When Korihor was struck dumb
and had to beg for a living, we read where he went among the Zoramites, where
he was trampled to death.[1] This
is the first we hear of the Zoramites.
Word came to Alma that Zoram, their leader, led an idol worshipping religion.[2] Alma
was saddened by the iniquity of the Zoramites.[3]
Another reason Alma grieved[4]
because the Zoramites were separated from the Nephite body as a whole.
The Zoramites gathered
together in Antionum, east of the Land of Zarahemla. It bordered on the wilderness “which was full
of the Lamanites” (Alma 31:3).
Another
clue that leads us to suspect that the Zoramites were an ethnic group is found
in what occurred after they separated from Zarahemla. The practices they
adopted are indicative of a marginalized group that separates because of
discrimination. In Alma 31:3 we learn that the Zoramites had “gathered
themselves together in a land which they called Antionum.” This indicates that
rather than being an intact group that moved to a new place, the Zoramites were
scattered throughout the land of Zarahemla and for some reason “gathered together”
in Antionum.[5]
While Alma was concerned over
their wicked practice of idolatry, he had another concern. Being so close to the Lamanites, and not
considering themselves a part of the Nephite nation, an alliance between the
Zoramites and the Lamanites was a concern.
Mormon explains the power of
preaching[6]
the word. “For the word of God is quick [GR living], and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews
4:12).[7]
It is more powerful than the
sword or anything else which could be done.
I
write about the Book of Mormon because I have to; it compels me. It is the
tangible force behind my faith. The second Alma knew that power. He said that
“the preaching of the word . . . had had more powerful effect upon the minds of
the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them”
(Alma 31:5). It was Alma’s conviction of the word’s capacity to change people
that prompted him to leave the Nephite judgment seat and go forth to “preach
the word of God … bearing down in pure testimony” in an effort to “stir [his people]
up in remembrance of their duty” (Alma 4:19).[8]
Alma organized a group to
preach the gospel to the Zoramites. He
included the four sons of Mosiah as well as Amulek and Zeezrom (who were
currently preaching in Melek) and his sons Shiblon and Corianton.
The Zoramites had developed
their own faith that did not include keeping God’s commandments nor keeping the
Law of Moses. In essence, they perverted
the laws of the Lord.
When they arrived, they were
astonished at the strange way they conducted their worship. They met one day during the week.
Even
the Zoramites’ perversion of religious practices demonstrated an attempt to
place themselves in a polarized position to the Nephites. This perversion was
so thorough that Alma and his brethren were astonished upon seeing it. The
observation that these people did “worship after a manner which Alma and his
brethren had never beheld” (Alma 31:12) indicates that the Zoramites did not
simply elaborate on Mulekite practices or revive differing religious traditions
they were aware of from the past. Instead they invented new practices, and most
of this inventing seems to have been an attempt to do what would most
distinguish them from the Nephites or establish themselves as different and
thus “better” than the Nephites … Mormon’s wording indicates they had purposely
chosen a day for their Sabbath that was different from the Nephite Sabbath (see
Alma 31:12)..[9]
[1] “And
it came to pass that as he went forth among the people, yea, among a people who
had separated themselves from the Nephites and called themselves Zoramites,
being led by a man whose name was Zoram—and as he went forth amongst them,
behold, he was run upon and trodden down, even until he was dead” (Alma 30:59).
[2] “Thou
shalt not bow [HEB qannah,
"possessing sensitive and deep feelings."] down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the LORD thy God am
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children [IE
insofar as the children learn and do the sinful things the parents do; but see
v. 6 concerning those who repent and serve the LORD] unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus
20:5).
-----
“And again: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them,
nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations
of them that hate me” (Mosiah 13:13).
-----
“Yea, wo unto those that worship idols, for the devil
of all devils delighteth in them” (2 Nephi 9:37).
[3] “Now
Alma, being grieved for the iniquity of his people, yea for the wars, and the
bloodsheds, and the contentions which were among them; and having been to
declare the word, or sent to declare the word, among all the people in every
city; and seeing that the hearts of the people began to wax hard, and that they
began to be offended because of the strictness of the word, his heart was
exceedingly sorrowful” (Alma 35:15).
[4] “Therefore
said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me,
because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people” (Isaiah 22:4).
[5] The
Zoramite Separation – a Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills Johnson,
The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Volume 14 Number 1 2005, pg. 76.
[6] “So
then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
[7] “For
the word of God is quick [GR living],
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of body and soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart” (Joseph Smith Translation, Hebrews 4:12).
[8] The
Book of Mormon: Passport to Discipleship, Marilyn Arnold, Mormon Studies
Review 23/1 (2011): 3.
[9] The
Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills Johnson,
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 82.
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