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 35
Alma 11
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My Thoughts
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Now it came to pass that after
Amulek had made an end of these
words, they withdrew themselves
from the multitude and came over
into the land of a Jershon.
2 Yea, and the rest of the brethren,
after they had preached the word
unto the a Zoramites, also came over
into the land of Jershon.
3 And it came to pass that after
the more popular part of the Zoramites
had consulted together concerning
the words which had been
preached unto them, they were angry
because of the word, for it did
destroy their a craft; therefore they
would not hearken unto the words.
4
And they sent and gathered
together throughout all the land
all the people, and consulted with
them concerning the words which
had been spoken.
5
Now their rulers and their priests
and their teachers did not let the
people know concerning their
desires; therefore they found out
privily the minds of all the people.
6 And it came to pass that after
they had found out the minds of
all the people, those who were in
favor of the words which had been
spoken by Alma and his brethren
were cast out of the land; and they
were a many; and they came over
also into the land of Jershon.
7 And it came to pass that Alma
and his brethren did minister unto
them.
8
Now the people of the Zoramites
were angry with the a people of
Ammon who were in Jershon, and
the b chief ruler of the Zoramites,
being a very wicked man, sent over
unto the people of Ammon desiring
them that they should cast out of
their land all those who came over
from them into their land.
9 And he
breathed out many
threatenings against them. And
now the people of Ammon did not
fear their words; therefore they did
not cast them out, but they did receive
all the poor of the Zoramites
that came over unto them; and 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.
10
Now this did stir up the Zoramites
to anger against
the people of
Ammon, and they began to mix with
the Lamanites and to stir them up
also to anger against them.
11 And thus the Zoramites and the
Lamanites began to make preparations
for war against the people of Ammon,
and also against the Nephites.
12
And thus ended the seventeenth
year
of the reign of the judges over
the
people of Nephi.
13
And the people of Ammon departed out of the land of
Jershon,
and came over into the land of Melek,
and gave place in the land of
Jershon for the armies of the Nephites,
that they might contend with
the armies of the Lamanites and the
armies of the Zoramites; and thus
commenced a war betwixt the Lamanites
and the Nephites, in the
eighteenth year of the reign of
the judges; and an a account shall
be given of their wars hereafter.
14 And Alma, and Ammon, and
their brethren, and also the a two
sons of Alma returned to the land
of Zarahemla, after having been
instruments in the hands of God
of bringing b many of the c Zoramites
to repentance; and as many as
were brought to repentance were
driven out of their land; but they
have lands for their inheritance in
the land of Jershon, and they have
taken up arms to defend themselves,
and their wives, and children, and
their lands.
15
Now Alma, being grieved for
the iniquity of his people, yea for the
wars, and the bloodsheds, and the
contentions which were among
them;
and having been to declare
the word, or sent to declare the word,
among all the people in every city;
and
seeing that the hearts of the
people began to wax hard, and that
they began to be offended because
of the strictness of the word, his
heart
was exceedingly sorrowful.
16
Therefore, he caused that his
sons should be gathered together,
that he might give unto them every
one his a charge, separately, concerning
the things pertaining unto
righteousness. And we have an account
of his commandments, which
he gave unto them according to
his own
record.
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The prophets talk with the people and then go elsewhere
to minister.
The leaders and ‘reknowned’ people consult together and
decide that they don’t like what has been taught because it destroys their
livelihood. They must have been practicing priestcraft then. The truth would make it so that they could
no longer get paid to preach. It
would destroy their profit and their fame/position.
They wanted to know who believed so they plotted to
catch them in it and deny them their rights as citizens of the
community. They didn’t want this
to spread and change things for them.
Kind of sounds like what’s happening in our government/society today.
The leaders denied the believers of their basic civil
rights just on the basis of their religious beliefs.
Alma and the other believers in Jershon took them in.
The Zoramites are angry at them for doing so.
They want the people of Jershon to also cast them
out.
The Zoramites threaten the people of Jershon if they
don’t cast out the believers from Zoram.
The people of Jershon are not afraid of the Zoramites
and go out of their way to give aid and succor to the believers that have
been cast out of Zoram.
This angers the Zoramites and they begin to go to the
Lamanites …probably plotting to destroy Jershon and everyone in it…including
their cast outs.
They convince the Lamanites to go to war against the
Nephites ….specifically to destroy the people of Ammon.
No good deed goes unpunished?....especially by Satan and
his followers. The kindness of
the people of Jerson is rewarded by the necessity to give up their own homes
and lands to preserve themselves from wicked men.
Thus we see that the wickedness of a few brings misery
and affliction/trials to many.
The Zoramites are just ensuring their own destruction by
casting out the righteous from among them. Because of this, there is nothing left to stay God’s hand
from destroying them all.
Sacrifices made to follow God are always rewarded with
greater blessings.
So now the converted Zoramites have to defend themselves
against the leaders who wanted to subjugate them. Seriously!
Why can’t these people just leave them alone? Ultimate Bully mentality!
Alma is saddened by the people, their disobedience, and
lack of understanding. It seems
that his work has been for naught.
He has been to every city and still they have not
listened or have turned away.
Living the gospel IS NOT easy. Many choose not to do so or to continue to do so.
Since many of the people have rejected him, he is now
concentrating his efforts on his own family.
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Be faithful over a few things…from this I get the
implication that it doesn’t matter how much we have or have not in
mortality. What matters is how we
use what we have been given…how do we administer and/or magnify our
stewardships?
