19 Yea, well did Mosiah say, who was our last king, when he was about to deliver up the kingdom, having no one to confer it upon, causing that this people should be governed by their own voices—yea, well did he say that if the time should come that the voice of this people should choose iniquity, that is, if the time should come that this people should fall into transgression, they would be ripe for destruction.
20 And now I say unto you that well doth the Lord judge of your iniquities; well doth he cry unto this people, by the voice of his angels: Repent ye, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
21 Yea, well doth he cry, by the voice of his angels that: I will come down among my people, with equity and justice in my hands.
22 Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword.
Alma 10:19-22 (Emphasis mine)
Amulek reminds the people that Mosiah told them if they chose iniquity that they would be ready for destruction.
They are being judged by the Lord fairly. They are being warned that they need to repent.
7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Psalms 9:7-8 (Emphasis mine)
6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
Psalms 50:6 (Emphasis mine)
17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 (Emphasis mine)
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
John 5:26-27 (Emphasis mine)
15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
John 8:15 – 16 (Emphasis mine)
42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Acts 10:42 (Emphasis mine)
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
Jude 1:14-16 (Emphasis mine)
Amulek then informs them that, were it not for the prayers of the righteous, they would have already been destroyed.
What did Mosiah mean that if the people fell into transgression, they would be “ripe for destruction?” Richard Draper wrote:
“When iniquity ripens fully the cursings come. But what constitutes being ripe in iniquity? The Book of Mormon gives specific conditions: (1) when ‘the voice of this people should choose iniquity’ (Alma 10:19); (2) when the people ‘turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth’ (2 Nephi 28:16); (3) when they reject ‘every word of God’ (1 Nephi 17:35); and (4) ‘when [they] shall cast out the righteous from among [them], then shall [they] be ripe for destruction’ (Helaman 13:14).” [1] (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley remarked:
“ In Mosiah's constitution the people chose the local judges in local elections, and it was the local judges that decided everything, after all, because they chose the chief judge and could remove him if they wanted to. So the people were responsible, and they will be responsible; that's the whole idea of it. Not that they will always do right. He says, the voice of the people does right more often than not, but if they don't—if you should choose iniquity—then it's your own fault. You've made your own choice. If that time should come, then you would be ripe for destruction. These are the ground rules of the promise in the land.” [2] (Emphasis mine)
23 But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore, if ye will cast out the righteous from among you then will not the Lord stay his hand; but in his fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the time is soon at hand except ye repent.
24 And now it came to pass that the people were more angry with Amulek, and they cried out, saying: This man doth revile against our laws which are just, and our wise lawyers whom we have selected.
Alma 10:23-24 (Emphasis mine)
Since the prayers of the righteous were keeping them from destruction, Amulek tells them that if they cast out the righteous, there will be no reason for the Lord to stay his hand. Destruction would come upon them.
If it was possible, the people became even more angry. How dare he revile against their just laws and their wise lawyers they chose!
A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.
Benjamin Franklin
Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.
Benjamin Franklin
[1] Hubris and Ate: A Latter-day Warning from the Book of Mormon, Richard D. Draper, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 20, 2011.
[2] Lecture 48: Alma 10-12, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 20, 2011.
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