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CHAPTER 24Amulon persecutes Alma and his people—They are to be put to death if they pray—The Lord makes their burdens light—he delivers them from bondages, and they return to Zarahemla. [Between 145 and 120 B.C.] |
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1 AND it came to pass that Amulon did gain
favor in the eyes of the king of the Lamanites; therefore, the king of the
Lamanites granted unto him and his brethren that they should be appointed
teachers over his people, yea, even over the people who were in the land of
Shemlon, and in the land of Shilom, and in the aland of
Amulon.
2 For the Lamanites had taken possession of all these lands; therefore, the king of the Lamanites had appointed kings over all these lands.
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1a
Mosiah 23:31;
Alma 21:3 (2-4)
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3 And now the name of the king of the Lamanites was
aLaman, being called after the name of his father; and
therefore he was called king Lamana.
And he was king over a numerous people.
4 And he appointed ateachers of the bbrethren of Amulon in every land which was possessed by his people; and thus the clanguage of Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites.
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4a the name of the king of the Lamanites was Laman, being called after the name of his father; and therefore he was called king Laman Now here in the day of King Mosiah II and Alma I, this king Laman does appear to be a descendant of Laman, yet the sons of Mosiah come to find that the King over the whole of the land in the next generation is a descendant of Ishmael. Thus there are two possibilities, there is some upheaval in the land of the Lamanties which establish this 'new' king a descendant of Ishmael to come into authority and also his sons. But this king of Ishmael seems to be of the older generation, of the same generation of king Laman, and his son Lamoni does seem to be of the generation of the sons of king Mosiah. And this hold on the whole of the land of the Lamanites under the descendants of Ishmael at the same time of this king Laman does suggest that the people of Limhi were dealing with but a 'sub-kingdom', which likelihood has already been discused due to the fact of the wars with King Benjamin which seem to go undetected by this same 'sub-kingdom' under Laman of that earlier day. This would paint a coherent picture and allow king Laman to rule his 'sub-kingdom' and the elder king of Ishmael do so coexist, just as the same two king divisions would have existed in they days of Noah and Benjamin. |
3a
Mosiah 9:10-11;
Mosiah 10:6 4a Mosiah 2:4; Mosiah 18:18-22; Mosiah 23:14 b Mosiah 23:9, 12, 31 c Omni 1:18
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5 And they were a people friendly one with another; nevertheless
they knew not God; neither did the brethren of Amulon teach them
anything concerning the Lord their God, neither the law of Moses;
nor did they teach them the words of Abinadi;
6 But they taught them that they should keep their record, and that they might write one to another. 7 And thus the Lamanites began to increase in riches, and began to atrade one with another and wax great, and began to be a cunning and a wise people, as to the wisdom of the world, yea, a very cunning people, delighting in all manner of wickedness and plunder, except it were among their own brethren.
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7a
Gen. 34:10-21;
4 Ne. 1:46
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8 And now it came to pass that aAmulon began to
exercise bauthority over Alma and his brethren, and began
to persecute him, and cause that his children should persecute their
childrena.
9 For Amulon knew Alma, that he had been aone of the king's priests, and that it was he that believed the words of Abinadi and was driven out before the king, and therefore he was wroth with him; for he was subject to king Laman, yet he exercised authority over them, and put btasks upon them, and put ctask-masters over them.
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8a cause that his children should persecute their children Wherein lies the seeds of Alma the younger's rebellion against his father Alma and the church of God? Could it be a young son suffering and seeing his family suffering while his father is but seemingly 'cowering' and 'cow toeing' to the enemy in the name of God? Would the impantience of youth not have understood the test of faith the Lord was putting upon the people of Alma because past wickedness and of the associations with the people of Noah and the prophecies of Abinadi? And when in Zarahemla was Alma the elder the source of the concept of liberty which would seemingly threaten King Mosiah and his sons' eventual right to the throne? While the Book of Mormon is an abridgment and does not complete the stories with such historic detail, certainly there is food for thought in the true life situational food found for any good pyschologist to consider. |
8a
Mosiah 23:32 b D&C 121:39 9a Mosiah 17:2 (1-4); Mosiah 23:9 b Mosiah 21:3-6 c Mosiah 23:37-39
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10 And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that
they began to cry mightily to God.
11 And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he aput guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death. 12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their ahearts to him; and he did know the bthoughts of their hearts.
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11a
Dan. 6:7-27 12a TG Prayer b Ps. 139:2; Matt. 12:25
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13 And it acame to pass that the voice of the Lord
came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good
comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will
covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
14 And I will also ease the aburdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as bwitnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their cafflictionsa. 15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did astrengthen them that they could bear up their bburdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with cpatience to all the will of the Lord.
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14a I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions This ought to be a word of comfort unto those who do suffer afflictions, that they Lord will attend them and make their burden tollerable. Thus this ye ought to pray for in times of afflictions, that the Lord will attend and help carry the burdens. This is a often little considered asspect of the atonement, that because of that suffering, that it was not only for sin but also for the afflictions of this corruption; that the Lord has power to so relieve the afflictions of the people and made the burden of them seem light and less of a burden upon the people, even unto a relief that his people will be able to live in such circumstances that such affliction would not even be felt. And that life would be made well and to the end that his people by cheerfully persist in their circumstance from day to day. Pray for this type of relief from the Lord. He is capable of giving it unto you if but such faith will be exercised in him to that end. |
13a
Jer. 33:3 (1-3);
Matt. 6:6 14a Isa. 46:4 (3-4) b TG Witnesses c TG Adversity; TG Affliction 15a Matt. 11:28-30 b Alma 31:38; Alma 33:23 c 2 Cor. 4:16; D&C 54:10; TG Patience
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16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their
patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying:
Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of
bondage.
17 And he said unto Alma: Thou shalt go before this people, and I will go awith thee and deliver this people out of bbondage.
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17a
Ex. 3:12;
1 Ne. 17:55;
Alma 38:4 b Mosiah 25:10; TG Bondage, Physical
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18 Now it came to pass that Alma and his people in the
night-time gathered their flocks together, and also of their
grain; yea, even all the night-time were they gathering the
flocks together.
19 And in the morning the Lord caused a adeep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yea, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep. 20 And Alma and his people departed into the wilderness; and when they had traveled all day they pitched their tents in a valley, and they called the valley Alma, because he led their way in the wilderness.
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19a
1 Sam. 26:12;
Alma 55:15
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21 Yea, and in the valley of Alma they poured out their
athanks to God because he had been merciful unto them, and
eased their bburdens, and had delivered them out of
bondage; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it were
the Lord their God.
22 And they gave athanks to God, yea, all their men and all their women and all their children that could speak lifted their voices in the praises of their God.
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21a
TG
Thanksgiving b Ps. 81:6 (5-6) 22a TG Thanksgiving
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23 And now the Lord said unto Alma: Haste thee and get thou and
this people out of this land, for the Lamanites have awakened and
do pursue thee; therefore get thee out of this land, and I will
stop the Lamanites in this valley that they come no further in
pursuit of this people.
24 And it came to pass that they departed out of the valley, and took their journey into the wilderness. 25 And after they had been in the wilderness atwelve days *they arrived in the land of Zarahemlaa; and king Mosiah did also breceive them with joy.
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25a they arrived in the land of Zarahemla
When considering travel distance from the land of Shilom to the
land of Zarahemla, one must consider the topic of 'lands'. In this case that
specifically refers more directly to the Land of Zarahemla, for there were actually 3
geographical lands of Zarahemla. Consider the State of New York. In that
state you will find that there were historically three lands of New York. There was
first the city and fort of New Ansterdam, whose name was canged to 'New York' after the
English captured it on Septermber 8, 1664. Later on November 1, 1683, the whole Manhattan
Island (more or less) was named as one of the original counties of the state/colony of
New York and given the name of New York. So it was that New York, New York, New York was born.
The early colonial city of New York (New Ansterdam) at the south tip of the County of New
York (Manhattan Island), in the State (Colony) of New York. Now the development of the three lands of Zarahemla have a somewhat parallel to that situation, though the immediate city of Zarahemla was located upon the west bank of the Sidon river, in the center or heart of the nation, about midway of the overall course of that great river. And so developed the single city of Zarahemla and it immediate city surrounding land, then there was the greater religious provincial region of Zarahemla which include other 'townships' or villages to including in that larger churched based region of which the entire nation of Zarahemla was at one time divided into 7 such Church Districts or provinces. And then of course there was the whole of the nation of Zarahemla which by break down at the time consisted of the whole of the nation, its 7 Church related districts/regions/provinces of possibly such as Gideon, Melek, Ammonihah, Manti, Bountiful, Jershon, Antionum and Bountiful, with that of Zarhemla being the heart, central and governing capital of the Nation. It ought to be noted that each of these Church related districts had a number of towns/cities within there juristiction, such as Ammonihah that included besides Ammonihah, Noah, Sidom and such. The point is, when it speaks of a 12 day journey in the wilderness, was that marked to all the way to downtown Zarahemla city from Helam, or was it meaning they reached the border of the nation of Zarahemla, that being the region of Manti, still a few days from Zarahemla city? From the border of the Waters of Mormon to Helam was 8 days flight travel and from Helam to the border of the nation of Zarahemla was 12 days escape travel. At a 'relative rushed rate of travel' 20 miles per day of about (20X20) 400 miles between the national lands of Nephi and Zarahemla. With such cities as Amulon and Helam as part of the land of Nephi, and Lamanites in the 'East Wilderness' bordering upon Antionumn, in Alma 22 the 'narrow strip' of land/wilderness at that date betwix the nations, a relative picture of the landscape maybe set and it isn't all that limited to be isolated to the size of the state of Utah. |
25a
Mosiah 23:3 * [About 120 B.C.] b Mosiah 22:14
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| * Verse 25 [About 120 B.C.] |
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