6 And now when Alma
heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he
beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled
them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word.
7 Therefore he did say
no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto
those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them:
8 I behold that ye are
lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye.
9 Behold thy brother
hath said, What shall we do?—for we are cast out of our synagogues, that we
cannot worship our God.
10 Behold I say unto
you, do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues
only?
11 And moreover, I
would ask, do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once in a week?
12 I say unto you, it
is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues, that ye may be humble, and
that ye may learn wisdom; for it is necessary that ye should learn wisdom; for
it is because that ye are cast out, that ye are despised of your brethren
because of your exceeding poverty, that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart;
for ye are necessarily brought to be humble.
13 And now, because ye
are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is
compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth
shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same
shall be saved.
14 And now, as I said
unto you, that because ye were compelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye
not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of
the word?
15 Yea, he that truly
humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same
shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be
humble because of their exceeding poverty.
16 Therefore, blessed
are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather,
in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is
baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the
word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe. (Alma 32:6-16)
The Zoramite poor have come to Alma, telling him they had
been cast out of the synagogues. They asked him what they were to do.
Alma turned to the poor. He was filled with joy because of
their afflictions. Their afflictions had humbled them. “Before destruction the
heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility” (Proverbs 18:12).
“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold
the humble in spirit” (Proverbs 29:23).
Their suffering had prepared them to hear the word of God. “The
preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the
Lord” (Proverbs 16:1).
“In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel;
but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me” (D&C 101:8).
He turned away from the group he had been teaching and began
to preach to the humbled poor. “While those who were adorned with the luxuriant
trappings of the world were ironically thanking God for their chosen status,
Alma’s behavior provided a visual demonstration that God favors those who
exhibit humility and a desire to learn.”[1]
He told them they were blessed as they were lowly in heart.
“Blessed [The Latin beatus is the basis of the English
“beatitude,” meaning “to be fortunate,” “to be happy,” or “to be blessed.”] are
the poor in spirit [IE in pride, humble in spirit; 3 Ne. 12:3 reads “…the poor
in spirit who come unto me”]: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek [GR gentle, forgiving, or benevolent;
the Hebrew in Ps. 37:11 characterizes as the humble those who have suffered]:
for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3-5).
He asked them why they believed they could only worship God
in their synagogues. He followed up by asking them why they believed they should
only worship God once a week.
“[T]he poor Zoramites accepted these social values, fully
believing that their inability to worship appropriately was in direct
correlation to their poverty as demonstrated by their clothing. Although the
poor did not appreciate the worldview of the dominant culture, they had still
absorbed it to the point that they no longer believed they could engage in any
form of legitimate worship outside the Zoramite ritual structure as described
by Mormon (Alma 32:10).”[2]
Having been cast out of their synagogues was a good thing.
They were humbled and ready to learn wisdom. “Better is a poor and a wise child
than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished” (Ecclesiastes
4:13).
Being humbled, they could learn wisdom. They needed to learn
wisdom. Having been cast out because of their poverty, they were brought to a
lowliness of heart and have become humble. “Better is a little with
righteousness than great revenues without right” (Proverbs 16:8).
“The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that
hath understanding searcheth him out” (Proverbs 28:11).
“Alma explains that though compulsory humility and
compulsory faith are useless without inner humility and faith, yet poverty
often leads to true humility. To be impoverished is often the beginning of
spiritual rebirth; and to be rich is often the sign of imminent spiritual
decadence.”[3]
They are blessed because they were compelled to be humble. Humility
would lead them to look for repentance. Those who repent shall find mercy. Those
who endure to the end shall be saved. “Behold, I am the law, and the light.
Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that
endureth to the end will I give eternal life” (3 Nephi 15:9).
“And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:6).
While they were blessed because they were forced to be
humble, those who humble themselves because of the gospel message are more
blessed.
[1] 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): 45.
[3] The
Spirituality of the Outcast in the Book of Mormon, Todd M. Compton, Maxwell
Institute website.
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