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"Would Ye Not Behold Quickly?" Alma 33:18-23

Alma 33:18-23

This is the second time that this theme is repeated in the Book of Mormon. Nephi was the first to mention it back in 1 Nephi 17:40-41.

The idea of over-complicating truth is one of the main ideas that I get from this. Many would not believe that looking on the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up because it was too simple a thing to believe in. (The account in Numbers 21 does not point out that there were those who did not believe, and consequently died because of their disbelief.)

Alma points out that the reason that some of the Israelites perished was because they would not believe. Then he asked the Zoramites if they would choose to be healed by just looking, would they not do so quickly. But as he continues to inquire of them, I come to realize that Alma isn't saying: it worked for them, wouldn't that be neat if that were available to us? NO! What Alma is saying is: this type was available to them to help them understand how easy it was to be healed. The same is available to us! Won't you quickly turn about and believe on the Son of God?

...Then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works. (vs. 22)

Then Alma concludes by tying it all together in a nice package: "I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts." Then he bears personal witness by simply explaining what they can expect to happen as they plant the seed in their hearts. This is not unlike the Parable of the Sower.

There are two statements at the end of the chapter on which Alma concludes:

Statement 1: "And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son."

The footnote on burdens here leads to Mosiah 24:13-15, a vivid description of how the Lord lifted the burdens of the people of Alma as they where in bondage to the wicked priests of Noah. These verses talk about the Lord honoring the covenants that the people of Alma had made to Him, and how he would carry their burdens so that they could bear them. This reality has been mine, perhaps even more so as of late than I have realized.

The last part of Mosiah 24:14 reads:
...and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
Christ does visit His people in their afflictions, especially those who have made covenants with Him. Those covenants are real and binding.


Statement 2: "And even all this can ye do if ye will."

This final statement returns everything back to agency and the will of man -- that gift given to man that God cannot compromise, cannot circumvent.  The blessings of faith in Christ are our if we will have them. It seems almost ludicrous that such powerful truths and a change in our reality can be based on such a simple switch that each of us is allowed to control, but so it is. So is the plan of God: that man could choose for himself. 

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