11 And as I said unto
you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the
Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake
as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which
they stood;
12 And so great was
their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words
which he spake unto them.
13 Nevertheless he cried
again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church
of God? For the Lord hath said: This is
my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is
the transgression of my people.
14 And again, the
angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the
prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much
faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the
truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power
and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered
according to their faith.
15 And now behold, can
ye dispute the power of God? For behold,
doth not my voice shake the earth? And
can ye not also behold me before you?
And I am sent from God.
16 Now I say unto
thee: Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam, and
in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he has done for them; for
they were in bondage, and he has delivered them. And now I say unto thee, Alma, go thy way,
and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered, and
this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off.
17 And now it came to
pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma, and he
departed.
18 And now Alma and
those that were with him fell again to the earth, for great was their
astonishment; for with their own eyes they had beheld an angel of the Lord; and
his voice was as thunder, which shook the earth; and they knew that there was
nothing save the power of God that could shake the earth and cause it to
tremble as though it would part asunder.
19 And now the
astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open
his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands;
therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even
until he was laid before his father.
Mosiah 27:11-19
The church is facing those who wish to overthrow the
church. Among those we see the son of
Alma1, Alma2, and the four sons of Mosiah. They are very effective in their efforts to
destroy the church. This group of five
are about to find a new calling and purpose in life.
One day, as they were doing their dirty work, an angel
appeared. He descended “and he spake as it were with a voice of
thunder.”
Needless to say, they were shocked. They were so surprised they fell to the
earth. When he spoke, they could not
understand him. So, he commanded, “Alma, arise and stand forth.” He wasted no time in letting Alma2
know why he was there.
He commanded Alma2 to stand. He then asked, why he was trying to destroy
the church? “[T]he Lord hath said, This is my church, and I will establish it, and
nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.”
The people, as well as his father, have been praying “with much faith concerning thee.” The angel is here to convince Alma2 “of the power and authority of God.” The prayers offered by His servants were
answered “according to their faith.”
How can Alma2 dispute God’s power? The voice of the angel causes the earth to
shake. He sees an angel and reminds him,
“I am sent from God.”
The angel commands him to go. He reminds him of all the great things God
has done for the Nephites. He tells Alma2
to remember Alma1 and his people were delivered from bondage through
the power of God. Also, those in the
land of Nephi were also delivered from bondage through God’s power.
He commands Alma2 to go. Cease to attempt to destroy God’s
church. If he doesn’t, he will be cast
off. With his message delivered, the
angel departed.
All fell to the ground as the angel departed. It comes as no surprise they were astonished
about what had happen. They saw an
angel. They heard his voice. The angel’s voice caused the earth to quake, “as though it would part asunder.” Obviously, the shaking of the earth they
experienced was great.
Alma2, speaking to his son Helaman, would recall
this experience. “And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the
whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the
fear of the Lord came upon us” (Alma 36:7).
The vision ended. Not
only had he fell to the ground, but he was dumb; he was so weak, he couldn’t
move. He had to be carried to his father
by the sons of Mosiah, “who had also fallen to the earth but were not the focus
of the angel's rebuke and therefore quickly recovered…”[1]
Being struck dumb after a powerful vision is not an uncommon
occurrence. When Daniel saw his glorious
vision, he wrote, “And when he had spoken
such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb” (Daniel
10:15). When he doubted the angel’s
words about his wife getting pregnant at her advanced age, he also was struck
dumb.
20
And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that
these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which
shall be fulfilled in their season.
21
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in
the temple.
22
And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he
had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained
speechless.
Luke 1:20-22
[1] Studies
in the Bible and Antiquity 3 (2011) – "According to Their Language, unto
Their Understanding": The Cultural Context of Hierophanies and Theophanies
in Latter-day Saint Canon, Mark Alan Wright, Maxwell Institute, accessed December
19, 2014.
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