrusted with
28:47
the sacred relics and the brass plates and other records.
28:50
Well, what happens just before Alma is made the successor of
28:54
Mosiah, Alma is given the records.
28:58
So this transfer of records not that important to us, but to
29:01
them, these are the Insignia of authority.
29:04
Of authority? Oh no, it's very important.
29:07
In Benjamin's speech in chapter three we have Benjamin giving
29:11
the words of the Angel of the Lord.
29:14
There are only two places in all of the book of Mosiah, I think,
29:18
where the Angel appears and one is there to Benjamin and.
29:22
Of course, Alma the Younger. Alma the Younger in chapter 27,
29:27
where they hear the words of the Angel at the point of conversion
29:32
of Alma the younger people enter into a covenant at the end of
29:36
King Benjamin's speech. And the the important point in
29:40
chapter 26 is that unbelievers refuse to enter into the
29:45
covenant and we'll talk about that next week.
29:47
It's important though that the people who are in the church
29:51
that Alma has organized are covenant people.
29:56
And so becoming covenant people under King Benjamin, following
30:01
his speech and writing their names in the records, is then
30:05
echoed by the importance of the covenant in Alma's church.
30:10
Then of course we have Ammon going in chapters 7 and eight
30:13
from Sarah Hemla to Lehigh Nephi, and he finds Limhai.
30:18
And that's where we are right now, because Ammon eventually
30:23
will return from Lehigh Nephi with Limhai's people, and the
30:28
echo or counterpart of that is Alma, eventually returning.
30:33
Of course now when Ammon talks to Limhai back in chapter 8,
30:39
they then tell about the 24 gold plates, but they don't go in
30:43
very much detail. But now they take the time to
30:47
have a reprieve where we remind you the 24 gold plates are
30:52
mentioned and now we learn more about how they were discovered
30:55
in this. Is amazing, Jack.
30:56
This is absolutely, perfectly organized.
30:59
Wow. Chapter 11 is about Noah and his
31:02
wicked priests. Uh huh.
31:04
And chapters 18 and 19 are about Noah and his wicked priests,
31:08
which we've just been talking about.
31:09
Yes, yes. So the center then is.
31:12
Well, the center is Abinadi being imprisoned in Chapter 11
31:16
and 12, echoed by Abinadi actually being killed in chapter
31:20
17. But the center is Abinadi's
31:23
sermon. Yeah, look at that.
31:24
Abinadi reads the 10 commandments and Isaiah 53 and
31:30
then Abinadi gives his explanation of those texts.
31:34
And I would like to add that the center then, is Christ.
31:38
Abenadai is pointing to Christ there in the coming of the
31:41
Messiah, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New
31:44
World is our savior. Yeah.
31:47
Oh, that's beautiful. Wow.
31:50
Well done. Well, so I actually did kind of
31:54
figure that out. It's pretty obvious once you
31:56
know. What to look for?
31:57
To look for and I I published that back in BYU Studies in
32:05
1969. Oh.
32:09
So it's been around for a while. I'm sorry I missed that one.
32:12
I was. I was born though, so I.
32:14
Can look this up on BYU studies and here's the page with all
32:19
with a few more details. But that was an exciting moment.
32:26
And that also by knowing the chiastic structure, it allows us
32:29
to see where we're going to finish up today's lessons.
32:32
Because now we look at Chapter 22, we've got 23 and 24 and we
32:36
learn about the plans to escape. And the first people they talk
32:43
about is how limb heist people are going to escape.
32:46
And of course, that's when we mentioned AM Ammon.
32:49
The mulekite comes to help them, and they go through this process
32:54
of wanting to be converted, but no one can baptize them.
32:57
But they've humbled themselves now to receive the Lord's help.
33:00
Yes, in Chapter 22 we do have them planning to make this
33:04
escape. And this is the famous instance
33:06
where they say to the Lamanites, we're not only going to give you
33:10
a fifth of all of our wine, we're going to give you
33:13
everything that we've got, all the wine jars, everything.
33:16
And of course the the guards have a party with that.
33:20
And. They take advantage of the time
33:22
and and they are able to leave and escape in the night.
33:28
And Gideon the the head of that expedition, they will go then to
33:36
the land of Zarahema. But they won't go to the city of
33:39
Zarahema. They will start a new little
33:42
city, which they will call the City of Gideon.
33:44
Yeah, yeah. They may have gone there
33:46
initially to say hello, welcome back.
33:48
But then they're given this extra land, just as the
33:50
Israelites were. Yeah.
33:52
And I think it's given to them as a land of their inheritance,
33:56
just as when the converts of Ammon are brought up in the
33:59
Ammonites are given a land for their inheritance in the land of
34:02
Jershon. So I think there's something
34:06
comparable going on there. And they did it in the Old
34:08
Testament, too. And Alma the Younger after he
34:14
gives his speech, which we'll talk about in a couple more
34:16
lessons in Alma Chapter 5 in Zarahemla.
34:19
That's Alma's first speech after he relieves himself of the
34:24
obligations of being the chief judge, and now he's just the
34:26
high priest. He then speaks in Zarahemla
34:29
Chapter 5. But where does he go next in
34:32
Chapter 7 to the city of Gideon? And his father would have known
34:36
Gideon. His father would have known.
34:38
Very, very much so. So Alma can speak to them very
34:41
personally. And we'll see that in Alma
34:43
Chapter 7. So there are lots of reasons why
34:45
we're getting these stories, but it gives context to what's being
34:49
said and stay alert for that. So we now see how Lim High and
34:55
his group, led by the soldier Gideon, are able to leave.
35:00
We now pick up what Alma's doing with his group and his covenant
35:03
people out in the waters of Mormon and beyond.
35:05
Yep, chapter 23 and 24. So at the beginning of chapter
35:09
23, to kind of get all of this clear, the Lord warns Alma.
35:14
And they leave where they were first, where they had the waters
35:17
of Mormon, where they had become covenant people.
35:20
And then they flee and get away, and they now start in another
35:25
place. It's a beautiful land, a place
35:28
of pure water. And there they pitch their tent
35:32
and they want Alma to become a king.
35:36
I think we have to pause and think for a minute.
35:37
Why would they want Alma to be a king?
35:40
Well, they don't know any other real form of government.
35:44
And so Alma takes a very drastic step here and says we are not
35:48
going to have a kingship. We can see what happens when you
35:52
have a king that isn't a good one.
35:55
This is in chapter 23 verse 6. OK, great.
35:59
Great. And Alma says, behold verse
36:01
seven, it is not expedient that we should have a king.
36:04
This is important because when Alma and his group get to
36:06
Zarahelmah, they will all sit down together and they will read
36:10
each other's records. And King Mosiah, king of
36:14
Zarahelmah will hear this and will know that a prophet Alma
36:20
says you know kingship has its limitations, so this may be the
36:24
seed that will lead to Mosiah abdicating his his throne.
36:30
His Elma's examples. Yeah, now, but what does Alma do
36:35
to create a people that are not kings?
36:38
They're not rule. So what does Alma do?
36:40
He has to have somebody who will rule.
36:44
And what he does is he creates priests.
36:48
And teachers? He's already done the priest
36:49
before, but in verse 14, he wants the teachers to be men of
36:53
God. That's right.
36:54
He wants them to have no contention.
36:56
In verse 15, they have to love their neighbor.
36:58
He goes back. He's quoting again some of the
37:00
commandments. Now let me point out something
37:02
here you just mentioned in verse 15.
37:05
Among the things that he says, every man should love his
37:09
neighbor as himself. Quoting Leviticus, the center of
37:12
the law. Explain that the center of the
37:15
law. Why is where do we find?
37:17
I thought Jesus was the one. Who talked?
37:20
In fact, that's why Christ says it.
37:21
They asked Jesus what's the most important law?
37:24
So he goes to the very center of Leviticus.
37:27
We have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus.
37:28
The center of Leviticus is Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
37:32
thyself. And where does where does thou
37:34
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart?
37:36
Where does that come from? The Shema, isn't it?
37:38
They recite it over and over in the book of Deuteronomy.
37:40
Chapter six. Yeah, so Christ is taking the
37:43
best of the Old Testament and saying this is what it's all
37:45
about. And I think that is.
37:49
Quoted right here in 2315. The foundational rules that Alma
37:54
wants his people to live by I. Keep going back to the fact that
37:57
they are living a higher law. They are living the law that
37:59
Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount right here.
38:02
And he is the high priest, but he has priests and teachers Now
38:08
priests of course had to maintain their holiness in order
38:11
to administer in the sacrifices, and they probably are still
38:16
offering some sacrifices according to the law of Moses.
38:19
But now he's going to add teachers.
38:23
Where does he get this model that there should be teachers as
38:28
well as priests? I think if you go back to what
38:31
Lehigh does when he ordains Jacob and Joseph.
38:35
As teachers. Jacob is ordained a priest,
38:38
Joseph is teacher. So the precedent for having
38:41
priests and teachers goes back to Lehigh.
38:46
And finally, I think there's something important here that he
38:49
says that anyone who will be one who will minister to you in any
38:56
of these offices, he must be a man of God walking in his ways
39:04
and keeping his commandments. I think that's really important
39:11
that if we're going to teach, you know, and you and I are
39:14
teaching on this, this program, but anybody who's teaching.
39:19
I teach him primary. Well, we have obligations.
39:24
We can't just live one life one way and teach people.
39:30
We can't live 2 lives and we can't be trustworthy if we are
39:36
not walking in his ways. Not just talking about it, but
39:42
doing it. Living the gospel and keeping
39:47
his commandments, not just doing what we think would be nice, but
39:52
what God wants. So I think that Alma has set up
39:56
here the the spiritual. You might call it the spiritual
40:03
DNA of what the Church organization should look like.
40:07
And I think again, I wonder as Joseph Smith translated this.
40:11
Definitely. If he isn't already thinking,
40:15
this is giving me not just ideas, but scriptural
40:20
validation. On how a church should run
40:23
exactly in this beautiful new city of Helam.
40:28
They are able to establish peace for a short time until
40:33
unfortunately they come in bondage.
40:35
And just like was prophesied by a Benedi.
40:39
The first time a Benedi came, he said if you don't shape up
40:42
you're going to be in bondage. And the second time he came and
40:44
he said you're going to be in bondage.
40:46
So even though they're living a very, very, very Zion like
40:49
society, they still have to fulfill the prophecy that was
40:52
given because they didn't repent in time.
40:54
But the Lord does make their bondage much lighter and it says
40:58
that they could hardly feel the burdens on their back.
41:02
And I'm, I really appreciate this.
41:04
And the people that come for the bondage are the wicked priests
41:07
under the direction of Amulon. That's verse 35 of chapter 23
41:12
that talks about Amulon's horrific treatment of them.
41:16
And they don't even allow them to pray.
41:18
They're furious about any religious activities, and it's.
41:23
I just keep thinking what tension this must have been.
41:26
Alma knew him. They sat together on the bench,
41:29
they worked together, they drank together.
41:31
And now Amulon is just saying you think you're so holy and
41:37
he's smacking him around and treating him terribly.
41:40
Well, and these priests will become the Amulonites.
41:44
We will hear about them later in the book of.
41:46
Alma come all the way through and.
41:48
This their jealousy, their vindictiveness, will not go
41:54
away. It is so tender to remember the
41:57
relationship between these peoples.
41:58
Yeah, and Alma will actually leave without even saying
42:02
goodbye. Oh, of course not.
42:03
He leaves by the hand of the Lord.
42:04
And so the the order of Nahors and the Amulanites, they still
42:10
think they may have some claim over these people.
42:13
But I love what you said about making the burdens light.
42:17
Let's talk about that for a little while because do you
42:21
remember the talk that Elder Bednar gave?
42:23
This was in April conference in 2014.
42:26
We loved using this in our religion classes when we were
42:30
teaching on our mission and the students responded so
42:34
effectively to this where. So wherever they came from their
42:38
backgrounds, we could ask them have you ever had burdens lifted
42:43
from your backs? And tell us the stories that you
42:45
have have experienced and reading these scriptures.
42:51
Notice that as Elder Bednar explains, when you ask for the
42:56
burdens to be taken away, the Lord doesn't remove them.
43:02
Those burdens are there for you to learn something.
43:05
But what he does is he makes it possible for the burdens to be
43:10
borne, that they can be light, but they're not taken away.
43:15
The Lord says be of good comfort, which I have to point
43:18
out is always mentioned when they're in hard times.
43:21
It's a commandment of God. We have to be of good comfort
43:24
because we can rest our burdens on Christ.
43:27
And then in verse 14, he says, I will also ease the burdens which
43:31
are put on your shoulders, and even you cannot feel them upon
43:35
your backs. But they'll be there.
43:36
But they'll be there. And then it says, I, God do
43:38
visit my people in their afflictions, and they were able
43:44
to bear them up. And it says they cheerfully
43:46
submitted to the Lord in verse 15.
43:49
So there is something powerful about applying these verses in
43:54
our life in any situation in that we're in.
43:58
And what is the power that eases these burdens that we bear?
44:03
I think it's the atonement of Jesus.
44:05
Christ. Absolutely.
44:07
And the atoning power Elder Bednar calls the enabling power.
44:14
It's it enables us to be able to do what we need to do.
44:19
And maybe we're aware that those burdens are still there, but
44:23
we're not overwhelmed, overwhelmed by them.
44:26
We're not distracted by them. We we don't notice them, but
44:29
we're still carrying them. But what is removed is that
44:32
guilt or the feeling that we we aren't doing what we need to do
44:36
or should do. But the enabling power of the
44:39
atonement makes it possible for us to bear these burdens and not
44:46
just to carry them out, but to do so with joy and with purpose.
44:52
Elder Bednar talked about in that talk, you may remember it,
44:55
the pickup truck that it went out.
44:57
And it was was stuck in a snowstorm.
45:00
And how did it get out of the the snowstorm?
45:03
Well, it was loaded. It was loaded with all this wood
45:06
and other things. And the weight of it allowed
45:08
them to get the traction. And we have to have the Lord's
45:13
difficulties in order to get us on our knees.
45:15
You know, sometimes bondage can be used as a benefit.
45:19
Yeah. And then and then finally, one
45:20
other thing that that I really like about the idea of this yoke
45:26
that I mean, we have this and take upon you my yoke.
45:32
And some people wonder, well, where's that yoke that's going
45:37
to take away the burdens? Well, when you're yoked with the
45:41
Lord, it's like you're in a harness.
45:46
You're you're like pulling 2 ocean.
45:48
Pulling the same direction though.
45:50
And and that yoke, it doesn't say it's it's going to be easy,
45:56
but it says in Greek that the yoke is well formed so that it
46:03
fits you and it may fit you perfectly individually, but then
46:09
you can put a lot of pressure against that yoke and get a lot
46:13
more done. And of course having the savior
46:15
as your partner, that's where that image take upon you.
46:21
My yoke, I think. They're applying it here.
46:25
It's applied. The principle is the same.
46:27
He doesn't use that. And not only does the Lord allow
46:31
them to endure their burdens, but then He provides a way for
46:34
them to leave. They don't have to get the
46:35
guards drunk. Like you explained happened to
46:37
limb vice people. The Lord puts them in a deep
46:40
sleep. They're able to travel, they've
46:42
got their women, their children. It doesn't mention flocks, but I
46:45
presume a lot of provisions because they travel 12 days in
46:49
verse 25 back to Zarahemla. Now they did one other thing
46:53
before they leave, because you you said that they were
46:56
forbidden to pray. Do they not pray about this
47:00
before they leave? I think in verse 21 and 22 they
47:04
give their thanks in their hearts, yes.
47:07
And they are able to praise the Lord and thank the Lord in their
47:10
hearts, even though they're not out loud.
47:12
Yeah. And that was one of the 10
47:14
commandments, wasn't it? To thank God and praise, OK,
47:19
that's one of Alma's rules. And so they have to keep that
47:21
rule. But he says, you know, it's OK
47:24
if you we can't assemble to do it.
47:26
We can't do it out loud, but you can have this prayer inwardly.
47:32
And I would like to end with my testimony that as our burdens in
47:35
life become difficult, as our burdens are hard to bear, when
47:41
we strive to receive the Savior's help, they can be made
47:45
light, and we can submit cheerfully to the will of the
47:48
Lord too. Lynn, we've talked about how
47:50
things happened twice in the book of Mosiah, so we get 2
47:53
testimonies at the end of this one.
47:55
Let me bear my testimony too, because there's so many details
47:59
here that enrich this story, that make it real, that make it
48:03
organized. And we sympathize with people
48:05
who read through the book of Mosiah and try to follow all the
48:09
comings and goings. It is so complicated.
48:13
And how is it possible that this record could come forth so
48:19
accurately without a single misstep?
48:23
You know, even in talking about this, we misspeak sometimes, and
48:28
yet I can't. Remember has it translated with
48:31
a quill. Which one of these taxes was it?
48:33
Or Or is this the land of Helium?
48:34
Or the land of Helium? And or you know, all of these
48:37
things that are so hard for for ordinary readers and we we
48:41
appreciate how you know when you teach your primary children.
48:45
Of course we stick to the basics and we teach nothing but Christ.
48:53
Still, the scriptures are the portal that help us to come unto
48:57
Christ and so many things. I testify in these examples of
49:03
following the prophet of Benedi, of following the guidance of the
49:07
Lord and keeping our covenants. In doing these basic steps, God
49:12
will bless us. I testify that this record is
49:17
not just profound and deep, but exalting and elevating in every
49:23
way. And I know that God will bless
49:27
us with strength beyond our own, as the hymn sings, as we are
49:34
good, faithful members of his fold.
49:37
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
49:40
Amen.