Latest / Scripture Central / Alma 32–35 | July 22–28: | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

Transcript

Alma 32–35 | July 22–28: | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

0:00
Hello, Welcome back to Scripture Central.
0:02
I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson. I'm Jack Welch and we are really
0:06
excited to be here today. I don't know how we can ever
0:09
cover all the material in these chapters for this week's lesson.
0:13
Alma chapter 3233 and 34. This is just a little bite to
0:18
get you excited, but hopefully you'll find even more time on
0:21
your own in your scripture study.
0:22
It's interesting, in the original manuscript of the book
0:25
of Alma, chapters 30 to 35 was one chapter.
0:30
It's all the 17th year of the reign of the Judges.
0:33
And Alma has this wonderful opportunity now to go to teach
0:38
the Zoramites. And as Jack mentioned in the
0:40
past, there's many reasons why he wants to go to the Zoramites.
0:43
In addition that they need the gospel, the higher law being
0:47
taught. There's some political and
0:50
logistic reasons that are very important too.
0:52
Alma is able to very sensitively recognize the needs of those,
0:57
especially the poor Zoramites. He will also talk to all of the
1:01
Zoramites, but the poor Zoramites are the ones who come
1:04
and listen the most. And so it's a very complicated
1:07
situation in a different town with lots of issues.
1:10
And and Alma covers the gospel with his second witness, Amulek,
1:16
in such a profound way. This is really one of the
1:20
greatest of all of Alma's sermons.
1:27
Remember, the mission included the seven companions.
1:30
He's got the sons of Mosiah. He's got two of his own sons
1:33
there, as well as Zizaram and Amulek.
1:37
And they're all there to preach. It sounds like this is quite a
1:40
large community, but they're outside preaching on the
1:43
hillside so that more people can come.
1:46
It says it's a hill named Oneida.
1:48
Oneida. Yeah.
1:50
Of course, the poor have been. Cast out of their synagogue.
1:53
To some extent, cast out, they certainly don't feel welcome
1:57
there. And Alma realizes that he has a
1:59
lot of people that he wants to preach to.
2:02
And going into one synagogue, and in those days a synagogue a
2:06
a place where they came together, they're just a meeting
2:09
place, would have been a fairly small room.
2:11
So going out onto the hillside and having people, many of them
2:17
come he on a hillside there is kind of a natural amphitheater.
2:21
Lots of people could hear. I also feel like he disagreed
2:24
with what was being taught in those synagogues because this is
2:26
where the Ramyamptam was. We talked about this last week.
2:29
This is where they were praying to a God that was not described
2:33
by the law of Moses. And so it they wanted, he wanted
2:37
to preach a different message too.
2:39
Remember, Korahor's basic question was, is there a God?
2:42
And how can I develop faith in that God?
2:46
And once I know that God has given commandments, that he is
2:51
with me, that he loves me, that he will create an atonement for
2:54
me. That much they now know.
2:56
But how do I develop faith in that?
2:59
And that's where Alma then will go with these humble and poor
3:02
people when they are out there on the hill and being out there
3:08
in nature. A lot of us have gone camping or
3:12
have been on youth trips or wherever we're being outside in
3:17
the world can create a connection with God.
3:22
That's important for us. Still, I think that Alma is
3:26
addressing people and meeting them where they were, knowing
3:30
that they now can take the steps to really build true faith.
3:35
Before we talk about the seed, I want to just mention some of
3:38
these earlier verses on the afflictions that were being
3:41
placed on the humble and poor, the those in poverty.
3:45
And the whole thing is talking about how their weakness of
3:50
being economically cast out is now going to be turned into a
3:53
strength of spiritually being ready to hear the word of God.
3:57
In verse 12, I say it is well that you are cast out of your
4:01
synagogues that you may be humble, that you may be learn
4:04
wisdom. It is necessary that you should
4:06
learn wisdom. And then he goes on and begins
4:09
to teach them some wisdom that they may not have had ears to
4:12
hear. And that's I think a real
4:14
important first step. Many missionaries, we all have
4:20
had occasion to use Alma Chapter 32.
4:23
Of course, there's more to it than just 32.
4:26
And so we will hopefully read on to 33 and 34.
4:30
Today. Still, it starts with a very
4:34
important recognition of the need for humility.
4:39
And it doesn't matter how you have been humbled.
4:43
You might be humbled because of some disease you've had.
4:46
You might be humbled because some circumstance that hasn't
4:50
gone the way you'd wanted. The word humble actually comes
4:55
from the same word as humus, which is the Latin word for
4:59
earth. And so when you are humbled, you
5:03
are hopefully becoming the salt of the earth.
5:06
Or the dust of the earth, as King Benjamin referred to.
5:09
Exactly. So when, when they are taken
5:12
them, these poor people, yes, they maybe they're even dirty.
5:17
They worked with their hands. They're farmers.
5:19
It says their apparel's not good enough at least.
5:21
They have been reduced to a low self esteem or a low condition
5:31
of society. And then from that humble state,
5:34
Alma then turns, and most of the rest of chapter 3233 are about
5:40
faith and developing faith. It's not just faith that Alma
5:45
teaches them. You can believe in a lot of
5:48
things, but what he wants is for them to have faith in the Son of
5:52
God. Thank you, of course.
5:54
And yes, yes, we. Assume that, but when we're
5:57
talking to people about Alma 32 and faith, it's not a lesson on
6:02
what you might call knowledge or philosophical epistemology.
6:08
It's building from a belief and a desire to then have spiritual
6:15
knowledge and a testimony. And in fact, in chapter 33, as
6:19
he develops that, he begins quoting other prophets on faith
6:21
on the Son. So he starts out that.
6:24
And I'm so glad you reminded us that it's faith in Jesus Christ.
6:28
21 And now I said concerning faith.
6:31
Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things.
6:34
Wherefore if he have faith, he hope for things which are not
6:38
seen, which are true. Now this verse is quoted
6:40
probably more often than the rest of this chapter.
6:43
And what are the parts of this process that are emphasized
6:46
here? It's not to know things
6:47
perfectly. Yeah, that's right, that it says
6:50
explicitly faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things.
6:56
You don't begin by trying to go out and get a complete knowledge
7:00
of things as if all of those things are somehow going to give
7:05
rise to what we call faith, because faith is something
7:08
different than just information. Well, and it's interesting
7:12
because he's saying there are unseen realities that are very
7:16
real. I think of feeling my mother's
7:18
love, feeling my love for those around me.
7:23
Faith is an unseen reality, as is love.
7:28
And if we can feel love, then we can feel faith.
7:31
And even if you haven't experienced love with another
7:33
person, we can certainly have love with God.
7:36
Verse 22. God is merciful and to all who
7:41
believe on His name. Now that's interesting.
7:45
Is God merciful to everyone, or is He only merciful to people
7:49
who believe on his name? Well, I think he's merciful to
7:52
everyone to a degree, but I think he's more merciful to
7:54
those that believe on his name. So it it may be a quantifiable
7:58
thing. I think that's right.
8:01
I also think that Alma would say to them, even if you don't
8:05
believe in God or in his mercy, if you will hope for that mercy.
8:10
Yeah. And and so if you at least go
8:14
that far and when it says, you must believe on his name.
8:19
Yes. Isn't that significant?
8:20
What is the name of God? Well, it's Jesus Christ because
8:26
He's the way we come to God through that name.
8:30
But it's the designated name that we come through.
8:33
But His name itself, the name of the Father, is really not ever
8:39
given to us. I mean, there is a Hebrew word
8:42
elohim, but that just means God's in plural or God
8:46
magnificent knowing the name, the important thing that he will
8:49
say, Alma will say that we must come to the Father through his
8:53
Son and that's I think what he's referring to here.
8:57
If you believe at least on. That name.
9:00
And it's not just the men. He imparted his words by angels.
9:04
So obviously Alma felt very strongly about the his angelic
9:08
visitation. Yeah, not only men, but women
9:11
also. And this is not all.
9:13
Little children do have words given unto them many times which
9:18
can confound the wise and the learned.
9:20
Amen. Amen.
9:22
Amen. Absolutely, yeah.
9:23
And it is a part of the mercy and the generosity of God that
9:28
is now here being manifested. And Alma is saying, I'm a
9:31
priest, I don't have a monopoly on this.
9:36
And look how widely he opens it to everyone.
9:40
And right now, he's not even just speaking to the poor, he's
9:42
speaking to all the Zoramites that have come up on this hill.
9:45
And he is empowering those women and children that chose to come,
9:50
as well as those other possible outcasts to say no, God loves
9:53
all this. I think it's a significant
9:56
statement. That's good.
9:57
Do you think This is why we have Primary in the church?
10:01
No, definitely. They can teach us as much as
10:03
we're teaching them. Well, you know, the Book of
10:05
Mormon is a kind of handbook of church instruction and
10:10
organization. And the children have the
10:12
Spirit, it says. The children have ministering of
10:14
angels. The children have the gifts of
10:16
God. But I'll bet the little children
10:18
there in Antionam hadn't been allowed up on the Ramiamtham.
10:23
Probably not. And then three times he talks
10:26
about experimenting on faith, and he uses this wonderful
10:32
example starting in verse 27 to exercise a particle of faith.
10:37
Even if you just can desire to believe, let this desire work in
10:42
you, even until you believe in a manner that you can give place
10:46
for a portion of my words. And then in verse 28, the next
10:50
verse is when he likens it unto the seed.
10:53
And if they were outside, it makes sense to me that he's
10:56
using this agricultural image, the law of the harvest.
10:59
And he beautifully uses this idea of experimenting in an
11:04
agricultural environment. But I also think of the
11:06
experimenting as a scientific experiment.
11:10
If we look at it like the scientific method, where you
11:12
have to come up with an idea and then you have to come up with a
11:16
hypothesis. Then you have your experiment,
11:18
you record your data and you see how it turns out.
11:21
And if it doesn't work, then you go back and you change your
11:23
hypothesis. And you.
11:25
I see that as a spiritual laboratory right here in Alma.
11:28
I just feel like the spiritual laboratory is a scientific
11:31
laboratory according to Alma Chapter 32.
11:34
And of course, Alma doesn't know that word or that process of.
11:38
Scientific was not part of his vocabulary, but.
11:40
This is this is better than that.
11:41
And you've talked about a hypothesis or a hunch or just
11:44
some idea. Alma talks about that as a
11:47
particle of faith. It's not the whole faith.
11:50
And in our scientific investigations or in our regular
11:53
life. And how do we go about solving a
11:55
problem? Well, you begin with something
11:59
that you can say, all right, this I know for sure this is a
12:02
given, this far I can go. And then you try to build on it.
12:07
And working back to the beginning of verse 27, I think
12:12
that we have a little further instruction that's helpful.
12:17
It says, first of all, what's the first step in this process?
12:20
You have to awake, he says, If ye will awake.
12:24
And in verse 28, it said it's going to develop into something
12:26
where you can feel it. It's an emotion that's actually
12:29
felt. He he calls it here, the
12:31
swelling motions. And as we look at Section 9 in
12:34
the Doctrine Covenants, it's called a burning in your bosom.
12:37
One of my siblings feels like electricity up and down her
12:41
back. My husband feels cold hands.
12:43
But there is sometimes a feeling within our bodies that we have
12:48
to learn this language of the Spirit.
12:50
And, and when those kind of initial impressions come, I
12:53
think that's what Alma is referring to, what do you do
12:56
next? You arouse your faculties.
12:59
What are faculties? I think it's your mind, your
13:02
actions. It's all of your abilities when
13:07
when you have faculties or facilities with, but you arouse
13:11
your faculties. We talk about hearing and seeing
13:16
and other faculties, but they're also spiritual awarenesses where
13:21
you can be sensitive to things. He also uses the word exercise
13:25
your faith as as if it were full body.
13:28
That's verse 36. So, so this is a real active
13:31
kind of contribution that we make.
13:33
That's a good one exercise. And he says if it enlightens
13:36
your mind, that's in verse 34, it's going to expand, you have
13:40
more thoughts and then in verse 35, because it is light and
13:43
whatsoever is light is good. And what Alma has said there in
13:46
verse 34 is that when you go through this, and of course you
13:50
have to desire it too. And it's, it's interesting to
13:53
me, I don't think you can really want to want.
13:57
If you want, you want. And if you want to want, you
14:00
want, but I don't think you can want by doing, just wishing.
14:05
It takes more than that. It's all this experimenting.
14:08
You have to of course, desire. And if you can only desire and
14:13
you let this work and you begin to see that it begins to first
14:19
of all swell in your soul. So you feel that this is a real
14:26
beneficial thing. It gives you joy, it it gives
14:31
you ability to cope with problems or whatever, but it
14:34
begins to swell and then it will sprout.
14:38
Now it's not the full grown tree.
14:40
What do you think that sprouting is in this experiment that
14:44
you're describing? I know in my own life when I
14:46
feel a prompting of something, I often rationalize it and turn it
14:49
away. But the first thoughts that come
14:52
to our mind, if we will follow them, why did that just come
14:56
into my mind? Sometimes other ideas are opened
14:59
up. And if I won't rationalize it
15:02
and say, oh, I haven't got time to think about that now, I'll
15:05
think, oh, maybe I do need to stop and take care of this
15:08
point. Then something will open up.
15:11
And if I move forward, something else will open up.
15:14
That's right. And it does talk about let us
15:16
nourish it. And again, a farmer, any person,
15:19
and most of these people would have been small crop agrarians,
15:24
but they know that you have to nourish, whether it's water or
15:28
put fertilizer or dung or whatever you do for that
15:32
particular plant, you have to nourish it and care for it and
15:35
protect it. And it's just begun to sprout.
15:38
It's very fragile. And so in our spiritual growth
15:42
as well, you take it step at a time and it grows and it the
15:47
next thing it says after it sprouts is that your
15:52
understanding begins to be enlightened.
15:55
And so more light is cast on the subject.
16:00
And you're beginning to understand where things happened
16:03
and why and, and, and especially when the light of Christ comes
16:07
and you now are seeing it in terms of, of eternal goodness
16:12
and righteousness and how what this seed is producing for you
16:17
will have eternal value. It begins to expand and your
16:21
mind begins to expand with it. It's not just your spirit when
16:25
he's talking about his mind and his spirit or his soul.
16:30
I think we need to have a unity within ourselves.
16:34
You know, I think you can also use this information on how to
16:37
develop your faith. How do you want to grow your
16:40
faith? How do you want to return to
16:42
your faith? If you've lost your faith, if
16:44
you've had a faith crisis, go back to this same experiment and
16:48
do the same things. But it's much harder because you
16:51
think, oh, you keep rationalizing out the thoughts
16:54
of the Spirit. It's much harder.
16:56
But I believe that he's still giving us the answer as we
17:00
continue to read in verse 35 to look for that good light in
17:03
verse 36 to exercise it. Don't lay aside your faith.
17:07
It says in verse 36. And why not?
17:10
What is it that helps people to not lay aside their faith?
17:15
Alma at the beginning of verse 35 says, you know, as you feel
17:19
this expanding and you feel your, you know, your life
17:22
opening up instead of closing down.
17:25
And maybe it's opening up in ways of I could do this or I
17:29
could help so and so or now I understand that Scripture is
17:32
opened to my understanding. But with that, when it begins to
17:36
expand, look what Alma says here.
17:39
Oh, then is not this real? So he's saying faith may be
17:43
unseen, but if you are having results, it's actually real.
17:49
Yeah. And and that is reality.
17:52
And to to really see beyond this ignorant present is, is more
17:58
real ultimately than a lot of the things that we in daily life
18:02
of course need to use. And they're helpful.
18:05
But the reality, what is really out there, we begin to sense.
18:13
And as you say, this is light and it is good and it is
18:18
discernible. What does that mean?
18:21
We recognize that something is discernible.
18:24
You actually can acknowledge it. You can kind of separate it from
18:28
the bad. The good you can discern the
18:31
difference. There is a line between good and
18:34
bad. And we are put on earth to learn
18:36
from our own experience how to distinguish good from bad.
18:40
And the Spirit will guide you in that.
18:43
And then look at this, he says. After you have tasted this
18:48
light, is your knowledge finished?
18:50
What does that mean? So the taste is interesting
18:52
because he's he's going now to the fruit and he wants us to
18:56
develop fruit. He mentions fruit in verse 37
18:59
and in verse 40 he talks about the fruit.
19:03
Actually, I think it's 10 times in these verses I counted fruit.
19:06
He's going back to pluck it from the tree of life.
19:08
He's going back to Lehigh's story, I think.
19:11
He is. And also, wouldn't you say that
19:16
knowing as we do, that our spirits have come from another
19:20
sphere, we at an earlier time have tasted, we know what the
19:26
light looks like and tastes like?
19:30
When it says here that it's discernible, I think he's saying
19:35
it's recognizable. But sometimes it's very hard to
19:38
discern. I really appreciate Elder Bednar
19:40
and Elder Scott, who both used the analogy of a jalapeno pepper
19:44
in your mouth. You know, how can you taste that
19:47
delicate flavor of the grape when you've got a jalapeno in
19:49
there? And so sometimes it's hard to
19:51
discern because of either mental illness or medication or
19:55
depression or even just anger or, or, or strong emotions or
20:01
fear anxiety. And I just think it's, it's very
20:04
hard to discern unless we start in that state of humility.
20:08
With a desire, you know the whole thing is very important
20:11
that each step is met before we get to the fruit of the tree.
20:15
As we see in this in the Scriptures, I believe, oh Lord,
20:21
help my unbelief, but now you're tapping into the Lord's power,
20:26
Alma goes on to say. OK, just because you've tasted
20:29
it, is that enough? No.
20:31
Verse 37, Let us nourish it with great care.
20:35
What's that all about? And great care?
20:38
What does that mean? To be caring.
20:41
Well, to me it goes back to the allegory of the olive tree.
20:44
We're dunging, we're nourishing, we're pruning, and God is
20:48
carefully pruning us. Every time we feel like the Lord
20:52
is being mean to us, realize it's to produce fruit in the
20:55
end. And God is the gardener here.
20:58
And if we are on His path, seeking faith in His Son, we
21:02
will allow the Scriptures to nourish us, our prayers to
21:07
nourish us, and the Lord to prune us.
21:10
Of course, if we neglect the tree, well, we can't expect it
21:14
to to grow, Alma says. I'd like to go to verse 41 for
21:19
just a minute where he says if you will nourish the word.
21:24
This is the first time he's brought that little expression
21:29
into his teaching to these people, if you will.
21:33
And you wonder what would they have made of that?
21:36
What would these poor people in antionem of thought when he says
21:40
if you will nourish the word, Yeah, nourish the tree as it
21:46
beginneth to grow. Now tree they can understand and
21:51
if you do it with great diligence in all of this, then
21:53
it will spring up unto eternal life and it will be planted in
22:01
you because that's what you are doing here.
22:03
You're planting the seed, he says, in yourself, and it will
22:08
grow within you. Now this is different than the
22:11
allegory of the olive tree, where the olive tree is out
22:13
there on a hillside somewhere. Barren land.
22:17
And it's even different than Lehigh a little bit, because
22:21
Lehigh says you have to go to the tree.
22:23
And this tree is within, and it's going to sprout up and it's
22:26
going to bear fruit and we will taste it and it will be
22:29
delicious. Sweet above all that is sweet,
22:31
white above all that is white, pure above all that is pure
22:35
until you are filled that you hunger not And hear these poor
22:38
people, they're hungry, they're thirsty.
22:40
And he says you won't hunger, you will not thirsty.
22:48
You know Alma now has their attention and he notices the
22:51
beginning of chapter 33 verse one and wait a minute, they've
22:54
sent forth, I guess some people have gone up and said ask him
22:59
some of these questions they sent forth unto him desiring to
23:02
know whether they should believe in one God and that they might
23:05
obtain this fruit. So what should we do?
23:07
They they've been taught that there's only one God because you
23:10
remember the people with the Ramiamtam, they only believe in
23:14
one God. So now they're challenging the,
23:19
the, the, the leaders there in Antionum.
23:22
They want to hear what Alma has to say about this.
23:25
Now. It's important here.
23:27
Alma will then go on a a very important sidetrack.
23:32
Yeah, he he quotes the scriptures.
23:34
He answers their questions by quoting the scriptures.
23:37
And is exactly the question that he had hoped they would ask.
23:40
He's going to talk about worship, but.
23:41
Hold that thought for just a little while because He will
23:47
come back to this question about planting this word in your
23:53
hearts in verse 23. Now planting that word, we'll
23:58
learn what that word is, but not quite yet.
24:02
Because what's the answer to the question?
24:04
Do we just believe in one God or not?
24:08
It's interesting. He begins by quoting Zenith.
24:10
He says in verse three, do you remember to read what Zenith the
24:13
prophet of old has said concerning the prayer of
24:16
worship? Because you know, their their
24:17
problem was they couldn't worship in the synagogue and
24:19
they only were worshiping on Sundays.
24:20
He says, don't you remember this?
24:22
And so I think everybody had the scriptures.
24:24
So it's relevant to their situation.
24:26
Yes, very. But why does he quote this
24:28
particular thing about praying? You know, pray in the fields,
24:31
pray in your house, pray in your closet.
24:34
Oh, he's telling them you don't have to pray on the Rami umptom.
24:39
So that's one point that he's getting out of this.
24:41
He's also saying thou art merciful O God, and the mercy
24:47
and the mercifulness is repeated 6 times here, and then one time
24:51
as thou art a merciful, O Lord, so seven times he repeats mercy
24:56
roots of merciful. I think he's also trying to
24:59
teach them that as they come to worship, God will welcome them
25:02
in if they're in a humble and meek state and they come before
25:05
him. And you can do it anywhere
25:07
according to Zenus's message here.
25:09
And I'm so glad we've got this little statement here from
25:11
Zenus, because we usually just think of Zenus as Jacob chapter
25:14
5. But here Alma chapter 33 is a
25:17
beautiful section from the prophet Zenes that is not in our
25:21
Old Testament. And look at verse 10.
25:24
Zenus is now being quoted, and Alma would have thought
25:27
immediately if this is the text I need to use, why Yay.
25:31
And thou hast also heard me, Zenith says, When I have been
25:36
cast out and have been despised by mine enemies, you did hear my
25:41
cries. Well, these people have been
25:43
cast. Out and Zenith is using the same
25:45
word cast out as the Zoramite poor.
25:48
That's fabulous. After all of this he ends, and I
25:51
think this is the real reason why he quotes this passage from
25:54
Zenith the end of verse 11. Yeah, I will cry unto thee in
25:59
all mine afflictions, or in thee is my joy, for thou hast turned
26:04
thy judgments away from me because of thy son.
26:11
And what Zenus is telling us is that there will be a son, and
26:17
because of what that son will do, we will then have access to
26:22
the mercy of God. Now do you worship one God or
26:26
two? You have to thank the Son
26:29
because He has now made it possible because of thy Son.
26:32
Because of the Son, we can worship the Father.
26:35
It is through the Son that we can access the Father.
26:38
And in case we missed it, in verse 13, he repeats again that
26:42
little last phrase. And then he says, And that is
26:44
not the only scripture that talks about the sun.
26:47
Starting in verse 16, he, Xenoch has said.
26:50
And then he goes to Moses in verse 19.
26:52
So he gives him these three witnesses of people who talk
26:54
about the sun. And I thought it was
26:56
interesting. His example from Moses is it
26:59
when he's in the wilderness and he puts the post up and the with
27:02
the serpent, the brace, the brass serpent on the top.
27:04
And that he just had to look. He said this is an example of
27:08
the sun. You should be recognized this as
27:10
the Son of God, which I thought was very interesting.
27:14
But if they've read any of their scriptures, they, you know,
27:18
Nephi had the vision of the sun being crucified.
27:21
It's all over the early Book of Mormon.
27:23
And obviously that image that Moses raises is not just a metal
27:30
model of a snake, it symbolizes something.
27:33
It symbolizes our Savior's crucifixion.
27:36
Then verse 22, you should then cast your eyes about and begin
27:43
to believe in what the Son of God.
27:45
And now he's going to give in verse 22, a description of what
27:50
you should believe about the Son of God.
27:53
And look ahead for just a minute at verse 23.
27:56
And now my brother and I desire that ye shall plant this word.
28:01
And now you think this is the word that he's referring to?
28:04
Now we are finally told what the word is that we should plant,
28:09
and the word that Alma is telling people to plant is all
28:14
of verse 22. Number one, He will be the Son
28:17
of God #2 He will come to redeem His people #3 that He will
28:22
suffer and die to atone for their sins.
28:26
Number four, that He shall rise again from the dead, which shall
28:30
bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before
28:34
Him, to be judged at the last day according to their works.
28:38
And you can put all of those elements together and all of
28:41
that is the Word. Which is what we learn in John
28:45
chapter one, but he's here teaching it to the Zoramites way
28:49
before then. Now Alma didn't know and
28:51
couldn't use this word, but I will.
28:53
This is the DNA of the gospel, that you then plant and nourish
28:58
it. It will become a tree springing
29:02
up in you unto everlasting life. And he doesn't use the word
29:05
repent, but as he talks about the atonement of sins, to atone
29:08
for your sins, I feel like that is part of this seed.
29:12
This seed, if we're going to come to the Savior who has
29:15
redeemed us, we have got to be repentant as well.
29:18
We know that, and Alma knew that Amulek would talk about that.
29:24
Well, Amulek luckily filled in the space in chapter 34.
29:32
We now have Amulek as the second witness for this and you
29:35
remember he will also say at the end of his comments, this is the
29:40
day of this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God,
29:43
repent, repent. So your point about repentance
29:46
will not be ignored here. You know, Amulek is interesting
29:50
because his senior companion has just given these beautiful
29:55
points, five points or so on how to prepare your heart to receive
30:00
a testimony of Jesus Christ as your Savior and Redeemer.
30:04
And then Amulek says the same things in reverse order.
30:09
And I got this Jack from reading your notes.
30:12
But do you want to just read the points?
30:14
But what we've learned five things that Alma has stressed is
30:18
that you have to be humble, that you have to have true faith and
30:21
how to obtain it and the fruit to be enjoyed.
30:25
The third thing he's talked about is the mode of proper
30:27
prayer that you can pray in the wilderness and in your closet.
30:30
The fourth thing was that you have to believe in the Son of
30:33
God. And the fifth thing is that you
30:36
then have to plant this word that he's now given Amulex
30:40
outline is the exact reverse of that, as you said.
30:43
It's chiastic. And so.
30:45
OK, we got to start with verse one, I think is interesting.
30:48
Alma sat down. So in your mind, as you're
30:51
thinking of this, they're just on a hillside and they're just
30:54
sitting there. And I just love the fact that
30:58
it's it's it's not a casual gathering, but there's no
31:01
chairs. There's no benches.
31:04
It reminded me of the Sermon on the Mount, almost.
31:06
Well, and being connected with the earth and the ground like
31:10
that seed. And he immediately starts in
31:12
verse two. You've spoken concerning the
31:14
coming of Christ, which is taught to us to be the Son of
31:19
God. And how can you be ignorant of
31:21
this? Because you've been taught these
31:23
things bountifully before you left us.
31:26
Well, they've forgotten it, and they've been taught to forget
31:29
it. And now we can go to your verse
31:31
four on faith. If you'll do this by impatience,
31:33
yeah, if you will, then verse 4 even plant the word in your
31:38
hearts. That's the word that we've just
31:41
identified. We might call it the plan of
31:44
salvation in a way. Amulet does call it the Great
31:47
Plan of the Eternal God. It's verse 9.
31:49
But that's what it means. Yeah, but he uses, he uses a
31:52
word that only he uses. He's the only one that uses this
31:54
phrase in verse 9. The Great plan of the Eternal
31:56
God. That is the plan that we plant
32:00
just put AT on the end of it and you've.
32:02
Got it. Well, he says you got to
32:03
experiment in verse four again and then I love in verse five.
32:07
He says the great question is whether there will be a Son of
32:11
God, and I just feel like the answer is yes.
32:16
The whole Book of Mormon is saying yes.
32:18
And behold, my brother has proved to you in many instances
32:21
that the word is in Christ unto salvation.
32:25
And he's then called upon zenith with the Son of God.
32:28
He's kind of rehearsing and reviewing that for them.
32:30
And now I will testify unto you of myself, that these things are
32:34
true as a second witness, and under the law of Moses you have
32:41
to establish all things in the mouth of two witnesses.
32:43
But in verse eight, he adds on to that.
32:45
It's not just Christ that you have to believe on Christ.
32:49
He says Christ shall come among the sons of men to take upon
32:53
them their transgressions of his people, and that He shall atone
32:57
for the sins of the world. I feel like he's just opening up
33:01
the beautiful description of the ministry of the Savior here that
33:04
will come. That's right.
33:06
And and here we have Amulek talking about the atonement.
33:10
Where did he learn about the atonement?
33:12
I'm sure he learned it from Alma.
33:14
He did, and this is what Alma talks about in Alma chapter 12
33:17
and 13. And you go back and now you say
33:21
Amulek, you got it, you listened.
33:23
And now Amulek will speak beautifully about the Atonement
33:27
and use some words that haven't been used before, like in verse
33:32
9. For it is expedient, that an
33:35
atonement should be made expedient.
33:38
What does that mean? It's an interesting word that
33:41
you might ponder on a little bit because being expedient is more
33:45
than just being good. It actually accomplishes some
33:49
end and. It's absolutely necessary.
33:51
He says according to the great plan of the eternal God, there
33:56
must be an atonement made, otherwise we would all perish,
34:01
and otherwise he comes back here.
34:03
And thus except to be through the atonement which is
34:05
expedient, should be made. That little verse 9 happens to
34:08
be a very nice chiasm. Yes, it is.
34:11
And but I think it's because he's trying to show how crucial
34:18
the central point is there, that there must be an atonement.
34:22
And if there weren't an atonement, all mankind must
34:25
unavoidably perish. So Amulek has of course, seen
34:32
what happens when people reject Christ and the perishing in the
34:39
city that he came from. I think he's painfully aware of
34:46
the the essential nature of the atonement.
34:50
Yes, I love the new phrase here. It is expedient that there
34:54
should be a great and last sacrifice.
34:56
I don't think that's mentioned elsewhere in Scripture either
34:58
that way. The atonement of Christ will
35:00
then be the last and complete sacrifice.
35:04
That will then be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.
35:09
And Amulet gives us that phrase because, as Alma has hinted at
35:14
earlier, in Alma Chapter 7, now we see more fully the nature of
35:20
which this sacrifice will will be so infinite.
35:25
There'll be no end to it. It will be infinite and eternal.
35:29
And Christ then becomes our high priest.
35:32
Of course, no man can make such a sacrifice, Amulet says.
35:38
And so there must be some other way that can be can be
35:43
accomplished. And in verse 14, obviously this
35:45
is pointing to the great and last sacrifice, which will be
35:49
the Son of God. And in verse 13 and 14, there's
35:52
a beautiful chiasmus, but the center here in verse 14.
35:56
And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every wit
36:00
pointing to that great and last sacrifice.
36:03
So he summarizes what he said before in a beautiful little
36:06
couplet, and then he goes back to continue to talk about Alma's
36:11
subject of mercy and faith and repentance.
36:14
And in verse 16, I love this little line.
36:17
Thus, mercy can satisfy the demands of justice.
36:21
OK, we will have mercy and justice, and by that we will be
36:28
encircled in the arms or embraced in the arms of safety.
36:33
No one will ever speak of the atonement in these terms again.
36:38
Amulek. This is unique and personal to
36:40
him. Wow, nobody else uses these
36:42
images, huh? I also think he's referring to
36:44
the ancient roots of the word atone.
36:47
I love Hugh Nibbly's definition of someone's fleeing in the
36:52
wilderness from their enemies. And they come upon a tent in the
36:56
wilderness and the Sheikh stands at the doorway.
36:58
And as he pleads for safety and the Sheikh will embrace him at
37:05
the doorway of their Tabernacle or their tent, and as he lets
37:10
him into their tent, then he can be safe and fed and cared for.
37:15
It's a beautiful image of of a veil letting someone into
37:19
heaven. And I love that.
37:20
And. And who will greet us there?
37:23
He will be the Savior and He will, it says, embrace us in his
37:27
arms. I think Amulek is using that
37:30
imagery beautifully here too. He is, and this he talks about
37:35
again the satisfying the demands of justice.
37:39
This will apply, he says, only unto him that has faith unto
37:44
repentance. So this is your point about
37:47
where Amulek will bring in this for the people to understand.
37:52
So it's wonderful that Amulek was inspired to take them that
37:55
next step further and say the next thing you need to do is
37:58
repent. Action is required.
38:00
And and if you will do this, then this all will happen by the
38:05
great and eternal plan of redemption.
38:08
So he uses a second name. Now you know in verse nine he
38:11
had the God's plan and now in verse 16 the great and eternal.
38:16
So Alma has used this phrase, the plan of redemption 12 times
38:21
in his Alma only Alma speaking. But here, Amulek adds this
38:25
beautiful, great and eternal plan of redemption.
38:28
Just adding he's tying it to mercy.
38:31
But then verse 17, we have something more we have to do in
38:35
that as we have to call upon His holy name that He would have
38:38
mercy upon you, you have to ask for it.
38:40
God is not going to deny you yourself identity or your free
38:46
agency that He's not going to force you to accept the
38:50
atonement. But you must ask for it, and
38:53
otherwise it would deny us our eternal identity.
38:59
And Almielect now is going to turn back to quoting Zenus.
39:03
And instead of citing Zenus like Alma did, he paraphrases him.
39:08
And it's the same kind of emphasis on crying over your
39:12
field. But we see wilderness repeated
39:14
crying. I just think it's beautiful.
39:16
Can we just read these verses? We can.
39:18
It's a a beautiful pair of pairs of pairs.
39:23
Yes, it is. And.
39:25
Starting in verse 18. Yeah, go ahead.
39:27
The first pair, yeah, Cry unto Him for mercy, for He is mighty
39:31
to save. Yeah, humble yourselves and
39:34
continue in prayer unto Him. Cry unto Him when you are in
39:37
your fields and over your flocks.
39:39
Cry unto Him in your households, over all your households, both
39:42
morning, midday and evening. Yeah, cry unto him against the
39:46
power of your enemies. Yeah, cry unto him against the
39:49
devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
39:53
Cry into him over the crops of your fields, that they may
39:56
prosper in them, and cry over the flocks of your fields that
40:00
they may increase. And in 26 it continues on.
40:03
But this is not all. You must pour out your souls in
40:06
your closets, in your secret places, and in your
40:08
wildernesses. And Zenith uses closets and
40:11
wildernesses. And yeah, and when you do not
40:13
cry under the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in
40:17
prayer unto Him, continually for your welfare, and also for the
40:20
welfare of those who are around you.
40:22
Once again we see Amulek repeating what Alma had taught
40:27
in reverse order and in elaboration.
40:31
I I really think his his paraphrasing is beautiful.
40:34
So after Amulek has finished quoting the language of Zenith
40:39
and talking about prayer, he then takes the next step, which
40:45
is what you have to actually do. Faith without works is dead.
40:51
And in verse 28, he talks about first of all, the need to take
40:54
care of the sick and the poor and the needy, and also to
40:58
remember to be charitable. And if you will do this, he
41:01
says, after you've received so many witnesses, that the Holy
41:05
Ghost testify of these things, then come forth and bring the
41:09
fruit of repentance. And I appreciate that, he says.
41:12
If you don't, if you just pray without doing the fruits of
41:16
repentance, then your prayer is vain.
41:18
That's also in 28. But if we're not going to feed
41:21
the hungry, there's no need to keep asking God if we're not
41:24
doing our part. And I think just as Alma had
41:27
talked about how true faith is obtained and how eternal fruit
41:32
is enjoyed back toward the beginning of his talk, now
41:36
toward the end of Amulek's comments, now he wants people to
41:41
know that the next step is to bring forth fruit on to
41:44
repentance. I'll read 33 I beseech of you
41:48
that you do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until
41:51
the end and after this day of life, which is given you to
41:55
prepare for eternity. Behold, if you do not improve
41:58
our time while in this life, then cometh the night of
42:01
darkness. So he's he's giving him a little
42:04
warning here. And not only does he talk about
42:06
repentance, but then he defines repentance in the next verse,
42:10
verse 34. He cannot say as we are brought
42:12
to that awful crisis that I will repent, that I will return to my
42:17
God. I love thinking of repentance as
42:20
returning to God. It's not just stopping the
42:22
action. I can, I can stop drinking or
42:25
pornography or whatever. My bad habits are lying,
42:29
cheating, stealing. But if I'm not turning to God,
42:32
it's not repenting. He then explains that the same
42:35
spirit which doth possess our bodies at the time we go out of
42:39
this life, they will possess and have power over our body in the
42:43
eternal world. So after the resurrection, all
42:47
of that these will still be part of our eternal identity and soul
42:52
if we don't learn how to repent in this life.
42:56
Now the question is, I think here when he says the day of
43:04
this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God, and you
43:09
wonder, do spirits have the ability to repent or when you
43:13
die, is that the end of it when you die physically, we know that
43:17
it's not. Is that consistent, though, with
43:20
what we have here in what Amulek is saying?
43:22
And I think it is, if you understand that you actually
43:28
will not return to God until the resurrection and until after in
43:34
the spirit world, people have had a chance to repent or not.
43:38
So that the day of this life doesn't just mean these the days
43:44
of our mortal life with this body, but it it covers, I think
43:50
the day of this life or the time of all of our life until the
43:54
final judgement until that moment.
43:58
But there will be a time when spirits will have had the
44:01
opportunity to repent, to come unto Christ, to accept the
44:05
ordinances, to do his will. Then it will be time.
44:12
And if you don't accept, then there will be as He says.
44:19
You will then become subject to the spirit of the devil, and
44:23
heedoth seal you his. Now that's not going to happen
44:27
till the very end, but we have to be sealed by one or the
44:31
other. And we've talked about the
44:33
ceiling you belong to, as that seal is then stamped upon you,
44:37
and you will either be sealed gods, or at some point you will
44:40
be sealed the devils. And in the restoration we're so
44:44
fortunate to have doctor and cabinet section 138 that tells
44:47
us a lot more about that how Christ prepared for missionary
44:52
work to be taking place in the spirit world.
44:55
And even those who have denied will have an opportunity to
44:58
learn again in a different setting, with different
45:03
structures and stresses in their lives, where they can receive
45:06
the plan of redemption again. And in the final verses here of
45:09
Amulek's comments, notice that he he does say that God does not
45:13
dwell in unholy temples and hearts of the righteous.
45:16
There he dwells, and the righteous may then sit down in
45:19
his Kingdom, to go out no more, and shall be made white.
45:23
As you say, if if Amulek's quoting this, it's because he's
45:25
heard it from Alma. Again, anything about the white,
45:28
white and garments? This is all Alma.
45:30
And so now he says, Remember, Remember these things, my
45:33
brother. And now he will conclude by
45:37
encouraging them to be humble even unto the dust of the earth.
45:42
Verse 37 Work out your salvation with fear before God.
45:47
And I put that fear in my vocabulary sometimes, as with
45:51
reverence before God. But fear is a good word to think
45:54
about the final judgment too. We have got to work out our
45:58
salvation. We are only saved through Jesus
46:00
Christ. Nothing we can do will actually
46:02
give us salvation, but we have to come unto Him in order to
46:06
receive it. And God fearing is another way
46:09
of saying respecting. I think so.
46:11
That we we knew need, we need to respect God particularly and no
46:16
more deny the coming of Christ. And of course for Amulek, they
46:20
haven't had the first coming, but the 1st or the 2nd it's the
46:24
same. It's it's, it's the reality of
46:26
our Savior. And then he ends and you like,
46:29
ends beautifully, the same way he began in verse 40.
46:34
And now my beloved brother and I would exhort you to have
46:36
patience and that you bear all manner afflictions that you do
46:40
not revile against those who have cast you out because of
46:43
your exceeding poverty, lest you become sinners like unto them.
46:46
Isn't that interesting? You're the victim, but you can't
46:48
get mad at them. You've been abused and you
46:52
cannot hold anger. And Amulec ends in verse 41 with
46:56
a very positive statement as well.
46:58
But the E have patience and bear with those afflictions, with a
47:02
firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.
47:07
So even if you've been mistreated, there will come a
47:11
time when God will repay all of the stripes that you have
47:15
endured. We have just a few more verses
47:17
in chapter 35. Yes, 34 now is the end of the
47:21
sermons. They are still on Mount Oneida
47:23
teaching to the poor of the Zoramites.
47:25
And now we get some nice summaries.
47:27
It says after Amulek had made an end, they're going to leave and
47:33
the companions with Alma and Amulek go to Jershon.
47:37
So was this mission successful or not?
47:42
Well, they did convert quite a few people, and as they had done
47:48
with the Lamanites, who swore never to take up arms again,
47:54
they moved them to Gershon. They will now move these
47:58
converts to Gershon as well. That's verse six.
48:02
Who was in favor of the words which been spoken by Alma and
48:04
his brethren were cast out of the land.
48:07
So this is so crazy. The poor were cast out and the
48:12
poor come over to Jair Shawn with Alma and Amulek and and the
48:15
others. And then later on they get mad
48:19
that they're with Jair Shawn and they come and fight them.
48:21
And yet they were cast out right there.
48:24
The poor were cast out because they believed.
48:26
Well, verse 8, the people of the Zoramites were angry with the
48:30
people of Ammon who were in Churchon and the chief ruler of
48:35
the Zoramites, who's a very wicked man, desiring they should
48:38
be cast out of their land. They then breathed out
48:42
threatenings and they said, all right, we don't want these
48:45
people of Ammon harboring our poor.
48:50
But he just had cast them out in verse 7.
48:52
So it's just sort of ironic that he cast them out and then he
48:55
asked them to come back. That in verse 9 the these
48:59
converts are given land for their inheritance.
49:03
So again, Gershon is a place where the inhabitants are given
49:08
full legal rights to that land for themselves and their
49:13
posterity. They accept these refugees, and
49:16
they not only care for the refugees because they're living
49:20
the law of consecration, but they actually give them a place
49:23
for their inheritance. The armies of the Lamanites are
49:28
then mobilized and thus commenced a war between the
49:32
Nephites and the Lamanites. But if you were following the
49:35
prophet, the people are removed from Jershon and taken to Melek.
49:40
So if you are listening to the Prophet, you are removed from
49:43
the area where the war is going to be over this very important
49:47
battlefield of Jershon, which is where the Lamanites want to have
49:51
access to come in and surround the Nephites.
49:53
And access to the sea. It's near the East, yeah.
49:56
It's near the East Sea, but now they are removed.
49:59
They leave Jershon and go up to Melek.
50:02
People have to take up arms to defend themselves, their wives
50:06
and their children and their lands.
50:07
And just in your reading, we're going to forget this little
50:12
episode, but when we pick up again in Alma chapter 43, after
50:18
we have those seven chapters of Alma speaking to his sons, we
50:25
will pick up right here where this left off, and it will last
50:31
for seven years of war. So the 17th year, the reign of
50:35
Judges is over, and we have converted the poor of the
50:40
Zormites and Alma and Amulek and the sons of Mosiah who came with
50:47
them have finished, I think, a very successful mission.
50:52
Did it accomplish all that they had hoped to, legally and
50:55
politically? No, unfortunately it did not.
50:59
But they learned what was most important, and that is how to
51:03
come unto Christ, how to develop faith, and how to receive the
51:09
atonement. And that for me is why these are
51:13
some of the best chapters in the whole book of moment.
51:15
May you enjoy your study today as we seek for Christ in these
51:19
words, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.