Alma 9:23-27

23 And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress contrary to the light and knowledge which they do have, I say unto you that if this be the case, that if they should fall into transgression, it would be far more tolerable for the Lamanites than for them.

24 For behold, the promises of the Lord are extended to the Lamanites, but they are not unto you if ye transgress; for has not the Lord expressly promised and firmly decreed, that if ye will rebel against him that ye shall utterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth?

25 And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;

26 And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.

27 And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name.

Alma 9:23- 27

Alma continuing to preach Ammonihahites.  As the people had, at one time, been taught the gospel and were a righteous people, their transgression is even more serious.  Job said, “If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures [HEB pleasantness]. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge” (Job 36:11-12).

Solomon could very well have had the Ammonihahites in mind when he wrote, “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; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 1:24-29).

To those who did not believe on Him, yet called Him Lord, the Savior said, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46).  Stephen told the Jews, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?  and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it” (Acts 7:52-53).

Alma again emphasizes the Lamanites will not face the same judgements as they had been corrupted by the traditions of their fathers.  As the people of Ammonihah had received His words, they will fact strict judgement.

The Lord has extended promises to the Lamanites.  Nephi wrote:

“And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews. And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers. And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people. And it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people” (2 Nephi 30:4-7).

The Lord revealed:

“Nevertheless, my work shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the testimony of the Jews, even so shall the knowledge of a Savior come unto my people—And to the Nephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers—And this testimony shall come to the knowledge of the Lamanites, and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who dwindled in unbelief because of the iniquity of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their brethren the Nephites, because of their iniquities and their abominations. And for this very purpose are these plates preserved, which contain these records—that the promises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his people; And that the Lamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the promises of the Lord, and that they may believe the gospel and rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be glorified through faith in his name, and that through their repentance they might be saved.  Amen” (D&C 3:16-20).

But, these promises are not offered to them.  The Lord has made it clear, save they repent, they will be destroyed.[1]

God does not want them destroyed.  He has sent an angel to visit people, calling on them to repent. “There is so much of evil everywhere. Temptation, with all its titillating influences, is about us everywhere. We lose some to these destructive forces, unfortunately. We sorrow over every one that is lost. We reach out to help them, to save them, but in too many cases our entreaties are spurned. Tragic is the course they are following. It is the way which leads down to destruction.”^[2]

John the Baptist, called on the people to repent.  “And saying, Repent [The Greek word denotes "a change of heart or mind," i.e., "a conversion."] ye: for the kingdom of heaven ^cis at hand [GR has come]. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Matthew 3:2-3).

Alma told the people of Zarahemla, But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth” (Alma 7:9).

When Nephi₂ and Lehi₂ were in prison, they were miraculously released.  “And it came to pass that there came a voice as if it were above the cloud of darkness, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my servants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings. And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—And notwithstanding the mildness of the voice, behold the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison trembled again, as if it were about to tumble to the earth; and behold the cloud of darkness, which had overshadowed them, did not disperse—And behold the voice came again, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; and seek no more to destroy my servants.  And it came to pass that the earth shook again, and the walls trembled” (Helaman 5:29-32).

Once when Alma was discouraged at his lack of success in preaching to the people of Ammonihah, the same angel visited him to send him back to tell the people that "except they repent the Lord God will destroy them" (Alma 8:16; see Alma 8:14–18). When he delivered his message in Ammonihah, Alma declared, "And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people" (Alma 9:25). This was the reason the angel had originally been sent to Alma and his friends. Alma then spoke of Christ's coming in words that remind us of his earlier vision, and added, "Now behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people" (Alma 9:29; see Alma 9:25–29).^[3]

The day the Lord comes in his glory is coming.  He will be “full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.”

When teaching the people of Zarahemla, Alma told them, “For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the .time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people” (Alma 7:7)  John wrote, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  Through the grace of Christ, are we saved.  “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11).

In the record of Alma the Younger, Jesus Christ is said to be "full of grace, and mercy, and truth" (Alma 5:48) or "full of grace, equity, and truth" (Alma 9:26; 13:9). Only once does Alma address the question of how people obtain grace. Alma tells the people that they must continue "in the supplicating of his grace" (Alma 7:3), meaning that people had to ask for it.^[4]

The Savior will come to redeem those who repent, are baptized, and have faith in His name.  “Alma did not say that Jesus would redeem everybody. The promise was restricted to those who, because of their faith in Christ, would repent and be baptized.”^[5]

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[1] Towards the end of Nephite history, Mormon would write, “And it came to pass that there were ten more who did fall by the sword, with their ten thousand each; yea, even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me, and also a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had deserted over unto the Lamanites, had fallen; and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth” (Mormon 6:15). 

[2] My Testimony, President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 2000, pg. 69.

[3] Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited – The Voice of an Angel, John A. Tvedtnes, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 21, 2015.

[4] The Grace of Christ, John Gee, Maxwell Institute, accessed March 21, 2015.

[5] Repentance, President Marion G.  Romney, October 1980 General Conference.