Alma 18

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 Green 4/21 orange 7/22Brown 8/2023)

Chapter 18

King Lamoni supposes that Ammon is the Great Spirit—Ammon teaches the king about the Creation, God’s dealings with men, and the redemption that comes through Christ—Lamoni believes and falls to the earth as if dead. About 90 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that king Lamoni caused that his ^aservants should stand forth and testify to all the things which they had seen concerning the matter.  
  2 And when they had all testified to the things which they had seen, and he had learned of the faithfulness of Ammon in preserving his flocks, and also of his ^agreat power in contending against those who sought to slay him, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Surely, this is more than a man. Behold, is not this the Great Spirit who doth send such great punishments upon this people, because of their murders? Right out the gate he acknowledges that he knows of a "Great Spirit" who is able to send punishments for wrongdoing. Remember "this people" that murder are their own people. Lamanites killing Lamanites...Also...this king is guilty of murders as well. Is he feeling a little guilt yet? 
  3 And they answered the king, and said: Whether he be the Great Spirit or a man, we know not; but this much we do know, that he ^acannot be slain by the enemies of the king; neither can they ^bscatter the king’s flocks when he is with us, because of his expertness and ^cgreat strength; therefore, we know that he is a friend to the king. And now, O king, we do not believe that a man has such great power, for we know he cannot be slain. I think they were amazed at Ammon's loyalty to the king. They obeyed out of fear but Ammon did it out of love.
  4 And now, when the king heard these words, he said unto them: Now I know that it is the Great Spirit; and he has come down at this time to preserve your lives, that I might not ^aslay you as I did your brethren. Now this is the Great Spirit of whom our fathers have spoken. So the Lamanites had passed on a tradition of God but didn't have the scriptures to keep the word pure.
  5 Now this was the ^atradition of Lamoni, which he had received from his father, that there was a ^bGreat Spirit. Notwithstanding they believed in a Great Spirit, they supposed that ^cwhatsoever they did was right; You'd have to believe that to keep warring with the Nephites. nevertheless, Lamoni began to fear exceedingly, with fear lest he had done wrong in slaying his servants; Sounds like it's the first time he'd ever considered this...
  6 For he had slain many of them because their brethren had scattered their flocks at the place of water; and thus, because they had had their flocks scattered they were slain.
  7 Now it was the practice of these Lamanites to stand by the ^awaters of Sebus to scatter the flocks of the people, that thereby they might drive away many that were scattered unto their own land, it being a practice of plunder among them. They all did it...so everyone is fair game, even your own people...
  8 And it came to pass that king Lamoni inquired of his servants, saying: Where is this man that has such great power?
  9 And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy ^ahorses. Now the king had commanded his servants, previous to the time of the watering of their flocks, that they should prepare his horses and chariots, and conduct him forth to the land of Nephi; for there had been a ^bgreat ^cfeast appointed at the land of Nephi, by the father of Lamoni, who was king over all the land.
 10 Now when king Lamoni heard that Ammon was preparing his horses and his ^achariots he was more astonished, because of the faithfulness of Ammon, saying: Surely there has not been any servant among all my servants that has been so faithful as this man; for even he doth remember all my commandments to execute them.
 11 Now I surely know that this is the Great Spirit, and I would desire him that he come in unto me, but I durst not. Even a King should not feel like he can command God!
 12 And it came to pass that when Ammon had made ready the horses and the chariots for the king and his servants, he went in unto the king, He had to wondering all this time what the servants would tell the king and what the king would think about it... and he saw that the ^acountenance of the king was changed; therefore he was about to return out of his presence. No spirit of discernment here? He thought wrong... Surely he did all he did with faith, but if he wasn’t sure how the king would respond, then he truly had a “but if not...” faith. Just “do what is right....let...the consequence follow”. We need to have this kind of faith.
 13 And one of the king’s servants said unto him, ^aRabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king, considering their kings to be powerful; and thus he said unto him: Rabbanah, the king desireth thee to stay.
 14 Therefore Ammon turned himself unto the king, and said unto him: What wilt thou that I should do for thee, O king? And the king answered him not for the space of an ^ahour, according to their time, for he knew not what he should say unto him. Funny he wants him to come to him but has no idea what he is going to say...
 15 And it came to pass that Ammon said unto him again: What desirest thou of me? But the king answered him not. Did he stay silent for an hour before he spoke to the king again? That’s a long wait... 
 16 And it came to pass that Ammon, being filled with the ^aSpirit of God, therefore he perceived the ^bthoughts of the king. And he said unto him: Is it because thou hast heard that I defended thy servants and thy flocks, and slew ^cseven of their brethren with the sling and with the sword, and smote off the arms of others, in order to defend thy flocks and thy servants; behold, is it this that causeth thy marvelings? He knows...but still asks in the form of a question. Just like God did to Satan in the garden and to Adam and Eve... and maybe, just in case, he says what he did in detail not knowing for sure what the servants had told the king. Not to doubt his spiritual perception, but considering what he had just done, it's pretty safe to assume that the King is marveling about what happened.
 17 I say unto you, what is it, that thy marvelings are so great? Behold, I am a ^aman, and am thy servant; therefore, whatsoever thou desirest which is right, that will I do. I love this qualification...I feel this way about our current government 'mandates'. Whatsoever is right, I will do. If it is not right, then I won't or don't have to... Also feel this is a great answer when following the prophet or any church leader - "Whatsoever they desire, which is right, that will I do."
 18 Now when the king had heard these words, he marveled again, for he beheld that Ammon could ^adiscern his thoughts; but notwithstanding this, king Lamoni did open his mouth, and said unto him: Who art thou? Art thou that Great Spirit, who ^bknows all things?
 19 Ammon answered and said unto him: I am not.
 20 And the king said: How knowest thou the thoughts of my heart? Thou mayest speak boldly, and tell me concerning these things; and also tell me by what power ye slew and smote off the arms of my brethren that scattered my flocks—
 21 And now, ^aif thou wilt tell me concerning these things, whatsoever thou desirest I will give unto thee; and if it were needed, I would guard thee with my armies; but I know that thou art more powerful than all they; nevertheless, whatsoever thou desirest of me I will grant it unto thee. Probably feels the need to assure Ammon that he's not angry and won't kill him willy nilly.
 22 Now Ammon being ^awise, yet harmless, the temptation of power had no pull on him; therefore he was “harmless”. Also, harmless because he was going to catch the king with “guile” meaning he knows what the king thinks he wants isn’t really what he wants, but what he’s asking is harmless compared to what the king thinks he might want he said unto Lamoni: Wilt thou hearken unto my words, if I tell thee by what power I do these things? And this is the thing that I desire of thee. Lamoni is being given a choice before he hears the words. Once he hears, he may be accountable even if he chooses not to hearken. 
 23 And the king answered him, and said: Yea, I ^awill believe all thy words. And thus he was caught with ^bguile. I'm thinking this means Ammon knew the king would be thinking that he would ask for some great thing for himself, but Ammon really wanted to get him to say he'd believe all his words about God and the truth about his history.
 24 And Ammon began to speak unto him with ^aboldness, and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?
 25 And he answered, and said unto him: I do not know what that meaneth. They really hadn’t been taught the term “God”?
 26 And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a ^aGreat Spirit? Ammon must have known this is what they believed was God.
 27 And he said, Yea.
 28 And Ammon said: This is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth? Step one: teach him the true name of God.
 29 And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth; but I do not know the heavens.
 30 And Ammon said unto him: The heavens is a place where God dwells and all his holy angels.
 31 And king Lamoni said: Is it above the earth?
 32 And Ammon said: Yea, and he looketh down upon all the children of men; and he ^aknows all the thoughts and ^bintents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning. Step two: Teach the true nature of God: He created ALL things in heaven and earth; You are His child; you can’t keep anything secret from him; your thoughts and intentions matter.
 33 And king Lamoni said: I believe all these things which thou hast spoken. Art thou ^asent from God?
 34 Ammon said unto him: I am a ^aman; and man in the beginning was created after the image of God, and I am called by his ^bHoly Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true; More teaching about God: We are created in His image. 
 35 And a portion of that ^aSpirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me ^bknowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God. The Spirit gives us knowlege and power according to our faith and desires, which are in God. Is that faith in God or desires in God or both?
 36 Now when Ammon had said these words, he began at the creation of the world, and also the creation of Adam, and told him all the things concerning the fall of man, and ^arehearsed and laid before him the ^brecords and the holy scriptures of the people, which had been spoken by the ^cprophets, even down to the time that their father, Lehi, left Jerusalem. Remember he wanted to teach them The Plan of Salvation. Was he showing or quoting scripture? I would think unless it was a written copy, it was quoted. 
 37 And he also rehearsed unto them (for it was unto the king and to his servants) all the journeyings of their fathers in the wilderness, and all their sufferings with hunger and thirst, and their travail, and so forth.
 38 And he also rehearsed unto them concerning the ^arebellions of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, yea, all their rebellions did he relate unto them; and he expounded unto them all the ^brecords and scriptures from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem down to the present time. Ammon knew a lot! He was self studied and had a great memory...and of course, the Spirit helps that too.
 39 But this is not all; for he ^aexpounded unto them the ^bplan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world; and he also made known unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and all the works of the Lord did he make known unto them.
 40 And it came to pass that after he had said all these things, and expounded them to the king, that the king ^abelieved all his words. Must have taken a few minutes...hours...
 41 And he began to cry unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant ^amercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people. He can see..
 42 And now, when he had said this, he ^afell unto the earth, ^bas if he were dead. Why does this happen?
 43 And it came to pass that his ^aservants took him and carried him in unto his wife, and laid him upon a bed; and he lay as if he were dead for the space of two days and two nights; and his wife, and his sons, and his daughters mourned over him, after the manner of the Lamanites, greatly lamenting his loss. What is Ammon doing during this time? Did they think he’d had a heart attack (coincidentally?) or that Ammon’s words somehow killed him? What are they thinking???