34 Yea, he saith: Come
unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall
eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely;
35 Yea, come unto me
and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast
into the fire—
36 For behold, the
time is at hand that whosoever bringeth forth not good fruit, or whosoever
doeth not the works of righteousness, the same have cause to wail and mourn.
37 O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed
up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the
ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd,
notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after
you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!
Alma 5:34-47
Continuing to preach to the people of Zarahemla, Alma tells
them the Lord tells them to come to Him and partake of the fruit of the tree of
life. Lehi described the fruit, “And it came to pass that I did go forth and
partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all
that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I
beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had
ever seen” (1 Nephi 8:11). Speaking
to Laman and Lemuel, Nephi told them, “Wherefore,
the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life,
whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea,
and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my
brethren” (1 Nephi 15:36).
Referring to his father’s dream, Nephi wrote:
He
doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the
world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw call
men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth
none that they shall not partake of his salvation. Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart
from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay;
but he saith: Come unto me all ye bends of the earth, buy milk and
honey, without money and without price. Behold, hath he commanded any that they
should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. Hath he commanded any that they should not
partake of his salvation? Behold I say
unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his
people that they should persuade all men to repentance. Behold, hath the Lord
commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are
privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden. (2 Nephi 26:24-28).
Alma also invokes the first fathers
of the Book of Mormon, Lehi and Nephi, by using the central image of their remarkable
shared vision—the tree of life … By invoking this central Book of Mormon story,
Alma is reminding his hearers of the dramatically contrasting choices made by
Lehi's sons—those who chose righteousness and those who chose wickedness—and of
the unfolding of their respective histories from these seminal decisions.
Alma's hearers have just suffered the consequences of the kinds of choices made
by Lehi's sons Laman and Lemuel.[1]
The Savior, speaking to the Nephites who survived the
cataclysm told the people, “O all ye that
are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return
unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea,
verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards
you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who
come unto me” (3 Nephi 9:13-14)
He tells them the Lord wants them to “eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely.” Jacob would tell the Nephites, “Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore, do not spend
money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the
words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon
that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight
in fatness” (2 Nephi 9:50-51).
Alma would refer again to the water of life when he counsels
his son, Corianton. “Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the
waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to
come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds”
(Alma 42:27).
Those that are righteous will bring forth good fruit. Those who do evil will bring forth “not good fruit.” When Christ went to John to be baptized,
he told the sadducees and Pharisees, “And
now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matthew
3:10).
During the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior warned against
false prophets.
Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves. Ye shall know [GR recognize, detect] them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit [The Greek wording
carries the meaning of beautiful, precious fruit without blemish]; but a corrupt
[GR decayed, rotten, stale] tree bringeth forth evil fruit [GR bad, spoiled,
degenerate]. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree
that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore
by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:15-20
“Alma's language continues to be strong, undoubtedly
motivated by what he must sense is the reluctance of some of his hearers to
respond to his message.”[2] He calls
down the wicked, pointing out their sins.
They are proud and vain because of the things they have. They are more interested in the world then God. Those that at one time had been a part of the
church have been led astray. Nephi
described these people. “They wear stiff
necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and
abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who
are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many
instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men” (2
Nephi 28:14).
They are like sheep without a shepherd. “Because I have called, and ye refused; I
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all
my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I
will mock when your fear cometh” (Proverbs 1:24-26). Nephi reminds us that the Lord will not let
them go astray. “And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare
the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore,
inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised
land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led” (1 Nephi 17:13).
The people refuse to hear and respond to the voice of the
Shepherd. Amulek would tell the
Amonites:
Nevertheless,
after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries
and marvelous power. I said I never had
known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his
mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives
of this people. Nevertheless, I did
harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I
knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on
rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day
of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the judges. (Alma 10:5-6).
[1] Bountiful
Harvest – Alma the Younger's Seminal Sermon at Zarahemla, Robert A. Rees,
Maxwell Institute, accessed February 11, 2015.
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