THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE soN OF ALMA
CHAPTER 34
Amulek testifies that the word is in Christ unto salvation—Unless an atonement is made, all mankind must perish—The whole law of Moses points toward the sacrifice of the son of God—The eternal plan of redemption is based on faith and repentance—Pray for temporal and spiritual blessings—This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God—Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. [About 74 B.C.]
1 AND now it came to pass that after Alma had spoken these words [ What exactly are the words that Alma has taught them? It begins in Alma 32 where he begins teaching them about Christ, that they can worship God outside of their synagogs, that they need to have faith like a seed, and then nourish that faith until it grows like unto a tree, yjem in Alma 33 he preaches of the atonement. ] unto them he sat down upon the ground, and Amulek arose and began to teach them, saying:
2 My brethren, I think that it is impossible that ye should be ignorant of the things which have been spoken concerning the coming of Christ, [ Amulek does not cut them any slack, just because you are not livng and acting as you know you should does not mean that you are without blame. You were taught before we seperated so you have or at least had a knowledge of the Savior and his plan. ] who is taught by us to be the son of God; yea, I know that these things were taught unto you bountifully before your dissension from among us.
3 And as ye have desired of my beloved brother [ Referring to Alma. ] that he should make known unto you what ye should do, because of your afflictions; [ Which were? that they were not allowed to worship in the synagouges] and he hath spoken somewhat unto you to prepare your minds; yea, and he hath
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4 Yea, even that ye would have so much faith as even to plant the word in your hearts, [ Alma has taught them what they should do, Now the plea that they will exercise the faith and do it. ] that ye may try the experiment of its goodness.
5 And we have beheld that the great question which is in your minds [ Alma and Amulek could only know what is in the mind of the people minds thru revelation. ] is whether the word be in the son of God, or whether there shall be no Christ. [ Or are you still listening to words of Korihor even though he is dead? Or can you comprehend the words that I am teaching you? What will you do? The idea that God really can be merciful because of his son, and who is his son.(Alma 33) They are wondering how is this really going to all work, or even can it all work. Elder Maxwell "Great Answers to Great Questions" https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/neal-a-maxwell/great-answers-great-question/ ]
6 And ye also beheld that my brother has proved unto you, in many instances, that the word is in Christ unto salvation.
7 My brother has called upon the words of Zenos, that redemption cometh through the son of God, and also upon the words of Zenock; and also he has appealed unto Moses, to prove that these things are true. [How has he been able to gain his peronal testimony? From studing the scriptures ]
8 And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true. [ What can we learn about teaching the gospel from Amulek? Amulek has become a powerful missionary as he understands that most powerful way to teach by the spirit is to teach a principle and then testify of that principle. Here Amulek quotes Zenos, Moses, and Zenock then Amulek testifies of the truth of what they have been taught. ] Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it. [ I suspect what he is saying here is that since the Lord is God that what ever he says is going to happen; will happen, but I suppose he is also saying that because I have studied and ask the Lord he has also spoken the truth unto me, and therefor I know it becasue he has answered my prayers and has spoken to me. ]
9 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; [ Expedient = a means to an end, tending to promote some proposed or desired object; fit or suitable for the purpose; proper under the circumstances: so the atonement is not just a thing; but was a requirement for the plan to have any chance of success. see Alma 12. ] for according to the great plan [ The atonement was all part of the plan, put in place from the creation of the plan. ] of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; [See Alma 42:14] yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen [ Thru sin. ] and are lost, [ We have no way back because we must be perfect to live with him who is perfect, be we are not thru sin and therefore we are lost to him in that state. ] and must perish [ That is the law no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven, so if it is not clean it cannot enter. SO he is telling us here in no uncertain terms that he who will not submit himsel through repentance through the atonement will be exposed to the whole law in it's demands for justice. ] except [ The term's or provisions that allow for the law to be superseded. ] it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.
10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; [ One of the first things that Adam was commanded to do after being thrust from the Garden was to offer a sacrifice. When an angel came to Adam and ask why he did offer sacrifice he could only answer "I know not except the Lord has commanded me" - to which the angel responded that this thing is a similitude of the only begotten. These people understood the law of sacrifice, and they lived under the law of sacrifice. The best was always sacrificed; so it it is that the Savior was sacrificed. ] for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. [ “having no boundaries or limits.” What is infinite and eternal? The things of God, the priesthood - So this sacrifice must be a God, it is the great and last sacrifice as defined in vs14 the son of God. It was made by an infinite being who redeems his people. God is an infinite being, infinite in the sense of being eternal and being immortal. The Atonement is made by a being who is more than human. How is the atonement infinite? Jacob in 2 Ne. 9 infinite in the fact that it overcomes physical death. 2) It is timeless - it works for those born before and after the Savior was born, 3) This atonement covers and infinite number of worlds and children D&C 76 begotten sons and daughters of God - in other words he atones for all of those whom he created. 4) God is infinite and eternal and hence a sacrifice of him is also infinite. 5) It is eternal in depth and scope there is not anything that it does not cover. Do we really err when we get up in sacrament meeting and say how sorry we are that we added our sins to those sins that Jesus suffered for since infinite suffering is infinite? Infinite + 1 = infinite. The Law of Sacrifice is tied to the priesthood which is eternal in nature - The Prophet Joseph Smith Taught The Savior was sacrificed thru the power of the priesthood, we gain salvation thru that same law. See Teachings pg 172-173. ]
11 Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another . [ So we need to believe in the divine sonship of Jesus Christ in order to believe in the doctrine of his atonement. He is the son of Mary a mortal and the son of the Man of Holiness. As such he gained the power of both mortality (the power to die) and the power of immortality (the power to never die). ] Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? [ It is not that Jesus(your brother) is paying your debt, No; he is changing the entire economy of exaltation. It is not about paying off and for your specific sins, because it is infinite and eternal. This is why a God had to do it, for it was beyond the ability of man. This is the point that Amulek is trying to make here. ] I say unto you, Nay.
12 But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement [ Russell M. Nelson said: “In the English language, the components are at-one-meant, suggesting that a person is at one with another. Other languages employ words that connote either expiation or reconciliation. Expiation means ‘to atone for.’ Reconciliation comes from Latin roots re, meaning ‘again’; con, meaning ‘with’; and sella, meaning ‘seat.’ Reconciliation, therefore, literally means ‘to sit again with.’…In Hebrew, the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that means ‘to cover’ or ‘to forgive.’ Closely related is the Aramaic and Arabic word kafat, meaning ‘a close embrace’—no doubt related to the Egyptian ritual embrace….While the words atone or atonement, in any of their forms, appear only once in the King James translation of the New Testament, they appear 35 times in the Book of Mormon. As another testament of Jesus Christ, it sheds precious light on His Atonement.” (Ensign, Nov. 1996, pp.34-5 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 85)) The Atonement is really in a different realm of existence than this secular world. It is in a spiritual realm. It can take us out of this world; it can cure the problems that we have in this world; it can overcome the sins that we have created. There is something beyond this physical, finite, temporal world— that is why we call it temporal, because it is temporary. It is of a non-infinite nature. The concept of a boundary or a set with limitations necessarily implies that the set is incomplete and that something exists beyond it.
The Atonement is infinite in time. It answered all the demands of justice with no claims to be made about when that act was performed. ] which will suffice for the sins of the world.
13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled; [ "Gospel Ordinances from the Beginning Perhaps our friends will say that the Gospel and its ordinances were not known till the days of John, the son of Zacharias, in the days of Herod, the king of Judea. But we will here look at this point: For our own part we cannot believe that the ancients in all ages were so ignorant of the system of heaven as many suppose, since all that were ever saved, were saved through the power of this great plan of redemption, as much before the coming of Christ as since; if not, God has had different plans in operation (if we may so express it), to bring men back to dwell with Himself; and this we cannot believe, since there has been no change in the constitution of man since he fell; and the ordinance or institution of offering blood in sacrifice, was only designed to be performed till Christ was offered up and shed His blood —as said before—that man might look forward in faith to that time. It will be noticed that, according to Paul, (see Gal. 3:8) the Gospel was preached to Abraham. We would like to be informed in what name the Gospel was then preached, whether it was in the name of Christ or some other name. If in any other name, was it the Gospel? And if it was the Gospel, and that preached in the name of Christ, had it any ordinances? If not, was it the Gospel? And if it has ordinances what were they ? Our friends may say, perhaps, that there were never any ordinances except those of offering sacrifices before the coming of Christ, and that it could not be possible before the Gospel to have been administered while the law of sacrifices of blood was in force. But we will recollect that Abraham offered sacrifice, and notwithstanding this, had the Gospel preached to him. That the offering of sacrifice was only to point the mind forward to Christ, we infer from these remarkable words of Jesus to the Jews: “Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). so, then, because the ancients offered sacrifice it did not hinder their hearing the Gospel; but served, as we said before, to open their eyes, and enable them to look forward to the time of the coming of the Savior, and rejoice in His redemption. We find also, that when the Israelites came out of Egypt they had the Gospel preached to them, according to Paul in his letter to the Hebrews, which says: “For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (see Heb. 4:2). It is said again, in Gal. 3:19, that the law (of Moses, or the Levitical law) was “added” because of transgression. What, we ask, was this law added to, if it was not added to the Gospel? It must be plain that it was added to the Gospel, since we learn that they had the Gospel preached to them. From these few facts, we conclude that whenever the Lord revealed Himself to men in ancient days, and commanded them to offer sacrifice to Him, that it was done that they might look forward in faith to the time of His coming, and rely upon the power of that atonement for a remission of their sins. And this they have done, thousands who have gone before us, whose garments are spotless, and who are, like Job, waiting with an assurance like his, that they will see Him in the latter day upon the earth, even in their flesh. We may conclude, that though there were different dispensations, yet all things which God communicated to His people were calculated to draw their minds to the great object, and to teach them to rely upon God alone as the author of their salvation, as contained in His law" Teachings Of The Prophet Joseph Smith pg 59-61 ] yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.
14 And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, [ Or this is the reason for the law of Moses. To picture what is to come, the great and last sacrifice of Jesus Christ. ] every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; [ Everything about the law was done to point toward the atonement - it was the purpose for the law to teach and bring people closer to Christ, and prepare them for since they had rejected the greater commandments. D&C 84:18-24 When ancient Israel, under Moses refused to receive the further light and knowledge that God wanted to give them. That light which included the fullness of the priesthood, where given the Law of Moses. ] and that great and last sacrifice will be the son of God, yea, infinite and eternal. [ Which will meet all the demands of justice. Now don't try to wrap your head around how it all works. As a matter of fact it is a good thing that suggests that we do not need to know how it all works in order for use to be able to take advantage of it, just trust in God that it does. ]
15 And thus he [ The son of God. ] shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; [ The first requirement for salvation is we must believe in Christ, we must believe that he has the power to redeem us. These are those who exercise their faith unto repentance(character change). Those who make changes in their life to follow him. ] this being the intent of this last sacrifice, [ There is a difference between Grace and Mercy. Grace is a free gift from God. When Adam fell he introduced physical death and spiritual death (separation from God). Those are the two elements of Adam's fall. Grace takes care of both of those types of death. Everyone is going to be resurrected and everyone will be brought back to the presence of God because the fall of Adam has been taken care of by Christ. By Grace everyone is redeemed from the fall of Adam; everyone is going to be brought back to the presence of God. But...in order to remain in the presence of God, and have our confidence “wax strong in the presence of God,” we have to exercise faith in Christ and in His atonement (D&C 121:45). This is where Mercy steps in as Amulek teaches in Alma 34:15-17. Using the word intent it implies that this sacrifice only opens the doors to make it possible, and is the reason for the sacrifice to make it possible. ] to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, [ Which meant that through the atonement the fact that if you sinned you had to pay was overcome. Mercy is the time required for the individual to develop the kind of character God has, it is what makes God -God. So mercy will act over time in order for you to satisfy the demands of justice, or a time when you have developed the character that makes God God, if you have exercised faith unto repentance, which is the change of your character. ] and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. [ THis phrase will be used 4 more times in the next 3 verses. If we do not exercise our faith unto repentance, we will be exposed to the whole law. If you do exercise your faith unto repentance, you can expect mercy to temper the demands of justice. ]
16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, [ Justice may be satisfied in one of two ways 1) Perfectly keeping all of the laws and commands 2) suffering the effects of the broken law. Christ did both first lived a perfect life, then in Gethsame and on the cross suffered for the sins of those who will repent. ] and encircles them in the arms of safety, [ This encircling, this at one ment with God is connected with mercy not grace. See Alma 5:33. ] while he that exercises no faith [ Performs no action - does nothing about it Why is there a requirement of faith on the Savior to be saved? 1) We have our agency 2) If we do not have faith in him that he does have the power to save us then - in essence he does not have the power to save us - it requires both his power and our belief in his power. ] unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption. [ ON what basis is this brought about? see 2 Ne 9: 5-7 ]
17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, [ Or That you may begin to exercise your agency to change your character to become like the character of God. Such that exaltation(to live in the presence of God, celestial life) is character based(having a character like God has), and our individual character is agency based(or you have to want to change your character to be like Gods character - he does not make you, he does not wave a magic wand over you and make you that way. You have to do the work to change your own character. We decide on the character that we want. ) ] that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;
[ How to pray and what to pray for vs 18-28. ]
18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; [ Recognize your nothingness without him, and pray for forgiveness - notice he does not say pray for justice, rather mercy suggesting that we ALL are in need of mercy. ] for he is mighty to save. [ He is the one who will distribute mercy, and mercy has the power to overcome justice if we will apply repentance. ]
20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, [ When you are at work. What do we need to pray for when we are at work? To be good stewards over our employ, make good decisions, protection in travel. ] yea, over all your flocks.
21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
[ When does morning end? at mid-day. When does mid-day end? at the afternoon. So what is Amulek suggesting as the time to pray? All day long. Constantly. ]
22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.
[ In the case here the Zoramites are told to pray so that the wicked power that is influenced on them wil not over power or over take them. In other words; pray that you will have wisdom and strength sufficient to remain and do as you know that you are supposed to do. To follow right, to hold on to the iron rod. ]
25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. [ It is ok to pray for success, we are supposed to. ]
26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, [in private; What is gained by private prayer? How does being in a place were you know you are alone and can talk raise your voice to God help in prayer? ] and in your wilderness.
27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.
28 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; [Is praying enough? What else mus we do? ] for after ye have done all these things, [ Prayed earnestly in your field, your home, your closet...] if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.
29 Therefore, if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye are as dross, [ The impurities that float to the top, there is too much impurities in the dross to be of any use, it would only make the metal weaker if used in any capacity. ] which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men.
30 And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have received so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come forth and bring fruit unto repentance. [ Or changing your character. ] .
31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; [ So it is a hard heart that is what is slowing them down not to partake. So do it now, become humble and take advantage of what God is offerring you. ] for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; [ Death does not change our disposition in the next life. He will later say to Corianton don't suppose that you can live a natural life here and then live a spiritual life on the other side. today is the day to implement the plan of salvation in your own life. Serve him health - don't wait until you are called to die Teachings pg 197] and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you. [ Look if you start now, you will receive the results now - immediately! No waiting for the check to clear, no process to begin, no paperwork to fill out, just start and you get the reward starting now. ]
32 For behold, this life [ Mortality - Elder Ballard made a statment that it is easier here with the spiritual body working in conjunction with the body to make change - So much so that it will take 10 times longer to accomplish change in the next life as it does here. in other words; death does not put you on the path to spirituality, and it will not knock you off the path either. ] is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance [ Your character change. ] until the end; [ Why because for one to change their character it takes time, there is no magic wand that can be waved. This is the reason why deathbed repentance does not work. Because you cannot change your character while dyeing. (verse 34) ] for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time [ Change our character. ] while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness [ In other words; if we fail to prepare during this life we will be in a world without light; without the Savior; separated from his glories plan. We will be dark as to what to do; what lies before us - emptiness. How could Joseph Smith have known? When English shows a possessive or descriptive relationship between two nouns, it usually puts the possessive or descriptive noun first: the king's house or wood house. Hebrew, however, uses the opposite order: house the king (which would usually be translated house of the king) or house wood (house of wood). If the Hebrew word order is kept in the English translation, the word of must be added, even though it does not exist in the Hebrew.One of a large number of what appear to be translations from the Hebrew preserving the Hebrew word order: "night of darkness" instead of dark night (The Maxwell Institute - Hebrew Background of the Book Of Mormon - http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=72&chapid=862)] wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, [ In that moment I will just change my character. If repenting is really that easy why not just do it now? Why don't they repent now and start to receive the promised blessings? Because they; quite simply don't have a testimony. We really do not know how we will act in a situtation until we are in it. Also habit can be pretty hard to break because we become our habits over time - after we acquire a habit then we really be come it's servant - we are bound to it. ] that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit [ The same character. ] which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, [ So if you are not working on changing your character before you die, well you are not just going to change because you are dead. This is the law of restoration, or the restoration of your character. ] that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. [ So we come into the world with a perfect spirit (Moses 6:54; D&C 93:38) and are given a body that is carnal, it is a little mischievous., however; when we die we are given a perfect body and are left with the character that we have created for ourselves. (Alma 41:1-3) ]
35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, [ To repent, to change - if you have delayed the time when you begin to change your character until you are dead. Then you leave this life with the same spirit with which you left it. From the previous three verses we learn it is easier here to change, we leave with the same spirit we are not just changed to want to be and then are made good, it is here that we must complete our mission. We come to this life with a perfect spirit and are born into a mortal(carnal) body which will deteriorate, grow old and commit sin. We die and are resurrected with a perfect body and the spirit(character) that we die with. So salvation id given to all men that through the grace of God ALL men will receive a perfect body. That body will be restored, re-united with the character that we have developed. ] behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn [ In order for it to withdraw it would have needed to be there at one time. ] from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked. [ They are left without their agency. The great difference between the plan of God and that of Satan. In the end Satan gets his followers under his rules. He will be their master he will force his will on them for eternity. ]
36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.
37 And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ;
38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; [ How could Joseph Smith have known? Hebrew has fewer adverbs than English. Instead, it often uses prepositional phrases with the preposition meaning in or with. The English translation of the Book of Mormon contains more of these prepositional phrases in place of adverbs than we would expect if the book had been written in English originally—another Hebraism, in this case "in spirit and in truth" instead of spiritually and truly. (The Maxwell Institute - Hebrew Background of the Book Of Mormon - http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=72&chapid=862) ] and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.
39 Yea, and I also exhort you, my brethren, that ye be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold, he rewardeth you no good thing.