Mosiah 25
25:1-11 - There's not a lot in this chapter as far as discussions and references go, so let's see what we can come up with. So now that Alma and his people and Limhi and his people are all safely in Zarahemla, it's time to debrief and settle in. Limhi, Alma, and Mosiah all were believers in God so assimilating all the people together should have been easier than if they had all been hostile toward each other. It's interesting to me that the first thing that Mosiah does is read the records of Zeniff to his people, "from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until they returned again. And he also read the account of Alma and his brethren." I wonder what exactly his intention was in doing this. Did he mean to have a continuity in what his own people knew about the others who had joined them? I mean, I could imagine all the people getting together and talking about who did what and how, and crazy stories coming out of it. I wonder if he put it out there to teach the lessons that they had learned while they were gone. I wonder if the people of Limhi felt that it was sort of like airing their dirty laundry. Probably not the same, but something similar happened to me while I was in the army. There was an investigation of someone that I knew really really well, and of course I had to tell the truth, and I wasn't exactly his biggest fan at the time, but everything that was said by anyone during the investigation was to remain private, by law. Well, after the investigation, our battalion commander was so furious with us Medics that there was even an investigation in the first place that he took the binder with all the secret sworn statements dishing all the dirty laundry and made it public, letting everyone read it, it was all centered on this one guy, but still there was some crazy stuff in there, especially from me because I knew him the best. Now I understand that this is different from Mosiah in that Mosiah had no ill intentions, but I wonder if some of the people of Limhi felt exposed like I did when everything was put our on the open. Anyway, whatever the reason, which I am pretty sure that it was for the benefit of everyone, the "people who tarried in the land were struck with wonder and amazement. For they knew not what to think." There were mixed emotions, and I guess if we go back and look at the whole story from Zeniff to Mosiah, there are some pretty wild ups and downs. It's taken us exactly 1 month to comb through the that time frame and dissect, but these people heard it all in one day, so yeah, I can see the overwhelming nature of the stories and their significance. First, "they beheld those that had been delivered out of bondage they were filled with exceeding great joy." Yes, an absolutely incredible account of deliverance. Wait a second, this just occurred to me that the people of Limhi had been in Zarahemla for quite some time before Alma and his people got there, because the Lamanites found Alma and put them into bondage while they were chasing Limhi as they fled to Zarahemla. So Mosiah had had the records of Limhi and studied them for a while. Interesting, that changes the perspective for me a little bit. So Mosiah read the histories of both these groups, although one had dwelt with them for a while already. Ok, so first the people recognized the miracle that was delivering both groups, and "they were filled with exceedingly great joy." Then "when they thought of their brethren who had been slain by the Lamanites they were filled with sorrow, and even shed many tears." No doubt the murder of Abinadi the prophet was painful for them, but the unnecessary death of so many men in battle trying to free themselves must have weighed heavily on them, and maybe for reasons that we wouldn't suspect. Let's think about it for a minute, with so many men dying in battle, that means there are many many widows and fatherless children, and as a woman seeing others in that state of existence is heart wrenching to me. In addition, that puts a much larger demand on society as a whole, so the abscence of so many men was more than just sad, it was probably felt acutely throughout their society. The "thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren," gave the people joy, but "they were filled with pain and anguish" because of the "sinful and polluted state" of the Lamanites. I'm sure that there were no illusions about the intentions of the Lamanites before Limhi and Alma got there, but having a more in detail account of just how awful it was must have caused great anxiety among many. I guess it's like hearing about what one group of people is doing to another, and it's horrid, the heart ache that is felt, but it's probably a million times worse when that bad group is also trying to destroy you. The IM lists the "effects the the (records) had on the people: 1. They were 'struck with wonder and amazement.' 2. They 'were filled with exceedingly great joy.' 3. They felt 'sorrow' for the deaths of so many. 4. They recognized the 'goodness of God.' 5. They felt the need to 'give thanks to God.' 6. The sins of others 'filled (them) with pain and anguish.'" The IM calls the records that were read the "scriptures," so that is interesting. And so I guess the question that comes up is, if the scriptures caused those reactions from those people, what reactions do we have when it comes to our scripture study? Are we actively seeking learning and growth, joy and knowledge? Or is our scripture study tedious and boring? An interesting gauge if we think about it.
25:12-24 - After the records had been read, I guess some of those sheepish feelings did come out because "the children of Amulon and his brethren... were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers." It's interesting the concept of names, what they represent and what they don't. If we look at the church of Christ, taking upon us the name of Christ, we can see that there is some important symbolism in there, and yeah I can understand not wanting to go by a name that is associated with someone shameful, like when the siblings of Hitler changed their names to Hiller. I can definitely understand that the children of Amulon would not want that name representing them, "therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi... and now all the people of Zarahemla were numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom had been conferred upon none but those who were descendants of Nephi." Now I had an interesting thought when I read this, when it comes to lineage. If we look at the Abrahamic covenant, those who come into the covenant that are not of direct bloodline can be adopted into the family, just like those who are adopted into the Nephite nation. Also back when Joseph was sold into Egypt and he married a woman there, that woman was not Egyptian, she was of some Abrahamic descent through a temporary over throw of the traditional Egyptian government at the time. So Joseph married within the Abrahamic covenant, trust me I heard this on a BYU Old Testament roundtable discussion, but they said how interesting it was that the Lord had moved this Abrahamic line into the Egyptian government just so that Joseph could marry within the covenant. Similarly, Alma is said to be a direct descendant of Nephi, and so maybe the Lord planned it so that Alma would be a descendant of Nephi because that's how the leadership structure went during that time. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, this is purely speculation on my part. So Alma went to the people "preaching unto the people repentance and faith on the Lord." And through this teaching "king Limhi was desrious that he might be baptized; and all his people were desirous that they might be baptized also." Thus the church was strengthened by the addition of Alma and all the people that came with him and Limhi, and "they did assemble themselves together in different bodies, being called churches... for there was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God... and it came to pass that whosoever were desirous to take upon them the name of Christ, or of God, they did join the churches of God." To me, this illustrates again, the continuity of the structure and teachings of God to the people. There is an organized structure, there is delegation of responsibility, and there is a uniformity of message. This is the way of order and of God's church.
I had one more thought today about last night's reading, and it has to do with Amulon being "wroth with" Alma. We established yesterday that Alma was the one who was forced to flee for his life, hide out and lost everything that he had, whereas Amulon retained all that he had and even gained favor in the sight of the Lamanite king, so how is it possible that Amulon was angry with Alma and not the other way around. I'm reading a book called "Bonds That Make Us Free," by C. Terry Warner and in it he talks about how we feel guilty and defensive when we wrong someone else, and I thought that that fit perfectly here. Warner goes back and forth between a "true or false" exercise, "Fable: Our accusing, self-excusing feelings such as anger, frustration, bitterness, self-pity, and so on, are signals that we are in the right. Fact: Such feelings are signals that we are in the wrong." God teaches us that wickedness never was happiness, so eventually when living a wicked lifestyle, such as kidnapping and raping young girls, even though you may be running from justice, and seemingly be "free" from consequences, there will come a time when you can no longer hide from the angst in your own soul, your own guilt for going against your inner light of Christ, from denying what you know to be true. There will come a time in your life, usually sooner rather than later, that all that hate and bitterness and poison will become all consuming, and you will be able to convince yourself that someone else caused those feelings within you, when in fact it's your own fault and there's only one way out. And that my friends is an eternal principle.
25:12-24 - After the records had been read, I guess some of those sheepish feelings did come out because "the children of Amulon and his brethren... were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers." It's interesting the concept of names, what they represent and what they don't. If we look at the church of Christ, taking upon us the name of Christ, we can see that there is some important symbolism in there, and yeah I can understand not wanting to go by a name that is associated with someone shameful, like when the siblings of Hitler changed their names to Hiller. I can definitely understand that the children of Amulon would not want that name representing them, "therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi... and now all the people of Zarahemla were numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom had been conferred upon none but those who were descendants of Nephi." Now I had an interesting thought when I read this, when it comes to lineage. If we look at the Abrahamic covenant, those who come into the covenant that are not of direct bloodline can be adopted into the family, just like those who are adopted into the Nephite nation. Also back when Joseph was sold into Egypt and he married a woman there, that woman was not Egyptian, she was of some Abrahamic descent through a temporary over throw of the traditional Egyptian government at the time. So Joseph married within the Abrahamic covenant, trust me I heard this on a BYU Old Testament roundtable discussion, but they said how interesting it was that the Lord had moved this Abrahamic line into the Egyptian government just so that Joseph could marry within the covenant. Similarly, Alma is said to be a direct descendant of Nephi, and so maybe the Lord planned it so that Alma would be a descendant of Nephi because that's how the leadership structure went during that time. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, this is purely speculation on my part. So Alma went to the people "preaching unto the people repentance and faith on the Lord." And through this teaching "king Limhi was desrious that he might be baptized; and all his people were desirous that they might be baptized also." Thus the church was strengthened by the addition of Alma and all the people that came with him and Limhi, and "they did assemble themselves together in different bodies, being called churches... for there was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God... and it came to pass that whosoever were desirous to take upon them the name of Christ, or of God, they did join the churches of God." To me, this illustrates again, the continuity of the structure and teachings of God to the people. There is an organized structure, there is delegation of responsibility, and there is a uniformity of message. This is the way of order and of God's church.
I had one more thought today about last night's reading, and it has to do with Amulon being "wroth with" Alma. We established yesterday that Alma was the one who was forced to flee for his life, hide out and lost everything that he had, whereas Amulon retained all that he had and even gained favor in the sight of the Lamanite king, so how is it possible that Amulon was angry with Alma and not the other way around. I'm reading a book called "Bonds That Make Us Free," by C. Terry Warner and in it he talks about how we feel guilty and defensive when we wrong someone else, and I thought that that fit perfectly here. Warner goes back and forth between a "true or false" exercise, "Fable: Our accusing, self-excusing feelings such as anger, frustration, bitterness, self-pity, and so on, are signals that we are in the right. Fact: Such feelings are signals that we are in the wrong." God teaches us that wickedness never was happiness, so eventually when living a wicked lifestyle, such as kidnapping and raping young girls, even though you may be running from justice, and seemingly be "free" from consequences, there will come a time when you can no longer hide from the angst in your own soul, your own guilt for going against your inner light of Christ, from denying what you know to be true. There will come a time in your life, usually sooner rather than later, that all that hate and bitterness and poison will become all consuming, and you will be able to convince yourself that someone else caused those feelings within you, when in fact it's your own fault and there's only one way out. And that my friends is an eternal principle.
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