4 And it came to pass that Aaron came to the city of Jerusalem, and first began to preach to the Amalekites. And he began to preach to them in their synagogues, for they had built synagogues after the order of the Nehors; for many of the Amalekites and the Amulonites were after the order of the Nehors.
5 Therefore, as Aaron entered into one of their synagogues to preach unto the people, and as he was speaking unto them, behold there arose an Amalekite and began to contend with him, saying: What is that thou hast testified? Hast thou seen an angel? Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold are not this people as good as thy people?
6 Thou also sayest, except we repent we shall perish. How knowest thou the thought and intent of our hearts? How knowest thou that we have cause to repent? How knowest thou that we are not a righteous people? Behold, we have build sanctuaries, and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God. We do believe that God will save all men.
Alma 21:4-6 (Emphasis mine)
We are told the Amalekites “were after the order of the Nehors.” What does this mean? Hugh Nibley explains:
“Nehor becomes the perennial opposition, which represents the majority throughout here. He was a great orator, a powerful personality, a very persuasive speaker. He was a real evangelist, and he preached what he termed to be the word of God. He was not preaching atheism or anything like that … This [what follows] was his doctrine, a more relaxed religion; people immediately opted for this more agreeable philosophy … This is an astonishing thing; we are going to have some backfire on that, ‘. . . declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people.’
“[Nehor] was very clever and told them what they wanted to hear. Now here's a nice soft gospel: ‘And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice [now this is an easy-going, happy teaching—the Bakkers teach this; it's highly permissive, you notice]; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should [be saved and] have eternal life [period]." [1] (Emphasis mine)
Nehor preached an easy life, an easy gospel. Nothing was required of the people. All would be saved in the end. Rejoice! Have fun! Enjoy! It’s not surprising that this found popularity among some people.
Aaron started teaching in a synagogue, and at some point, was challenged by an Amalekite. He asks Aaron a number of questions.
Have you seen an angel?
Why don’t we see angels?
Are we not as good as your people?
How do you know our thoughts and the intents of our heart?
How do you know we need to repent?
How do you know we are not a righteous people?
How do you know we are not a righteous people?
What was a sign they were good people? They build churches to worship God. They believe all men will be saved.
Nibley writes:
“Most of these wicked people in the Book of Mormon are very religious, and they were here. And there ‘arose an Amalekite,’ who challenged them and started preaching to them. ‘Why do not angels appear unto us?" We are as good as you are. That's a good question actually. "How knowest thou that we have cause to repent?’ That's not such a good question—everybody does…
“As soon as people say they are a righteous people, of course, you know they are not. That's automatic; it's self-righteousness. ‘Behold, we have built sanctuaries [we've built churches; aren't we good people? We've done that], and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God [we go to meeting]. We do believe that God will save all men.’ This is the routine…” [2] (Emphasis mine)
Aaron responds:
7 Now Aaron said unto him: Believest thou that the Son of God shall come to redeem mankind from their sins?
8 And the man said unto him: We do not believe that thou knowest any such thing. We do not believe in these foolish traditions. We do not believe that thou knowest of things to come, neither do we believe that thy fathers and also that our fathers did know concerning the things which they spake, of that which is to come.
9 Now Aaron began to open the scriptures unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and that there could be no redemption for mankind save it were through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood.
10 And it came to pass as he began to expound these things unto them they were angry with him, and began to mock him; and they would not hear the words which he spake.
11 Therefore, when he saw that they would not hear his words, he departed out of their synagogue...
Alma 21:7-11 (Emphasis mine)
Aaron asked if they believed the Son of God would come down and redeem all from their sins. He responded that they didn’t believe in this “foolish tradition.” Besides, how could you know this? You can’t know the future!
Aaron then turned to the scriptures and taught them concerning Christ.
1 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Leviticus 17:11 (Emphasis mine)
15 ¶ The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Deuteronomy 18:15 (Emphasis mine)
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
9 ¶ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Isaiah 25:8-9 (Emphasis mine)
4 ¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:4–5 (Emphasis mine)
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isaiah 53:6-8 (Emphasis mine)
20 ¶ And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 59:20 (Emphasis mine)
As Aaron presents the evidence about the coming of Christ, the Amalekites were not happy campers. Their response to the evidence challenging their belief was to become angry, mock him, and prevent him from teaching his words.
Aaron gave up and left, going to Ani-Anti.
Hugh Nibley wrote:
“This summarizes the main points of the gospel. The coming of the Christ brings about the resurrection, which brings about the redemption ‘through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood.’ He gave them the whole package, and this made them madder than ever. He gave them the straight gospel. Then ‘they were angry with him, and began to mock him.’ They wouldn't hear it. It sounded utterly ridiculous. So he just left them—that was all he could do…” [3] (Emphasis mine)
[1] Lecture 42: Mosiah 29-Alma 1, Hugh W. Nibley. Maxwell Institute, accessed September 15, 2011.
[2] Lecture 52: Alma 19-22, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 15, 2011.
[3] Lecture 52: Alma 19-22, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 15, 2011.
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