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.

Alma Helps Zeezrom Change His Heart - Book of Alma, Chapter Twelve (Alma 12)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/12?lang=eng. 

The triumph of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it can make a miraculous difference in the life of anyone, even the most cynical and hardened person around. That is the central point of this chapter, as we see the lawyer Zeezrom begin to lay aside his contentious, dishonest and manipulative ways and open his heart to remorse and positive change. 

We can learn at least two important points from Zeezrom’s example. One, never dismiss anyone from having the potential—as a child of God—to grow and give off light, even if they resist or actively oppose your overtures. Two, we can look within to consider if there’s a little of Zeezrom in each one of us that we can push out of our lives in favor of something better. 

Alma does a great job of jumping into the conversation at this point after Amulek has stood his ground and defended the truth against Zeezrom’s attacks. Our narrator Mormon aptly tells us that Alma is accomplishing two things that all teaching companions should do: (1) support and reinforce what his companion (Amulek) has already taught, and (2) explain or unfold the scriptures beyond that (verse 1). After all, Alma does have more experience than Amulek and has the authority of a prophet, so it is right that Alma has the last word and makes it count. 

He starts by directly exposing Zeezrom’s deceptive intent to him and everyone else. Alma says that Zeezrom has been lying to God as well as to men in his efforts to discredit Alma and Amulek and set the crowd against them. Alma doesn’t shrink from denouncing what Zeezrom has done as wrong, but he is careful not to paint Zeezrom as the ultimate enemy. Instead, Alma explains that the devil is the common adversary that everyone needs to work against (verses 2-6). This opens a door for Zeezrom. He is given some space to decide whether he wants to side with the devil and persist in his fight against truth, or to join Alma and Amulek and the good things they share. 

Verses 7 and 8 are the turning point—in fact a complete 180 from the initial questions Zeezrom had posed to entrap Alma and Amulek. First, Mormon writes that Zeezrom is so convinced of the power of God working through Alma and Amulek and seeing through his deceptions that he begins to tremble exceedingly. Then, Mormon writes that “Zeezrom began to inquire of them diligently, that he might know more concerning the kingdom of God.” Now he’s truly motivated by a desire to know God’s will and plan concerning Him. He recognizes that what Alma and Amulek are teaching might be real, and somewhere from deep within himself he decides that he’d rather get right with the Lord than bash the Lord’s servants and feel guilty about it. This path will involve some pain, but is ultimately the way for Zeezrom to feel cleansing, healing, and—yes—joy. 

The question Zeezrom asks pertains to our accountability before God as we are resurrected from the dead—with our bodies and spirits reuniting (verse 8). Alma explains that those who are willing to invite the word of God into their hearts will be in a much better place than those who harden their hearts to understand these sacred truths about what happens after this life. An open heart is also the key to being ready to face God, because it is only in that state that we will be prepared to repent and seek Christ’s help to save us from sin and allow us to feel comfortable in God’s presence (verses 9-19). 

Facing another question from one of the city’s rulers, Alma makes a clarification about the immortality of the human soul. He helps the people understand that Adam and Eve were sealed off from reentering the Garden of Eden because after they ate of the forbidden fruit, they needed to pass through the great trial of mortal life, die, and then be resurrected. The kind of immortality they had in the garden was an innocent one without accountability. By keeping them from going back into the garden, God ensured that they would be responsible for the consequences of their choices. The immortality that Adam and Eve (and all of us who are their children) receive is a gift from Jesus due to His great redemptive sacrifice (verses 20-27). What kind of immortal existence we have depends on whether we are willing to repent of our sins and follow Jesus. It is more challenging than the Garden of Eden, but ultimately the only way for us to learn how to become truly more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus. 

So as part of God’s plan, when we come to earth, God has messengers who are authorized to teach His truth, including about the importance of our choice to follow Jesus so we can stay close to Him. At times when his authority is not already present on earth, God’s initial messengers are angels sent from His presence (people who either have not yet entered into mortal life or have already ended their mortal journeys). Then the people whom the angels authorize to carry the message forward do so, and find others to help them (verses 28-30). 

The main message to share with everyone on earth is that Jesus Christ saves from sin and brings people who are repentant back to the Father. Divine justice does not allow us to become clean in God’s sight or approach Him if we do not appeal to Christ’s saving and atoning power. But if we make the appeal, divine mercy does not allow us to be denied those blessings of becoming clean and receiving His presence—most commonly during this life by the manifestation of the comforting, peaceful, guiding influence of the Holy Ghost. Alma drives this home in his response to the ruler’s question (verses 31-37). 

Also see the first 2:30 of this clip for an abbreviated video treatment of this chapter.

Amulek Withstands Zeezrom and Teaches Truth with God’s Help - Book of Alma, Chapter Eleven (Alma 11)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/11?lang=eng.

At the beginning of the chapter, Mormon explains that judges in the community receive gain according to how many cases come before them, so it is in their interest to stir up contention among the people because they can profit from that contention (verses 1-20). This is why the lawyers and judges in Ammonihah seek to turn the people against Alma and Amulek. 

Zeezrom (pronounced Zee-ez-rum), who is mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, is a prominent lawyer in Ammonihah, and tells Amulek that he has a few questions for him. Amulek responds that he will answer only according to the Spirit of God (or Holy Ghost) (verses 21-22).

However, instead of asking a question of Amulek, Zeezrom offers a bribe to him! He tells Amulek that he’ll give him some valuable silver if he denies the existence of a Supreme Being (verse 22). This offer totally undermines any claim Zeezrom has to being interested in uncovering the truth. It shows that he is trying to appeal to base motivations of greed and selfishness. 

Amulek, for one, doesn’t take the bait or miss Zeezrom’s hypocrisy. He tells him in front of the whole crowd, “O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?” Amulek also insists that Zeezrom knows there is a God, but deliberately chooses to deny Him because of his attachment to money and material things (verses 23-24). 

Amulek further says to Zeezrom that he knows Zeezrom didn’t really intend to give Amulek anything. He just wanted Amulek to deny God. He tells Zeezrom that he will receive a “reward” for the lie he has told (verse 25). 

Zeezrom does not respond to Amulek’s charges. Instead, faced with the truth of his own foiled effort at deception, he tries to change course. Finally he starts asking the questions he had earlier said he would pose to Amulek. These questions are clearly calculated to entrap Amulek. 

This intent is quite transparent to Amulek. Based on the first few questions and answers, Zeezrom tries to get the people to think that Amulek’s answers are inconsistent because he says that there is only one God but also that He has a Son and that this Son of God will not save people in their sins (verses 26-35). Zeezrom is trying to make it appear as though Amulek does not think God is powerful enough to forgive or heal people, when in actuality Amulek is accurately explaining that people cannot be saved against their will, but only when they repent of sin. 

Amulek sees an opening to teach both Zeezrom and the gathered crowd the real truth. In clarifying that salvation only comes to those who believe in Jesus Christ, and that those who are unwilling to give up their sins do not benefit from the healing and cleansing power of Christ’s sacrifice and Atonement, Amulek successfully thwarts Zeezrom’s attempt to confound the people (verses 36-40). 

Amulek goes on to testify powerfully about the Resurrection of all people. He uses eloquent language to establish that our spirits will reunite with our bodies, and we will stand before God with a “bright recollection of all our guilt.” This helps them (and us) understand that the Lord will bring everyone before Him because each soul is supremely valuable, while also recognizing that we need to get rid of any stain we have from sin in order to stay with the Lord. Amulek also explains that once our spirits and bodies reunite in resurrected form, we will never die again (verses 41-45). 

Clearly Amulek’s words have a great impact on the audience, because Mormon writes that the people are astonished, and Zeezrom begins to tremble (verse 46). It’s a dramatic transition into the next chapter. 

Also see this six-minute video clip summarizing this chapter and the previous one.

Amulek Adds His Testimony to Alma's - Book of Alma, Chapter Ten (Alma 10)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/10?lang=eng.  

With the end of the previous chapter, Alma passes the proverbial baton to his new companion Amulek after pleading with the people of Ammonihah to repent and dealing with even more rejection.

One can imagine the enraged crowd being taken aback and more than a little curious. “Why is this local notable (Amulek) getting ready to speak to us as though he is with this troublesome person claiming to be a prophet?”

Amulek starts, as we’d expect from someone descended from Middle Eastern heritage, by describing himself in terms of his family history. Amulek is, like most of the people in Ammonihah, a Nephite. We learn here that Nephi and his family came from the Israelite tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was one of the sons of Joseph of Egypt. Amulek also tells the crowd that one of his ancestors is a person named Aminadi, who is not elsewhere mentioned in present-day scriptures but apparently was held in high regard by Amulek’s contemporaries as someone with a gift of translating mysterious, divine writings (verses 1-3).

Then Amulek reminds the people that he is a prosperous and prominent member of their community—clearly establishing that he has a lot of credibility (verse 4). Right away, he uses that credibility to condemn his own shortsightedness. He tells the people that despite all of his worldly accomplishments and accolades, he has not taken the opportunity to learn more about the ways of the Lord (verses 5-6). Only now, when visited by the angel who told him to help Amulek, has he softened his heart and become open to what the Lord has wanted to teach him for so long—that He cares about the people of the world and sends messengers to bless them. Amulek, by identifying himself with the people of Ammonihah, and then discussing his own closed mind and heart, is trying to wake the people up to their own need to let the Lord into their lives and recognize how much He gives them.

After that, Amulek relates the experience he had with the angel telling him about Alma, and then describes how he found and took care of Alma. His main point is to testify to the people that they should regard Alma as a blessing to them rather than a nuisance or a threat, doing this by declaring how deeply Alma’s presence and teaching in his (Amulek’s) home had blessed his entire family (verses 7-11).

This clearly has a profound effect on the crowd, because they are astonished that another witness has emerged to back up Alma (verse 12). And it seems that they are especially astonished because this testimony comes from one of their own. 

But that doesn’t end the opposition to what Alma and Amulek are teaching. The lawyers of the city, who are skilled at argument and therefore use their powers of persuasion to gain influence and power, profit from contention and strife, because that leads to more legal action and fees. Apparently threatened by the possibility that Alma and Amulek might be getting through to the people, these lawyers try to change the narrative (verses 13-15). For them, unfortunately, control is more important than truth. They are panicking at the possibility that this upstart Amulek—who, even if prominent, is no lawyer—is making a real bid to free the people from the stranglehold of falsehood and worldliness upon which their livelihoods are based. 

Thankfully, while Amulek may be overmatched by the lawyers’ training, God helps him make up the difference. The pure in heart are entitled to help that often allows them to avoid the snares others lay for them. As the lawyers begin to ask questions with the aim of getting Amulek to contradict himself or otherwise lose credibility from his responses, he is able to perceive their thoughts and confidently expose their true intentions (verses 16-18). He reminds the people of King Mosiah’s warning (in Mosiah 29:27) that if they choose what is wicked, they will reap destruction for themselves (verse 19). Then he echoes Alma’s call for them to repent. Like Alma, Amulek also refers to the coming of God among them in the person of Jesus (verses 20-21). It seems that while Alma was recovering physically and emotionally in Amulek’s home, Alma taught and trained Amulek about these vital truths and how to share them with the people. 

After that, Amulek raises a new and very important point. He observes that the people of Ammonihah are hanging on by a very small thread. It is only because of the prayers of a select group of righteous people in the city that the people have been preserved thus far. His unmistakable warning is that the many in Ammonihah who reject God’s ways for the cold, harsh calculations of worldly gain will find themselves with neither worldly nor spiritual protection if they continue to make those trying to live good, decent lives feel unwelcome. He provides very specific caution that they will face famine, disease, and war if they do not make significant changes (verses 22-23). I can’t help but wonder if similar concerns might apply to the people of today’s world. 

The people’s response is predictable: attack the messenger rather than take time to ponder whether his message is worth heeding. Their rejoinder to Amulek is that he is unfairly attacking their law and their lawyers (verses 24 and 27-28). Amulek makes the effort to separate the two (verses 25-26). He explains that the principles of the law (which are based on inspired teachings) are good, but, going back to his point about the need for repentance, the lawyers are not representing the law properly. It is a theme that the prophet Abinadi also used when condemning Noah and his priests for twisting holy teachings to benefit their own agendas (in Mosiah 12). When a group of people have a monopoly to interpret something to society, there is always a danger they will abuse their power. This is what Amulek is exposing. Of course, Jesus did this with the priestly classes of his day too. It is always a tough sell to convince a society of their own shortcomings. 

The chapter ends with one of the foremost lawyers, Zeezrom, preparing to weigh in against Alma and Amulek (verse 31).

Alma Delivers His Message of Repentance - Book of Alma, Chapter Nine (Alma 9)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/9?lang=eng.  

As we finished the previous chapter (Alma 8), Alma and Amulek are going out together to preach to the people of Ammonihah. This chapter begins with Alma making an effort to speak to the people, and the people flatly rejecting him. Just days before, the same people cast Alma out of the city, and now he’s back. They are surely wondering why he’s trying again with them and probably want to be even clearer he is not welcome.

They dismiss the idea that one person can presume authority to share momentous prophecies about them and their future (verses 1-2). They may feel as though an outsider like Alma can’t properly know them well enough to speak to their situation. How would we feel if someone who didn’t know us personally suddenly appeared in our neighborhood and started telling us about the things we were doing wrong?

But their resistance goes beyond their unfamiliarity with Alma. They seem to be daring him, and God, to share ominous warnings so that they can mock those warnings into meaninglessness. To drive the point home, they basically say, “If you warn us that the most disastrous thing imaginable will happen—the destruction of our city in a single day—we still won’t believe you” (verse 4). These residents of Ammonihah may be used to facing down other people, but they don’t understand you can’t trifle with the Lord or intimidate Him away.

Neither can you bully the Lord’s servants. The people get ready to take hold of Alma, either to throw him out again or take him to prison. But Alma, blessed with the Lord’s strength, stands boldly to testify to them of their wickedness (verse 7). Somehow he is able to avoid being silenced—the only thing we read is that the people did not lay hold of him.

Alma’s main concern for the people is that they have forgotten God and His commandments (verse 8). So Alma stirs them up to remembrance. He reminds them that God guided Lehi and his family to the promised land they now inhabit. He recounts the many times God delivered Lehi’s family members from those who would destroy them, including the members of their own family (a clear reference to Lehi’s son Nephi eluding the dark designs of his other sons Laman and Lemuel) (verses 9-10). Alma then sums up by saying it is only through the Lord’s power and mercy that any of them can hope for salvation (verse 11).

This point—which hints at salvation through Jesus Christ—leads directly to the next one, which is that the people need desperately to repent. If they don’t, Alma shares with the people what the angel shared with him (in Alma 8:16)—that utter destruction will come upon them (verse 12). It’s a vivid reminder to us that when we fail to repent of sin, it wreaks havoc in our lives. Maybe it’s not as outwardly destructive as what the people of Ammonihah are being warned of, but it goes to work on us like a virus. And the only cure comes from the Lord.

Again, Alma mentions Lehi, the founder of their civilization. He reminds them that the Lord told Lehi that their people would be cut off from the Lord if they did not keep the Lord’s commandments (verse 13). And Alma shares the example of the Lamanites, who rebelled early and often, and as a result, lost the guidance of the Lord (verse 14).

He goes on to warn the people of Ammonihah that they, as descendants of Nephi, are expected to live to a higher standard than the Lamanites of their generation because the Lamanites have not been raised to believe. In contrast, the people of Ammonihah have had “so much light and knowledge given unto them of the Lord their God,” and have been so richly blessed and miraculously delivered from their enemies time and again. By failing to live in line with the truth they have been taught, the Lord will hold them accountable, while the Lamanites will be entitled to greater mercy because of their relative ignorance (verses 15-17).

But there’s more—a lot more. In addition to there being hope for many of the Lamanites to be corrected and find happiness in God’s way, Nephi says that the Lamanites will be the instrument God uses to destroy the people of Ammonihah if they refuse to humble themselves and change (verse 18). He then tells them that this is why the Lord is so focused on warning them. He wants them to know of their perilous state and that the way out of it is to repent and follow the gospel of Christ, which leads to covenants made through baptism and the salvation this brings (verses 19-30).

Alma has now done everything in his power to make the people aware of their predicament, and the way they can choose to escape it and find salvation. The people are livid at him because they see him as an outsider who presumes to judge them—so their pride is injured and they want to punish him (verse 31). They are probably also feeling some sense of uneasiness at the guilt that attends their rebellious natures.

We have a curious passage here that is similar to some about Jesus during his mortal life. The people seek to take hold of Alma and throw him in jail, but the Lord doesn’t allow this to happen (verses 32-33). How God protects Alma from the mob is unclear, just as in some of the cases where people tried to harm or imprison Jesus and the gospel narrators tell us that the Lord did not suffer them to do it. Instead, Amulek steps forth, and we get ready to hear what this newly minted companion of Alma has to say (verse 34).

Check out a video clip covering this chapter here.