Alma 22

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 Green 4/21 Brown 8/23.)

Chapter 22

Aaron teaches Lamoni’s father about the Creation, the Fall of Adam, and the plan of redemption through Christ—The king and all his household are converted—The division of the land between the Nephites and the Lamanites is explained. About 90–77 B.C.

  1 Now, as Ammon was thus teaching the people of Lamoni continually, we will return to the account of Aaron and his brethren; for after he departed from the land of Middoni he was ^aled by the Spirit to the land of Nephi, even to the house of the king which was ^bover all the land ^csave it were the land of Ishmael; and he was the father of Lamoni. Such great dedication by these missionaries! Aaron was certainly not shy...he goes straight to the top!
  2 And it came to pass that he went in unto him into the king’s palace, with his brethren, and bowed himself before the king, and said unto him: Behold, O king, we are the brethren of Ammon, whom thou hast ^adelivered out of ^bprison. Just noticing that they respect the title of "king" even though he isn't their king. Maybe that's why President Nelson referred to the Pope as "His Holiness". 
  3 And now, O king, if thou wilt spare our lives, we will be thy servants. Worked for Ammon... Here we have Nephites who willingly offer to put themselves in bondage to a king that has sought to bring them in to bondage by force. Slavery vs. Service and Love And the king said unto them: Arise, for I will grant unto you your lives, and I will not suffer that ye shall be my servants; but I will insist that ye shall administer teach Is ministering in a "higher and holier way" really more about teaching than helping with needs or being a friend? unto me; for I have been somewhat ^atroubled in mind because of the ^bgenerosity and the greatness of the words the king confirms that love can soften even the hardest heart and that the word of God/truth has great power. of thy brother Ammon; and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee.
 4 And Aaron said unto the king: Behold, the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way; This teaches the king that these men are subject to God, not man, even though they offered to serve the king, it was at God’s direction, not the king’s he has gone ^ato the land of Ishmael, to teach the people of Lamoni.
 5 Now the king said unto them: What is this that ye have said concerning the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, this is the thing which doth trouble me. Why does this trouble him? What would it be like to be “king” and yet know there was a divine power that could give him direction and knowledge and he didn’t have any idea how to access it.
 6 And also, what is this that Ammon said—^aIf ye will repent ye shall be saved, and if ye will not repent, ye shall be cast off at the last day? Is he starting to expand his vision from this life to eternity? 
 7 And Aaron answered him and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God? He started with a question. And he begins at the first - You have to believe in God first And the king said: I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God, and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him. So, the Lamanites have lost the traditions of believing in God and were left with only a general "Great Spirit" belief. The Apostate Nephites kept the belief but changed it to fit their desires for sin. And if now thou sayest there is a God, behold I will ^abelieve. So teachable
 8 And now when Aaron heard this, that he was so willing to believe his heart began to rejoice, and he said: Behold, assuredly as thou livest, O king, there is a God.
 9 And the king said: Is God that ^aGreat Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem? At least they haven't lost the truth about where they came from...and that a Divine Being led them across the ocean to where they are.
 10 And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he ^acreated all things both in heaven and in earth. Believest thou this? Establishing that God created all things makes Him the Master and Supreme Ruler
 11 And he said: Yea, I believe that the Great Spirit created all things, and I desire that ye should tell me concerning all these things, and I will ^abelieve thy words. His heart is prepared to receive the word of God.
 12 And it came to pass that when Aaron saw that the king would believe his words, he began from the creation of Adam, ^areading the scriptures unto the king—how God ^bcreated man after his own image, and that God gave him commandments, and that because of transgression, man had fallen. Is this why, in the Endowment, we start at the beginning as well? (And even before the creation of Adam). It sounds like these missionaries took some form of scriptures with them. Were they written on some form of paper? Bound like a book? 
 13 And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the ^acreation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the ^bplan of ^credemption, which was prepared ^dfrom the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name. This kind of doctrine is why the Book of Mormon contains the “fullness of the Gospel”. We have to understand who we are, “whose” we are, and why we need a Savior. 
 14 And since man had ^afallen he could not ^bmerit anything of himself; but the sufferings and ^cdeath of Christ ^datone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the ^egrave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.
 15 And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: ^aWhat shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? We should all be asking this question. Yea, what shall I do that I may be ^bborn of God, having this wicked spirit ^crooted out of my breast, Is he referring to the 'natural man' or to an actual 'wicked spirit' that has had possession of his soul... and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up ^dall that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy. Wow! He is really convinced that he needs this repentance. Surely he has a lot to feel guilty about as a “wicked” king. No present earthly power or wealth is now worth being cast off forever later. Notice he is willing to make a sacrifice to receive what he wants. He doesn’t just ask for it or desire it. He’s willing to give up power and position and comfort and security for a  “secure” eternity. This is a "broken heart and contrite spirit"
 16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt ^abow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the ^bhope which thou desirest. Simple formula. Bow down; repent for ALL your sins; call on God in faith; believe you will receive.
 17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did ^abow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, Does this add any power to our prayer? and cried ^bmightily, saying:
 18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, He just stated he’s give up his kingdom and all he possessed. Now he says he’ll give up all his sins. Is he equating his sins to his kingdom and possessions? Power and wealth can lead to a lot of sins...and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck ^aas if he were dead. That is a powerful prayer!
 19 And it came to pass that his servants ran and told the queen why wasn’t the king sharing this teaching with his wife? Where was she during all this? all that had happened unto the king. And she came in unto the king; and when she saw him lay as if he were dead, and also Aaron and his brethren standing as though they had been the cause of his fall, she was angry with them, and commanded that her servants, or the servants of the king, should take them and slay them.  Classic example of believing the stories in our mind that are colored by our own prejudices and beliefs but that are completely false. Also, since her first reaction is to believe or story and immediately want to kill Aaron and his brothers, perhaps she is still stuck in her own past sins and hard-heartedness like the king was.
 20 Now the servants had seen the cause of the king’s fall, Good thing there were witnesses! therefore they durst not lay their hands on Aaron and his brethren; and they pled with the queen saying: Why commandest thou that we should slay these men, when behold one of them is ^amightier than us all? Therefore we shall fall before them. These servants knew much more than the Queen at this point and were switching their allegiance to God (or at least their fear of God was greater than the wrath of the queen.)
 21 Now when the queen saw the fear of the servants she also began to fear exceedingly, lest there should some evil come upon her. And she commanded her servants that they should go and call the people, that they might slay Aaron and his brethren. What is this belief now? She sees that there’s something going on here that is causing the servants to fear, but she still assumes it’s bad. Why does she think that getting the people to kill them is any better or safer? 
 22 Now when Aaron saw the determination of the queen, our stories are powerful, even if they are wrong he, also knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, feared lest that a multitude should assemble themselves together, and there should be a great contention and a disturbance among them; therefore he put forth his ^ahand and raised the king from the earth, and said unto him: Stand. And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength.
 23 Now this was done in the presence of the queen and many of the servants. And when they saw it they greatly marveled, and began to fear. And the king stood forth, and began to ^aminister unto them. And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his ^bwhole household were ^cconverted unto the Lord. What did this look like? Did he just teach them? Anything else that would qualify it as 'ministering'? Did Aaron have any idea when he went to offer his services to the king that it would end like this? 
 24 Now there was a multitude gathered together because of the commandment of the queen, So Aaron saw that servants had gone to gather the people and knew he had to act to raise the king. What great faith he had that the king would respond! and there began to be great murmurings among them because of Aaron and his brethren. As Aaron had predicted....
 25 But the king stood forth among them and administered unto them. And they were ^apacified towards Aaron and those who were with him. Still wondering what the definition of "administered" means... And is there a difference between “ministering” and “administering”? 
 26 And it came to pass that when the king saw that the people were pacified, he caused that Aaron and his brethren should stand forth in the midst of the multitude, and that they should preach the word unto them.
 27 And it came to pass that the king sent a ^aproclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, Why did Mormon spend the rest of this chapter telling us about the geography of the land and who dwelt where? This is one of those 'evidences' that Joseph Smith didn't make this up. How do you give such details when you don't go back and check what you've said already in the past to make sure you don't contradict yourself? Amazing! who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the ^bwest, and which was divided from the land of ^cZarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of ^dManti, by the head of the ^eriver Sidon, running from the east towards the west—and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.
 28 Now, the more ^aidle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; So they could move with the herds for food? Pillage and escape faster? and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers’ first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore. Is “idleness” a “generational iniquity” for the Indians? Brett said that after decades, not much progress has been made by some of the peoples he served on the reservation. Since they are a “nation within a nation” I don’t think they are subject to government regulations and modernization. Also interesting that they have held on to the “place of their father’s first inheritance” for so many years.
 29 And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites; nevertheless the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness, at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west, round about on the wilderness side; on the north, even until they came to the land which they called ^aBountiful.
 30 And it bordered upon the land which they called ^aDesolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose ^bbones we have spoken, which was discovered by the ^cpeople of Zarahemla, it being the place of their ^dfirst landing. They all kept track of their heritage and where the "1st landing" was...
 31 And they came from there ^aup into the south wilderness. Thus the ^bland on the northward was called ^cDesolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful, it being the wilderness which is filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind, a part of which had come from the land northward for food.
 32 And now, it was only the ^adistance of a day and a half’s journey walking how many ours a day? 10? 20? for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small ^bneck of land between the land northward and the land southward. This is pretty specific geography. Why? Is it important to Moroni that we figure out where this all took place? 
 33 And it came to pass that the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south, that thereby they should have no more possession on the north, that they might not overrun the land northward.
 34 Therefore the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about. Now this was wisdom in the Nephites—as the Lamanites were an enemy to them, they would not suffer their afflictions on every hand, and also that they might have a country whither they might flee, according to their desires.
 35 And now I, after having said this,  Why did he say all this? return again to the account of Ammon and Aaron, Omner and Himni, and their brethren.