Alma 9:1-10

The words of Alma, and also the words of Amulek, which were declared unto the people who were in the land of Ammonihah.  And also they are cast into prison, and delivered by the miraculous power of God which was in them, according to the record of Alma.

Comprising chapters 9 to 14 inclusive.

Chapter 9

Alma commands the people of Ammonihah to repent—The Lord will be merciful to the Lamanites in the last days—If the Nephites forsake the light, they shall be destroyed by the Lamanites—The Son of God soon cometh—He shall redeem those who repent and are baptized and have faith in his name. About 82 B.C.

1 AND again, I, Alma, having been commanded of God that I should take Amulek and go forth and preach again unto this people, or the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass as I began to preach unto them, they began to contend with me, saying:

2 Who art thou?  Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of one man, although he should preach unto us that the earth should pass away?

3 Now they understood not the words which they spake; for they knew not that the earth should pass away.

4 And they said also: We will not believe thy words if thou shouldst prophesy that this great city should be destroyed in one day.

5 Now they knew not that God could do such marvelous works, for they were a hard–hearted and a stiffnecked people.

6  And they said: ^aWho is God, that sendeth ^bno more authority than one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?

7  And they stood forth to lay their hands on me; but behold, they did not.  And I stood with boldness to declare unto them, yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:

8  Behold, O ye wicked and perverse ^ageneration, how have ye forgotten the ^btradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.

9  Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the ^ahand of God?  Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?

10  And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he ^adelivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?

11  Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his ^along-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of ^bendless misery and woe.

12  Behold, now I say unto you that he commandeth you to repent; and except ye repent, ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.  But behold, this is not all—he has commanded you to repent, or he will utterly ^adestroy you from off the face of the earth; yea, he will visit you in his ^banger, and in his ^cfierce anger he will not turn away.

13  Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: ^aInasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land?  And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

14  Now I would that ye should remember, that inasmuch as the Lamanites have not kept the commandments of God, they have been ^acut off from the presence of the Lord.  Now we see that the word of the Lord has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites have been cut off from his presence, from the beginning of their transgressions in the land.

15  Nevertheless I say unto you, that it shall be more ^atolerable for them in the day of judgment than for you, if ye remain in your sins, yea, and even more tolerable for them in this life than for you, except ye repent.

Alma 9:1-15

Alma and Amulek go among the Ammonihahites and began preaching the gospel.  No sooner did Alma begin to preach, then they began to contend with him.

The Mosaic Law required two witnesses.  “At the mouth [IE On the evidence] of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death” (Deuteronomy 17:6).  They rejected his words as they were the testimony of one man.

After Alma's return to Ammonihah and while he was spiritually preparing Amulek, the people “did wax more gross in their iniquities” (Alma 8:28). Again Alma “went forth,” this time with Amulek, “to declare the words of God unto” the wicked of Ammonihah (Alma 8:30). Filled with the Holy Ghost, Alma and Amulek preached and prophesied “according to the spirit and power which the Lord had given them” (Alma 8:32). Alma was the first to speak, but his spirit and power seemed not to influence the people. They reacted contentiously (see Alma 9:1). Not yet realizing that Alma had proselytized a powerful ally, they scoffed at the notion that “we shall believe the testimony of one man” (Alma 9:2).[1]

Alma had prophesied unless they repent, their city would be destroyed in a day.  They must have thought Alma had lost it.  The refused to accept their mighty city could be destroyed, let alone in one day.^[2]

Because of their wickedness, they had no idea God could do such works.  The Lord has made it clear His works will go forward. “The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught” (D&C 3:1).

In addition, having long since lost the Spirit and forgotten the power of God, “they knew not that the earth should pass away” (Alma 9:3); so they ridiculed the idea that their “great city should be destroyed in one day” (Alma 9:4). All this was because they “knew not that God could do such marvelous works, for they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people” (Alma 9:5). Like the apostates in all dispensations, the reaction of those in the order of Nehor is best described by the Prophet Joseph Smith when he taught that “the apostate is left naked and destitute of the Spirit of God. . . . When once that light which was in them is taken from them, they become as much darkened as they were previously enlightened, and then, no marvel, if all their power should be enlisted against the truth, and they, Judas like, seek the destruction of those who were their greatest benefactors.”[3]

They then ask a question the wicked have asked since the beginning – “Who is God?”  The first person to ask this question was Cain.  “And Adam and Eve, his wife, ceased not to call upon God.  And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said: I have gotten a man from the Lord; wherefore he may not reject his words.  But behold, Cain hearkened not, saying: Who is the Lord that I should know him?” (Moses 5:16).

Another who asked the question was Pharaoh. “And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?  I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2).  King Noah also raised that question.  “Now when king Noah had heard of the words which Abinadi had spoken unto the people, he was also wroth; and he said: Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?” (Mosiah 11:27).

-They complained that only one man was sent to declare the truth.  Why should they listen to one man?^[4]  The crowd attempted to grab Alma, but Alma stood boldly before the onslaught.  He began addressing the crowd.

After the attempted to apprehend Alma, he continues, calling them a “wicked and perverse generation.”  “Rather than calling them his ‘beloved brethren’ (Alma 7:1), he designates these people a ‘wicked and perverse generation’ (Alma 9:8). Implicitly, he seems to have little hope for reform but desires, if at all possible, to shake them into awareness and action.”[5]

He asked if they had forgotten “the traditions of your fathers?”[6] “Alma reminded [his] hearers on [this] occasion, his people were to ‘remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God . . . [and] that they were all led by him through the wilderness’ (Alma 9:9). Alma clearly implies that Lehi and his party would not have survived in the wilderness without divine aid.”[7]

Lehi was led out of Jerusalem by the Lord.  They were led by Him through the wilderness.

Alma repetitively asked if they had “forgotten” or if they did not “remember.” Alma spoke as though he was not teaching these people anything new, but reminding them of covenants and commandments with which they had once been conversant (see Alma 9:8–14). In a similar vein, Joseph Smith once told a member of the church that “When you joined this Church you enlisted to serve God. When you did that you left the neutral ground, and you never can get back on to it. Should you forsake the Master you enlisted to serve it will be by the instigation of the evil one, and you will follow his dictation and be his servant.”[8]

He reminded the Ammonihahites the Lord had “delivered our fathers out of the hands of the enemies and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren.”  S. Kent Brown raises an interesting issue.

Alma recounted that “our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God . . . through the wilderness.” Immediately thereafter Alma asked the question: “have ye forgotten . . . how many times he delivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed?” (Alma 9:9–10). Enemies? Destroyed? Do these expressions fit into a picture of Lehi in the desert? To be sure, the phrase “our fathers” may point to an intermediate generation, nearer Alma's time, who had suffered difficulties with “their enemies.” But the context also allows the possibility that Lehi, too, had experienced troubles with “enemies.”[9]

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[1] The Temple in Time and Eternity – Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah, Thomas R. Valletta, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 15, 2015.

[2] As we will see, they were wrong and paid for their rejection of Alma.  “But behold, in one day it was left desolate; and the carcases were mangled by dogs and wild beasts of the wilderness” (Alma 16:10).

[3] The Temple in Time and Eternity – Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah, Thomas R. Valletta, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 15, 2015.

[4] Little do they know that there will be a second witness. “And now, when Amulek had spoken these words the people began to be astonished, seeing there was more than one witness who testified of the things whereof they were accused, and also of the things which were to come, according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them” (Alma 10:12).

[5] Feasting on the Word – “Know the Covenants of the Lord” – Sermons, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 15, 2015.

[6] This is one of the few times “traditions of your fathers” is used is a positivie manner.  Usually it refers to the Lamanites as the source of their unrighteousness.

[7] Journey of Faith – Foreword, S. Kent Brown & Peter Johnson, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 15, 2015.

[8] The Temple in Time and Eternity – Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah, Thomas R. Valletta, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 15, 2015.

[9] Refining the Spotlight on Lehi and Sariah, S. Kent Brown, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 15, 2015.