Alma 25

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 Green 4/21 7/22  Brown 8/23)

Chapter 25

Lamanite aggressions spread—The seed of the priests of Noah perish as Abinadi prophesied—Many Lamanites are converted and join the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi—They believe in Christ and keep the law of Moses. About 90–77 B.C.

  1 And behold, now it came to pass that those Lamanites were more angry because they had slain their brethren; therefore they swore vengeance upon the Nephites; and they did ^ano more attempt to slay the people of ^bAnti-Nephi-Lehi at that time.
  2 But they took their armies and went over into the of the land of Zarahemla, and fell upon the people who were in the land of Ammonihah and ^adestroyed them. Once again, we see Satan has no power or no desire to protect his followers. They didn’t seem to care of you were apostate Nephites or not. The Ammonihah - ites were disaffected Nephites, but the Lamanites didn’t care about that distinction.
  3 And after that, they had ^amany battles with the Nephites, in the which they were driven and slain.
  4 And among the Lamanites who were slain were almost all the ^aseed of Amulon and his brethren, who were the priests of Noah, and they were slain by the hands of the Nephites; The wicked never prosper.
  5 And the remainder, having fled into the east wilderness, and having usurped the power and ^aauthority over the Lamanites, caused that many of the Lamanites should ^bperish by fire because of their belief—dang! Why death by fire?! That’s such an awful awful way to die! Did King Noah start that “tradition” for how to kill believers?
  6 For many of ^athem, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions, began to be stirred up in remembrance of the ^bwords which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land; therefore they began to disbelieve the ^ctraditions of their fathers, and to believe in the Lord, and that he gave great power unto the Nephites; and thus there were many of them converted in the wilderness.
  7 And it came to pass that those rulers who were the remnant of the children of ^aAmulon caused that they should be put to ^bdeath, yea, all those that believed in these things. In verse 4 it says “almost all the seed of Amulon”. Apparently these few who “slipped through the cracks were among the worst of them...”
  8 Now this martyrdom caused that many of their brethren should be stirred up to anger; and there began to be contention in the wilderness; and the Lamanites began to ^ahunt the seed of Amulon and his brethren and began to slay them; and they fled into the east wilderness.
  9 And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites. Thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pass, which he said concerning the seed of the priests who caused that he should suffer death by fire.
 10 For he said unto them: What ye shall ^ado unto me shall be a type of things to come.
 11 And now Abinadi was the first that suffered ^adeath by fire because of his belief in God; now this is what he meant, that many should suffer death by fire, according as he had suffered. Yep, Noah was the first to start this manner of death for believers...
 12 And he said unto the priests of Noah that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was, and that they should be scattered abroad and slain, even as a sheep having no shepherd is driven and slain by wild beasts; and now behold, these words were verified, for they were driven by the Lamanites, and they were hunted, and they were smitten.
 13 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that they could not overpower the Nephites they returned again to their own land; and many of them came over to dwell in the land of ^aIshmael and the land of Nephi, and did join themselves to the people of God, who were the people of ^bAnti-Nephi-Lehi.
 14 And they did also ^abury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had, and they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes. Really?...
enough of this constant fighting. Just rest...
 15 Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the ^alaw of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a ^btype of his coming, and believing that they must keep those ^coutward ^dperformances until the time that he should be revealed unto them. Are there any “outward performances” that we are keeping until Christ reveals Himself to us? 
 16 Now they did not suppose that ^asalvation came by the ^blaw of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a ^chope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come. They speak of the law of Moses, but there isn't much talk of animal sacrifices like in the Bible. Did they do that? Mosiah 2:3 says they brought the firstlings of their flocks...Isn't that the focus of the law of Moses?  Do our “outward performances” serve to “strengthen our faith in Christ”? Do we rely on the spirit of prophecy concerning the coming of Christ in our day? 
 17 And now behold, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni, and their brethren did rejoice exceedingly, for the success which they had had among the Lamanites, seeing that the Lord had granted unto them according to their ^aprayers, and that he had also verified his word unto them in every particular. I love that phrase. "He did verify his word in every particular!"