Chapter 26
Many members of the
Church are led into sin by unbelievers—Alma is promised eternal life—Those who
repent and are baptized gain forgiveness—Church members in sin who repent and
confess to Alma and to the Lord will be forgiven; otherwise, they will not be
numbered among the people of the Church. About 120–100 B.C.
1 Now it came to pass
that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the
words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his
people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.
2 They did not believe
what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they
believe concerning the coming of Christ.
3 And now because of
their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were
hardened.
4 And they would not
be baptized; neither would they join the church. And they were a separate
people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal and
sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God.
5 And now in the reign
of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of
the dissensions among the brethren they became more numerous.
6 For it came to pass
that they did deceive many with their flattering words, who were in the church,
and did cause them to commit many sins; therefore it
became expedient that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should
be admonished by the church.
We read some twenty years after Alma arrived in Zarahemla,
those who were children when King Benjamin gave his sermon had grown up. Sadly,
they rejected his teachings. They did not believe in his teachings about the
resurrection and the coming of Christ. They refused to be baptized and join the
church. Because of their sinful state, they refused to call upon the Lord.
“An equally important part of fulfilling our parental duty
to God is teaching our children the gospel and preparing them to participate
fully in the Savior’s restored Church. Remember the lesson of King Benjamin’s
people. As a result of his teachings, many of the adults had a mighty change of
heart (see Mosiah 5:2). But then it says that ‘there were many of the rising
generation that could not understand the words of King Benjamin, being little
children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe. … And
their hearts were hardened’ (Mosiah 26:1, 3).
“It is our imperative duty to help youth understand and
believe the gospel in a deeply personal way. We can teach them to walk in the
light, but that light cannot be borrowed. They must earn it for themselves.
They must obtain their own light of testimony directly from the source of
spiritual light—God Himself—through prayer and study and pondering. They must
understand who they are and who Heavenly Father wants them to become.”[1]
At first, they were not as numerous as the members of the
church, however; because of dissensions in the church their numbers grew. Their
words deceived those who were church members. These former members became a
sinful people. “[I]t became expedient that those who committed sin, that were
in the church, should be admonished by the church” (Mosiah 26:6).
7 And it came to pass
that they were brought before the priests, and delivered up unto the priests by
the teachers; and the priests brought them before Alma, who was the high
priest.
8 Now king Mosiah had
given Alma the authority over the church.
10 Now there had not
any such thing happened before in the church; therefore Alma was troubled in
his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king.
11 And he said unto
the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are
accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities.
And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them
before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes.
12 But king Mosiah
said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy
hands to be judged.
Alma2 would also face dissension from church
members.
“And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow
the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye
separate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be
blotted out, that the names of the wicked shall not be numbered among the names
of the righteous, that the word of God may be fulfilled, which saith: The names
of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people” (Alma 5:57).
Scriptures
“And it also came to pass that whosoever did belong to the
church that did not repent of their wickedness and humble themselves before
God—I mean those who were lifted up in the pride of their hearts—the same were
rejected, and their names were blotted out, that their names were not numbered
among those of the righteous” (Alma 6:3).
“[S]ome of the younger generation—those who had not
experienced the great spiritual outpouring that occurred at the abdication
sermon of King Benjamin, now perhaps more than two decades in the past—refused
to be baptized or to join the church (Mosiah 26:1–5). Their worldly influence,
in turn, began to take its toll on those who had already enrolled themselves as
members of the church, which was itself well into its second generation. These
members of the church began to commit ‘many sins,’ which obviously raised the
issue of whether and how they were to be disciplined (see Mosiah 26:6–8).”[2]
The dissenters were brought before the priests. This is because
king Mosiah had placed Alma1 as the high priest of the church. “And
now, Alma was their high priest, he being the founder of their church” (Mosiah
23:1).
In verse 9, “we have an alteration in the words or phrases
of a passage.”[3]
Verse 9 reads, “And it came to pass that Alma did not know concerning them; but
there were many witnesses against them; yea, the people stood and testified of
their iniquity in abundance.”
Dr. Skousen has determined the earliest reading of verse 9 tells
us “that Alma did know” about the dissenters in the church. As head of the
church, Alma would have known about problems within the church.
Alma was aware of
these people. Witnesses came forward and testified of their sins. This had not been a problem in the past. “Alma
was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before
the king” (Mosiah 26:10).
He explained the situation, telling him “we have brought [the
dissenters] before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes”
(Mosiah 26:11).
Mosiah refused to get involved. He told Alma, “Behold, I
judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged” (Mosiah
26:13).
Alma was forced to deal with the situation himself.
[1] Our
Duty to God: The Mission of Parents and Leaders to the Rising Generation,
Elder Robert D. Hales, April 2010 General Conference.
[3] The
Systematic Text of the Book of Mormon, Royal Skousen, pgs. 46-47, Maxwell
Institute website.
No comments:
Post a Comment