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"No One Hath Told Me, Save It Be God;" Alma 20:1-7

Alma 20:1-7

King Lamoni invites Ammon to accompany him up to meet his father the king. I am impressed by how clearly Ammon is able to receive divine directives, or what we might more commonly call personal revelation.The record doesn't state the timing in which the revelation came to Ammon, whether it came immediately after Lamoni's invitation, or perhaps later on in moment of quiet reflection and prayer.

It is also impressive how quickly Lamoni responds to this divine directive once he learns of its source.(see vs. 5-6) Then in verse 7, there is also a change of attitude on Lamoni's part. Where at first, Lamoni thought to flatter the king of the land of Middoni, who was a friend of his, now Lamoni states that he will plead with the king for the deliverance of Ammon's brethren. Something about knowing that the directive was actually a divine mandate changed Lamoni's attitude and sense of urgency. Suddenly it wasn't just a social injustice that was needing to be remedied; it was rather the word of God directly to his appointed servant. Lamoni both recognized and reverenced it as such.

(The Spirit of the Lord has validated this final point in my mind this morning, causing me again to consider how much of the ways of the Lord this holy volume of scripture has benefited me.)

In contemplating Lamoni's response, it causes me to consider also the depth of his conversion as accounted for in the previous chapter.

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The one thing that I haven't touched on in this group of verses, is the simple little statement at the beginning of the chapter, which could have encompassed a book in itself. Verse 1 reads: "And it came to pass that when they had established a church in that land." The end of the last chapter states that they did establish a church among those who had believed. It seems to me as something that didn't just happen instantly but required a bit of effort on the part of Ammon and all those involved. 

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