Scripture Study
I love this section of the Book of Mormon! These wonderful stories about the sons of Mosiah are very captivating, entertaining, and thought provoking.
The Book of Alma the Son of Alma
Chapter 17
Comprising chapters 17 through 27.
Alma 17
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My Thoughts
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1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of aManti, behold, to his astonishment, he bmet with the csons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.
2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angelafirst appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had bsearched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.
3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and afasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with bpowerand authority of God.
4 And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much asuccess in bringing many to the bknowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and cconfess their sins before him.
5 Now these are the circumstances which attended them in their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much alabor in the spirit.
6 Now these were their journeyings: Having ataken leave of their father, Mosiah, in the bfirst year of the judges; having crefused the kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also this was the minds of the people;
7 Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and their slings; and this they did that they might aprovide food for themselves while in the wilderness.
8 And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had aselected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites.
9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and aprayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an binstrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of thectraditions of their fathers, which were not correct.
10 And it came to pass that the Lord did avisit them with hisbSpirit, and said unto them: Be ccomforted. And they were comforted.
11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall beapatient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good bexamples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.
12 And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.
13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they aseparated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their bharvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.
14 And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a awild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands.
15 Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship idols, and the acurse of God had fallen upon them because of the btraditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance.
16 Therefore, this was the acause for which the sons of Mosiah had undertaken the work, that perhaps they might bring them unto repentance; that perhaps they might bring them to know of the plan of redemption.
17 Therefore they separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power of God which was given unto him.
18 Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them, and he departed from them, after havingablessed them according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took their several journeys throughout the land.
19 And Ammon went to the land of aIshmael, the land being called after the sons of bIshmael, who also became Lamanites.
20 And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and abound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure.
21 And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over the land of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of Ishmael.
22 And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.
23 And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to adwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.
24 And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.
25 But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore Ammon became a aservant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites.
26 And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the place of awater, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—
27 Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and ascattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.
28 Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.
29 Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to abelieve in my words.
30 And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.
31 And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us.
32 And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to the place of water.
33 And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not; and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.
34 Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he went forth and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus; and they were in number not a few.
35 Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he wouldadeliver his sons out of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king.
36 But aAmmon stood forth and began to cast stones at them with his sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and thus he slew a bcertain number of them insomuch that they began to be astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore, seeing that they ccouldnot hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to slay him.
37 But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite Ammon, he smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they were not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm.
38 Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he aslew none save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few.
39 And when he had driven them afar off, he returned and they watered their flocks and returned them to the pasture of the king, and then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off by the sword of Ammon, of those who sought to slay him; and they were carried in unto the king for a testimony of the things which they had done.
| Alma meets up with his old friends the sons of Mosiah while he is traveling. I guess that would be kind of a surprise. It would be like meeting up with my best friend in New York City. However, it has happened to me before. These next few verses hold the keys for:
The principle with the promise is this:
The Principle
The Promise
The sons of Mosiah desired SO MUCH to share the joy of the gospel that they had found that they were willing to suffer deprivation to share it with others.
DO WE WANT IT THAT MUCH! If not, are we surprised that we don't get the help that they did....after all, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.
They set forth on their missions and sacrifice the power and authority that they might have had to do it.
They cared more for the approval of God than they did for the approval of the world and gaining it's riches.... ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!
So they are wise and take what is necessary to provide food for themselves....God helps those who help themselves.
Sounds like there are more than just the sons of Mosiah. These men had been abundantly prepared for this mission. Not only had they been miraculously converted by the hand of God and His servants, but also they had learned the value of fasting and prayer in gaining blessings from God. They knew that their own conversion came about as a result of the fasting and prayers of their fathers and the people of the church. They KNEW that miracles were possible and they fully expected to see them if it was God's will. Cool! Even as the spirit did for me in the temple on Saturday. He told me that my prayers had been heard and they were before God. If the spirit says it's so, we need to believe it. This is my problem. Sometimes I wonder if it is actually the spirit or my own desires working. The Lord promises them success but also stipulates that it will require sacrifice on their part AND they will suffer afflictions. In other words, it won't be easy but it WILL happen if they persist in their work and be good examples. Apparently, they were worried that they would simply be murdered by the Lamanites. The Lord promises them that this will not happen. They go to their assigned 'areas' and leave their fates in the hands of God. They knew that they had a Herculean task before them....to preach the gospel to a hardened people. Jonah must have felt much the same way that they did when he was commanded to go to a wicked and hardened people. How does one get through to people that would rather rob and murder you than listen to anything you have to say? They knew that only the hand of God could bring the gospel into these people's lives. Would I have as much faith? We may find out. I would like to serve another mission. They were lazy idol worshippers. They had been taught to be so their fathers. No one is beyond retribution....well, almost no one. The sons of Mosiah have one purpose...to try to bring the Lamanites to repentance so that they could also enjoy the blessings of the gospel. It would have to be a pretty scary prospect to face a ferocious people on your own. What does this mean? power=priesthood? word=gospel Ammon is their priesthood leader. As any mission president would, he blesses them and teaches them before they go out to their areas. Ishmael's sons became Lamanites. So they followed Laman and Lemuel even though their father did not. So they discover a strange Nephite among them and capture him, bind him, and take him to their king. Standard practice....it seems. Hmmmm.....sounds like a pretty fair test of the righteousness of the land and its ruler. Lamoni is King of the people in the land of Ishmael. He is a descendant of Ishmael. They've probably had Nephites wanting to live among them. Typically though it's been the wicked ones who leave to escape justice. The King must wonder if he is one of them. This pleased the King. Ammon must have been inspired to answer this way. Ammon obeyed the promptings. Obedience to the whisperings of the spirit brings blessings. AMEN! Even if it's HARD TO DO! Ammon, who could have been King of his own people, chooses to be a servant to the King of these Lamanites. He must have been inspired to do it by the spirit. Set to work as a lowly shepherd. This must have been a punishment for him by someone. Whoever set him to do this knew that the King's shepherds didn't last long in this kingdom. Ammon is where he's supposed to be... faithfully fullfilling his duties. Is there a rivalry going on for the use of the water? Watering spots are usually pretty precious so I would not be surprised. The other men don't want to share. They probably resent sharing with the kings servants too. Leaders are often resented. They are in fear for their lives. Ammon is joyful because they are afraid?! This too could only be because the spirit is telling him that this is a good thing for his mission. Ammon must be filled with the joy that fills one's heart when their faith in following God's promptings proves out. Through the promptings of the spirit, he realizes that their plight is the missionary tool that he has been seeking. Their affliction will be turned to theirs and Ammon's gain. Ammon already sees them as friends/family. Ammon takes leadership and encourages them to action. AND THEY FOLLOW HIM! He must have already made a great impression upon them by his example. Ammon comes up with a plan and the do it. These servants have a lot of trust in Ammon. How did he do that? The Lord has probably helped him but I guess any plan would be better than just doing nothing and dying because of it. Ammon provides for their needs to tend the flock and tells them that he will go fight for them. They listen to and heed Ammon. He goes to fight their battle and protect them from these bullies. This must have been happening for some time. There were many that he stood against. The wicked often underestimate the servants of God. Because they are so used to having things the way they have always had it....they don't think twice. Not knowing the promises and covenants of God can turn upon our heads if we attempt to stand against them. They enjoyed this destruction of others. It doesn't seem that they even do it for profit because they just let the sheep run off. They do it solely out of meanness. Ammon is not afraid to stand up or fight for the right. So the enemy is testing him, his skill, and his resolve. They are astonished at his skill and power but instead of backing off they become angry and redouble their efforts. These men were obviously upset that their 'easy' pickings are no longer so easy. Instead of learning from their mistakes, they set forth to perpetuate and magnify them. They try another way to fell him. They that be with us are more than they that be with them. Whenever we set upon the path that God has given us, we place ourselves in the hands of the armies of Heaven. If we fall, it is because it serves eternal purposes. Usually, when we do this God gives us strength, power, and wisdom beyond ourselves to accomplish what needs to be done. So he showed mercy when mercy was possible. Another factor is that any 'armless' men are going to be easy to identify later. The King will be able to easily round up those that have been fighting him and his servants. So Ammon dutifully returns to the responsibilities that have been given him. He was there to water the flocks so that is what they did. The servants of the King take the evidence to him of what Ammon did and was able to do. Apparently, they must have thought that just telling him the story would not be sufficient. |
