Alma 28

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

Chapter 28

The Lamanites are defeated in a tremendous battle—Tens of thousands are slain—The wicked are consigned to a state of endless woe; the righteous attain a never-ending happiness. About 77–76 B.C.

  1 And now it came to pass that after the people of Ammon were established in the land of ^aJershon, and a church also established in the land of Jershon, and the armies of the Nephites were set round about the land of Jershon, yea, in all the borders round about the land of Zarahemla; behold the armies of the Lamanites had followed their brethren into the wilderness. Just wondering how they staffed their armies. Was it just every man's duty? What age? Was there a kind of draft?
  2 And thus there was a tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem; yea, and tens of thousands of the Lamanites were slain and scattered abroad.
  3 Yea, and also there was a tremendous slaughter among the people of Nephi; nevertheless, the Lamanites were ^adriven and scattered, and the people of Nephi returned again to their land. I think this is TRAGIC! Here the Nephites sacrifice so much for their former enemies and it brings war and death upon them. It doesn't seem like much of a reward for their generosity and love and kindness...And how awful the people of Ammon must have felt to see this terrible war and not be able to help and to feel like maybe it was their fault. It sounds like the war was fought outside the borders of the cities, so at least the old and women and children were spared, as well as the people in the city of Jershon.
  4 And now this was a time that there was a great ^amourning and lamentation heard throughout all the land, among all the people of Nephi—
  5 Yea, the cry of ^awidows mourning for their husbands, and also of fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea, the brother for the father; and thus the cry of mourning was heard among all of them, mourning for their kindred who had been slain.
  6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity, and a time of much ^afasting and prayer. For me, the fasting and prayer would be to understand why this had just happened... I am studying fasting right now and trying to understand why it is so powerful and important. Here the people used fasting in tandem with prayer because of their great loss. What was the purpose of their fast? Knowledge? Strength? Repentance? Understanding? What was the Lord's purpose in this? Doesn't he promise to protect the righteous? Was their ultimately winning still the Lord protecting them?
  7 And thus endeth the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi;
  8 And ^athis is the account of Ammon and his brethren, their journeyings in the land of Nephi, their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their ^bincomprehensible joy, and the reception and safety of the brethren in the land of Jershon. And now may the Lord, the Redeemer of all men, bless their souls forever. 
  9 And this is the account of the wars and contentions among the Nephites, and also the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites; and the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges is ended.
 10 And from the ^afirst year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed.
 11 And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are ^amoldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are ^bmourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.
 12 While many thousands of others truly ^amourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the ^bpromises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending ^chappiness. I guess their faith in this was truly tested. Even if the righteous died, they died in the Lord. The promised of exaltation was greater than the promise of mortal safety.
 13 And thus we see how great the ^ainequality of man is because of sin and ^btransgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning ^cplans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.
 14 And thus we see the great call of ^adiligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the ^blight of Christ unto life.

Alma 27

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 5/21 GREEN 7/22 Brown 8/23.)

Chapter 27

The Lord commands Ammon to lead the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi to safety—Upon meeting Alma, Ammon’s joy exhausts his strength—The Nephites give the Anti-Nephi-Lehies the land of Jershon—They are called the people of Ammon. About 90–77 B.C.

  1 Now it came to pass that when those Lamanites who had gone to war against the Nephites had found, after their ^amany struggles to destroy them, that it was in vain to seek their destruction, If the Lord is fighting our battles, we don't need to fear our enemies they returned again to the land of Nephi.
  2 And it came to pass that the Amalekites, because of their loss, were exceedingly angry. And when they saw that they could not seek revenge from the Nephites, they began to ^astir up the people in anger Why is it so easy to make other people mad and get them to fight your battles? against their ^bbrethren, the people of ^cAnti-Nephi-Lehi; therefore they began again to destroy them.
  3 Now this people ^aagain refused to take their arms, and they suffered themselves to be slain I don't know if we remember this second attack and their continued willingness to be slain according to the desires of their enemies. We have to put this next to the belief that God will protect and save the righteous. There was no divine intervention for these people who were willing to be killed rather than to kill. Is this part of their repentance for the lives they had taken before they were converted? 
  4 Now when Ammon and his brethren saw this work of destruction among those whom they so dearly beloved, and among those who had so dearly beloved them—for they were treated as though they were angels sent from God to save them from everlasting destruction—This is a beautiful expression. These Lamanites were TRULY converted and grateful. They were given the gift of seeing their eternal standing therefore, when Ammon and his brethren saw this great work of destruction, they were moved with compassion, and they ^asaid unto the king: Ammon is still living with the Lamanites
  5 Let us gather together this people of the Lord, and let us go down to the land of Zarahemla to our brethren the Nephites, and flee out of the hands of our enemies, that we be not destroyed. fleeing always seems to be an option
  6 But the king said unto them: Behold, the Nephites will destroy us, because of the many murders and sins we have committed against them.
  7 And Ammon said: I will go and inquire of the Lord, and if he say unto us, go down unto our brethren, will ye go? I love this distinction. Ammon had his "opinion" but he believed the king would only yield to the Lord's will.
  8 And the king said unto him: Yea, if the Lord saith unto us go, we will go down unto our brethren, and we will be their slaves until we repair unto them the many murders and sins which we have committed against them. They are STILL repenting...
  9 But Ammon said unto him: It is against the law of our brethren, which was established by my father, that there should be any ^aslaves among them; THIS verse needs to be remembered when they come after the church for racism and/or supporting slavery. Not so! therefore let us go down and rely upon the mercies of our brethren.
 10 But the king said unto him: Inquire of the Lord, and if he saith unto us go, we will go; otherwise we will perish in the land. The king was thinking their two options were slavery or death (even though slavery wasn't allowed)
 11 And it came to pass that Ammon went and inquired of the Lord, and the Lord said unto him:
 12 Get this people ^aout of this land, that they perish not; for Satan has great hold on the hearts of the Amalekites, who do stir up the Lamanites to anger against their brethren to slay them; therefore get thee out of this land; and blessed are this people in this generation, for I will ^bpreserve them. The Lord removes the righteous to protect them from destruction and promises to preserve them. Could this be another example of the Lord being willing to preserve the people, but they had not asked if they should flee or give up their lives before this. As soon as they ask, the Lord says to go so they don't perish and He will preserve them. How very literal is the command to ask and then receive! Remember that Jesus taught that the Jews didn't know about Lehi's seed "because they asked not"...as if that is the only reason they didn't know. If they had asked, He would have told them. 
 13 And now it came to pass that Ammon went and told the king all the words which the Lord had said unto him.
 14 And they gathered together all their people, yea, all the people of the Lord, and did gather together all their flocks and herds, and departed out of the land, and came into the wilderness which divided the land of Nephi from the land of Zarahemla, and came over near the borders of the land.
 15 And it came to pass that Ammon said unto them: Behold, I and my brethren will go forth into the land of Zarahemla, and ye shall remain here until we return; and we will ^atry the hearts of our brethren, whether they will that ye shall come into their land. Even though the Lord told them to go, and they had the promise that they would be preserved, they didn't have details. They gave the Nephites agency to accept or reject them.
 16 And it came to pass that as Ammon was going forth into the land, that he and his brethren met Alma, over in the ^aplace of which has been spoken; and behold, this was a joyful meeting.
 17 Now the ^ajoy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the ^bexhausting of his strength; and he fell ^cagain to the earth. What is this Godly joy that is so overpowering to the body? Ammon seems to be particularly given to feeling this kind of emotion.
 18 Now was not this ^aexceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of ^bhappiness. I guess I have a lot to learn about being TRULY penitent and humble. and seeking happiness...
 19 Now the joy of Alma in meeting his ^abrethren was truly great, and also the joy of Aaron, of Omner, and Himni; but behold their joy was not that to exceed their strength. Interesting comparison. Truly fascinating on what is needed to experience this joy...
 20 And now it came to pass that Alma conducted his brethren back to the land of Zarahemla; even to his ^aown house. Alma had a house and a wife and children. well...don’t’ really know about the wife and children...And they went and told the ^bchief judge all the things that had happened unto them in the land of Nephi, among their brethren, the Lamanites.
 21 And it came to pass that the chief judge sent a proclamation throughout all the land, desiring the voice of the people Love this democracy. The chief judge wanted to govern according to the will of the people concerning the admitting their brethren, who were the people of ^aAnti-Nephi-Lehi.
 22 And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the ^aland of ^bJershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance.
 23 And behold, we will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi, that we may ^aprotect our brethren in the land Jershon; and this we do for our brethren, on account of their fear to take up arms against their brethren lest they should commit sin; and this their great fear came because of their sore repentance which they had, on account of their many murders and their awful wickedness.
 24 And now behold, this will we do unto our brethren, that they may inherit the land Jershon; and we will guard them from their enemies with our armies, on condition that they will give us a ^aportion of their substance to assist us that we may maintain our armies. Very generous of the Nephites. They had not forgotten the many murders and awful wickedness, but they also believed the Lamanites had repented and were willing to relocate some of their people and give them their land and protect them (if they would sustain them for their time and sacrifice) Where did the citizens of Jershon go? How were they so easily willing to give them their land? Did they just live in tents that they moved elsewhere? Was there no one living in Jershon? Did they have homes they just abandoned? Did the people of Zarahemla take them in? This may be included in the records Mormon didn't include. Remember he only wrote a hundredth part...
 25 Now, it came to pass that when Ammon had heard this, he returned to the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, and also Alma with him, into the wilderness, where they had pitched their tents, and made known unto them all these things. And Alma also related unto them his ^aconversion, with Ammon and Aaron, and his brethren. Had Ammon not shared this story with them yet? I wonder if he told this story of himself and Ammon to connect himself with Ammon in their minds to increase their trust in him?
 26 And it came to pass that it did cause great joy among them. And they went down into the land of Jershon, and took possession of the land of Jershon; and they were called by the Nephites the ^apeople of Ammon; therefore they were distinguished by that name ever after. So the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's became the "people of Ammon" - much easier name!
 27 And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their ^azeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly ^bhonest and upright in all things; and they were ^cfirm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end. Now there is a “label” we should seek to be known by...
 28 And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it. With all the death we are about to face, we need to have this unshaken faith and lack of fear over death!
 29 Therefore, they would suffer ^adeath in the most aggravating and distressing manner which could be inflicted by their brethren, before they would take the sword or cimeter to smite them.
 30 And thus they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord. I love this description.

zeal towards God
zeal towards man
perfectly honest in all things
perfectly upright in all things
never took up arms to fight
did not look upon death with any degree of terror
great hope and views of Christ and the resurrection
death swallowed up by the victory of Christ over it
BELOVED PEOPLE
HIGHLY FAVORED OF THE THE LORD

Alma 26

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

Chapter 26

Ammon glories in the Lord—The faithful are strengthened by the Lord and are given knowledge—By faith men may bring thousands of souls unto repentance—God has all power and comprehends all things. About 90–77 B.C.

  1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, distinction? literal brothers and brethren of the church? Fellow missionaries? behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we ^astarted from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings? Does this mean that their success was greater than they imagined? Surely they had faith of some success or they wouldn't have even gone. Or maybe they felt a duty to go even if there was no hope of success. How often do we put off our ‘neighbor’ missionary work because we are sure we won’t have any success. But these missionaries went with little ‘chance’ of success. Look how God surprised them!
  2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?
  3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how ^amany of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made ^binstruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work .Even though the Lamanites are so blessed for being converted, these missionaries also feel so blessed to have been a part of it. 
  4 Behold, ^athousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God. that’s quite a mission! 
  5 Behold, the ^afield was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the ^bsickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your ^csheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted. Elder Bednar says one meaning of this is they are gathered into the temples.
  6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the ^astorm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them. If this is a "last day" scripture, then the promise is that when the storm comes, we SHALL be gathered together to OUR place, where we will be protected.
  7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the ^aharvest, and they are his; and he will ^braise them up at the last day. With this faith, what is there to fear?  Why is he talking about the “last day” right now? “they” in this verse are the “sheaves”. These sheaves are gathered into the garners. They are not beaten down by the storm; or harrowed up by the whirlwinds. They are gathered when the storm comes. The storm won’t penetrate to them; they won’t be driven by fierce winds by Satan. They are in the hands of the Lord. They are His. He will raise them up. May this be our blessing for us, "in the last day"! Perhaps he's speaking of future Lamanites/Nephites?
  8 ^aBlessed be the name of our God; let us ^bsing to his praise, yea, let us give ^cthanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever.
  9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with ^ahatred against us, yea, and they would also have been ^bstrangers to God.
 10 And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying: Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting.
 11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not ^aboast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my ^bjoy is full, yea, my heart is brim with ^cjoy, and I will rejoice in my God.
 12 Yea, I know that I am ^anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will ^bnot boast of myself, but I will ^cboast of my God, for in his ^dstrength I can do all ^ethings; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. True humility can boast. Paradox!
 13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of ^ahell; and they are brought to ^bsing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice? This could possibly mean they knew the scriptures so well that the power of those words were in them and it gave them power as the preached. Good reason to study the scriptures. I even more so think they were blessed with a power that was in them. His words were given to them to speak. He was in them!
 14 Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the ^achains of hell.
 15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting ^adarkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting ^blight, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work. Here is a reference to the "great and marvelous work". If it is used consistently, then it is a code name for "gathering sheaves into the garners through conversion". That works with Isaiah's use of the phrase.
 16 Therefore, let us ^aglory, yea, we will ^bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his ^cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. He is SO HAPPY!
 17 Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and ^apolluted state? And thus, they wanted to “snatch their brethren the Lamanites” out of their awful and polluted state...
 18 Behold, we went forth even in wrath, with mighty threatenings to ^adestroy his church. Reminds me of Saul/Paul's turn around as well. Never doubt that God can take sinners and turn them into saints!
 19 Oh then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction, yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to eternal ^adespair? This sounds like it's getting very personal for him. He is comparing himself to the Lamanites. He was facing the pains of hell and justice for rebelling against God. He doesn't really know why God was so merciful to stop him in his tracks. But he took that mercy and went after those who were in a state as he was. Now he knows they are saved from the same hell he was facing and he's so happy!
 20 Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting ^agulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls. They were rebellious Nephites. Usually, mercy is not what apostate Nephites get...
 21 And now behold, my brethren, what ^anatural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is ^bnone that ^cknoweth these things, save it be the penitent. At first I thought he was saying only really bad sinners will know this kind of joy. But aren't we all sinners? We just all need to recognize that it's not the degree of our sin that matters, but that there was only one way out of hell and that was Jesus Christ. Being Born Again is to have the "natural man" cast off through sincere repentance born of a broken heart and contrite spirit.
 22 Yea, he that ^arepenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good ^bworks, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the ^cmysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be ^dgiven to ^ereveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance. That is what he was given...
   1. repent
   2. Exercise faith
   3. Bring forth good works,
   4. Pray continually without ceasing
 then
   1. you will be given to know the mysteries of God
   2. You will be given the authority to reveal things which never have been revealed
   3. you will be given success to bring thousands of souls to repentance
Who do you know that has been given these great blessings? What is that saying? 
 23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they ^alaughed us to scorn? Never listen to those mocking you|
 24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the ^aincorrectness of the ^btraditions of their fathers, as ^cstiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the ^dshedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? God's ways/thoughts are not man's! We have to give God room to do His mighty miracles! Now my brethren,  So he is talking to his missionary brethren, not converts ye remember that this was their language.
 25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us. Hmm....we’re not supposed to take the offensive. 
 26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls. There's that Martin L. King quote again about not chasing away hate with hate, or darkness with darkness... They were also willing to risk being destroyed themselves in the process of trying to save the wicked.
 27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to ^aturn back, behold, the Lord ^bcomforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with ^cpatience thine ^dafflictions, and I will give unto you success. How can you not go back with faith if the Lord speaks to you with that promise?  But it would certainly take a lot of courage to know you will suffer afflictions first...
 28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God. The ultimate success does not discount the hardship that got you there...
 29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their ^asynagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been ^bstoned, and taken and bound with ^cstrong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again. There are many untold stories here...
 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our ^ajoy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.
 31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the ^afruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are ^bmany; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us. By their fruits ye shall know them...and the greatest fruit is love. 
 32 For behold, they had rather ^asacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have ^bburied their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren. See again how love is the deepest foundational motivator for good? they didn’t bury their weapons out of self-serving concern but out of love for their enemy Lamanite brothers. 
 33 And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Nephites.
 34 For behold, they would take up arms against their brethren; they would not suffer themselves to be slain. But behold how ^amany of these have laid down their lives; and we know that they have gone to their God, because of their love and of their hatred to sin. This is being Born Again. When you hate sin.
 35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all ^apower, ^ball wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a ^cmerciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name. Remember this when you petition your Father in Heaven. He has ALL power, wisdom, understanding, comprehends ALL things and is ALL merciful. He wants to save His children even more than you do and will do all in His power to facilitate that IF they will repent and believe. 
 36 Now if this is ^aboasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a ^bbranch of the tree of Israel, and has been ^clost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, ^dwanderers in a strange land.
 37 Now my brethren, we see that God is ^amindful of every ^bpeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. May God's mercy come and end this pandemic! It is August 2023. The pandemic is over, but there are rumors of them ramping up another variant with a call for masking and lockdowns again. I think more people than before will rebel. But I think they are using it as a cover for all the deaths that are coming from the vaccine. They will blame the uptick in deaths on the large numbers of people who won't mask, thus making the divide greater and greater. What will it look like at church this time? In families? Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

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!"

Alma 24

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

Chapter 24

The Lamanites come against the people of God—The Anti-Nephi-Lehies rejoice in Christ and are visited by angels—They choose to suffer death rather than to defend themselves—More Lamanites are converted. About 90–77 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that the Amalekites and the Amulonites and the Lamanites who were in the land of ^aAmulon, and also in the land of ^bHelam, and who were in the land of ^cJerusalem, and in fine, in all the land round about, who had not been converted and had not taken upon them the name of ^dAnti-Nephi-Lehi, were stirred up by the Amalekites and by the Amulonites to anger against their brethren. The rapid and massive conversion of their former “brethren” really stirred them up. Is that coming again? Is that what will ramp up persecution against the saints? The Conversion of others on a large scale? How would that work with the prophesied apostasy? Could they happen at the same time? 1 Nephi 14 says: "1 And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks- 7 For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken."  Could this scriptures be fulfilled soon? Will Christ somehow prove He is God to such an extent that people are either convinced He is God or openly rebel against that proof? I still maintain that that is the kind of rebellion that would be necessary for the kind of judgment that is coming...
  2 And their hatred became exceedingly sore against them, even insomuch that they began to rebel against their king, insomuch that they would not that he should be their king; therefore, they took up arms against the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. Remember the King had been converted... Some say Pres. Trump is going to be reinstated because the Supreme Court has found that last election stolen. That would cause a lot of people to also rebel against him because they "would not that he should be their 'king'" and to take up arms.
  3 Now the king conferred the kingdom upon his son, and he called his name Anti-Nephi-Lehi.
  4 And the king died in that selfsame year that the Lamanites began to make preparations for war against the people of God. History will repeat itself. If over half the members of the church leave that's millions of people to 'stir' up others to hatred!
  5 Now when Ammon and his brethren and all those who had come up with him saw the preparations of the Lamanites to destroy their brethren, they came forth to the land of Midian, and there Ammon met all his brethren; and from thence they came to the land of Ishmael that they might hold a ^acouncil with Lamoni and also with his brother Anti-Nephi-Lehi, what they should do to defend themselves against the Lamanites.
  6 Now there was not one soul among all the people who had been converted unto the Lord that would take up arms against their brethren; nay, they would not even make any preparations for war; yea, and also their king commanded them that they should not. Here is real hard evidence that they had truly truly been converted and truly repented. They had no desire whatsoever to go back to their old ways of hatred and warring and bloodshed. This was not a peer-pressure kind of conversion. They truly had been “born of God” and had “no more disposition to do evil”. Can I say the same? I cannot.
  7 Now, these are the words which he said unto the people concerning the matter: I thank my God, my beloved people, that our great God has in goodness sent these our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach unto us, and to convince us of the ^atraditions of our wicked fathers. Considering their long held beliefs, they truly had to be “convinced” of the error of their ways. Only the Spirit can really do that...
  8 And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts, as I said...that we have ^aopened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites.
  9 And behold, I also thank my God, that by opening this correspondence we have been convinced of our ^asins, Everything is better if you can talk about it... and of the many murders which we have committed.
 10 And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath ^aforgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, So I guess murder is a forgivable sin... and taken away the ^bguilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son.
 11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent This is the cross reference to the scripture that says, we are saved by grace "after all that we can do". All we can do is repent! of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to ^atake them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain— What did their repentance look like? Did they have to “do” repentance? Was it just a letting go of sin? Any reparations made? Notice true repentance is not just stopping the action, but truly having the sin taken from your heart that you don't even desire to do it.
 12 Now, my best beloved brethren, Interesting adjective; kind of like saying "best" friend? since God hath taken away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our swords no more with the blood of our brethren.
 13 Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if we should stain our swords ^aagain they can no more be ^bwashed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins. I think he’s making a distinction between their former murders, born of incorrect teachings and what would be “knowing” murders in light of their new knowledge, which would not be forgivable. Is it really "murder" to kill in self defense? I think God has justified that many times in the scriptures. But they didn't care. They didn't want to take anyone's life anymore for any reason!
 14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our ^asouls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the ^bplan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations. Was he calling Ammon and Aaron and their brothers “angels” that visited them? Or did they have real angelic visitations? 
 15 Oh, how merciful is our God! Appeal to this God of Mercy in your prayers...And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us ^ahide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God I think God likes/appreciates outward symbols or efforts or actions to show Him how serious we are about our commitments and requests. at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us ^bclean thereby.
 16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall ^ago to our God and shall be saved. See...if you are “clean” before God and have sufficiently repented and your heart is right, you are not afraid to die and stand before God. 
 17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did ^abury them up deep in the earth. They buried them even as they saw the enemy coming! Extra amazing faith!
 18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they ^anever would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching To substantiate by supplying evidence; prove and ^bcovenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would ^cgive up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands. We don't quote these last two covenants very often. Beside the promise to never take up the sword, they promised to not steal, but to give freely; to not be idle, but to work. two of their former driving lifestyle beliefs and customs 
 19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to ^abelieve and to know the truth, they were ^bfirm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace. Evidence JS did not make this up. You can't erase writing on Gold plates. JS translated it as it was written. This is also a measure of true conversion. You are FIRM. You are willing to suffer death rather than commit sin. You are willing to show God through you actions and sacrifice that you are truly committed and converted (even though He knows that without your efforts or sacrifice; so it’s more for us and others that we do it)
 20 And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place ^aanother in his stead, and also of destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land.
 21 Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, I am thinking they went out to meet them so they wouldn’t even start attacking, or at least inside the city preserving as much property as possible and possible the old and young inside the city and ^aprostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword. Notice they weren’t appealing to the Lamanites for mercy. They laid down and commended themselves to God. I thinking literally “calling on the name of the Lord” is important to note. The Lamanites thought nothing of this curious display at first...
 22 And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a ^athousand and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God. They did not hide. No fear. They just went out and laid down on the ground and prayed even in the act of being killed.  That is a LOT of merciless killing before being moved...unless there were a thousand Lamanites and they each only killed one person...
 23 Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and ^aperish, and ^bpraised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword— Would you think to praise God at that moment? Would your “natural man” be crying out for mercy, or that you wouldn’t suffer long or feel pain? But...they had truly “cast off the natural man” so there was no thought for self anymore. Only eternal gratitude to God for all His loving kindness and mercy and grace.
 24 Now when the Lamanites saw this they did ^aforbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had ^bswollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done. These martyrs gave up their lives but saved many others from damnation.
 25 And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them. Wow! In this very moment, they repented and were willing to give up their lives as those they had just murdered, hoping for mercy. It doesn’t say if or how many of them were actually killed...
 26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were ^asaved. So at least 1005 were converted,    meaning there were at least a 1,000 in the armies. Maybe they really only did kill one man each...
 27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ^aways to the salvation of his people. Interesting. We just never know what the Lord will do. Sometimes he slays the wicked. This time he preserved them so they could be converted. But he preserved and converted the wicked through the sacrifice of the righteous this time. In a way, he also preserved the righteous who were slain, by taking them at their most pure and righteous state. If they had remained on the earth for years and years more, who knows if they would have turned again? Why did the Lord show these hardened people such mercy? Was it the promises made to their fathers that they would one day be restored to the truth?
 28 Now the greatest number of those of the Lamanites who slew so many of their brethren were Amalekites and Amulonites, the greatest number of whom were after the ^aorder of the ^bNehors. Of course...
 29 Now, among those who joined the people of the Lord, there were ^anone who were Amalekites or Amulonites, or who were of the order of Nehor, but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel. Seems like part of this conversion is due to the blessing Lehi gave to the descendants of Laman and Lemuel. The sacrifice of the Lamanites who laid down their lives ended up being a merciful act for their own kindred. It wasn’t a merciful act for the hardened rebellious Nephites.
 30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once ^aenlightened by the ^bSpirit of God, and have had great ^cknowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have ^dfallen away into sin and transgression, they become more ^ehardened, and thus their state becomes ^fworse than though they had never known these things. Mark it well. You will see this soon. Don't be among the apostates who become thus hardened!