Alma 30
The world
will tell us, as Korihor did, that following Christ and His teachings is
restrictive. He used some truths mixed with lies to make people question, and
another common tactic, name calling. How do you feel when someone calls you
foolish, crazy or deranged for something you believe? How does that affect your
actions and commitment to Christ? What lies do you see Korihor tell? What half-truths? What
is Alma’s response to these?
From The
Book of Mormon Study Guide
“Korihor was
arguing, as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time, that
to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights of
independence. But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality. When we
reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be independent of
outside influence. We choose another influence” (Eyring, “Finding Safety in
Counsel,” 25)
Korihor says we cannot know that there is a God or that Christ would come (now has come). Don’t you just love Alma’s response?
Alma 30:40, “And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.
“41 But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true;”
What other proofs does Alma say we have?
Alma 30:44 “But Alma said unto him: Thou has had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.”
Now can many
people believe in something that’s not true? For sure, we see that all the
time. What’s the most important sign then? The Spirit testifying to our hearts and
souls that, as Alma says in chapter 32, the seed is good.
What is a big caution from the story of Korihor? Anytime someone resorts to name calling or when
their purpose is to destroy your faith and force you to agree with them, we should be wary. Very often they
will take things that sound like they could be true but are false, mix truth
with lies, or take quotes out of context so they mean something different than as
they were originally said. They want you to feel ashamed and confused.
Alma 31
comment from The Book of Mormon Study Guide on this crazy word Rameumptom.
“Rameumptom
has at least one Semitic root: ram,
which refers to a ‘high place’ like the Hill Ramah”
And the definition of Semitic from the oxford dictionary online: “relating
to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic
and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the
main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family.”
There’s a lot in Alma 32. One point, how our trials can be blessings. Here are people who have been cast out, they are poor and unable to worship the way they think they are supposed to. This leads them to be humble and willing to listen to Alma and accept what he is saying, a blessing. As Alma says in Alma 32:13
“And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye;”
Why?
“for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved.”
Sometimes the blessings of repentance are not temporal, or at least not immediately, but there is always the eternal blessing of mercy and forgiveness.
Many times, following a trial, comes a greater temporal
blessing. For those here in Alma 32 great temporal blessings follow later as we see in Alma 35:9
The poor Zoramites who were kicked out are welcomed by the people of Ammon in spite of the threats of the other Zoramites. More than providing for their needs, “they did nourish them, and did clothe them, and did give unto them lands for their inheritance; and they did administer unto them according to their wants.”
Alma 32:27
"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words"
And then we have the beautiful analogy of a seed. An
interesting note, the seed is not faith but “the word” or a principle, "28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed," while
faith is the action of planting that seed, thus we "exercise" our faith. Another
fun thing, how do you know if the seed is good? And how do you remember that? They spell SEED!
S – Swells within you
E – Enlarges your soul
E – Enlightens your understanding
D – Delicious
Have you felt these? Not everyone feels all of them or all at once or the
same ones or in the same order. Some feel the swelling and know, others may
feel enlightened or like it makes sense first. I love the idea of it being delicious!
Now if we nourish the seed what does it grow up to be?
Alma 32:40
“And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward
with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of
the tree of life.”
The word is the word of God, the gospel of Christ. When we
plant Christ in our hearts and nourish it, pray, study the scriptures and the
words of modern day prophets, cultivate our relationship with God and His
spirit, and strive to follow Him, it will grow into the tree of life and we will partake of the fruit of
that tree.
Alma 33:4-11 The Psalm of Zenos. Where should we pray? In our
wildernesses, fields, houses, closets, congregations, when we are cast out, in
our afflictions, I think he’s saying everywhere. I love the last verse.
“11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my
sincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been merciful unto me,
therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy;
for thou hast turned thy judgement away from me, because of thy Son.”
Did you catch all that? Because of his sincerity, and most importantly, because of the Son of God. Because Christ suffered for our sins and paid our debt the Lord can be merciful to us, because the demands of justice have been paid.
Alma 34:15-17 shows the great battle between mercy and justice
(italics added)
“15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall
believe on his name; this being the
intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which
overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have
faith unto repentance.
“16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and
encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto
repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore
only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal
plan of redemption.
“17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye
may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon
his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;”
Alma 34:18-27 What should we pray for? Mercy, over our flocks
(or things we have stewardship over), our household, against the power of our
enemies (or those who oppose us, maybe kids at school who are less than nice),
against the devil, over the crops of our fields “That ye may prosper them” (or
that we might do well in a job or at school), the flocks of our fields that
they may increase. Basically everything right? Have you ever thought, or heard
someone say that God doesn’t have time to listen to you pray about all these
things? He has time for everyone else but not for me, he’s too busy? Who is
God? Is he not all knowing, all powerful? To say he does not have time to attend
to any of your problems or anything you may want to say to Him is to say that
He is NOT God, but He is, and therefore has all the time you could possibly
need. Sometimes He does not answer right away, sometimes because we are not listening,
we are not ready to hear, or we need to put in more effort in finding the
answer ourselves, or it’s not something we need an answer to, but it is NEVER
because He doesn’t have time or capacity to be there. He is there in the most loving,
perfect way possible, the way we truly need Him to be even when we don't see it, the best way to lead us to Eternal life.
Alma 34:27 My most favorite “place” and “time” to pray
“27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts
be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for
the welfare of those who are around you.”
And then in verse 28
“And now behold, my beloved brethren I say unto you, do not
suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn
away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart
of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye
do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you
nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.”
If your hearts are “drawn out in prayer unto him
continually” “For the welfare of those who are around you” would you not see
the needy, the naked, and the sick and long to fill their needs however you
can?
Alma 34:38 “…Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies
and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.”
How does that feel? To live daily in such connection with our Heavenly Father, praying continually in our hearts, having His spirit as our constant companion, and feeling such gratitude for everything he has done for us, everything we have, knowing he will provide always because He always has? How much easier would life be in this state?
Alma 35:11 mentions the Lamanites preparing for war, we won't read of that again until chapter 43.
