Alma 33

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 Green 5/21 8/22 Bown 9/23)

Chapter 33

taught that men should pray and worship in all places, and that judgments are turned away because of the Son—Zenock taught that mercy is bestowed because of the Son—Moses had lifted up in the wilderness a type of the Son of God. About 74 B.C.

  1 Now after Alma had spoken these words, they sent forth unto him desiring to know whether they should believe in ^aone God, that they might obtain this fruit of which he had spoken, or ^bhow they should plant the ^cseed, or the word of which he had spoken, which he said must be planted in their hearts; or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith. All good questions!
  2 And Alma said unto them: Behold, ye have said that ye ^acould not ^bworship your God because ye are cast out of your synagogues. But behold, I say unto you, if ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and ye ought to search the ^cscriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them. What do the scriptures say...This should be our “go to” phrase when we have a question about something. Many of our answers are already in the scriptures. Do I take the time to search them for the answers and for understanding? Some of the things we have thought the scriptures say, maybe they don't. We need to search them and pray for the Spirit of Discernment and Prophecy that we may understand their true meaning. 
  3 Do ye remember to have read what ^aZenos, the prophet of old, has said concerning prayer or ^bworship? We don’t have his words. Is he an Old Testament prophet or a Book of Mormon prophet? See here (https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Zenos) He's an OT prophet
  4 For he said: Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was ^ain the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine ^benemies, and thou didst turn them to me. How does God turn your enemies to you in the context of agency? 
  5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my ^afield; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me.
  6 And again, O God, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in my prayer.
  7 And when I did turn unto my ^acloset, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me.
  8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou ^awilt hear them. We cry unto God because we want to hear what HE has to say, not what man has to say. 
  9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.
 10 Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been ^acast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst ^bvisit them in thine anger with speedy destruction. “these” enemies were not turned towards him but destroyed...
 11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my ^asincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine ^bafflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, ^cbecause of thy Son. This is a great discourse on prayer. Pray everywhere, anytime, about all things. Have faith that God will hear you and have mercy on you because of His Son. Clearly he is praying to the Father and not the Son. The people had just asked if they should believe in one God. In this example he is teaching them there are two...Two things: First; why is God merciful to us because of His Son? Is it because of the suffering of His Son that He has mercy? If so, how deeply we should love the Son. Second: I have been trying to learn how to come to Christ without praying to Christ. Christ commanded us to pray to the Father, but how do you know someone without talking to them? How do you have a relationship? How do the words of Christ tell you all things if you are not in conversation with Christ? What is God and Christ's will concerning prayer? Is all conversation prayer? Part of my confusion on this is that Jesus was the God of the OT, so all those conversations with God- were they really with Jesus? And in 3 Nephi, Jesus said they were praying to Him because He was with them. Maybe that is the answer. When Jesus comes and makes His abode with you and is really “with you”...then you can talk to him. I don’t know...
 12 And now Alma said unto them: Do ye ^abelieve those scriptures which have been written by them of old?
 13 Behold, if ye do, ye must believe what ^aZenos said; for, behold he said: Thou hast turned away thy judgments because of thy Son.
 14 Now behold, my brethren, I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye ^adisbelieve on the Son of God?
 15 For it is ^anot written that Zenos alone spake of these things, but ^bZenock also spake of these things—
 16 For behold, he said: Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they ^awill not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son. There is something profound in these statement about God answering prayers in mercy 'because of His Son'. Why does he grant such mercy 'because' of Christ?
 17 And now, my brethren, ye see that a second prophet of old has testified of the Son of God, and because the people would not understand his words they ^astoned him to death.
 18 But behold, this is not all; these are not the only ones who have spoken concerning the Son of God.
 19 Behold, he was spoken of by ^aMoses; yea, and behold a ^btype was ^craised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live. Many are using this “type” for the Covid shot, saying it’s “so easy” and we just need to take it “and live”. wow! Isn’t that the epitome of a false idol? They justify it by saying that it was a miracle from God; and that the “staff” clearly wasn’t Christ, but a “type”. However, the serpent has long been a symbol of Christ. The shot is not kind of type or symbol at all, except to be a substitute for Christ and faith in Him. So not right. Some interesting ties with Covid and the serpent, though. The medical symbol is a serpent on a staff. In Moses sense, that should mean Christ is the true healer. In the worldly sense, they seem to use it to say, “they” are the healer of all things and we should look to them. Also, there are ties to Covid and snake venom. Jesus said that one of the signs that would follow them that believe is that the poison of a serpent would not hurt them. Interesting...
 20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would ^aheal them. In our day, people will not look to Christ to heal them and so they will perish. The shot will not save them. It will further harden their hearts...
 21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in ^aunbelief, and be ^bslothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish? Notice in this story, the action is to have faith and believe. In our day, they are saying the action is to take a shot and believe in that. I'm wondering if we are being taught here that healing is no harder than just looking. If we are not healed it is because our faith is too weak. We are stuck in this "tradition" and "false belief" that it's God's will that we aren't healed; that we need the "test" or "trial". But...what if that's not true. What if it's never God's will that we are sick. That we can ask to be healed every single time. Maybe our faith is weak because we don't understand the importance of our bodies. Maybe our faith being weak is tied to our faith in what God has given us in our bodies is weak. Maybe it's very simple and very complex at the same time...
 22 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and ^abegin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to ^batone for their sins; and that he shall ^crise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the ^dresurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be ^ejudged at the last and judgment day, according to their ^fworks. Belief in the Resurrection is an important teaching as it makes the things you do and believe in this life matter. No life after death - no consequences for sin. 
 23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall ^aplant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, ^bspringing up in you unto ^ceverlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your ^dburdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye ^ewill. Amen. Notice the word of God is nourished by faith. Notice it is if WE will. It is God's will that we grow this tree that brings everlasting life. It is His will that our burdens be light. Trials and tests are there to humble us so that we submit and desire what God wills for us instead of our own limited desires and wills. Once we are "there" do we need tests and trials? Or do we have adversity in this world still, but not experience them as personal tests and trials? All things to ponder...The original question at the beginning was should we believe in “one God” “how do we plant this word in our hearts and exercise faith”. The answers were there is God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. You plant the word by studying what the scriptures teach about Jesus and His word. Believe enough to act on His words. Believe He can heal you and save you. Simply look to Him. Do not harden you heart.