Alma 36-42

 Now we turn to Alma’s council to his sons. As you read these chapters think about what Alma might say to you.

To Helaman

Alma 36 is a chiasmus. What is a chiasmus and why do we care? From the Book of Mormon Study Guide. 

“Chiasmus, sometimes called an inverted parallelism, is a Hebrew literary form where words or ideas are arranged in a certain order and then repeated in reverse order. This repetition emphasizes important ideas and words. In addition, the writer’s main idea is often located at the center of the chiasmus.”

So, whenever you feel like your reading the same thing in reverse order, PAY ATTENTION, there’s a point. The center of this chiasmus is verse 17 and 18

“17… I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.”

“18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me”

The center, the main point, is the Son of God, Jesus Christ and His atonement and mercy.

 

Alma 36:3 

“…whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.”

Trials, troubles and afflictions are part of this life, but if we trust in God He will helps us through them.

 

 

Alma 36:19

“And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.”

Do you ever think maybe you haven’t been forgiven of something because you still feel bad about doing it? Here’s what Elder Uchtdorf has said.

“Satan will try to make us believe that our sins are not forgiven because we can remember them. Satan is a liar; he tries to blur our vision and lead us away from the path of repentance and forgiveness. God did not promise that we would not remember our sins. Remembering will help us avoid making the same mistakes again. But if we stay true and faithful the memory of our sins will be softened over time. This will be part of the needed healing and sanctification process.”

I think the pain, or the memory of the pain, will remain as strong as it needs to so we don’t repeat it. As we come closer to Christ that pain lessens because we don’t need to feel it to keep from going back to that sin.

Alma 38:47 Alma tells Helaman to “declare the word, and be sober.” What does he mean? From the Book of Mormon Study Guide.

“The gospel message is a voice of gladness, a declaration of good news, a proclamation of peace. It has been delivered to make of us a happy people. But we are also under obligation to take seriously the manner in which the message is presented. Souls are at stake” (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal Commentary, 3:283).

To Shiblon 

Alma 38:8

“And it came to pass that I was three days, and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.” 

Richard G. Scott said, “From this scripture you can see that suffering does not bring forgiveness. That comes through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His teachings so that His gift of redemption can work its miracle” (Scott, “Peace of Conscience and Peace of Mind,” (17).

 

And to Corianton. The thing I love most about Alma’s counsel to Corianton is the hope and forgiveness not condemnation Alma gives him.

Alma 39:6 Talks of the unpardonable sin. The way it’s worded it kind of sounds like we could all be guilty of this at some point in our life. We’ve all thought, and will again, maybe the spirit was guiding us to do or say something and we didn’t right? That’s part of the learning process.

Joseph Smith said, “All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him” (History of the Church, 6:315)

I think once someone has gone this far they won’t want to be forgiven either.

 

Alma 39:7 “…. I would not dwell upon your crimes, to harrow up your soul, if it were not for your good.”

I love that Alma points this out. He’s calling up Corianton’s sins so that he can see them and repent of them, that’s all, not to just make him feel bad, not to say see how much better others are, just so he might repent and return to God. Remember, Alma had done some pretty bad things too, he knew where Corianton was because he had been there.

 

Alma 39:9 What does “cross yourself” mean?

“To erase, to cancel, to counteract, to stop, to preclude” (Noah Webster’s first edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828)

 

Alma 40:5 “… it mattereth not;”

That might seem like an odd thing to quote but I love it and its application in our lives. There are things we don’t know, LOTS of things, but many of them “mattereth not,” the answers won’t change anything and have no bearing on our eternal salvation.

 

Alma 42:27 “Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds.”

It’s always our choice.

 

Alma 42:29 “And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things trouble you no more and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance.” There again Alma says he only bring up his sins so he can see them and repent.