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CHAPTER 19Lamoni receives the light of everlasting life and sees the Redeemer—His household fall into a trance, and some see angels—Ammon is preserved miraculously—He baptizes many and establishes a church among them. [About 90 B.C.] |
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1 AND it came to pass that after two days
and two nights they were about to take his abody and
lay it in a sepulchrea, which they
had made for the purpose of burying their dead.
2 Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in unto her. 3 And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do.
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1a take his body and layit in a sepulchre Now there have been such burial sites now discovered which does support that the ancients of America did bury their dead in prepared 'sepulchres' even like unto the people of Israel and Egypt from whence the ancients of the Americas did come. |
1a
Alma 18:42-43
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4 And she said unto him: The aservants of my
husband have made it known unto me that thou art a bprophet
of a holy God, and that thou hast cpower to do many mighty
works in his name;
5 Therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband, for he has been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but others say that he is dead and that he astinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulchre; but as for myself, to me he doth not stink.
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4a
Alma 18:43 b TG Prophets, Mission of c D&C 3:4 5a John 11:39
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6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was
under the power of God; he knew that the dark aveil
of bunbelief was being cast away from his
minda, and the
clight which did light up his mind, which was the light of
the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this
light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been
dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul,
yea, he knew that this had dovercome his natural frame, and
he was carried away in God—
7 Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead.
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6a the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind Now King Lamoni had told Ammon that he would believe all that Ammon would speak unto him. Thus King Lamoni had heard the word of God concerning all things according to that which Ammon had taught him. But Lamoni had been years trained in a darkened manner to think and believe. This was 'enstilled' and 'engrained' in his nature. The bring of man out of darkness and into such light takes more than a mere one time consideration. The mind, heart and soul of Lamoni would have to be 'retooled' by the light of God. His nature which was to have servants slain for poor service would have to be curbed. Such a change in a man's nature is a mighty change. Most procede through this change gradually, line upon line and precept upon precept at a near unpreceptable progression. The 'mighty changes' of a man's 'nature' are rear and monumental in nature. And as in the case of King Lamoni, it caused him to 'carried away in God' for a period of days while the redeeming love of God was engraven upon his soul by the light of God. |
6a
2 Cor. 4:4 (3-4);
TG
Veil b TG Unbelief, Unbelievers c TG Light d Jacob 7:21; Mosiah 3:19
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8 And he said unto the queen: He is not dead, but he sleepeth in
God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore bury him
not.
9 And Ammon said unto her: aBelievest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I bbelieve that it shall be according as thou hast said. 10 And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the aNephites.
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9a
John 11:26 (22-45) b Mosiah 26:15-16 10a Luke 7:9
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11 And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her
husband, from that time even until that time on the morrow which
Ammon had appointed that he should rise.
12 And it came to pass that he arose, according to the words of Ammon; and as he arose, he stretched forth his hand unto the woman, and said: Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou. 13 For as sure as thou livest, behold, I have aseen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be bborn of a cwoman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name. Now, when he had said these words, his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit.
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13a
TG
God, Privilege of Seeing; TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal b TG Jesus Christ, Birth of c 1 Ne. 11:18 (13-21)
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14 Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to
his aprayers upon the Lamanites, his brethren, who had been
the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of
God because of their iniquities and their btraditions, he
fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and
thanksgiving to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also
overpowered with cjoy; and thus they all three had
dsunk to the earth.
15 Now, when the servants of the king had seen that they had fallen, they also began to cry unto God, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them also, for it was athey who had stood before the king and testified unto him concerning the great power of Ammon.
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14a
D&C 42:14 b Mosiah 1:5 c TG Joy d Alma 27:17 15a Alma 18:1-2
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16 And it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord, in
their might, even until they had all fallen to the earth, save it were one of
the Lamanitish awomen, whose name was Abish, she having
been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable
vision of her father—
17 Thus, having been converted to the Lord, and never having made it aknown, therefore, when she saw that all the servants of Lamoni had bfallen to the earth, and also her mistress, the queen, and the king, and Ammon lay cprostrate upon the earth, she knew that it was the power of God; and supposing that this opportunity, by making known unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would dcause them to believe in the power of God, therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people.
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16a
Alma 19:28 17a JS-H 1:74 b Mosiah 4:1 c Moses 1:9-l0 d Mosiah 27:14
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18 And they began to assemble themselves together unto the house
of the king. And there came a multitude, and to their
astonishment they beheld the king, and the queen, and their
servants prostrate upon the earth, and they all lay there as
though they were dead; and they also saw Ammon, and behold, he
was a Nephite.
19 And now the people began to murmur among themselves; some saying that it was a great evil that had come upon them, or upon the king and his house, because he had suffered that the Nephite should aremain in the land. 20 But others rebuked them, saying: The king hath brought this evil upon his house, because he slew his servants who had had their flocks scattered at the awaters of Sebus.
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19a
Alma 17:23 (22-23) 20a Alma 17:26; Alma 18:7
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21 And they were also rebuked by those men who had stood at the
waters of Sebus and ascattered the flocks which belonged to
the king, for they were angry with Ammon because of the number which he had
slain of their brethren at the waters of Sebus, while defending the flocks of
the king.
22 Now, one of them, whose brother had been aslain with the sword of Ammon, being exceedingly angry with Ammon, drew his sword and went forth that he might let it fall upon Ammon, to slay him; and as he lifted the sword to smite him, behold, he fell dead. 23 Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the aLord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare hima, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah btrusted him unto the Lord.
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23a Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the Lord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him This is the power of God that all is according to his word. If the Lord does so state it, it is so even unto the preserving of life and over seeing the things of all the earth. All does obey the word of his voice. And only that men are made free does he give unto men to choose for themselves and so act in freedom. For indeed he has power over all things, but doth let events pass according to the free exercise of angency of man except unto those things which he doth choose to govern according to the principles of righteousness and faith in his name. |
21a
Alma 17:27;
Alma 18:3 22a Alma 17:38 23a Mosiah 28:7; Alma 17:35 b TG Family, Love within; TG Trust in God
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24 And it came to pass that when the multitude beheld that the man
had fallen dead, who lifted the sword to slay Ammon, afear
came upon them all, and they durst not put forth their hands to touch him or
any of those who had fallen; and they began to marvel again among themselves
what could be the cause of this great power, or what all these things could
mean.
25 And it came to pass that there were many among them who said that Ammon was the aGreat Spirit, and others said he was sent by the Great Spirit; 26 But others rebuked them all, saying that he was a amonster, who had been sent from the Nephites to torment them.
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24a
Luke 7:16;
Moses 6:39 (37-40) 25a Alma 18:5 (2-5) 26a Moses 6:38 (37-39)
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27 And there were some who said that Ammon was sent by the Great
Spirit to afflict them because of their iniquities; and that it
was the Great Spirit that had always attended the Nephites, who
had ever delivered them out of their hands; and they said that it
was this Great Spirit who had destroyed so many of their
brethren, the Lamanites.
28 And thus the contention began to be exceedingly sharp among them. And while they were thus contending, the awoman servant who had caused the multitude to be gathered together came, and when she saw the contention which was among the multitude she was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto tears.
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28a
Alma 19:163
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29 And it came to pass that she went and took the queen by the
ahand, that perhaps she might raise her from the ground;
and as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood upon her feet, and
cried with a loud voice, saying: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an
bawful hell! O blessed God, have cmercy
on this people!
30 And when she had said this, she clasped her hands, being filled with joy, speaking many words which were not understood; and when she had done this, she took the king, Lamoni, by the hand, and behold he arose and stood upon his feet. 31 And he, immediately, seeing the contention among his people, went forth and began to rebuke them, and to teach them the awords which he had heard from the mouth of Ammon; and as many as heard his words believed, and were converted unto the Lord.
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29a
Alma 22:22 b 1 Ne. 14:3 c Enos 1:9; Alma 36:24 31a Alma 18:39 (36-39)
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32 But there were amany among them who would not
hear his words; therefore they went their way.
33 And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been achanged; that they had no more desire to do bevil. 34 And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen aangels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness.
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32a
John 12:37 (35-37) 33a TG Man, New, Spritually Reborn b Jonah 3:8; Mosiah 5:2; Alma 13:12; 3 Ne. 20:26 34a TG Angels; TG Vision
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35 And it came to pass that there were many that did
abelieve in their words; and as many as did believe were
baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a
church among thema.
36 And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his aSpirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to ball people who will repent and believe on his name.
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35a they did establish a church among them Now in such time there could well be many such churches of God divided by time and space. And while the church in Nephi and the church in Zarahemla did not know of each other, they both were true and they were but one church in that they were both under the proper authority and administration of God and his priesthood. Today with world wide communication we do recognize that there is but one communication Church of Jesus Christ. But in the day of the Nephites and perhaps others of the earth in ancient times, such communication was not had between lands over the earth, yet the spirit would have conveyed the church in the same manner and truth in whatsoever land that they may have existed. |
35a
TG
Baptism, Qualifications for 36a TG God, Spirit of b 2 Ne. 26:33; Alma 5:33; 3 Ne. 18:25
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