12 Now, when they had
come into the land, behold, to their astonishment they found that the Zoramites
had built synagogues, and that they did gather themselves together on one day
of the week, which day they did call the day of the Lord; and they did worship
after a manner which Alma and his brethren had never beheld;
13 For they had a
place built up in the center of their synagogue, a place for standing, which
was high above the head; and the top thereof would only admit one person.
14 Therefore,
whosoever desired to worship must go forth and stand upon the top thereof, and
stretch forth his hands towards heaven, and cry with a loud voice, saying:
15 Holy, holy God; we
believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou
wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit
forever.
16 Holy God, we
believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in
the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the
childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected us to be
thy holy children; and also thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be
no Christ.
17 But thou art the
same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected us that we shall be
saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell;
for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou
hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of
our brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead
their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.
18 And again we thank
thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.
19 Now it came to pass
that after Alma and his brethren and his sons had heard these prayers, they
were astonished beyond all measure.
20 For behold, every
man did go forth and offer up these same prayers.
21 Now the place was
called by them Rameumptom, which, being interpreted, is the holy stand.
22 Now, from this
stand they did offer up, every man, the selfsame prayer unto God, thanking
their God that they were chosen of him, and that he did not lead them away
after the tradition of their brethren, and that their hearts were not stolen
away to believe in things to come, which they knew nothing about.
23 Now, after the people
had all offered up thanks after this manner, they returned to their homes,
never speaking of their God again until they had assembled themselves together
again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks after their manner.
24 Now when Alma saw
this his heart was grieved; for he saw that they were a wicked and a perverse
people; yea, he saw that their hearts were set upon gold, and upon silver, and
upon all manner of fine goods.
25 Yea, and he also
saw that their hearts were lifted up unto great boasting, in their pride.
26 And he lifted up
his voice to heaven, and cried, saying: O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer
that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such gross
wickedness among the children of men?
27 Behold, O God, they
cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O
God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to
greatness, with the vain things of the world.
28 Behold, O my God,
their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their
ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented
with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee
and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while
others shall perish.
29 Yea, and they say
that thou hast made it known unto them that there shall be no Christ.
30 O Lord God, how
long wilt thou suffer that such wickedness and infidelity shall be among this
people? O Lord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may bear with mine
infirmities. For I am infirm, and such wickedness among this people doth pain
my soul.
31 O Lord, my heart is
exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou
grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these
afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people.
(Alma 31:12-31)
Alma and his party have arrived in Antionum. They were
surprised to find they had built synagogues and met once a week, called the day
of the Lord. They worshiped in a strange manner.
“By noticing the way the Zoramites established their new
culture, we find more clues indicating that the Zoramites were a marginalized
group seeking to establish a society where they were favored … In forming their society, the Zoramites
constructed distinctions that were built not on new ideals but on a foundation
of anything anti-Nephite. In other words, their primary motivation seems to
have centered on disallowing anything distinctively Nephite rather than on
establishing something idealistic.
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.”[1]
In the center of their synagogue, their was a tall stand on
which only one person could stand.
Anyone who wanted to worship had to go to the top of the
stand and stretch his arms towards heaven before he began to pray in a loud
voice. All could see and hear the prayer.
This goes against what Christ would teach during His
ministry.
“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward.
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy “Father which is in secret; and thy
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen
do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matthew
6:5-7).
This was their strange “prayer.”
“Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we
believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a
spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.
“Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our
brethren; and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was
handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that
thou hast elected us to be thy holy children; and also thou hast made it known
unto us that there shall be no Christ.
“But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and
thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected
to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank
thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led
away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bind them down to
a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our
God.
“And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a
holy people. Amen.” (Alma 31:15-18).
“More than words of praising God, these are anti-Nephite
sentiments uttered in the form of a prayer. The expressions center on the ‘foolish’
Nephites and claim that the Nephite traditions are corrupt, that the Nephite
beliefs are childish, that the Zoramites rather than the Nephites are the
chosen people, and that the Nephites will be cast down to hell. The people then
thank their god for electing them over the Nephites.”[2]
“[A]fter Alma and his brethren and his sons had heard these
prayers, they were astonished beyond all measure” (Alma 31:19).
Every man offered the same rote prayer.
They called their stand Rameumptom, meaning holy stand.
“Mormon provides a translation for the Rameumptom as a ‘holy
stand’ (Alma 31:21). If the word was originally derived from Hebrew, the first
part of the word Ram- would coincide with the Hebrew רמה (rāmâ), meaning ‘height, high place,’ with
ramê- likely corresponding to the masculine plural construct form important
feature of the Zoramite apostasy.”[3]
They thanked God they were His chosen people; that they didn’t
believe in the traditions of the Nephites; they also didn’t believe they did
not believe in things to come.
After they finished their “prayer,” they went home and never
spoke about God and their “religion” until the next week.
James counseled us to be doer’s of the word.
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness [GR overabundance of malice, trouble, evil], and receive with
meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.
“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is
like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
“For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and
continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:21-25).
[1] The
Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills Johnson,
Maxwell Institute website.
[3] The
Zoramites and Costly Apparel: Symbolism and Irony, Parrish Brady and Shon
Hopkin, Journal of the Book of Mormon and
Other Restoration Scripture 22/1 (2013): Footnote 7, 51-52.
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