Alma 36:5-16

5 Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself;

6 For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way.

7 And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.

8 But behold, the voice said unto me: Arise. And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel.

9 And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.

10 And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs.

11 And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more.

12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul. (Alma 36:5-30)

Alma continues his words to Helaman.

He knows these things because he was born of God. He knows it, not because he was worthy, but through the words of an angel sent by God. “And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters” (Mosiah 27:25).

He told him how he and the sons of Mosiah went out, seeking to destroy the church. “And now it came to pass that while he was going about to destroy the church of God, for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king” (Mosiah 27:10).

This is what brought forth their mighty change.

“Now [Alma₂ and the sons of Mosiah] were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.

“And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever” (Mosiah 28:3-4).

He spoke with the voice of thunder and the earth shook. They fell to the earth, and the fear of the Lord came upon them.

“In … passages in the scriptures the phrase whole earth seems to refer to local phenomena. The account in Alma 36:7 of the appearance of the angel to Alma and the sons of Mosiah relates that the voice of the angel was as thunder ‘and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet.’ However, the same event is described in Mosiah 27:11 as follows: ‘he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood.’ This usage of the phrase whole earth seems to be a hyperbole, since the episode has all the earmarks of a very localized event.” (Emphasis in original)[1]

He was told to stand. When he did, he saw the angel. He was given a choice. Cease his attempts to destroy the church or he would be destroyed.

 “I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul” (Alma 38:8).

More things were said, but Alma did not hear them. He was struck with fear and amazement. Fearing he would be destroyed, he fell to the earth and heard nothing more.

He suffered eternal torment.

“Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.

“Endless punishment is God’s punishment” (D&C 19:11-12).

“Is ‘eternal torment’ (Alma 36:12) a torment that lasts forever? No, rather ‘eternal’ represents the nature of the torment. not the duration, for it ‘comes from God who is Eternal.’”[2]

“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked” (Psalm 32:10).

“Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none” (Psalm 69:20).

His soul was devastated because of his sins.

After remembering his sins, he felt the pains of hell. “[C]an ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God” (Alma 5:18).

“And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

“Behold will they not testify … that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness” (Alma 5:22-23).

He was tormented by the pains of hell.

 “Satan cried with a loud voice, and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten, worship me.

“And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell” (Moses 1:19-20).

“And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known” (Deuteronomy 11:28).

He had rebelled against God and not kept His commandments. “[B] by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19).

“[A]fter ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved—

“I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples” (Mosiah 2:36-37).

“We all make mistakes. Sometimes we harm ourselves and seriously injure others in ways that we alone cannot repair. We break things that we alone cannot fix. It is then in our nature to feel guilt and humiliation and suffering, which we alone cannot cure. That is when the healing power of the Atonement will help…

“If Christ had not made His Atonement, the penalties for mistakes would be added one on the other. Life would be hopeless. But He willingly sacrificed in order that we may be redeemed. And He said, ‘Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.’”[3]

He had destroyed the souls of many by leading them into destruction. “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

His sins were so great, “the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror” (Alma 36:14).

“There is another kind of pain for which we are responsible. Spiritual pain lies deep within our souls and can feel unquenchable, even as being racked with an ‘inexpressible horror,’ as Alma described. It comes from our sinful actions and lack of repentance. For this pain too there is a cure that is universal and absolute. It is from the Father, through the Son, and it is for each of us who is willing to do all that is necessary to repent. Christ said, ‘Will ye not now return unto me … and be converted, that I may heal you?’”[4]

He feared he could be banished in both body and soul.

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

“And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

“For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand” (Revelation 6:15-17).

“For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence” (Alma 12:14).

He was concerned he would not be able to stand in God’s presence to be judged by his deeds.

“According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence” (Isaiah 59:18).

“And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.

“And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—

“The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh” (Alma 41:3-5).

For three days and three nights he suffered the pains of a damned soul.

“Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins” (Psalm 25:18).

“Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Romans 13:2).

“And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it” (2 Nephi 9:24).

“Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a reward of their works, according to that which they have been … if they have been evil they shall reap the damnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil” (Alma 9:28).

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[1] An Hypothesis concerning the Three Days of Darkness among the Nephites, Russell H. Ball, Maxwell Institute website.

[2] Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, Alma through Helaman (1991), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, pg. 144.

[3] “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” President Boyd K. Packer, April 2001 General Conference.

[4] The Atonement Covers All Pain, Elder Kent F. Richards, April 2011 General Conference.