The words which Alma,
the High Priest according to the holy order of God, delivered to the people in
their cities and villages throughout the land.
Comprising chapter 5.
Chapter 5
To gain salvation, men
must repent and keep the commandments, be born again, cleanse their garments
through the blood of Christ, be humble and strip themselves from pride and
envy, and do the works of righteousness—The Good Shepherd calleth his
people—Those who do evil works are children of the devil—Alma testifies of the
truth of his doctrine and commands men to repent—Names of the righteous shall
be written in the book of life. About 83 B.C.
1 NOW it came to pass
that Alma began to deliver the word of God unto the people, first in the land
of Zarahemla, and from thence throughout all the land.
2 And these are the
words which he spake to the people in the church which was established in the
city of Zarahemla, according to his own record, saying:
3 I, Alma, having been
consecrated by my father, Alma, to be a high priest over the church of God, he
having power and authority from God to do these things, behold, I say unto you
that he began to establish a church in the land which was in the borders of
Nephi; yea, the land which was called the land of Mormon; yea, and he did
baptize his brethren in the waters of Mormon.
4 And behold, I say
unto you, they were delivered out of the hands of the people of king Noah, by
the mercy and power of God.
5 And behold, after
that, they were brought into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the
wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did
deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into
this land, and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this
land also.
6 And now behold, I
say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you
sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in
remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained
in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?
7 Behold, he changed
their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto
God. Behold, they were in the midst of
darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the
everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the
chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.
8 And now I ask of
you, my brethren, were they destroyed?
Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not.
9 And again I ask,
were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them
about, were they loosed? I say unto you,
Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming
love. And I say unto you that they are
saved.
10 And now I ask of
you on what conditions are they saved?
Yea, what grounds had they to hope for salvation? What is the cause of their being loosed from
the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell?
11 Behold, I can tell
you—did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the
mouth of Abinadi? And was he not a holy
prophet? Did he not speak the words of
God, and my father Alma believe them?
12 And according to
his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.
13 And behold, he
preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in
their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living
God. And behold, they were faithful
until the end; therefore they were saved.
Alma 5:1-13
Alma has resigned the chief judgeship and is concentrating
his efforts as the head of the church.
He began his ministry where you would expect, in the land of
Zarahemla.
In verse 2, Mormon tells us the source for this chapter is
Alma’s own record.
Alma begins by reminding the people from where he received
his authority. His father, a high
priest, established the church having power and authority from God.
While the Book of Mormon peoples
lived the law of Moses, they did so with the Melchizedek Priesthood (Alma 5:3;
13:6–11), and this may have had an impact on how they lived the law. They
surely continued the practice of blood sacrifice and circumcision required by
the covenant of Abraham until the coming of the resurrected Savior, at which
time these practices were fulfilled (3 Nephi 9:19–20; Moroni 8:8).[1]
His father and those who accepted his teachings were taken
into bondage. Eventually, they were
delivered out of bondage. “Now Alma, having been warned of the Lord
that the armies of king Noah would come upon them, and having made it known to
his people, therefore they gathered together their flocks, and took of their
grain, and departed into the wilderness before the armies of king Noah. And the Lord did strengthen them, that the
people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them. And they fled eight days' journey into the
wilderness” (Mosiah 23:1-3).
Alma1 and his people were tricked into bondage by
the Lamanites. “But after Alma had shown them the way that led to the land of Nephi
the Lamanites would not keep their promise; but they set guards round about the
land of Helam, over Alma and his brethren. And the remainder of them went to
the land of Nephi; and a part of them returned to the land of Helam, and also
brought with them the wives and the children of the guards who had been left in
the land. And the king of the Lamanites had granted unto Amulon that he should
be a king and a ruler over his people, who were in the land of Helam;
nevertheless he should have no power to do anything contrary to the will of the
king of the Lamanites” (Mosiah 23:37-39).
Alma reminds the people of Zarahemla the Lord led them out
of bondage through the power of Lord.
They were led to the land of Zarahemla, when Alma1 was tasked
to establish the church throughout the land.
To those who belonged to the church, he asked them if they
remembered the deliverance of their fathers.
Remembrance in the gospel is an important concept. “This
second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your
pure minds by way of remembrance” (2 Peter 3:1).
Do they remember their suffering and faith? Do they remember Alma1 delivered their souls
from hell? “Captivity and deliverance is
just one of the themes Alma continues to weave throughout his narrative.”[2]
As one who has experienced personal
bondage, Alma bases his sermon to the people of Zarahemla on the
captivity/deliverance theme while touching as well on the other images treated
here. He appeals to the people to remember their fathers' captivity and says a
merciful God has "delivered their souls from hell." … Though they
have been like sheep who have gone astray into the wilderness, they are encouraged
to bring forth good fruit. Otherwise, the ax is poised at the root of the tree
and the unrepentant shall be "hewn down and cast into the fire" (Alma
5:6, 7, 56).[3]
The Lord changed the hearts of Alma1’s
people. They were “awakened them out of a deep sleep and … awoke unto God.”
In spite of the fact they were in the mists of darkness, the
Lord illuminated their souls with His word.
Before accepting the word of God, “they
were encircled about by the bands of death and the chains of hell, and an everlasting
destruction did await them.”
On this topic, Elder David Bednar said:
A testimony is a gift from
God and is available to all of His children. Any honest seeker of truth can
obtain a testimony by exercising the necessary “particle of faith” in Jesus Christ to
“experiment upon” (Alma 32:27)
and “try the virtue of the word” (Alma 31:5),
to yield “to the enticings of the Holy Spirit” (Mosiah 3:19),
and to awaken unto God (see Alma 5:7).
Testimony brings increased personal accountability and is a source of purpose,
assurance, and joy.[4]
Were they destroyed?
No, they weren’t.
“And
now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many
to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command
that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he
doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which
they give unto him. And therefore, he
that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word;
and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of
the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know
them in full. And they that will harden
their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know
nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil,
and led by his will down to destruction.
Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell” (Alma 12:9-11).
Death’s bands were broken and the chains of hell were
loosed. “And behold I say unto you all that this was a snare of the adversary,
which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection
unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain
you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity”
(Alma 12:6).
Alma waxes poetically, telling us when they were saved, “they did sing redeeming love.”
Alma asks about conditions upon which they were saved; why
do they have hope for salvation? “The
answer he finds is the mighty change wrought in their hearts, as a result of
their faith. Because of the hope created by being thus born of God, they ‘put
their trust in the true and living God…’”[5]
Alma1 believed the words of Abinadi. He accepted the words of God he spoke. This led to “a might change … [of] heart.”
One of Alma's chief rhetorical
devices is repetition. Not only does he repeatedly present contrasting choices,
but he continually repeats words and phrases for emphasis. In fact, one gets
the impression that nearly every word or phrase is repeated at least once in
the sermon … The effect of such repetition is not only the affirmation of
Alma's authority but also the depth of his personal witness. That is, he is
speaking to them not only as high priest and leader of the church but also as a
reformed sinner ("a very wicked and an idolatrous man," Mosiah 27:8).[6]
Alma reminds them his father preached to their fathers, and
they also had “a might change wrought in
their hearts.” They became humble
and put their trust in God. They were
faithful to the end and were saved.
This has been mentioned before in scripture.
“My
soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before
God?” (Psalms 42:2).
“Be
wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask
not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken,
that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living
God” (Mormon 9:28).
“And
I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true
and faithful. He that endureth to the
end, the same shall be saved” (2 Nephi 31:15).
Those who are born of God must
continually strive to develop humility and walk blameless before God. As they
do this, they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit and bring forth good works,
retaining God's image in their countenances; their garments are eventually
washed white. They ultimately receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God (see Alma
5:13, 27, 28, 54).[7]
[1] Glimpses
of Lehi's Jerusalem – Sacred History, Covenants, and the Messiah: The Religious
Background of the World of Lehi, David Rolph Seely, Maxwell Institute,
accessed February 2, 2015.
[2] Alma
the Younger's Seminal Sermon at Zarahemla, Robert A. Rees, Maxwell
Institute, accessed February 2, 2015.
[3] Feasting
on the Word – "Not Cast Off Forever" – Imagery, Maxwell
Institute, accessed February 2, 2015.
[4] Converted
Unto the Lord, Elder David A. Bednar, October 2012 General Conference.
[5] The
True Points of My Doctrine, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed
February 3, 2015.
[6] Alma
the Younger's Seminal Sermon at Zarahemla, Robert A. Rees, Maxwell
Institute, accessed February 3, 2015.
[7] The
Way of Life and the Way of Death in the Book of Mormon, Mack C. Stirling,
Maxwell Institute, accessed February 3, 2015.
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