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.
No comments:
Post a Comment