Skip to main content

"Who is God?" Alma 9:1-6

Alma 9:1-6

There is a very interesting pattern that is illustrated in these verses, and sets up the wickedness of this town. In just the first six verses of this chapter, the one thing that these verses illustrate clearly is that the people of Ammonihah do not have a relationship with God. That is the cause of their wickedness.

Hand in hand with with their failure to have any sort of relationship with God also comes a lack of knowledge of the truth and that which is true. This is hugely significant because it was on a foundation of error and  antagonism, or even animosity, towards God, that the people of Ammonihah had set themselves up for destruction.

The footnote on the question "Who is God, that sendeth no more authority than one man... ? " (see vs. 6) causes me to see that their questions of disbelief are on par with Cain, king Noah, and the Pharoah of Egypt. That kind of hard-heartedness demonstrates wickedness to its fullest extent. Though not mentioned anywhere in these verses, this kind of hardness of heart is what the Savior faced at sundry times throughout his ministry and at the time of his death.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"A Space Between Death and the Resurrection," Alma 40:15-21

Alma 40:15-21 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/tg/resurrection?lang=eng The New Testament, after the Resurrection of Christ, is replete with testimony by the apostles of the reality of that very thing. I took a pause from this study to reflect over in John 6 . At least twice within that passage, the phrase "the resurrection of the just" had been added back into the passage in the Joseph Smith Translation. No man can come unto me, except he doeth the will of my Father who hath sent me. And this is the will of him who hath sent me, that ye receive the Son; for the Father beareth record of him; and he who receiveth the testimony, and doeth the will of him who sent me, I will raise up in the resurrection of the just. ( JST - John 6:44 ) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up in the resurrection of the just at the last day. ( John 6:54 ) Why, among other doctrines, does the adversary or the world want to suppress...

"The State of the Soul Between Death and the Resurrection," Alma 40:11-14

Alma 40:11-14 Deep consideration of the realities articulated in these verses has brought a very strong spiritual confirmation to me this morning. This doctrine is familiar to me, both because of the numerous times that I have studied these verses before, but also because of the eternal realities that cause my soul to resonate with the Spirit of the Lord. Verse 11 , which I learned and memorized as a youth, especially rings deep and true. We are taken back to God after this amazing and terrible* mortal experience. And then there is a separation between wicked and righteous. In a realm dominated by the Light, there is a separation. It is also curious to note how the same Being, God, can induce such dramatically different responses in individuals based upon their choices. *I use terrible in the sense of "extremely unpleasant or disagreeable" or to illustrate the extreme hardships that are an inevitable part of this experience. --- In verses 12-14 , the states of the r...