11 Nevertheless, they hardened their hearts, saying unto him: Behold, we know that thou art Alma; and we know that thou art high priest over the church which thou hast established in many parts of the land, according to your tradition; and we are not of thy church, and we do not believe in such foolish traditions.
12 And now we know that because we are not of thy church we know that thou hast no power over us; and thou hast delivered up the judgment–seat unto Nephihah; therefore thou art not the chief judge over us.
13 Now when the people had said this, and withstood all his words, and reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city, he departed thence and took his journey towards the city which was called Aaron.
Alma 8:11-13 (Emphasis mine)
As Alma(2) preached to them, he got quite a response from the people. We know you, Alma(2). We don’t believe in your “foolish traditions.” Not only that, you’re not the chief judge anymore. You have no power over us. We can do whatever we please, within the law.
So, they abused him (both verbally and physically), spit on him, and ran him out of town. And that was the end of Alma(2)’s work there, or so they thought.
Thomas Valletta describes the people of Ammonihah.
“They were a hard-hearted people who were familiar with Alma and yet rejected his authority as the high priest, believing that he had no power over them (see Alma 8:11–12). Their disagreement with Alma was vehement to the point of bigoted derision and physical abuse (see Alma 8:13).” [1] (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley also discussed the people of Ammonihah.
“No thank you. They were very frank about it—very rude, as a matter of fact. [There is a saying that] nothing is worse than a great man who has lost his clout, and here he had. ‘Thou hast no power over us.’ They leaned over backwards to insult him because they knew he had no power, by the constitution he himself agreed on. He could not use any religious compulsion on anyone. ‘And thou hast delivered up the judgment seat unto Nephihah [and you're not chief of the army anymore]; therefore thou art not the chief judge over us.’ He had lost his clout, and what did they do? They reviled him. They spat on him ‘and caused that he should be cast out of their city.’ They threw him out.” [2] (Emphasis mine)
12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
1 Corinthians 4:12-13 (Emphasis mine)
14 And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:
15 Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.
16 And behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them. Yea, say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will destroy them.
17 For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the statutes, and judgments, and commandments which he has given unto his people.
Alma 8:14-17 (Emphasis mine)
Alma(2) is really down in the dumps. Discouragement is a great tool the devil uses to keep us from doing what’s right. Then, he saw an old friend.
The same angel who had first visited him appeared to him again. He had cause to rejoice since he had been so faithful. (This was a much different message then he lasted delivered to Alma(2).)
Then, he was commanded to return to the city to call them to repentance and warn them that they would be destroyed if they failed to repent. Why would the Lord destroy them? How wicked were they? Verse 17 tells us that “they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people.” The liberties of the people were threatened by those in Ammonihah.
Ryan Davis writes:
“The Book of Mormon is replete with leaders who incite conflicts in which their constituents are made to suffer for their leaders' gain. A mere mention of the names Laman, Amalickiah, Ammoron, Gadianton, Zerahemnah (and, less conspicuously, Giddianhi, Tubaloth, and Amlici) is probably sufficient. Typically leaders have a profound and possibly deterministic effect on society's direction. The judges and lawyers of Ammonihah conspired to roll back the state's democratic institutions and were willing to resort to violence to achieve their goals (see Alma 8:17; 10:27).” [3] (Emphasis mine)
[1] Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah, Thomas R. Valletta, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 9, 2011.
[2] Lecture 47: Alma 5-10, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 9, 2011.
[3] For the Peace of the People: War and Democracy in the Book of Mormon, Ryan W. Davis, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 9, 2011.
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