Ammon and King Lamoni: Nephite-Lamanite Reconciliation Begins - Book of Alma, Chapter Eighteen (Alma 18)

You can read the entire chapter here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/18?lang=eng.  

Also check out this video from 8:12 to 16:00: https://youtu.be/znleUXF1nW4  

If we are to pinpoint one moment where the tide is turned, and the centuries of hatred, distrust, and misunderstanding between the Nephites and Lamanites begins to reverse—at least among those who are open to reason—it is this chapter.

Ammon leverages his powerful and righteous example from serving King Lamoni and performing miraculous deeds in defense of his flocks and other servants by making the king curious about the source of his power. The king wonders, “How can Ammon do those amazing things he does?”

As the reports of Ammon’s heroic courage and strength roll in to the king from his other servants, two thoughts occupy and disturb his mind. First, he begins to think that Ammon must be the Great Spirit—the all-powerful being the Lamanites talk about. Second, he worries that Ammon has come to punish him for cruelly putting his servants to death for being unable to protect the flocks against thieves (verses 1-6). When conscience starts to tug at us, we open ourselves up to making changes to pacify those unsettled feelings.

As thunderstruck as King Lamoni is when hearing about Ammon’s exploits in defending the flocks at the watering hole, his amazement goes to another level when he asks where Ammon is and is told that he is preparing the horses and chariots for the king’s upcoming trip. Lamoni is just blown away by Ammon’s unassuming focus on service despite the awesome power he’s capable of. He also marvels at Ammon because of the exactness of his obedience (verses 8-10). Ammon is diligently seeking to understand every detail of Lamoni’s desires so that he can bring them to pass. It seems to unsettle him that someone so powerful is willing to so happily abase himself. At some level, Lamoni may be wondering, “When will this fearful man begin to demand something from me?”

There’s this uncomfortable tension in the king’s presence because there’s a sense that true majesty and power may be in someone other than the person calling himself a monarch. We feel this when Ammon finally finishes his work and makes his way to the king’s room. He sees something very strange about the king’s countenance, and initially thinks it might be better for him to leave him alone. But one of the servants explains that the king wants him to stay. These servants have totally changed their attitude toward Ammon—having suspected and doubted him as an inexperienced outsider and enemy to their people, they now regard him with something approaching reverence and address him as “Rabbanah,” or great and powerful king (verses 12-13).

So Ammon stays. He is respectful to the king, but doesn’t feel like he needs to be overly ceremonious in his conversation or conduct. He just asks the king directly, “What do you want from me?” The king probably has never been in this situation before with a servant or a subject that he believes to be his equal or superior. He is unsure of what to do, so he freezes up and doesn’t do anything. After an hour, Ammon asks again, “What can I do for you?” Still, nothing (verses 14-15).

Ammon, assisted by the Holy Spirit, perceives King Lamoni’s thoughts, and breaks the silence. He asks the king if his paralysis is from hearing about the amazing deeds Ammon pulled off to defend the flocks and servants, and basically says, “Why are you so awestruck? I’m just a man like anyone else. If you want me to do something that is morally right, I’ll do it” (verses 16-17).

Finally, Lamoni speaks. He asks if Ammon is the Great Spirit, and after Ammon says no, wants to understand how he had the power to do what he did and, later, read his mind (verses 18-20).

It is Ammon’s single-minded focus on serving his master that produces curiosity within Lamoni. He wonders, “What manner of man is this? Even though I am the king, maybe I can learn something from him.”

Ammon’s efforts provide a textbook example of how we can build up credibility with other people. If he had walked into the land of Ishmael and in his first audience with King Lamoni told him that he had come to correct his false and deficient understandings about eternal truth and the root of the Nephite-Lamanite dispute, he would have either been killed on the spot or laughed out of the king’s tent.

Instead, his willingness to serve Lamoni with attention to detail gets Lamoni’s attention and makes him receptive to what Ammon has to share. When Ammon comes before Lamoni after demonstrating his power to defend his flocks and servants, Lamoni is in fact desperate to understand more—to the point where he specifically charges Ammon to speak boldly and not hold back, and tells him that he will give Ammon anything he wants so long as he’ll share the secrets behind his success (verse 21).

At this point, Ammon can’t lose. He is now a trusted friend and confidant, and not only has King Lamoni’s attention, but also the opportunity to take plenty of time to explain how and why things are the way they are. The first thing he needs to explain is how he is able to do things that seem miraculous to those who witness them. Lamoni’s first guess is that Ammon is the Great Spirit, but Ammon tells him no, there is a God who works through a different way. He uses messengers and representatives like Ammon to teach people about truth and righteousness and how to live in accordance with them. God makes this possible by allowing a portion of his Holy Spirit to be with people like Ammon and others so that they can have the knowledge and power they need to properly represent Him (verses 22-35).

It certainly raises some other questions about the nature of the Holy Spirit. What is it and its relationship to God and to people? Does it have a life of its own, or is it an extension of God? But there may be opportunities to fully explain this later.

What Ammon feels compelled to explain are the fundamental truths about God, His relationship to us, and His plan that can bring all of us happiness and redemption. So Ammon shares some basic points with Lamoni (verses 28-39)

• God is our Creator and is ever-mindful of us and what we do.

• All people from Adam have had the opportunity to learn about and follow God from prophets and their teachings.

• Lehi’s family was instructed to leave Jerusalem and come to the Americas (where Ammon and Lamoni find themselves now along with all of Lehi’s other descendants), and Laman, Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael rebelled against the Lord’s will.

• Despite whatever happened in the past, Jesus Christ will come to earth (as part of God’s plan from before the Creation) and can redeem us from our fallen state.

So because Ammon has spent time building up credibility with King Lamoni, and is able to teach him things from the beginning, Lamoni is presented with an account of his ancestors’ wickedness in the larger context of God’s plan and love for all His children. It’s much more likely that he will accept this teaching than if Ammon blurted, “Laman and Lemuel were wrong!” the first time they met (even though it is totally true). Also, Ammon emphasizes that he and Lamoni’s people have a common heritage through Lehi, rather than focusing on the divisions between Nephi and his brothers.

King Lamoni believes everything Ammon tells him, and cries to the Lord, seeking mercy for his people in the same way the Lord has blessed the Nephites. And then he falls to the earth, so great is his mind and spirit caught up in what he has learned from Ammon, and perhaps drained from the effort of listening and understanding to this very new and strange doctrine. This is similar to the effect that the angel had on Ammon, his brothers, and Alma when they were confronted with the truth of their wickedness and need to change in the face of what is good and right (verses 40-42).

Lamoni’s servants initially assume that he has died, and take him to his family, where they mourn him for two days and nights, with the story to be continued (verse 43).

Alma and the Sons of Mosiah: Reunion and Flashback - Book of Alma, Chapter Seventeen (Alma 17)

You can read the entire chapter here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/17?lang=eng

Also check out the first 8:12 of this video.  

There is a very distinct feeling of time travel when we reunite with old friends. It doesn’t involve driving DeLoreans at 88 mph, just opening our minds and hearts to be transported in memory and spirit to moments of connection made richer by reconnection.

We have such a moment as this chapter begins. Alma is journeying south in the land, probably to check in on the spiritual well-being of the Nephites living in those areas. And to his astonishment, he sees—coming from the other direction—Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni (the sons of King Mosiah) (verse 1). If you remember, these are Alma’s dear old friends, and they experienced a powerful conversion to God’s truth together, about 23 years before (see Mosiah 27). We read that Alma is astonished to encounter his friends, which is the same way our narrator (Mormon) described the feelings the five of them had when the angel of the Lord rebuked their previous wicked ways and called on them to repent.

Alma is overcome with joy, and even more so because the sons of Mosiah are “still his brethren in the Lord.” What comes with the passage of time can be very hard to predict. We know that Alma has gone through many experiences and trials, and used those to build his faith in God even further. Mormon foreshadows that the sons of Mosiah have had some similar opportunities to grow their knowledge of the truth (or testimony) by spending 14 years on their chosen mission to the Lamanites searching the scriptures, praying and fasting, and teaching the Lamanites with “much success,” and with God’s authority and the spirit of prophecy and revelation (verses 2-4).

Now begin 11 chapters of a flashback where Mormon relates the amazing story of the four brothers’ missionary efforts, which come with many afflictions. We gain a sense of how stark and lonely their task is. There is no welcoming committee or trail blazed for them. They have to figure it out themselves. They wander into the wilderness, with the knowledge that there have been generations of Lamanites stewing on the stories their grandparents told them about treacherous Nephites (verses 5-7). The Lamanites’ negative feelings became worse because of the interactions they had with Zeniff’s earlier expedition of Nephites to these lands, and especially the priests of Noah, who have continued to spew vitriol to the Lamanites about the Nephites and their intentions.

As the brothers embark on this journey with some others they bring as their companions, they fast and pray much to be instruments in the hands of God to bring as many Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth as possible. There is this great moment when the Lord answers their pleadings with the simple admonition: “Be comforted.” And they are comforted. They need that reassurance straight from the Lord to be able to plunge into work. They seem to understand that they’ll face difficulties beyond what they’ve had before (verses 8-12).

And they’ll be doing it separate from one another. Each of the brothers takes his own path to go to a different Lamanite settlement. They resolve to reunite after finding success in bringing Lamanite souls to Christ through repentance and the plan of redemption (verses 13-17).

Ammon is the “chief among them” (presumably the oldest brother), and blesses them before they go their separate ways (verse 18). We then follow his miraculous trail.

He heads to the land of Ishmael, which is named after the sons of Ishmael who stayed with Laman and Lemuel and rejected Nephi’s teachings. Immediately he is taken captive by the suspicious people of the land (verses 19-20). What an enormous amount of faith Ammon has to place himself at the mercy of a Lamanite king who has no regard for God’s ways.

Ammon initially wins over the king, whose name is Lamoni, by showing that he is interested in living among the Lamanites permanently. Perhaps more out of curiosity than anything, Lamoni is struck by the novelty of a Nephite actually wanting to be with his sworn enemies. Lamoni is willing to give one of his daughters to Ammon as a wife, but Ammon insists instead on being Lamoni’s servant, which probably endears him even more to Lamoni and reduces any sense of threat he may have initially felt (verses 21-25). 

After only a few days, Ammon was with his fellow servants, taking the king’s flocks to get water. The gathering place, Sebus, is where many Lamanites take their flocks. Other men who are also there with their flocks decide to scatter the king’s flocks (verses 26-27). Why? No reason is given, leaving us to speculate on whether they are just mean-spirited or are looking to steal the sheep.

What we do learn from Ammon’s fellow servants is that the king is not lenient with his servants if they lose any of his sheep. They grieve desperately because they are convinced the king will put them to death for negligent inability to protect the flocks (verse 28).

Instead of feeling the fear and resignation of the other servants, Ammon rejoices. He sees this as a golden opportunity to exercise faith, restore the king’s flocks, and win the hearts of his fellow servants to God (verses 29-30). There’s this interesting connection between literally regathering the flock and figuratively gathering the people who watch over the flock. 

His first action is to instill confidence in his colleagues that the task of regathering is something within their power. “Don’t worry. We can do this. Let’s just get after it.” This seems to work like a tonic at motivating the servants, and they are able to bring the flocks together again (verses 31-32). 

When the troublemaking men come back to try to scatter the flocks a second time, Ammon has a simple instruction for the others. He has them surround the flocks so that they can’t run off, and then says he will handle the troublemakers (verses 33-34). 

These opponents have Ammon well outnumbered and seem sure that they’ll make quick work of him, but there’s a delicious anticipation as we know something they don’t—Ammon has the Lord with Him and you can just feel his deep faith jumping off the page. Our narrator (Mormon) reminds us that the Lord had promised Mosiah that He would protect Ammon and his other sons (verse 35).

What ensues is one of the most well-known and graphic action scenes in the Book of Mormon, beloved by children despite (because of?) the gory detail. First, Ammon starts picking off the rustlers one by one, using them as target practice with his sling and some stones. All of a sudden, these men realize that their playful misconduct has real consequences—they are being killed! Unable to match Ammon’s skill with a sling, they come after him with clubs after losing six of their men. But Ammon is ready for this as well, and with his sword he severs every man’s arm lifted against him (verses 36-38).

It’s a scene that seems like it’s straight out of a Western movie, where the hero seems to be invincible—a giant among men—and then acts like it is just another day of work. Without making any big deal about his great feat of strength and courage, Ammon joins the other servants to finish the job of watering the flocks. Then the servants return to the king, and—clearly astonished by what they just witnessed—show the king all the arms of their adversaries that Ammon had severed (verse 39). The mental picture of the scene is somewhat gruesome and disturbing, with an element of dark humor, but the main point is, “See how devoted this Nephite is to you, O King.” And we as faithful readers recognize that the Lord is validating Ammon’s incredible faith by showing how its fruits are being noticed by the Lamanites he has chosen to live among. 

Desolation for Some, Rescue for Others - Book of Alma, Chapter Sixteen (Alma 16)

You can read the entire chapter at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/16?lang=eng.

Desolation can come upon us when we least expect it. The people of Ammonihah discover this. After scornfully attacking Alma and Amulek, running the believers in Christ out of the city, and brutally killing their wives and children, they reap the pain and misery they have sowed. An army of Lamanites suddenly appears and destroys the city and its people within a single day (verses 1-3). Ironically, these were the same people that mocked Alma and Amulek mercilessly for warning them of the danger brought on by their own wickedness (Alma 9:4). Ammonihah becomes known as a place, like Sodom and Gomorrah or Babylon, that becomes totally desolate, largely because of the terrible sights and smells of the bodies left in moldering heaps from the sudden destruction (verses 9-11).

There’s a back story explaining why the Lamanites showed up where and when they did. Several chapters later in the account of Alma (abridged by Mormon), we learn that some Lamanites accepted the truth of the gospel and were attacked by their fellow Lamanites who were enraged at what they saw as a betrayal (Alma 25). They were even more enraged because the believing Lamanites would not fight, and they felt very guilty after killing more than a thousand of them. So they went searching for Nephites on whom to take out their anger.

The rest of the chapter has a theme of search and rescue. First, in a physical sense, and then in a more spiritual way that has more eternal benefits.

When the Lamanites tear through Ammonihah and the surrounding lands, they take an unspecified number of Nephites captive. The Nephite commander Zoram is determined to get them back to safety. Having heard that Alma is a prophet, Zoram and his two sons approach Alma in an appeal to know where they might find their brethren (verses 3-5).

There’s an enormous amount of faith involved in the search and rescue effort—first with Zoram and his sons trusting the Lord’s servant, and then with that servant (Alma) approaching the Lord on their behalf. Alma is able to share a pretty exact location with Zoram and his sons. And they follow through in their exercise of faith by acting on the information they receive (verses 6-7).

I wonder if we can even begin to appreciate what this passage can mean in our lives. It seems as though the Lord, by sharing this story with us through his prophet-historians, is telling us that we can seek His guidance to anticipate challenges and overcome them in our lives. The application is limitless. Maybe we won’t get immediate answers that allow us to head off difficulties in the way that we’d always like, but we can always gain greater perspective about how to bear up with those trials until we’re able to find a way (with God’s help) to address or move past them.

You won’t be surprised to learn that because Zoram and the Nephites know where the Lamanites are taking their captive brethren, they successfully confront the Lamanites and put them to flight (verse 8). Perhaps the Lamanites retreated because they were so astonished to have the Nephites anticipate their moves—we don’t know for sure.

What Mormon (our narrator) does tell us is that the Nephites have three years of peace until the next war (verse 12). That may not seem like a lot, but it gives Alma and Amulek time to strengthen the people spiritually. This second search and rescue mission is to help the Nephites repent. Mormon says that Alma, Amulek and the priests they called to work with them went anywhere they could get an audience because their message is so important. They preach against sin in any form and talk of the coming mortal life, sufferings, death and Resurrection of the Son of God, who can save the people from sin and will bring to pass the resurrection of everyone (verses 13-15).

As a result, the Lord pours out His Spirit on the people of the land to prepare their minds and hearts to receive the word taught at Christ’s coming with joy, that they “might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction,” but “that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God.” The people learn from their priests that Christ will appear to the Nephites at some point after His Resurrection (verses 16-20).

We might not have hordes of armed invaders storm our neighborhoods tomorrow and take our neighbors prisoner, but this chapter reminds us that other unwelcome surprises—cruel treatment or deception in life, or some other misfortune or tragedy—may come upon us unawares. How do we respond? How do we claw for and reclaim what is ours or the well-being of others? Zoram’s response of going to a source of unimpeachable truth (the prophet Alma) and exercising faith in its guidance is a shining example and welcome contrast to the unwillingness of the people of Ammonihah to hearken unto that very same source. Their complete desolation provides us with a strong cautionary tale.

Sidom: A Haven for Healing - Book of Alma, Chapter Fifteen (Alma 15)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/15?lang=eng.

Life in the world involves some measure of pain and suffering. There’s just no getting around it. We always hope that we can avoid or delay it, but it comes in some form. We have health problems because our bodies break down and will not last forever. Same for our loved ones. Death creates separation between family and dear friends. Unwelcome surprises come in the form of accidents or others’ unfeeling deeds.

The Lord wants us to be part of the solution, which is to never give up amid the trials of life, and to inspire others to keep going as well. Somehow He gives us the strength not only to survive and endure, but to feel joy and peace as we do so. It’s our choice, plain and simple.

So when this huge trauma gets dealt to Alma, Amulek, and the people in Ammonihah who believe their words, they need a place where they can come together and regroup. That place turns out to be the land of Sidom. 

Not only have the people been run out of Ammonihah by the unbelieving majority, but Alma and Amulek—whom the Lord commands to go to Sidom after miraculously delivering them from prison—have the hard task of informing them that their wives and children have been burned alive (verses 1-2). They have truly sacrificed for the truth they have embraced. It seems difficult to consider what Alma and Amulek could possibly do to comfort these people aside from telling them the truth, showing they care, and letting time do the rest. 

Zeezrom, the lawyer who had first done all he could to entrap Alma and Amulek, before having a complete change of heart and honestly embracing the truth they teach, seems to be literally burning to death from a guilty conscience (verse 3). Nowhere else in scripture do we see such a direct link that someone’s sin may have with their physical health. Jesus makes reference to some kind of link when he asks his detractors (in Luke 5) whether it is easier to forgive sins or tell someone to rise up and walk. But here we see it uniquely on display, and it is a perfect opportunity to show how the Lord’s mercy can heal all the effects of sin—be they spiritual, emotional, or physical. 

Apparently Zeezrom thinks Alma and Amulek had perished because of his initial efforts to rouse the rabble against them. This is at the core of his anxiety and the fever that is scorching him. When he hears that Alma and Amulek have survived and made it to Sidom, his “heart begins to take courage,” and he urgently sends for them to come to his side, which they do (verses 4-5). 

He asks them to heal him. Alma explains that it can be done if Zeezrom has faith in the power of Christ unto salvation (verses 5-9). So just as the affliction melded the physical and spiritual, we witness the same is true for the cure. In order to be relieved of the fever, Zeezrom needs to understand that Christ’s merciful power, as mighty as it is in banishing disease and affliction from our bodies, extends well beyond that to provide the momentum we need to overcome sin and other weaknesses and find our way to eternal salvation. 

Zeezrom is healed instantly and dramatically, literally leaping to his feet (verses 10-11). The account spreads quickly among the people in Sidom. Once Zeezrom is baptized, he becomes a teacher of the gospel. Presumably he draws upon his own story to help him convince others that God’s power is real and sufficient in their lives. Alma finds many others willing to engage in the work of gathering disciples of Christ and establishes a church among the refugees from Ammonihah in Sidom (verses 12-13). 

Our narrator Mormon then describes the developing spiritual situation among the people in this area. It is basically divided among two groups. The people in Sidom, as well as others who “flock in from all the region round about,” accept that they need the gospel of Jesus Christ (verse 14). If they humbly repent, and watch and pray continually, they can be “delivered from Satan, and from death, and from destruction.” Mormon says that Alma can see that these people are “checked as to the pride of the hearts” (verse 17). What an important thing, to check ourselves in this way! 

The second group, though, the people in Ammonihah are not willing to check the pride of their hearts in the same way. In their stubbornness, they continue to reject the need for repentance that Alma and Amulek had preached to them (verse 15). For inspiration, they look to the false prophet Nehor (whom Alma had executed for murder in Alma 1), even though Nehor himself admitted that what he taught was against the word of God. Pride both blinds and paralyzes. 

The chapter ends on an emotionally wrenching and touching note. Amulek has now been cast out of his hometown (Ammonihah). Mormon tells us that his relatives and friends, including his own father, have rejected him for his embrace of God’s truth. We know he has left his worldly possessions behind (verse 16). It is possible (though we don’t know for sure) that his wife and children were victims of a fiery death. He, very much like Job, has been left bereft of everything he once had other than his integrity and his faith. 

Alma then gets the chance to return the favor that Amulek once offered him by taking him in when he had no one else to turn to in Ammonihah. It had been Amulek and his family whose kindness and care nursed Alma back to full strength so that they could boldly proclaim God’s message together (Alma 8). Now Amulek is the one in need. Alma takes him back to his home in Zarahemla, “and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord” (verse 18) This episode reminds us that sometimes we need helping, and sometimes we are in a position to give help. Hopefully we can be ready to both give and receive at the right time. 

Also see this clip for an account of Zeezrom’s healing and baptism.

Following God Amid Base Brutality - Book of Alma, Chapter Fourteen (Alma 14)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/14?lang=eng.

Also see these two clips (here and here).

The effort by Alma and Amulek to remind people of the truth comes at a cost. When wickedness takes root in a community, those in privileged positions can be absolutely ruthless in resisting any slippage of their power, wealth or prestige. And we see the lengths to which they’re willing to go in this chapter. Innocent sufferers do not sway them from their single-minded focus on hanging on.

When Alma finishes his discourse, one can imagine that as the people try to make sense of the weighty things they have heard from him and Amulek, and how they so unexpectedly stood up to the expert lawyer Zeezrom’s questions, a momentary hush settles upon the crowd as they consider some penetrating questions for self-examination:

What manner of men are these who can not only withstand the trained lawyer’s effort to trip them up, but completely change his line of questioning to something much more sincere and vulnerable?

Is it possible they are sent from the Lord to save us from ourselves and that we might have fallen off the right path?

Are we too self-absorbed? If so, how can we change that?

Would Amulek, who is one of us and a distinguished citizen, follow this Alma without good reason?

The chapter does not speak of a long silence, but says that the people go one of two ways. Many believe Alma, begin to repent, and start their own search for truth in the scriptural record kept among them (probably whatever has been translated from the plates of brass brought across the ocean hundreds of years before—including the books of Moses and important prophecies like those from Isaiah) (verse 1).

But most, perhaps seeking to deaden any pangs of conscience Alma stirred up in their hearts, desire to destroy Alma and Amulek (verses 2-3). They are angry that Alma was so plain with Zeezrom. Sometimes when we hear the truth directly and forcefully, it takes us aback, especially when we have danced around the truth to rationalize choosing comfort and convenience over what we know deep down God has in store for us (and is, by definition, the best course we could follow). The people are also angry that Amulek has attacked the way they enforce the law. While Amulek told them (in chapter 10) that he supports the law, but needed to rebuke the unrighteous lawyers and judges who twist its true meaning and application, we see that it remains much easier for people to justify themselves and their close associates than accept criticism, even if the criticism is accurate. 

Once we learn of the initial reaction of the people in Ammonihah, the rest of the chapter unfolds in a way that seems inevitable as a consequence of the hardening most have to the truth. As they lash out to destroy what reminds them of their error and wickedness, they ironically fall ever deeper into the tragic pit they dig. 

The one who has been fully awakened from his destructive course, Zeezrom, is now beside himself with anguish both at how his own past prideful deception has misled his people, and at the people’s absolute unwillingness to reconsider their present situation. He tries to rouse them from their foolishness, to say that he was wrong and Alma and Amulek were right, but to no avail (verses 6-7). 

Instead, he and all others who heeded the preaching of Alma and Amulek are roughly cast aside and made to live out a particularly dreadful nightmare. They can’t get the majority to change their ways or prevent them from the terrible act of burning alive the most innocent of the city—the wives and children of those who accept Alma’s and Amulek’s message (verse 8). The only comfort amid this gruesome scene for those stricken by conscience, such as Zeezrom, is that at least they now know the truth and are in a position to act on it. 

For comparison, our minds may turn to prominent historical episodes where people or ideas were subjected to the flames of intolerance: the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, Nazism. Part of the sadistic pleasure of the tormentors is to force Alma and Amulek to witness the deaths of the innocents (verse 9). So moved by the suffering he sees, Amulek pleads with Alma that they may call upon God to miraculously save these unjustly condemned people from their pain and suffering (verse 10). Amulek is having his first experience of standing for truth in a way that risks unpopularity and persecution. We don’t know specifically whether any of his family are killed (later we find that many from his family have rejected his teachings), but his status as a resident of the city means he has much more history with the victims than Alma. Thus, it’s understandable that his reaction is more emotional. 

Alma, who has more overall experience and seems to have developed greater discipline throughout his years of service and ministry, responds that he has already considered the matter, but the Lord has a different plan. He will permit this very bad thing to happen to these people because in the eternal scheme of things, their suffering will end quickly and they will be received unto Him. Ultimately, those who sank to such depths to murder their neighbors in such a destestable way will face the full weight of having rejected what is good and redeeming (verse 11). It is one of those situations where we must trust that the Lord understands what needs to be done to give as many people as possible a chance to find redemption and positive transformation through Christ’s power. 

There’s so much going on this chapter. Now we pivot to an equally important episode. Poor Alma and Amulek are just getting started. After being forced to witness these horrifying deaths, they now become the focus of their captors’ effort to intimidate and break them. The chief judge and his cronies ridicule their inability to save the innocent, isolate them, starve and withhold water from them, tie them up, strike them, and subject them to other forms of physical and psychological torture (verses 14-22). 

The chief judge seems the epitome of ruthlessness and glorying in power, like a child delighting in squashing an ant simply because he can. Instead of immediately killing Alma and Amulek though, he wants them to recant and promise not to teach the truth. Perhaps the chief judge feels that breaking their will would be a more permanent way to avoid having others hold him and his people accountable, because killing them could lead to having another prophet sent to criticize them. 

To the eternal credit of Alma and Amulek, and cause for our gratitude, they do not fold. Instead, they stay true to their callings as witnesses of God and His power. Their very actions and silent dignity in the face of punishment is a foreshadowing of how our Savior will comport Himself in a similar situation. The chief judge gets to a point where he dares them to break their bands, clearly without believing it is possible, echoed by all of his accomplices (verses 23-24). 

Ironically, the Lord is ready to honor his servants in just this way. The wicked have called upon themselves their own doom. Our narrator (Mormon) writes that the power of God comes upon Alma and Amulek. Alma cries to the Lord for deliverance, and as happened with Nephi when detained by his brothers (in 1 Nephi 7), he and Amulek burst the bands that hold them. This spectacle fills their captors with fear, and as they realize they are not as powerful as they had imagined, they try to flee in terror. The earth shakes so tremendously that the walls of the prison fall, killing everyone within except for Alma and Amulek (verses 25-28). 

The final verse is very cinematic, allowing us to picture the townspeople drawn to the horrible spectacle, straining their eyes to see if anyone could have survived, and then their eyes widening in disbelief as the only two people who had condemned the town—no not John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, but Alma and Amulek—turn out to be the ones emerging as the dust clears (verse 29).

Alma: The Lord Prepares Priests to Spread the Truth of Repentance and Salvation - Book of Alma, Chapter Thirteen (Alma 13)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/13?lang=eng. 

In this chapter, Alma continues his explanation of important truths about God’s plan and how He shares it with men and women on the earth. He tells his audience that God’s doctrine spreads under the direction of priests. And the pattern God uses to instruct his servants to find and ordain priests is to have them be as close to Jesus Himself in how they follow the Lord’s commandments and serve others. Quite simply, Christlike priests should point us in the direction of Christ because every person needs salvation through Him.

In our Church, every man who seeks to serve the Lord and His children, and consistently follows the Lord’s commandments, has an opportunity to hold priesthood responsibilities. Under the authority of the priesthood, the Lord’s servants direct the teaching of the gospel (the good news and truth that our Heavenly Father has a plan for our salvation with Jesus at the center of it) and perform ordinances (such as baptism) to help provide the blessings of salvation to all men and women who choose it. 

Alma goes on to relay that men who hold priesthood responsibilities are prepared for this calling even before they are born on the earth. In his words, everyone dwells with God in spirit before coming to earth and receive preparation for mortal life. The most important thing during this preexistence is to choose good over evil. So it is that Alma reveals that the holy calling of the priesthood is reserved “from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts” during this time of preparation while living with God before coming to earth (verse 5).

I firmly believe that the same principle applies to all willing men and women—that they are prepared for sacred roles and callings to serve God and His children during the time their spirits live with God before being born into a mortal body.

None of us can fully remember this prologue to our birth. Perhaps some of us may receive glimmers of what might have come before, or feel as though a relationship or memory is strangely familiar. So in a sense, Alma is helping us fill in the blanks. He is teaching something he has learned either from heavenly messengers or the guidance of the Holy Ghost. That is simply that our Heavenly Father knows us very, very well because we were with Him and had our first lessons about the nature of existence and right and wrong under His care. And with the deep bond that comes from truly being His children, He invites all to follow Jesus’ example of righteousness, purity, and dedication to the salvation of all willing to accept the gift that Jesus freely gives. Thus, if we accept an ordination to the priesthood in this life and the sacred responsibility that comes with it, we can trace our preparation back to our first lessons during the time when we dwelled personally and closely with our Father Himself. 

Alma teaches that those ordained to serve the Lord do so forever—there is no end to our ability to act on His behalf, so long as we are willing to turn back to Him constantly through faith and repentance to make the changes and adjustments necessary in life to associate ourselves with Him and His righteous way of doing things. Humility and righteousness lead to purity and power through Jesus Christ. Without these qualities, we wither and suffer in distancing ourselves from God’s healing and sanctifying presence. 

Alma then commends the example of Melchizedek to his audience. Melchizedek was a great high priest from the time of Abraham, and Melchizedek also served as the king of Salem—presumably the ancient site of Jerusalem. In the languages of the ancient Near East, Salem uses the same root word (S-L-M) for “peace” as the common Hebrew greeting shalom and its Arabic counterpart salaam. Melchizedek’s great accomplishment was to persuade his people to turn from wickedness and strife and embrace peaceful coexistence. In doing so, he became known as the “prince of peace,” a name Isaiah also famously used in describing the Messiah that we believe to be Jesus. 

And so it is that Melchizedek is inseparably connected throughout time to Jesus as the preeminent example of someone who has fully taken on the responsibility to properly and fully represent God to His children through the priesthood. Writing more than 100 years after Alma, the apostle Paul also emphasized the connection between Melchizedek and Jesus through the priesthood in the 6^th and 7^th chapters of his epistle to the Hebrews. Later, the Lord clarified through Joseph Smith in a revelation in 1835 (D&C 107:2-4) that we substitute Melchizedek’s name for the Savior’s when referring to the highest priesthood so that we don’t overuse references to the sacred name of our God.

It is at this point that Alma switches from explaining how priests spread the truth to actually spreading it with this audience. He demonstrates exactly how the Lord’s servants exhort people throughout the world by calling on the people of Ammonihah to repent and be ready for the Lord’s day of salvation, whenever it may come in their lives. It’s one of many moments in the Book of Mormon where the words jump off the page, making us feel as though they are just as much for us here and now as for the original audience that received them. 

The message is clear: the news of the gospel is intended to reach everyone, and it is this: accept the truth and align yourself with it now as we all prepare for Jesus to come again in person to earth and definitively establish the rule of righteousness. And Alma beautifully summarizes how we can do this (in verses 28-29): 

watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering; 

Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest. 

For the Lord does not want us to be separated from Him. This is right in line with how the apostle John explained our Savior’s purpose (in John 3:17): not to condemn the world, but to save it. 

Also see the last minute of this clip (starting at 2:30) for the end of Alma’s address in this chapter.