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CHAPTER 33Zenos taught that men should pray and worship in all places, and that judgments are turned away because of the Son—Zenock taught that mercy is bestowed because of the Son—Moses had lifted up in the wilderness a type of the Son of God. [About 74 B.C.] |
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1 NOW after Alma had spoken these words,
they sent forth unto him desiring to know whether they should believe
in aone Goda,
that they might obtain this fruit of which he had
spoken, or bhow they should plant the
cseed, or the word of which he had spoken, which he said
must be planted in their hearts; or in what manner they should begin to
exercise their faith.
2 And Alma said unto them: Behold, ye have said that ye acould not bworship your God because ye are cast out of your synagogues. But behold, I say unto you, if ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and ye ought to search the cscriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them.
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1a desiring to know whether they should believe in one God Now we do have an understanding of the Godhead, and that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct beings. But indeed, pertaining to this Second Estate, we do but have one God and we are to believe in him, for there is no other way but by him that men are saved and salation cometh unto this world. And this is the key to understanding, that we are to look to this one God of this temporal creation. And that 'one God' is the Son of God the Father of Spirits. For he is our God given from among us of the Father (See Alma 11:28). |
1a
2 Ne. 31:21;
Mosiah 15:4; Alma 11:28 (28-35) b Alma 33:23 c Alma 32:28 (28-43) 2a Alma 32:5 b TG Worship c Mosiah 2:34; Alma 37:8 (3-10); TG Prayer
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Zenos Is QuotedThe lost words of an Old Testament Prophet, likely one who speakes more specifically to the house of Israel, the house of Joseph and to the concept of Jesus Christ, are being quoted here. They are of significant notice to take that in the days of ancient Israel such was known, had and taught of their prophets among them. |
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3 Do ye remember to have read what
aZenos, the
prophet of old, has said concerning prayer or bworship?
4 For he said: Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was ain the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine benemies, and thou didst turn them to me. 5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my afield; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me.
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3a
Alma 34:7;
TG
Scriptures, Lost b TG Worship 4a 1 Kings 8:47 (44-52) b Matt. 5:44 5a Alma 34:20-25
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6 And again, O God, when I did turn to my
house thou didst hear
me in my prayer.
7 And when I did turn unto my acloset, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me. 8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou awilt hear them.
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7a
Matt. 6:6 (5-6);
Alma 34:26 (17-27) 8a TG God, Access to
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9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful
unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.
10 Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been acast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst bvisit them in thine anger with speedy destruction. 11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my asincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine bafflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, cbecause of thy Son.
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10a
Alma 32:5 b Ps. 3:7; Ps. 18:17 11a TG Sincerity b TG Affliction c TG Jesus Christ, Atonement through
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12 And now Alma said unto them: Do ye abelieve
those scriptures which have been written by them of old?
13 Behold, if ye do, ye must believe what aZenos said; for, behold he said: Thou hast turned away thy judgments because of thy Son. 14 Now behold, my brethren, I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye adisbelieve on the Son of God?
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12a
TG
Scriptures, Value of 13a Jacob 6:1; Alma 34:7 14a John 5:39
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Zenock Is QuotedThe lost words of an Old Testament Prophet, likely one who speakes more specifically to the house of Israel, the house of Joseph and to the concept of Jesus Christ, are being quoted here. They are of significant notice to take that in the days of ancient Israel such was known, had and taught of their prophets among them.
As A New Witness Against the JewsNow as is revealed in verses 15-17, Zenock, one of the Old Testament prophets whose words were preserved in the plates of brass, did testify plainly and openly concerning the Son of God, that he would be the Messiah. Many of the Old Testament prophets so spoke concerning him and many, as was Zenock, persecuted and even killed because of their testimony of Christ. But such was the nature of the Jews, the keepers of the Biblical Old Testament. And it will be 'A New Witness' against them and against ancient Israel, how the did reject the prophets who spoke of the coming of Jesus Christ, Jehoshua the Messiah. That this testimony did live in the common people is seen in their traditions at the time of Jesus Christ and the common man's acceptance of him as the Messiah, but that the rulers and keepers of the Biblical record did twart that testimony and remove much from the records of the Jews will be seen when the plates of brass are brought forth and such ancient prophets as Zenock, Zenos, Neum and others will be there as well as the full and uncorrupted testimonies of other known prophets will so testify plainly and clearly that the Messiah was to come, that he would be called Jesus/Joshua, that is Jehovah Deliverer, and that he would be the Son of God. And the brass plate record will be a witness that the record of the Jews is lacking and has been deprived of that once clearly known and held understanding that today's Jews for the most part do continue to reject today. |
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15 For it is anot written that Zenos alone spake of
these things, but bZenock also
spake of these things—
16 For behold, he said: Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they awill not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son. 17 And now, my brethren, ye see that a second prophet of old has testified of the Son of God, and because the people would not understand his words they astoned him to deatha.
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17a they stoned him to death It is significant to note how such prophets who openly testified of Jesus Christ the Son of God, that he would come into the world were receive by the ancient Israelites. They rejected that message and they stoned such prophets to death. This is why such prophecies and words of such prophets were not preserved in the Jewish Old Testament. For they basically rejected their message and as stated even in the Old Testament the did reject the prophets and they did stone them to death (Matthew 23:31 & 37, Luke 11:47; 13:34, 1 Nephi 1:20, 2 Nephi 26:3, 2 Chronicles 36:13, Jeremiah 26:8). It is of interest that the witness of scripture is that the ancients did kill and murder the ancient prophets though the Old Testament as preserved by the hand of the Jew no longer gives such direct witness against itself, and for such we must turn to the New Testament and the Book of Mormon record to see that they did reject the prophet even unto murdering them. And this time of the murdering and killing of the prophets are so witnessed by Elijah when he said as recorded in the New Testament in Romans 11:3, 'Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life" (1 Kings 19:14). And thus are the books being openned which testify of the wickedness of the ancients, that they did reject the prophets and that they did murder them and that they did seek their lives such as they did unto Lehi and Jeremiah in the day of their scatterings. |
15a
Jacob 4:4;
Mosiah 15:11-13 b 1 Ne. 19:10; Alma 34:7 16a 2 Pet. 3:5 (4-5) 17a TG Martyrdom
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18 But behold, this is not all; these are not the only ones who
have spoken concerning the Son of God.
19 Behold, he was spoken of by aMosesa; yea, and behold a btype was craised up in the wildernessb, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live. 20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would aheal them.
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19a he was spoken of by Moses
Moses did speak and write plainly of the coming of Jesus Christ. This plainess
has been removed from the Jewish preserved Old Testament. A portion of the
degree of this plainess is preserved by the Prophet Joseph Smith translation
of the Bible which is also had in the Pearl of Great Price as the book of
Moses. In that few chapter inspired translation of the beginning chapters of
Moses as they once were and are not today, Moses explains that Adam knew of
the Son of God to come and that his name would be Jesus Christ (Moses
6:51-54), that Enoch knew also of Jesus Christ (Moses 7:50-53) and even that
Noah did know him and taught the people of him and his gospel even in the
very name of Jesus Christ (Moses 8:23-24). While
Joseph Smith did not so translate the entire Bible in such great care as
these first verses of Moses, it is clear. But it is also clear that Moses
knew of Christ and did teach of Christ and that such teachings of Moses have
been taken from his books by those who did not accept the plainess of the
comeing of Jehovah to the earth to take upon himself a body and to suffer and
redeem mankind through his sacrificial atonement for the sins of man.
19b behold a type was raised up in the wilderness This type was known by the faithful of Israel to be a similitude of the Son of God and is so stated in the New Testament (John 3:14-21). But to the unfaithful in all ages it is but a stumbling block and a mystery unto them and they do not choose to see the Son of God in it. And they like those of ancient Israel do but hold it up to be an idol image for which cause Hezekiah did remove the type and symbol of the Son of God, for unto the people it had come to be but a graven image of worship in and of itself an idol (1 Kings 18:1-4). |
19a
Deut. 18:15, 18;
Alma 34:7 b Num. 21:9; 1 Ne. 17:41; 2 Ne. 25:20; TG Jesus Christ, Types of in Anticipation; TG Symbolism c John 3:14; Hel. 8:14 20a Hosea 11:3; 1 Ne. 17:41 (40-41)
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21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your
eyes that ye might be healeda, would ye not
behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in aunbelief, and
be bslothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might
perish?
22 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and abegin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to batone for their sins; and that he shall crise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the dresurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be ejudged at the last and judgment day, according to their fworks.
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21a if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed If you could be saved by following and believng in Jesus Christ, would you do it? If savation and eternal life could be so easy to obtain by believing in Jesus Christ would you so believe in him and follow his teachings? How gentle and easy is the way, as set before man to follow after Christ our God? |
21a
TG
Doubt;
TG
Unbelief, Unbelievers b TG Apathy; TG Laziness 22a Alma 25:16; Alma 37:46 (45-46) b 2 Ne. 2:10; Alma 22:14; Alma 34:9 (8-10) c TG Jesus Christ, Resurrection d Alma 11:44; TG Resurrection e TG Jesus Christ, Judge f TG Good Works
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23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall
aplant this word in your
heartsa, and as it beginneth to
swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree,
bspringing up in you unto ceverlasting
life. And then may God grant unto you that your dburdens
may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye
ewill. Amen.
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23a I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts The WORD or SEED that is to be planted in your heart is stated in verse 22. It is the belief in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people having atoned for their sins etc. This correlates to the Tree of Life vision, as does the whole of the experiment of the WORD as being the seed that will grow unto eternal life. |
10a
Alma 33:1;
Alma 34:4 b Alma 32:41; D&C 63:23 c Alma 32:43 d Mosiah 24:15 (13-15); Alma 31:38 e TG Agency
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