21 For they were
desirous to take them that they might punish them; for they had come into the
land of Nephi by night, and carried off their grain and many of their precious
things; therefore they laid wait for them.
22 And it came to pass
that there was no more disturbance between the Lamanites and the people of
Limhi, *even until the time that Ammon and his brethren came into
the land.
23 And the king having
been without the gates of the city with his guard, discovered Ammon and his
brethren; and supposing them to be priests of Noah therefore he caused that
they should be taken, and bound, and cast into prison. And had they been the priests of Noah he
would have caused that they should be put to death.
24 But when he found
that they were not, but that they were his brethren, and had come from the land
of Zarahemla, he was filled with exceedingly great joy.
25 Now king Limhi had
sent, previous to the coming of Ammon, a small number of men to search for the
land of Zarahemla; but they could not find it, and they were lost in the
wilderness.
26 Nevertheless, they
did find a land which had been peopled; yea, a land which was covered with dry
bones; yea, a land which had been peopled and which had been destroyed; and
they, having supposed it to be the land of Zarahemla, returned to the land of
Nephi, having arrived in the borders of the land not many days before the
coming of Ammon.
27 And they brought a
record with them, even a record of the people whose bones they had found; and
it was engraven on plates of ore.
28 And now Limhi was
again filled with joy on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Mosiah had
a gift from God, whereby he could +interpret such engravings; yea, and Ammon
also did rejoice.
29 Yet Ammon and his
brethren were filled with sorrow because so many of their brethren had been
slain;
30 And also that king
Noah and his priests had caused the people to commit so many sins and
iniquities against God; and they also did mourn for the death of Abinadi; and
also for the departure of Alma and the people that went with him, who had
formed a church of God through the strength and power of God, and faith on the
words which had been spoken by Abinadi.
31 Yea, they did mourn
for their departure, for they knew not whither they had fled. Now they would have gladly joined with them,
for they themselves had entered into a covenant with God to serve him and keep
his commandments.
32 And now since the
coming of Ammon, king Limhi had also entered into a covenant with God, and also
many of his people, to serve him and keep his commandments.
33 And it came to pass
that king Limhi and many of his people were desirous to be baptized; but there
was none in the land that had authority from God. And Ammon declined doing this thing,
considering himself an unworthy servant.
34 Therefore they did
not at that time form themselves into a church, waiting upon the Spirit of the
Lord. Now they were desirous to become
even as Alma and his brethren, who had fled into the wilderness.
35 They were desirous
to be baptized as a witness and a testimony that they were willing to serve God
with all their hearts; nevertheless they did prolong the time; and an account
of their baptism shall be given hereafter.
36 And now all the
study of Ammon and his people, and king Limhi and his people, was to deliver
themselves out of the hands of the Lamanites and from bondage.
Mosiah 21:21-36
Peace reigned in the land.
One day, Limhi was outside of the city gates with his guards. They found a group of men whom they believed
were some of his father’s priests. He
had them arrested and placed into prison.
It turned out he was mistaken. He
found Ammon and his party. Remember, we
met Ammon in Chapter 7. They were
searching for Limhi’s party and, at this point, didn’t realize they had found
them.
7
And behold, they met the king of the people who were in the land of Nephi, and
in the land of Shilom; and they were surrounded by the king's guard, and were
taken, and were bound, and were committed to prison.
8
And it came to pass when they had been in prison two days they were again
brought before the king, and their bands were loosed; and they stood before the
king, and were permitted, or rather commanded, that they should answer the
questions which he should ask them.
Mosiah 7:7-8
Ammon responded:
12
And now, when Ammon saw that he was permitted to speak, he went forth and bowed
himself before the king; and rising again he said: O king, I am very thankful
before God this day that I am yet alive, and am permitted to speak; and I will
endeavor to speak with boldness;
13
For I am assured that if ye had known me ye would not have suffered that I
should have worn these bands. For I am
Ammon, and am a descendant of Zarahemla, and have come up out of the land of
Zarahemla to inquire concerning our brethren, whom Zeniff brought up out of
that land.
Mosiah 7:12-13
And here, we return to the events described in Chapter 7. Once
Limhi learned who they were, there was much rejoicing. As he spoke to Ammon and his party, he told
them of an interesting event.
Limhi decided to send a party to find Zarahemla. Their purpose was to ask for help freeing
themselves from the bondage of the Lamanites.
As this group wandered, they became lost.
During their search, they found a place where bones were
scattered across the land. Weapons of
war were found among the bones. They
also found a set of twenty-four plates.
Ammon told his of their king, who was a seer and could translate the
record.
Limhi was rejoiced knowing there was one who could interpret
the record found. The power to translate
was mentioned by Amaleki.
20
And it came to pass in the days of Mosiah, there was a large stone brought unto
him with engravings on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and
power of God.
21
And they gave an account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people
of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.
22
It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. And his first parents came out from the tower,
at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of
the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their
bones lay scattered in the land northward.
Omni 1:20-22
In the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, Ammon was
recorded as referring to King Benjamin.
In the 1837 edition, it is changed to refer to Mosiah. It appears this change was made by someone
other than Joseph Smith. Critics use
this as an argument against the Book of Mormon.
We don’t know exactly when Ammon left Zarahemla. It is very much a possibility King Benjamin
was still alive when Ammon left. He
lived for three years after Mosiah2 became king. Ammon referring to King Benjamin, if he were
alive, would have been a natural thing.
The challenge to the Book of Mormon does not stand.[1]
Ammon and his group were told about King Noah, Abinadi, and
what Noah’s priests had done. They also
were told about Alma1 and those who went with him and the church he
had formed.
The people of Limhi wanted to be baptized, but no one had
authority to perform the ordinance.
Ammon refused, “considering himself
an unworthy servant.” Limhi’s people
did make a covenant with God to serve Him and keep His commandments.
[1] Ignoratio
Elenchi: The Dialogue That Never Was, L. Ara Norwood, Maxwell Institute,
accessed November 17, 2014.
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