27 And again Alma
commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every
one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart
more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required;
and to him that had not should be given.
28 And thus they
should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires
towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy,
naked soul.
29 And this he said
unto them, having been commanded of God; and they did walk uprightly before
God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to
their needs and their wants.
30 And now it came to
pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the
forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters
of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who
there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they,
for they shall sing to his praise forever.
31 And these things
were done in the borders of the land, that they might not come to the knowledge
of the king.
32 But behold, it came
to pass that the king, having discovered a movement among the people, sent his
servants to watch them. Therefore on the
day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord
they were discovered unto the king.
33 And now the king
said that Alma was stirring up the people to rebellion against him; therefore
he sent his army to destroy them.
34 And it came to pass
that Alma and the people of the Lord were apprised of the coming of the king's
army; therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the
wilderness.
35 And they were in
number about four hundred and fifty souls.
Mosiah 18:27-35
The church has been established among those who accepted the
teachings of Alma1. Their
religious leaders have been told they were to perform labors to support
themselves. Alma1 tells the
people they are responsible for the poor.
Unknowingly, he echoed the words of King Benjamin informing the people
they were to “impart of their substance,
everyone according to that which he had.”
Those that were better off were expected to give abundantly. Those who were poor were also expected to
give what they could.
When they helped the poor, they were to do it freely. They were to help all in need.
The church led by Alma, however,
continued to distinguish itself by serving and supporting one another
specifically "without money" (Alma 1:20). Preserving the tradition
instituted by Alma the Elder at the Waters of Mormon, these covenant people
supported one another by sharing their goods, "impart[ing] of their
substance, every one according to that which he had" (Mosiah 18:27).[1]
Once they received God’s commandments, they obeyed. They imparted “to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their
needs and wants.”
The Book of Mormon message is that
the distribution of income is based on the level of caring and unity among the
people. Among the righteous, income is evenly distributed as are opportunities
to progress. The distribution of income is simply a reflection of their unity.
The righteous were taught that their giving should be voluntary and result from
their love of God and desires to serve him (Mosiah 18:28). By voluntarily
redistributing their income to the poor, they were able to maintain an economic
system that included incentives to work hard because of individual
responsibility and rewards for efforts. Moreover, one of the reasons the caring
work hard is that they desire to use the product of their work to bless the
lives of others.[2]
Describing the waters of Mormon, we see a different side of
Mormon, a poetic side.
This was all done in Mormon,
yea, by the waters of Mormon
in the forest that was
near the waters of Mormon
the place of Mormon,
the forest of Mormon,
how beautiful are they
to the eyes of them
who came to the knowledge
of their Redeemer,
and how blessed are they,
for they shall sing to his praise forever.
Did you notice that each reference
to place, waters, and forest is condensed and repeated? Truly, this is elevated
poetic language, written by one very much alive both to the Spirit and to the
sounds and rhythms of words and phrases. And note that all this poetry builds
to the fact that here these blessed souls "came to the knowledge of their
Redeemer," whose praises "they shall sing . . . forever." They
became disciples, in the finest sense of the word.[3]
The waters of Mormon was located within the borders of the
land ruled by Noah; however, eventually they were discovered by the king. He sent his servants to watch the
people. When they gathered “to hear the word of the Lord they were
discovered unto the king.”
Noah claimed Alma1 was attempting to stir up the
people to rebel against him. An army was
sent to destroy them.
Fortunately, Alma1 was warned about the army
coming to destroy them. The roughly 450
people were able to pack up their tents and take supplies and departed into the
wilderness.
The reader is led to see the
contrasting lives, not just of Alma and Amulon, but of the people of Limhi and
Alma and the people of Amulon. Both Alma and Amulon led colonies into the
wilderness: Alma and his people, when Noah's soldiers discovered their
"movement," "took their tents and their families and departed
into the wilderness" (Mosiah 18:32, 34). Amulon and his followers also
fled into the wilderness, but at Noah's command they left their families behind
(see Mosiah 19:11-23).[4]
[1] Weighing
and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Maxwell
Institute, accessed October 30, 2014.
[2] Economic
Insights from the Book of Mormon, Lindon J. Robison, Maxwell Institute,
accessed October 30, 2014.
[3] The
Book of Mormon: Passport to Discipleship, Marilyn Arnold, Maxwell
Institute, accessed October 30, 2014.
[4] The
Stealing of the Daughters of the Lamanites, Alan Goff, Maxwell Institute,
accessed October 30, 2014.
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