An account of the
preaching of Aaron, and Muloki, and their brethren, to the Lamanites.
Comprising chapters 21
to 26 inclusive.
Chapter 21
Aaron teaches the
Amalekites about Christ and his atonement—Aaron and his brethren are imprisoned
in Middoni—After their deliverance they teach in the synagogues and make many
converts—Lamoni grants religious freedom to the people in the land of Ishmael.
About 90–77 B.C.
1 NOW when Ammon and
his brethren separated themselves in the borders of the land of the Lamanites,
behold Aaron took his journey towards the land which was called by the
Lamanites, Jerusalem, calling it after the land of their fathers' nativity; and
it was away joining the borders of Mormon.
2 Now the Lamanites
and the Amalekites and the people of Amulon had built a great city, which was
called Jerusalem.
3 Now the Lamanites of
themselves were sufficiently hardened, but the Amalekites and the Amulonites
were still harder; therefore they did cause the Lamanites that they should
harden their hearts, that they should wax strong in wickedness and their
abominations.
4 And it came to pass
that Aaron came to the city of Jerusalem, and first began to preach to the
Amalekites. And he began to preach to
them in their synagogues, for they had built synagogues after the order of the
Nehors; for many of the Amalekites and the Amulonites were after the order of
the Nehors.
5 Therefore, as Aaron
entered into one of their synagogues to preach unto the people, and as he was
speaking unto them, behold there arose an Amalekite and began to contend with
him, saying: What is that thou hast testified?
Hast thou seen an angel? Why do
not angels appear unto us? Behold are
not this people as good as thy people?
6 Thou also sayest,
except we repent we shall perish. How
knowest thou the thought and intent of our hearts? How knowest thou that we have cause to
repent? How knowest thou that we are not
a righteous people? Behold, we have
built sanctuaries, and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God. We do believe that God will save all men.
7 Now Aaron said unto
him: Believest thou that the Son of God shall come to redeem mankind from their
sins?
8 And the man said
unto him: We do not believe that thou knowest any such thing. We do not believe in these foolish traditions. We do not believe that thou knowest of things
to come, neither do we believe that thy fathers and also that our fathers did
know concerning the things which they spake, of that which is to come.
Alma 21:1-8
We now go back in time to when the group separated.[1] Aaron and his group went to the land of
Jerusalem, along the borders of Mormon. In the land of Jerusalem was the city
of Jerusalem, built by Amulon[2], the
Amalekites, and the Lamanites. While the
Lamanites were a hardened people, the Amulonites and the Amalkites were an even
harder people.
“And now the priests of king Noah, being ashamed to return
to the city of Nephi, yea, and also fearing that the people would slay them,
therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children. And having
tarried in the wilderness, and having discovered the daughters of the
Lamanites, they laid and watched them; And when there were but few of them
gathered together to dance, they came forth out of their secret places and took
them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the
daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness” (Mosiah 20:3-5).
The first city to which Aaron and his party went was
Jerusalem. The Amalekites lived in
Jerusalem. They had their synagogues and
followed after the order of Nehor.[3] This is the first mention of the Amalekites
in the Book of Mormon. Who are they?
More mysterious are the Amalekites.
They are first mentioned at Alma 21:1–8 where a tiny window on their
culture and location in part of the land of Nephi is opened for us. The time
was approximately 90 B.C., but they were already powerful, being mentioned on a
par with the Amulonites. Nothing is said about when or under what circumstances
they originated. Alma 21:8 has an Amalekite speaker contrast "thy
[Aaron's, and thus Mosiah's] fathers" from "our [Amalekite]
fathers." This seems to set their ancestry apart from that of the core
Nephites in Zarahemla, but neither were they from the Lamanite side, for Alma
43:13 calls them dissenters from the Nephites. The Amalekite questioner further
implies that his forebears included men who spoke prophetically. Could they
have been of Mulek's group, or of the Jaredites, or of still another people? At
least the presence of the Amalekites assures us that the Book of Mormon text as
we now have it does not include all the information it might have about peoples
in the land of Nephi lumped together by the Nephite writers as
"Lamanites."[4]
Aaron entered a synagogue to preach to the Amalekites. One took offense and confronted Aaron. What have you said? Have you seen an angel?[5] Why don’t we see angels? Are we not as good as you and your people?
He challenged Aaron’s words, unless they repent, they will
perish? How does he know the desire of
their hearts? How does he know they have
to repent? How does he know they are not
a righteous people? Jeremiah dealt with
this same claim. “Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the
poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these [IE
their clothing]. Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his
anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will
plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned” (Jeremiah 2:34-35).
The question is reminiscent of the words of Noah’s priests in response to
Abinadi’s charges: “And now, O king,
behold, we are guiltless, and thou, O king, hast not sinned; therefore, this
man has lied concerning you, and he has prophesied in vain” (Mosiah 12:14).
The words of Avraham Gileadi sum up these people.
The practices of the world deceive
the heart (Deuteronomy 11:16). The whole heart must be preoccupied with the
things of God and must constantly "remember" his commandments in
order to maintain true worship (Numbers 15:39-41). When the Lord's people
experience a change of heart because of idolatry, they alienate themselves from
the Lord so that they will not hear (Deuteronomy 30:17). They allow themselves
to believe that the scriptures, particularly in addressing the wicked deeds of
the Lord's people, do not apply to them (cf. Alma 21:6). We feel that
prophecies having negative connotations must refer to the Jews or to the
Gentiles, surely not to us. In short, idolatry forms an inductive practice:
once we get caught up in it, the habit carries its own momentum and supplies
its own rationale.[6]
The man made it clear they rejected his words. There’s no way he could know these
things. His prophecies were rejected
because there was no way they could know about things to come.
[1] “And
it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the
Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another,
trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest;
for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken” (Alma
17:13).
[2] “And
it came to pass that Amulon did gain favor in the eyes of the king of the
Lamanites; therefore, the king of the Lamanites granted unto him and his
brethren that they should be appointed teachers over his people, yea, even over
the people who were in the land of Shemlon, and in the land of Shilom, and in
the land of Amulon” (Mosiah 24:1).
[3] It
comes as no surprise the Amulonites also followed after the order of Nehor.
[4] When
Lehi's Party Arrived in the Land, Did They Find Others There? John L.
Sorenson, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 6, 2015.
[5] Yes,
he had. “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” (Mosiah 27:11).
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