Alma 18:1-15

18:1-11 – After the miraculous little battle that has occurred at the water of Sebus, the arms were taken by the other servants to king Lamoni, and his reaction is quite telling in a few different ways. Naturally he wanted all the details, and since he had no foundational belief in Christ, surely he would only be able to make his own conclusion that Ammon is “the Great Spirit who doth send such great punishments upon this people, because of their murders?” Something miraculous did happen, and it was through the power of God that not only Ammon’s life was spared, but also the lives of the other servants by saving the flocks, but because Lamoni had no foundational true doctrine, his assumptions were misplaced. The concept of the “Great Spirit” that Lamoni talks about is quite interesting if we think about it. We know that when L&L and the sons of Ishmael were separated from Nephi and his people, they turned into a crazy Godless people, and I’m sure that they had no intention on passing down any knowledge about God or Christ or anything like that. I’m sure that they planned on getting rid of anything God related and just live a carefree and fancy life. But here we are 500 years later, and though the religious fervor is not as dominant in their lives, we still see that there is a common, though docile, belief in a higher power. So that begs the question, if L&L started their communities God free (which is an assumption on my part, but I’m holding to that because I can’t imagine that after all the wickedness that they held to while they were with Nephi, and all the wickedness that they lived with afterwards, that they suddenly had a change of heart and started teaching their children about the true and living God, not that it’s not possible, but I just don’t see any evidence for that.) So if L&L started their communities God free, how and why did their descendants 500 years later still have a basic, though wrong knowledge of a higher power? I have a theory that while, yes there are some truly evil people out there who despise God, the vast majority of people have some sort of longing in their hearts for the God, the Heavenly parents that they knew and loved for so long in the preexistence. This longing is the void that many people feel in their lives, just knowing that there are more answers, that there is something that they are missing that makes everything worthwhile and make sense. This void, this lack of God, is evident in children, as there was a heated discussion in my daughter’s class yesterday about the existence of God, and many children truly desired to know the truth. This void is what prompts people to search out religion, to learn of a God, a higher power. That concept is as old and as recognizable to our souls as anything else. When Adam and Eve’s children rebelled and started filling the earth with their own children, void of the knowledge of the true and living God, that yearning pulled at them and they knit together various pieces of the truth, mixed with their own ideas, and implemented them into their own cultures, as a way to fill that void within them. This is why throughout most cultures and religions in the world, there is one all powerful, all knowing God. That’s why the concept of a “chosen one who will save us all,” resonates within our core being, half man half God, our Savior, powerful and miraculous, the virgin birth, all these are ideas that string throughout history, throughout culture, that speaks to most people in such a profound way that as a people we cling to whatever religion we can at the time. People want to believe, and most people do, it’s in our nature to try and reconnect with our spiritual Father, because our spirits recognize that he is missing, and we try desperately to try and fill that void with whatever makes sense at the time. There are very few times when the true and actual gospel of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, has been on the earth in its fullness, so on those times in between, people make do with what they have. This is what I believe happened with the Lamanites. Just because their forefathers rejected God and righteousness, didn’t mean that every single living soul that was born into their families were Godless and evil from birth as well. Those children born to Lamanite parents felt that void within them as well, and I’m sure that they turned to their parents for answers, and the parents probably answered them in a way that excused all their sins, but had enough of a hint of truth to it, that their children’s homesick spirits recognized something and took it to heart. What would L&L tell their children who desperately wanted to reconnect spiritually with their Heavenly Father? They would tell them what little they remembered their father teaching “yes, there is a God.” “Does he have a body?” “I don’t remember, probably not.” “Should you be treating your family this way? Should you be trying to kill your brother’s kids, Dad?” “There is a God but I’m king and everything I say and do and order is ok, so shut up.” And that’s how I believe that the Lamanites came to know and believe in this concept of the Great Spirit. But interestingly, guilt over whether or not it was right to kill all those other shepherds over the loss of his flocks starts to creep in to Lamoni, and this is the first inkling that we get that perhaps he’s starting to question the validity of what he’s been taught.” The IM quotes President Henry B. Eyring as teaching “When the other servants brought the evidence of what Ammon had done, King Lamoni said, ‘Where is he?’ They said, ‘oh, he is in the stables. He is doing every little thing to serve you.’ Isn’t that odd? He was called to teach the doctrines of salvation, but he was in the stables. Don’t you think he should have been praying and fasting and polishing his teaching plan? No, he was in the stables. King Lamoni had been brought up with a belief that there was a God but that whatever the king did was right. He had been specifically taught false doctrine that might have made him impervious to feelings of guilt. Do you remember that when he heard where Ammon was, a feeling of guilt, of fear that he had done wrong in the killing of the servants, came over him?... I have always focused before on how mixed up Lamoni was in his doctrine, without seeing the miracle. The miracle was that a spiritual need was created in a man, that he might be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. His heart was broken. He felt guilt. And it came from the temporal things that Ammon had done… Never, never underestimate the spiritual value of doing temporal things well for those whom you serve… Be their servants, and you will love them. And they will feel your love. And more important, they will feel God’s love.”

18:12-15 – Ammon has finished with preparing the horses, and “he went in unto the king, and he saw that the countenance of the king was changed; therefore he was about to return out of his presence. And one of the king’s servants said unto him, Rabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king, considering their kings to be powerful; and thus he said unto him: Rabbanah, the king desireth thee to stay.” It’s interesting to me that the servant was the one who spoke to Ammon and not Lamoni. There is a lot of focus on Lamoni as the king and everything that he does, but there are a lot of people around him that also show the light of Christ, even if they don’t know what it is. Trying to put myself into the shoes of that servant, he’s standing there, reeling from the information that they were just given about the flocks at the water, Ammon himself comes in, and the king is too scared to say anything to him. He sees Ammon about to leave, and he just can’t let him walk out. There is something within this particular servant that is willing to brave punishment just to get the man who is clearly the closest to God to stay with them just a while longer. From his perspective, the king has already decreed that he dare not ask Ammon to come, so by asking himself, he faces punishment from the king. This is a very clear power play that has been shown many times over in different hierarchies, servants speaking out of turn, talking to people when the king would not, it could be punishable by death and clearly Lamoni has no qualms about killing servants who disappoint. And on the other hand, this servant clearly believes that Ammon is a high and mighty king, very powerful, but with no earthly kingdom of his own, that can only indicate one thing, Ammon has the power of God if he is in fact not God himself. Whatever fears he has about punishment dispensed from Lamoni, it’s nothing in comparison to the punishment that a God could inflict. But this particular servant is brave enough, and perhaps the yearning in his heart for his Heavenly Father is so strong that he will risk anything and everything just in the hopes that he’s found what he’s looking for. That’s true desire, that’s true faith; imagine how desperate his spirit must have been for guidance. This servant is an unsung hero of this story, and even though he’s a background character, there is much to be learned from his example.