"He, Immediately... Began... to Teach Them" Alma 19:31-36

Alma 19:31-36

The king has now awoken from his trance and verse 31 says this:

And he, immediately, seeing the contention among his people, went forth and began to rebuke them, and to teach them the words which he had heard from the mouth of Ammon; (emphasis added)

This is reminiscent of Nephi's attitude towards and faith in the power of the word of God.

 ...I, Nephi, did speak much unto my brethren... for they had humbled themselves because of my words; for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul. (1 Nephi 16:22,24)

Mormon makes a similar observation about Alma's confidence in the word of God:

And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God. (Alma 31:5)

Back to the account of king Lamoni, Ammon and the king's servants also add their voices to the king's witness. The wording of how the people responded to their teaching is thus. It says "as many as heard his words believed, and were converted unto the Lord."(vs. 31)  Verse 35 also reads, "that there were many that did believe in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized;"

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The next verse reads like so: "But there were many among them who would not hear his words; therefore they went their way." (vs. 32, emphasis added) There is a footnote on the word "many" that cross-references to the topic of Man, Natural, Not Spiritual Reborn from the Topical Guide.  A brief review has taken me to the books of Jonah, Luke, John, and the Romans.  Here are some highlights:

• Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
• He also said, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15)
• "There is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10)

Then there is an abundance of scriptural references to the carnal or natural man in the Book of Mormon, especially in the books of Mosiah and Alma. The overall effect of this leads me to remember that many in the world are lost to the things of God.

At the end of this chapter, the King, Queen, and all their servants were testifying before the people that their hearts had been changed, that they had no more desire to do evil. (see vs. 33) What a contrast from the attitude of the natural man!

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At the very end of this group of verses is a summary of the past two and half chapters, which concludes with this simple observation: "and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name." (vs. 36) Oh how I love this particular doctrine! God is merciful to all who will believe. He doesn't not exclude or make exception for any man, but the standard is the same for all: " Repent, and I will receive you." (Alma 5:33)