A Study of the Book of Mormon

Alma 36:24-30 From the point of Alma's conversion moving forward, he states: I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. ( vs. 24 ) These verse actually summarize with testimony a lot of thoughts and feeling that I have experienced as of late. Alma's whole effort since the point of conversion forward had been to help others come to Christ, bringing them unto repentance and to experience the great joy that he had. His whole effort has been that others would be born of God and be filled with the Holy Ghost. These are the fruits of his labors and they were a source of great joy for him. This is reminiscent of the Savior's parable of the sower: those that received the good seed, bore fruit. (See Matthew 13:23 ) (I've made some personal notes on these verses elsewhere.) Again at the end of...

Alma 27:1-14 When I am struggling to find meaning in a particular passage of scripture, I will look for what that set of scriptures are teaching me about God. Here, when a critical decision needed to be made regarding the safety and welfare of the Ammonite converts, the king asks of Ammon to inquire of the Lord. Here is an interesting thing, because the will of the Lord was essentially the same as Ammon's desire for the people. However, the word of the Lord that came to Ammon allowed for greater depth and understanding. It wasn't just, "yeah, he said yes." Rather, the word of the Lord to Ammon gave explanation and reason for their needed departure plus some behind-the-scenes perspective on what was happening in spiritual terms: Get this people out of this land, that they perish not; for Satan has great hold on the hearts of the Amalekites, who do stir up the Lamanites to anger against their brethren to slay them; therefore get thee out of this land; and bles...

Mosiah 24:17 See also Exodus 3:12 and Alma 38:4 As the Lord is explaining how He will deliver the people of Alma, He says "I will go with thee." One of the footnotes on the word "with" in that statement is from Exodus. There the Lord reminds Moses to serve God in the mountain upon your deliverance. This is a reminder to not forget the temple. In Alma, it reads: For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that... thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.  There is a great deal of personal significance in these verses this morning, which any good scripture study should have. I do not go into details here though, except to point out that the Lord does from time to time require His saints to endure hardships and trials beyond what would appear to be normal and acceptable.

Mosiah 24:16-25 After a period of oppression under the rule of Amulon, the people of Alma hear the voice of the Lord say to them: "Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." (vs.16) Subsequently, they work through the night to prepare for a morning departure. In the morning, their oppressors are asleep. Without conflict, the people of Alma are delivered from bondage.  After having traveled a substantial distance, they arrive at a certain valley where the people of Alma pause to give thanks. Every member of their company, both adult and child -- anyone that could speak -- raised up their voices in praise of their God. They knew that God had delivered them.

Mosiah 24:8-15 This group of verses deals with the captivity of the people of Alma under the rule of Amulon in the land of Helam. For context, Alma and Amulon at one point in history where fellow high priest under the wicked reign of King Noah. Alma repented of his wickedness, fled from the king, and eventually moved on with a group of believers to establish the land of Helam where they were found presently. Amulon, on the other hand, narrowly escaped his own death by running deeper into the wilderness when King Noah was burned at the stake. He and the remainder of those wicked priests went on to kidnap a group of Lamanite daughters, causing war between the Lamanites and the people of Limhi (King Noah's righteous son), and now in a cruel twist of events, Amulon has won favor with the Lamanites so that upon discovering the land of Helam, Amulon is made to rule over the people of Alma. Bondage would have been hard enough under the Lamanites, but to have their appointed ruler hold a p...

2 Nephi 15:30 (29&30) The pretext to this last verse is found in the previous verse and some of the footnotes that are found in the actual book of Isaiah in the Bible also give more insight. Back in verse 29, there is a footnote on "prey" which leads over to a prophecy made by the Savior himself in 3 Nephi 21. The wording is definitely misleading if taken in the wrong spirit. And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. (3 Nephi 21:12 ) To my understanding this is a prophecy of missionary work that will take place in the last days. The perceptions of the world towards our efforts as missionaries is that we come among them as ravaging beasts to steal away their family members and neighbors. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yet effective are the m...

1 Nephi 4:1-3 Nephi responds to his brothers' murmurings with faith. "He is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban..."(vs.1) . I don't know how this would be formulating in young Nephi's mind. Up until now, Nephi had experienced the power of God with the Lord touching his heart. He was very familiar with the inner workings of the Spirit. But now angels were getting involved and suddenly a whole new playing field is being opened to Nephi's view. Nephi is now beginning to understand the outer workings of the Lord, or in other words, the miraculous power of God. He is now starting to associate himself with Moses and uses these terms as a premise for the potential for their deliverance.

1 Nephi 1:4-15 Last evening I was considering the home that my children are being raised in. They are being taught faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, obedience, daily prayer, etc. They are taught that this is a way of life. Now as Nephi begins his account, he relates the initiating event in his father's life that determined the course of events that his family were about to undertake. There is a vision, wherein Lehi sees God on his throne, and communes with the Son of God. In praying whole-heartedly in behalf of his people, Lehi learns from the Lord that the people among whom he dwells are about to be destroyed because of their abominations. The vision continues and Lehi sees and read things which are not accounted for in the record. Lehi rejoices or gives mighty praises unto the Lord. Then he concludes that the Lord is merciful to those who come unto him. The Lord had prepared the way for their deliverance.