Alma 36-38 The Message and The Way

The Message

Alma’s council to two of his sons begins with a phrase to summarize all the proceeding teaching and instruction, “keep the commandments of God and ye shall prosper...” to Helaman in 36:1 and 30 and to Shiblon in 38:1. If there was a single message you would wish to convey to your children would it not be this? I can think of no better way to summarize the importance of obedience and humility to God, and to emphasize that obedience will always precede blessings. Much in the way Jesus summarized all the commandments by saying, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matt. 22:37

Redemption

While reading Alma’s words to his son Helaman, when Alma describes his desire to be in heaven with the numberless concourses of people worshiping God (36:22), but then his limbs receive their strength, my mind was drawn to the idea of having courage for the cause of Christ while on the earth, rather than shrinking from that great challenge. Can we be so courageous that we become as Alma, willing to repent and be born again? And what was the first thing Alma did upon receiving his strength? The very next thing he did was to bear witness of his redemption "without ceasing".

What would those who knew Alma have thought about this transformation? Those who might have been complicit with him in tormenting the saints but did not receive the conversion as he and the sons of Mosiah, what would their impression of this new Alma be? Would they turn on him, torment him and cast him out now that he had become a saint? We do see many examples of Alma being cast out and tormented, and we see his reaction. He did not fear the reproach of men. He became a champion for the saints and the church. Can we in a similar way cast off from us that which keeps us back; all the doubt, anxiety and apprehension, the fear of criticism that might prevent us from becoming like Alma. This reminds me of the delightful General Conference talk given by Elder Yoon Hwan Choi in the April 2017 General Conference, “Don’t Look Around, LookUp!” when his father said to him, “Do not lose your faith because of the people around you, but build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t look around, look up!” And the talk “Be Ambitious for Christ” by Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita. “Being ambitious for Christ means being motivated, focused, and dedicated to His work. Being ambitious for Christ will seldom mean that we are singled out for public honor. Being ambitious for Christ means that we serve faithfully and diligently in our wards and branches without complaint and with joyful hearts.”

We can also plead with God for mercy to do this, and through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ we can also become his champions. 

Alma’s Faith

Alma tells us that he does not fully understand the purpose and destiny of the sacred books that he has been keeping and writing. He does know that it is “for a wise purpose”, and he has seen many blessings come from them: the conversion of many Lamanites, and Nephites, preserving the history of their fathers, preventing them from meeting the same fate as the Jaredites and Mulekites. Alma exercises faith in the commandment that they should be kept and preserved, and teaches his son Helaman to respect and magnify this calling. To Alma this purpose is somewhat a 'mystery' as sometimes are the purposes of God to us, but in our day of the fullness of the gospel many of these mysteries have been revealed. Why was the fullness not revealed to Alma at that time? He was a valiant and righteous prophet and it seems as though he would be worthy of receiving any knowledge he desired. I feel that in this instance, as it is many times with us, we are not always given the answers. The mysteries of God are not always revealed to us, so we may exercise faith. Receiving the opportunity to exercise faith means having the opportunity to grow, to show that we are willing to work, to exercise our agency for good, to choose the will of God over any other. These opportunities are an essential part of mortal life.

Gazelem

It is my belief that the person named Gazelem by the Lord in revelation to Alma in 37:23 is a reference to the prophet and seer Joseph Smith. Joseph having used a stone to aid in translating the Book of Mormon, in addition to the two seer stones or “interpreters” spoken of in 37:24. More information on Joseph's seer stone can be found in this article written by church historians: Joseph the Seer. 

In fact, there are many parallels in the instructions given by Alma to Helaman as they were given by the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, especially in verses 37:15-16 compare JSH 42, 46, 59 and D&C 3:5-15.

The scriptures are referred to many times by Alma as being sacred. In what ways do we treat the scriptures as sacred?

Perhaps differently than we treat some other sacred things, the scriptures are to be shared with the world. They are tools of conversion to be used often, not kept in pristine condition upon a shelf. In fact, I feel that to leave them untouched is to pollute their sacred purpose. Their worth is only found in their use. Alma and his contemporaries worked so hard, and with so much effort to create, preserve, translate and publish them that to ignore them also ignores the great work that was done to provide them to us. And what great blessing we have today, for them to be more accessible than ever before in history!

The Way

“And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.” (38:9)