Paul Before Paul: Alma the Younger and His Rebellion, Rebuke and Repentance - Book of Mosiah, Chapter Twenty-Seven (Mosiah 27)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/27?lang=eng.

This is one of the most significant chapters of the Book of Mormon because it displays the gospel of Jesus Christ in action in very powerful ways that can define individual lives, with larger ripple effects on families and even entire civilizations. 

The chapter reads like a three-act play. First, we introduce the characters and the conflict. Alma’s son, who is named after him, is sadly one of the people who has turned away from the truth, and is actively working against it by using his way with words to negatively influence others. Four sons of King Mosiah are his companions in this tragic endeavor (verses 8-10).

Second, Alma and his companions are confronted by an angel who leaves them with no doubt about the reality of God and His plan for us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. With nowhere to run or hide, Alma must look inside himself and come to terms with his selfish, harmful, and blatant defiance of the Lord’s commandments, and the ruinous effect it has had on him (verses 11-19).

Third, after a mighty struggle in accepting the truth about his many destructive sins, Alma finds healing, peace, and joy in the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, and apparently has a personal encounter with Jesus (verse 25). By choosing to be born again of God and swearing off pride, Alma is able to confront his wicked past, and do everything he can to make restitution by sharing his story and those things he knows to be important and true for everyone in terms of how to invite God’s presence into their lives and become like Him (verses 23-37). 

There are some really important principles at play here too:

• The Lord protects His covenant people (verses 1-7, 16). He can protect them through the laws of the land, as we see with King Mosiah’s proclamation against persecution. If that is not enough, protection will come through heavenly means. It doesn’t mean that Church members are protected from every physical or spiritual danger at all times. But there is general protection that allows those who are striving to repent and keep their covenants to discern the right path forward, and frustrates the designs of the Church’s active opponents—even if they are clever and strong in the ways of the world.

• The Lord responds to the prayers of the faithful (verses 14, 20-23). And when they fast, their prayers acquire added power. The angel tells Alma that he appeared because Alma the Elder has prayed that his son will be brought to a knowledge of the truth. He also says that the Lord has heard the prayers of his people more broadly. Later, after Alma’s companions bring the catatonic Alma to his father, Alma the Elder realizes that the power of God has brought it about. Then he has the priests assemble together to fast and pray for Alma the Younger to receive his strength and speak again. Yes, he wants his son to return to consciousness, but it’s also important for him to be able to share his divine experience with the multitudes so that they might better know of the “goodness and glory of God.”

• The Lord remembers us, that we may remember Him (verse 16). The first thing that the angel commands Alma to do is to remember that God did great things in delivering his father and others out of captivity. When the Lord gives us a chance to remember Him, we need to realize that by reminding us of the important act of remembering, He is leading by example. It is His remembering of us that prompts us to remember His presence and influence in our lives, and consequently our identity as His children who are lifted up and ennobled because of our relationship with Him. It is only after the command to remember that the angel charges Alma to “seek to destroy the church no more.” It makes sense—once Alma is able to remember, it will be easier to convince him not to work against the church. The mercy and persistence involved for Jesus to keep coming back to us and giving us more chances, even though our own weakness has added to His suffering, is incredible.

• People can change (verses 23-31). Alma’s dramatic transformation from the Church’s worst enemy to its greatest defender is unusual in its depth and its suddenness, but in its attention-grabbing nature, it relates the principle that total change is possible for everyone. We can strip sin out of our natures if we partner closely with God to make it happen. The process for most people is usually much more gradual than with Alma or his great Biblical counterpart, the Apostle Paul (see Acts 8-9). Yet, the same steps are required for everyone. (1) Repent. (2) Be born again of God in the spirit. (3) Change in nature from a “carnal and fallen” state to a state of righteousness. (4) Recognize that God is God, and his justice and mercy are what we need: “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him.”

The great sign of Alma’s full repentance and conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ is that he and the sons of Mosiah make every effort to undo their past wrongs and go beyond that by bringing the healing and empowering effect of the good news into the lives of their neighbors (verses 32-37). Like Paul, they willingly move from the giving to the receiving side of persecution, which is no easy feat. Mormon fittingly sums up their progress at the end of this “three-act play” chapter by saying, “And how blessed are they!” (verse 37)

I would highly recommend this compelling video recently made about this chapter (there’s also a good one here about Paul’s conversion).