Mosiah 27:11-39
This section has a lot of content and there is a lot that I could go off on tangent and say but I think I'm going to keep it simple and stick to the scriptures and the IM mostly because I'm really short on time tonight.
27:11-17 - First things first, I want to comment on the differences in writing style between Mormon and Nephi. One of my difficulties in reading Nephi is that he will discuss a topic, then in the middle of that topic, discuss another topic, then transition right back, and it can be very hard to follow. But here as Mormon narrates the story he begins the account of the angel in verse 10, "And now it came to pass that while he was going about to destroy the church of God," now this comma stops that line of thinking and goes into the next line "for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king." So there is a line that flows from the previous sentence that is kind of an aside, but it's only one line and to transition back to the story at hand Mormon says "and as I said unto you," this is his way of saying "now as I was saying," bringing the story back on track. Very interesting to me the differences between Mormon and Nephi, where Nephi's "asides" can go on for chapters, then when he circles around to get back to the story, the reader is like "wait, what?" And I know that I probably do that too, I recognize the flaw in myself as well, but I just wanted to mention it here. Anyway, moving on, the angel appears "and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood," this would seem quite contrary to the still, small voice that is the way of the Holy Ghost, I guess sometimes when people are so past feeling and so dead to promptings from the Spirit, that the only way to make them hear is to have a voice of thunder come and shake the ground around them. The IM says "the ministering of angels must be in harmony with the will of God and does not always occur according to the timetable of the petitioner. Speaking of a man who had prayed for the visitation of angels, President Wilford Woodruff said: 'I said to him that if he were to pray for a thousand years to the God of Israel for that gift, it would not be granted, unless the Lord had a motive in sending an angel to him. I told him that the Lord never did nor never will send an angel to anybody merely to gratify the desire of the individual to see an angel. If the Lord sends an angel to anyone, He sends him to perform a work that cannot be performed only by the administration of an angel. I said to him that those were my views. The Lord had sent angels to men from the creation of the world, at different times, but always with a message or with something to perform that could not be performed without. I rehearsed to him different times when angels appeared to men. Of course, I referred to the angel visiting Joseph Smith. The Revelator John said that in the last days an angel would fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwelt on the earth. The reason it required an angel to do this work was, the Gospel was not on the earth. The Gospel and the Priesthood had been taken from among men. Hence God had to restore it again. Not, I have always said, and I want to say it to you, that the Holy Ghost is what every Saint of God needs. It is far more important that a man should have that gift than he should have the ministration of an angel, unless it is necessary for an angel to teach him something that he has not been taught.'" I had never considered that angels have a specific purpose when they come, I've never really looked at it as far as what exactly they do when they get here, but it all seems in line with President Woodruff's teaching. Ministering of angels is not hinged on righteousness, clearly, because AJ was sent an angel and he was the vilest of sinners. Likewise, I've never seen an angel, but I guess that doesn't say much. Unlike the companionship of the Holy Ghost, angels are only sent with purpose and message. I thought it very useful advice that seeking the companionship of the Holy Ghost is more important than having an angelic experience, this kind of takes us down a notch in humility, it doesn't matter how righteous you are, the whisperings of the Holy Ghost is sufficient for you. I like that message, it makes it more real and attainable for us little folks, and I'm just saying that because I'm short. Another point that I want to talk about in the angel's message is "behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servant might be answered according to their faith." The IM says "one of the roles an angel fulfills is to call the wicked to repentance. Note that the angel did not come to Alma and the four sons of Mosiah because of their righteousness but 'that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith." Alma was no doubt doing horrid damage to the church but he says that he came because of the faith and prayers of his father, surely the faith and prayers of Mosiah for his own sons, and the faith and prayers of church members. I'm not exactly sure what line AJ had to cross before the Lord decided that it was time to send in the thunder, but I've wondered many times "why doesn't the Lord send an angel to send (so and so) straight?" In light of what I've learned about how much God values our agency, it seems that angelic calls to repentance are pretty uncommon. Maybe one reason why it's so hard to me to understand the significance of the angel's visit is that there is only 4 verses that talk about the wickedness of the sons of Mosiah and AJ, but the whole enormous (and beloved by me) book of Alma that talks about his life on the righteous side. This is a very valuable example to me of the power of righteous parents, why there is always hope, and to not give up on anyone, no matter what. The last point about the angel's message is the end, verse 16 where he says "and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off." AJ was called to repentance, but in the end, he is told that he has a choice "even if you choose to destroy your own soul, stop fighting against the church of God." Surely when the Lord sent the angel, he knew the good that Alma could do if he were to repent, and I assume that in the preexistence AJ was foreordained to be a prophet and priesthood holder, but none of that if guaranteed. Even with a major life mission ahead, the Lord would not compel him to be righteous, he would not force him to take his place as head of the church, it was his own personal choice. This is a good example to me of the importance of being righteous and making the choice to become who God has planned for us. I think it's easy for some of us to think "well I'm supposed to be a great person, so I'm just going do whatever I want and it will happen." Not so, and here we can see that this is the option given to all of us. I heard a story once from a woman who was praying about what to do about her wayward son, to let him stay in her house or to make him leave, and that sentence was the answer to her prayers. He was difficult to live with and toxic and awful to the other family members to include small children, and her answer came "even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off," do not destroy my family.
27:18-31 - After this supernal encounter, Alma is just done physically "he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak." It doesn't say that he was unconscious or anything but it would seem implied as AJ speaks of his experiences later, maybe not though. I've heard that encounters with celestial beings is completely overwhelming for our mere mortal bodies. A funny story about this, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received a vision once and at the end "Joseph sat firmly and calmly all the time, in the midst of a magnificent glory, but Sidney sat limp and pale, apparently as limp as a rag. Observing such at the close of the vision, Joseph remarked smilingly, 'Sidney is not used to it as I am.'" I thought that that was pretty funny. So AJ was carried back to his father and when hearing what happened "his father rejoiced, for he knew that it was the power of God." Interesting, not the usual reaction that you would expect form a parent who's child has just been brought to them basically paralyzed, but Alma knew that this was an answer to his prayer and that his son was going to be brought to a crossroads to choose good or evil. Interesting to me that Alma and all his priests "began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength- that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God." They weren't necessarily fasting for Alma's safe and speedy recovery, though that was probably implied, but they wanted Alma to speak and tell the people that what he had done previously was wrong. This is very similar to the anti Christ experiences of Sherem, and perhaps others that I can't think of at the moment, but if this is keeping with the same pattern, while in this state AJ will be learning of his wrongs, and then when he comes out of it, he will acknowledge all the wrongs that he did and the effects on the people will be substantial. In fact, after Sherem spoke to the people and admitted his wrongs, all the people became reconciled to Christ again, and maybe that's what they were hoping would happen this time. The IM calls this fasting and praying for Alma as "Ministering to Those Who Have Strayed," and quotes Elder Theodore M. Burton as teaching "I have been asked the question, 'Isn't it depressing to have to review the sins and transgressions of people involved in such difficulties?' It would be if I were looking for sins and transgressions. But I am working with people who are repenting. These are sons and daughters of God who have made mistakes - some of them very serious. But they are not sinners. They were sinners in the past but have learned through bitter experience the heartbreak that results from disobedience to God's laws. Now they are no longer sinners. They are God's repentant children who want to come back to Him and are striving to do so. They have made their mistakes and have paid for them. Now they seek understanding, love and acceptance." It would seem that the altruistic motive described here would be the same as it were for those who fasted and prayed for AJ and his repentance and righteousness. They wanted to help him come back, there was no judgment there, only love and hope. The whole "Alma the Younger" experience is dramatic, and I had a moment in my life, similar to that, though scaled back quite a bit, I don't know if I have talked about it on here before. Basically I was getting ready to go to the temple for the first time, and I was wallowing in "why can't I just have it now," attitude while I was at work one night and then it hit me, for about 45 minutes I had a vivid recollection of the horrible things that I've done and in what way the Lord protected me from myself, all the blessings that he wanted to give me, but I would not be righteous enough to receive them. When confronted with all the goodness and mercy of God and my own filth, even as I was wallowing in that instance, it made me sick. Literally sick in my stomach, and I felt, I can't even describe it, I felt like I wanted a mountain to fall on me and to hide and cry for the waste that I had made out of my life and the shame that I felt for being so rebellious. Unlike AJ, I didn't have an immediate release from my awful guilt, even though the most intense part of it went away after about 45 minutes, I still felt sick and guilty and ashamed until I went to the temple 2 weeks later. There was a moment in the very beginning of the temple ceremony that I knew that I had been forgiven and that I was being given a fresh start at life. It was a very profound and life changing experience for me, though not nearly as pivotal as AJ's was. I had to take my broken self and slowly rebuild a stronger, more Christ centered person. I'm still doing it, and always will be, but that was a good starting place. Speaking of the long road to perfection the IM quotes President Ezra Taft Benson as teaching "Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible. The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives were changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul on the road to Damascus, Enos praying far into the night, King Lamoni. Such astonishing examples of the power to change even those steeped in sin give confidence that the Atonement can reach even those deepest in despair. But we must be cautious as we discuss these remarkable examples. Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception more than the rule. For every Paul, for every Enos, and for ever King Lamoni, there are hundres and thousands of people who find the process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the Lord, Little realizing they are build a godlike life. They live quiet lives of goodness, service, and commitment. They are like the Lamanites, who the Lord said 'were baptized with fire and with the holy Ghost, and they knew it not.'" This is very encouraging to me, it's easy to compare ourselves with scriptural heros, to ask ourselves why we can't be more like Nephi or Captain Moroni, when what we really need to ask ourselves is "are we closer to God than we were yesterday?" Most of us don't live flashy lives, we don't have the big experiences of immediate conversion, but maybe that's good. When a flood covers land quickly, the surface of the earth is changed in a much different way than when a small stream slowly carves out beautiful designs, feeds and grows intricate plants and vegetation and cultivates places of refuge for animals.
27:32-37 - Afterward, AJ repents and along with the sons of Mosiah "traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, confessing all their sins and publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them. And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer." Hearing a "before and after" story is so much more powerful when the person has lived on both sides of the fence. We already know that AJ is a great speaker, because he was able to lead people away with flattery, surely that same gift was used in bringing people to God. I have more that I would like to say about this but I just ran out of time. I'm sure that this will come up later and we will be able to go into more depth next time.
27:11-17 - First things first, I want to comment on the differences in writing style between Mormon and Nephi. One of my difficulties in reading Nephi is that he will discuss a topic, then in the middle of that topic, discuss another topic, then transition right back, and it can be very hard to follow. But here as Mormon narrates the story he begins the account of the angel in verse 10, "And now it came to pass that while he was going about to destroy the church of God," now this comma stops that line of thinking and goes into the next line "for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king." So there is a line that flows from the previous sentence that is kind of an aside, but it's only one line and to transition back to the story at hand Mormon says "and as I said unto you," this is his way of saying "now as I was saying," bringing the story back on track. Very interesting to me the differences between Mormon and Nephi, where Nephi's "asides" can go on for chapters, then when he circles around to get back to the story, the reader is like "wait, what?" And I know that I probably do that too, I recognize the flaw in myself as well, but I just wanted to mention it here. Anyway, moving on, the angel appears "and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood," this would seem quite contrary to the still, small voice that is the way of the Holy Ghost, I guess sometimes when people are so past feeling and so dead to promptings from the Spirit, that the only way to make them hear is to have a voice of thunder come and shake the ground around them. The IM says "the ministering of angels must be in harmony with the will of God and does not always occur according to the timetable of the petitioner. Speaking of a man who had prayed for the visitation of angels, President Wilford Woodruff said: 'I said to him that if he were to pray for a thousand years to the God of Israel for that gift, it would not be granted, unless the Lord had a motive in sending an angel to him. I told him that the Lord never did nor never will send an angel to anybody merely to gratify the desire of the individual to see an angel. If the Lord sends an angel to anyone, He sends him to perform a work that cannot be performed only by the administration of an angel. I said to him that those were my views. The Lord had sent angels to men from the creation of the world, at different times, but always with a message or with something to perform that could not be performed without. I rehearsed to him different times when angels appeared to men. Of course, I referred to the angel visiting Joseph Smith. The Revelator John said that in the last days an angel would fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwelt on the earth. The reason it required an angel to do this work was, the Gospel was not on the earth. The Gospel and the Priesthood had been taken from among men. Hence God had to restore it again. Not, I have always said, and I want to say it to you, that the Holy Ghost is what every Saint of God needs. It is far more important that a man should have that gift than he should have the ministration of an angel, unless it is necessary for an angel to teach him something that he has not been taught.'" I had never considered that angels have a specific purpose when they come, I've never really looked at it as far as what exactly they do when they get here, but it all seems in line with President Woodruff's teaching. Ministering of angels is not hinged on righteousness, clearly, because AJ was sent an angel and he was the vilest of sinners. Likewise, I've never seen an angel, but I guess that doesn't say much. Unlike the companionship of the Holy Ghost, angels are only sent with purpose and message. I thought it very useful advice that seeking the companionship of the Holy Ghost is more important than having an angelic experience, this kind of takes us down a notch in humility, it doesn't matter how righteous you are, the whisperings of the Holy Ghost is sufficient for you. I like that message, it makes it more real and attainable for us little folks, and I'm just saying that because I'm short. Another point that I want to talk about in the angel's message is "behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servant might be answered according to their faith." The IM says "one of the roles an angel fulfills is to call the wicked to repentance. Note that the angel did not come to Alma and the four sons of Mosiah because of their righteousness but 'that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith." Alma was no doubt doing horrid damage to the church but he says that he came because of the faith and prayers of his father, surely the faith and prayers of Mosiah for his own sons, and the faith and prayers of church members. I'm not exactly sure what line AJ had to cross before the Lord decided that it was time to send in the thunder, but I've wondered many times "why doesn't the Lord send an angel to send (so and so) straight?" In light of what I've learned about how much God values our agency, it seems that angelic calls to repentance are pretty uncommon. Maybe one reason why it's so hard to me to understand the significance of the angel's visit is that there is only 4 verses that talk about the wickedness of the sons of Mosiah and AJ, but the whole enormous (and beloved by me) book of Alma that talks about his life on the righteous side. This is a very valuable example to me of the power of righteous parents, why there is always hope, and to not give up on anyone, no matter what. The last point about the angel's message is the end, verse 16 where he says "and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off." AJ was called to repentance, but in the end, he is told that he has a choice "even if you choose to destroy your own soul, stop fighting against the church of God." Surely when the Lord sent the angel, he knew the good that Alma could do if he were to repent, and I assume that in the preexistence AJ was foreordained to be a prophet and priesthood holder, but none of that if guaranteed. Even with a major life mission ahead, the Lord would not compel him to be righteous, he would not force him to take his place as head of the church, it was his own personal choice. This is a good example to me of the importance of being righteous and making the choice to become who God has planned for us. I think it's easy for some of us to think "well I'm supposed to be a great person, so I'm just going do whatever I want and it will happen." Not so, and here we can see that this is the option given to all of us. I heard a story once from a woman who was praying about what to do about her wayward son, to let him stay in her house or to make him leave, and that sentence was the answer to her prayers. He was difficult to live with and toxic and awful to the other family members to include small children, and her answer came "even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off," do not destroy my family.
27:18-31 - After this supernal encounter, Alma is just done physically "he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak." It doesn't say that he was unconscious or anything but it would seem implied as AJ speaks of his experiences later, maybe not though. I've heard that encounters with celestial beings is completely overwhelming for our mere mortal bodies. A funny story about this, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received a vision once and at the end "Joseph sat firmly and calmly all the time, in the midst of a magnificent glory, but Sidney sat limp and pale, apparently as limp as a rag. Observing such at the close of the vision, Joseph remarked smilingly, 'Sidney is not used to it as I am.'" I thought that that was pretty funny. So AJ was carried back to his father and when hearing what happened "his father rejoiced, for he knew that it was the power of God." Interesting, not the usual reaction that you would expect form a parent who's child has just been brought to them basically paralyzed, but Alma knew that this was an answer to his prayer and that his son was going to be brought to a crossroads to choose good or evil. Interesting to me that Alma and all his priests "began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength- that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God." They weren't necessarily fasting for Alma's safe and speedy recovery, though that was probably implied, but they wanted Alma to speak and tell the people that what he had done previously was wrong. This is very similar to the anti Christ experiences of Sherem, and perhaps others that I can't think of at the moment, but if this is keeping with the same pattern, while in this state AJ will be learning of his wrongs, and then when he comes out of it, he will acknowledge all the wrongs that he did and the effects on the people will be substantial. In fact, after Sherem spoke to the people and admitted his wrongs, all the people became reconciled to Christ again, and maybe that's what they were hoping would happen this time. The IM calls this fasting and praying for Alma as "Ministering to Those Who Have Strayed," and quotes Elder Theodore M. Burton as teaching "I have been asked the question, 'Isn't it depressing to have to review the sins and transgressions of people involved in such difficulties?' It would be if I were looking for sins and transgressions. But I am working with people who are repenting. These are sons and daughters of God who have made mistakes - some of them very serious. But they are not sinners. They were sinners in the past but have learned through bitter experience the heartbreak that results from disobedience to God's laws. Now they are no longer sinners. They are God's repentant children who want to come back to Him and are striving to do so. They have made their mistakes and have paid for them. Now they seek understanding, love and acceptance." It would seem that the altruistic motive described here would be the same as it were for those who fasted and prayed for AJ and his repentance and righteousness. They wanted to help him come back, there was no judgment there, only love and hope. The whole "Alma the Younger" experience is dramatic, and I had a moment in my life, similar to that, though scaled back quite a bit, I don't know if I have talked about it on here before. Basically I was getting ready to go to the temple for the first time, and I was wallowing in "why can't I just have it now," attitude while I was at work one night and then it hit me, for about 45 minutes I had a vivid recollection of the horrible things that I've done and in what way the Lord protected me from myself, all the blessings that he wanted to give me, but I would not be righteous enough to receive them. When confronted with all the goodness and mercy of God and my own filth, even as I was wallowing in that instance, it made me sick. Literally sick in my stomach, and I felt, I can't even describe it, I felt like I wanted a mountain to fall on me and to hide and cry for the waste that I had made out of my life and the shame that I felt for being so rebellious. Unlike AJ, I didn't have an immediate release from my awful guilt, even though the most intense part of it went away after about 45 minutes, I still felt sick and guilty and ashamed until I went to the temple 2 weeks later. There was a moment in the very beginning of the temple ceremony that I knew that I had been forgiven and that I was being given a fresh start at life. It was a very profound and life changing experience for me, though not nearly as pivotal as AJ's was. I had to take my broken self and slowly rebuild a stronger, more Christ centered person. I'm still doing it, and always will be, but that was a good starting place. Speaking of the long road to perfection the IM quotes President Ezra Taft Benson as teaching "Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible. The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives were changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul on the road to Damascus, Enos praying far into the night, King Lamoni. Such astonishing examples of the power to change even those steeped in sin give confidence that the Atonement can reach even those deepest in despair. But we must be cautious as we discuss these remarkable examples. Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception more than the rule. For every Paul, for every Enos, and for ever King Lamoni, there are hundres and thousands of people who find the process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the Lord, Little realizing they are build a godlike life. They live quiet lives of goodness, service, and commitment. They are like the Lamanites, who the Lord said 'were baptized with fire and with the holy Ghost, and they knew it not.'" This is very encouraging to me, it's easy to compare ourselves with scriptural heros, to ask ourselves why we can't be more like Nephi or Captain Moroni, when what we really need to ask ourselves is "are we closer to God than we were yesterday?" Most of us don't live flashy lives, we don't have the big experiences of immediate conversion, but maybe that's good. When a flood covers land quickly, the surface of the earth is changed in a much different way than when a small stream slowly carves out beautiful designs, feeds and grows intricate plants and vegetation and cultivates places of refuge for animals.
27:32-37 - Afterward, AJ repents and along with the sons of Mosiah "traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, confessing all their sins and publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them. And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer." Hearing a "before and after" story is so much more powerful when the person has lived on both sides of the fence. We already know that AJ is a great speaker, because he was able to lead people away with flattery, surely that same gift was used in bringing people to God. I have more that I would like to say about this but I just ran out of time. I'm sure that this will come up later and we will be able to go into more depth next time.
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