Alma 32:17-25

Alma continues teaching the Zoramite poor.

Many ask for signs.  If we see a sign,[1] we will for sure what Alma teaches is true and we will believe.  The Savior addressed signs during His earthly ministry in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:27-31).

Alma asks a key question, “I ask, is this faith?” (Alma 32:18) and answers it.  If a person sees a sign, they no longer believe as they have knowledge.  If a person knows the will of God, and doesn’t do it, he is more cursed than those who only believe but fell into sin.[2]  “Hearken and hear, O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of all blessings, ye that hear me; and ye that hear me not will I curse, that have professed my name, with the heaviest of all cursings” (D&C 41:1).

Alma defines faith.  “[F]aith^[3] is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21). “Now faith is the substance [GR assurance, basis, foundation] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).^[4]

God, Alma taught, is merciful to those who believe in Him; therefore, He desires all to believe in His word.^[5]

Another interesting biblical theme might be noted in connection with the passage just discussed (Alma 32:21). Because “things” can be read as “words,” it would seem that Alma speaks of words as things that can be seen. That might seem odd, but it is a venerable biblical tradition as well. Seeing words appears on occasion in biblical prophetic texts, including the superscription to Isaiah 2:1 (cited in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 12:1): “The word that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” While as contemporary readers, we might typically associate words with the physical act of hearing rather than seeing, as illustrated via Isaiah 2:1, it was not uncommon for Israelite and later Jewish sources to conceptualize a prophetic word as something that could, in fact, be seen.^[6]

God gives his words to men by angels.  Alma makes it clear that not only are men given His word, but women[7] and children[8] as well.  With His words, they are able to confound the wise.

One of the most sacred experiences in the Book of Mormon occurs during Christ’s ministry to the Nephites.  He had them gather their children together.

“And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the children of the multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did loose their tongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that they could utter. And it came to pass that after he had ascended into heaven—the second time that he showed himself unto them, and had gone unto the Father, after having healed all their sick, and their lame, and opened the eyes of their blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf, and even had done all manner of cures among them, and raised a man from the dead, and had shown forth his power unto them, and had ascended unto the Father—Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them” (3 Nephi 26:14-16).

Alma realized in the group there were those who were forced to be humble; however, there were others who would have been humble regardless of their circumstances.

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[1] “For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith … And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God” (Ether 12:12, 18).

[2] “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke [IE pretext, excuse] for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. (John 15:22-24).

[3] “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”

(John 20:29).

[4] “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Joseph Smith Translation, Hebrews 11:1).

[5] “And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).

[6] The Word and the Seed: The Theological Use of Biblical Creation in Alma 32, David E. Bokovoy, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 23 (2014): 13.

[7] “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit” (Joel 2:28-29).

[8] “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank [GR praise] thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes [GR innocent people]” (Matthew 11:25).