Stay on Your Mountain

The lesson (in our ward anyway) for next week is #31 and is the start of the "war chapters" in Alma. This is one of my favorite sections in the Book of Mormon. I'll admit, it's easier to read about all the wars and fighting than it is to read something like Jacob 5, but I am starting to see more of the value behind these chapters.

Let me start with a quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard which helps make it easier to apply the war chapters to our lives today:

“We are in a war.  This is the same war that raged in the premortal world. Lucifer and his followers are committed in their evil direction. But we must never forget this about Lucifer: he is a liar. He is the father of all lies and has been from the beginning. He was cast out of Heavenly Father's premortal kingdom because of his disobedience, and now he has one goal, one eternal commitment that has never changed from the time of the war in heaven until the present day. His sole purpose is to make you and me as miserable as he is, and the best way for him to accomplish that is to entice us into disobedience.” (BYU Devotional, March 12, 1996)

I don't think we'll have many times in our lives when we'll be required to put on our breastplates and armor, grab our sword, and run off into battle. But we can apply many of the things Mormon chose to include in the abridgment to our lives to help keep us safe from the adversary and his forces.

I'm going to start with Chapter 47 because this went from being just a cool story to something I could really understand. Amalickiah and his group join the Lamanites, he gets the king wound up to go to battle against the Nephites, the majority of the Lamanite army doesn't like the idea and went up to the top of Mt. Antipus so they wouldn't have to go against the Nephites. The king gave Amalickiah command of the army and told him to "compel them to arms". Amalickiah says, "Excellent, this fits into my plan to become king."

Now, I'm not going to claim any interpretive ability here as that's not my job. I will, however, suggest this is one possible application. Put yourself in Lehonti's place for the story (he's the leader of the army who has "fixed in their minds with a determined resolution" not to go against the Nephites). Where has he and the army taken refuge? "...upon the top of the mount..." (Alma 47:7). Does that mean we should go hide out in the wilderness to avoid the influence of the world? No... the Lord wants us to be "in the world, but not of the world." What comes to my mind is the scripture in Isaiah 2:

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it."

The "mountain of the Lord's house" is the temple. Pres. Hunter taught, "we again emphasize the personal blessings of temple worship and the sanctity and safety that are provided within those hallowed walls. It is the house of the Lord, a place of revelation and of peace." (Oct General Conference, 1994).

Obviously we can't spend all day every day in the temple, but if we work to stay worthy and honor the covenants we've made, that protection will follow us home.

So if we're assuming the part of Lehonti, who is playing Amalickiah? Hmm... who else has an overwhelming desire to destroy our freedom and make us miserable? Who tries to get what he wants through lies and deceit? Oh yah, that would be Satan.

So Amalickiah takes his army to the foot of the mountain, waits for night then sends a "secret embassy" to get Lehonti to come down. Lehonti is no dummy, he refuses to come down. Amalickiah tries three times unsuccessfully before changing his tactic. This time he goes up the mountain, "nearly to Lehonti's camp" and asks Lehonti to come down with his guards. After all, Amalickiah was only concerned about Lehonti's comfort and safety and had his best interests at heart. Seems legit, right? You don't want to watch that R-rated movie with the graphic depictions of sex? No problem, how about you watch this one instead? It doesn't actually show anything, but they talk about it all the time and show enough that you'll know what's going on. The one I heard the most growing up was, "You can repent in time to serve a mission." That rarely ended well either.

Lehonti fell for it and met with Amalickiah, who tells him, "Sneak down during the night, surround my army, we'll surrender, and you'll be in charge of the whole army. All I ask is to be second in command." Again, seems like a good deal. Lehonti gets what he wants (doesn't have to go against the Nephites), plus a bonus.

Everything goes according to plan. Unfortunately, it was Amalickiah's plan and not Lehonti's. We need to remember that every time Satan offers us a deal, it fits his plan and not ours. Whatever Lehonti had planned for his new position didn't last long. Amalickiah had one of his servants "administer poison by degrees" to Lehonti. Notice he didn't kill him outright, any more than Satan gets us to jump straight into the deep end. That's not his style. Rather than try to come at us head-on, he usually sides-up beside us so he can put his arm around us and pacify us, get us to let down our guard, and before we know it we're on the wrong path (See 2 Nephi 28:21). Lehonti probably didn't even know he was being poisoned.

Lehonti dies, Amalickiah becomes leader of the whole army, visits the king, has him killed, and is now king of all the Lamanites. If Lehonti had stayed at the top of the mountain, he would've been safe. Amalickiah could not have gained an advantage, and would never have become king.

So, the moral of this story: "Don't come down off your mountain!" Not even a little bit.

Experiment on the Word

I really need to work on updating this one more often. I'm such a slacker...

Anyhow, I recently had the opportunity to fill in for our Gospel Doctrine instructor for a few weeks and really was meaning to post a few things here (really, I was). The last lesson I did was on Alma 32, which was a bit of a challenge. Most everyone in the class is likely to know the story line already (Alma & co. visit the apostate Zoramites in an effort to bring them back on-side, they find a group of the poor & humble who are receptive to the message, Alma teaches them about faith and experimenting on the word of God). So, how do you present the material in a way that doesn't put everyone to sleep?

First, let's dispel a lingering myth. At no point in chapter 32 (or anywhere else I can find) does Alma compare faith to a seed. You can look all you want, but you won't find it because it's not there. What he says is, "...we will compare the word unto a seed" (Alma 32:28).

Here are some of the points which jumped out at me:
-Verse 11, am I a "Sunday Mormon"? Or do I live it 7 days/week?

-Verse 26-27, it's interesting to me that Alma gives the humble Zoramites the "scientific method" for discovering truth right after the story of Korihor, who basically said "if you can't prove it scientifically, it doesn't exist."

-Alma's discourse on the seed seems to be a continuation of the Parable of the Sower. He's talking to those who's hearts are "good soil", so he can spend more time talking about nurturing the seed rather than the condition of the ground.

-The biggest insight I had this time came from two quick references in verses 13 and 22:

13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved.

22 And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word.

I've read this passage many times, I've had many lessons on this chapter, but this was the first time this idea occurred to me. And when it did, it was like someone had highlighted and underlined it for emphasis and I had one of those, "how long has that been in there?" moments. Before Alma starts talking about faith and making room in their hearts for the word of God, he plants the idea that God is merciful. He says in verse 13 that everyone who repents will find mercy. Those are pretty good odds. Then he says God is merciful to everyone (again, loving the odds here) who believes on his name.

So now I have to ask myself, "Why is it so important to Alma that these Zoramites understand the mercy of God?" Maybe because they had dissented from the Nephites and perhaps had doubts they could be accepted again. Satan is quick to tell us that we've come too far to turn around, regardless of what we've done. Not only had these people left the church, they actively built another one to teach there would be no Christ (oops... awkward).

Then it hit me again in chapter 33. Alma wants to really drive home the point that these people don't have to come to the synagogue to worship, so he uses a scripture about prayer to back up his point (Alma 33:3-11). Okay, so we can pray in the wilderness, the field, our houses, closets, when we're alone or surrounded by people... that's comforting. Alma could've used any number of scriptures to back up his point. There are many great examples of prayer which would help illustrate how you don't have to be in church on Sunday to pray. He chose this one for a reason. Count how many times in those nine verses where God's mercy is mentioned. It's okay... I'll wait for you to come back...

Six times in nine verses. It really seems like Alma is trying to get this idea to stick. So, hidden in a story I thought I knew was this wonderful underlying message that God is merciful. Not just some of the time either. All the time. And not just to the preferred customers, but "whosoever repenteth shall find mercy" because "God is merciful unto all who believe on his name".

Thanks to that insight, this passage now has a new depth of meaning for me. Experiment on the word, plant it in your heart and nourish it until it grows. I've done that with various aspects of the gospel and it has never failed. And now I can add the understanding and reassurance of God's mercy to the process.