A Study of the Book of Mormon

Alma 19:14-30 Alma sees; the servants see; the lady servant of the queen, Abish, sees; all because of direct manifestations from the Holy Spirit based on correct understanding of eternal truth. Verse 14 says that Ammon saw that the Spirit of the Lord poured out upon the Lamanites according to his prayers. It was in the seeing and the discerning of the significance of that outpouring of the Lord's Spirit upon the Lamanites, a group of people that had been the source of so much contention and conflict among his own people, that Ammon felt a profound sense of gratitude towards God for what was being done. So great was the joy that he now felt that it overpowered his physical body, just as had happened to the king and the queen moments before. This leaves the servants of the king and queen, who upon seeing these three leaders overpowered with the Spirit also begin to pray because the fear of the Lord had come upon them. This causes them all to fall to the earth. Everyone in the king...

Alma 8:7-13 There are two corollary lines of thought that I find very interesting, which this passage reminds me of: Works and Knowledge. In verse 9 , the scripture observes "Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people." There's a footnote on the word "hold" that leads me to consider the reality of satan's opposition. In terms of knowledge, he discourages people from knowing him, while God encourages us to know Him (God the Father and His Son). In regards to works, the works of the devil oppose the works of righteousness. In fact, one of the more diabolical tactics employed by the devil is to say that no work is needed to draw closer to God. Similarly, he lies to others by telling them that there is no need to work in Zion. (see 2 Nephi 28:19-22 ) There  is actually a third line of thought which results in understand one of satan's most effective tactics: contention, to "stir them up to anger against that which is good." ( 2 Neph...

Mosiah 21 (See also Mosiah 12:1-8 , blog post ) This chapter now deals with the bitter realities of Abinadi's prophecies being fulfilled. After outlining some of the difficult events which the people of Limhi were now encountering, verse 4 explains, "Yea, all this was done that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled." (A quick review of what the prophecy of Abinadi entailed can be found back in chapter 12 as noted above.) There is an observation made in the blog post for chapter 12 that also describes what is happening in this chapter. ...To have a hardened heart is essentially to have withdrawn from the presence and the Spirit of the Lord.We cut off the lifeline of Life, our relationship to the Divine, and attempt to take salvation into our own hands, which is hopelessly impossible. As this current chapter (21) attests to, the way in which we so often attempt to take salvation into our own hands is by brute force or violence. It is human nature to think that we can ...

Mosiah 18:18-22 The topic of becoming the children of God is addressed in these verses. These verses contain a string of commandments that are given to the group that was baptized at the waters of Mormon. Then half way through there is this insightful observation about the reason behind the commandments, "And thus they became the children of God." This has to all be taken in the context that this was initiated by the covenant of baptism. These commandments were the means by which God was blessing his children to help them become the children of God. Additionally, Alma organized priests, now that the covenant was in place, "to teach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." ( vs. 18 ) It is interesting to note that the set of commandments that are listed in verses 19 to 21 are directed towards the priests who were commanded to preach unto the people. Those commandments included to teach only the words of the holy prophets, to preach only repentan...