Alma and Others Preach to Zoramites

Event 97

Reference: Alma 31:1-38; 32:1-43; 33:1-23

NOW it came to pass that after the end of Korihor, Almahaving received tidings that the Zoramites were pervertingthe ways of the Lord, and that Zoram, who was their leader,was leading the hearts of the people to bow down to dumbidols, his heart again began to sicken because of the iniquityof the people. 2 For it was the cause of great sorrow to Almato know of iniquity among his people; therefore his heartwas exceedingly sorrowful because of the separation of theZoramites from the Nephites.MormonLand ofZarahemla75 B.C.3 Now the Zoramites had gathered themselves together in aland which they called Antionum, which was east of theland of Zarahemla, which lay nearly bordering upon theseashore, which was south of the land of Jershon, whichalso bordered upon the wilderness south, which wildernesswas full of the Lamanites. 4 Now the Nephites greatlyfeared that the Zoramites would enter into a correspondencewith the Lamanites, and that it would be the means of greatloss on the part of the Nephites. 5 And now, as thepreaching of the word had a great tendency to lead thepeople to do that which was just—yea, it had had morepowerful effect upon the minds of the people than thesword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should trythe virtue of the word of God.6 Therefore he took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner; andHimni he did leave in the church in Zarahemla; but theformer three he took with him, and also Amulek andZeezrom, who were at Melek; and he also took two of hissons. 7 Now the eldest of his sons he took not with him, andhis name was Helaman; but the names of those whom hetook with him were Shiblon and Corianton; and these arethe names of those who went with him among theZoramites, to preach unto them the word.Land of Antionum8 Now the Zoramites were dissenters from the Nephites;therefore they had had the word of God preached untothem. 9 But they had fallen into great errors, for they wouldnot observe to keep the commandments of God, and hisstatutes, according to the law of Moses. 10 Neither wouldthey observe the performances of the church, to continue in prayer and supplication to God daily, that they might notenter into temptation. 11 Yea, in fine, they did pervert theways of the Lord in very many instances; therefore, for thiscause, Alma and his brethren went into the land to preachthe word unto them.MormonLand of Antionum75 B.C.12 Now, when they had come into the land, behold, to theirastonishment they found that the Zoramites had builtsynagogues, and that they did gather themselves together onone day of the week, which day they did call the day of theLord; and they did worship after a manner which Alma andhis brethren had never beheld; 13 For they had a place builtup in the center of their synagogue, a place for standing,which was high above the head; and the top thereof wouldonly admit one person. 14 Therefore, whosoever desired toworship must go forth and stand upon the top thereof, andstretch forth his hands towards heaven, and cry with a loudvoice, saying:15 Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believethat thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art aspirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever. 16 Holy God, webelieve that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we donot believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handeddown to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believethat thou hast elected us to be thy holy children; and also thou hastmade it known unto us that there shall be no Christ. 17 But thou artthe same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected usthat we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be castby thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, wethank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, thatwe may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren,which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth leadtheir hearts to wander far from thee, our God. 18 And again wethank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.Worshippers19 Now it came to pass that after Alma and his brethren andhis sons had heard these prayers, they were astonishedbeyond all measure. 20 For behold, every man did go forthand offer up these same prayers. 21 Now the place wascalled by them Rameumptom, which, being interpreted, isthe holy stand. 22 Now, from this stand they did offer up,every man, the selfsame prayer unto God, thanking theirGod that they were chosen of him, and that he did not leadthem away after the tradition of their brethren, and that theirhearts were not stolen away to believe in things to come,which they knew nothing about.Mormon 23 Now, after the people had all offered up thanks after thismanner, they returned to their homes, never speaking oftheir God again until they had assembled themselvestogether again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks aftertheir manner. 24 Now when Alma saw this his heart wasgrieved; for he saw that they were a wicked and a perversepeople; yea, he saw that their hearts were set upon gold, andupon silver, and upon all manner of fine goods. 25 Yea, andhe also saw that their hearts were lifted up unto greatboasting, in their pride. 26 And he lifted up his voice toheaven, and cried, saying:MormonLand of Antionum75 B.C.O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwellhere below in the flesh, to behold such gross wickedness amongthe children of men? 27 Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yettheir hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, theycry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even togreatness, with the vain things of the world. 28 Behold, O my God,their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and theirornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they areornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, andyet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we area chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish.Alma29 Yea, and they say that thou hast made it known unto them thatthere shall be no Christ. 30 O Lord God, how long wilt thou sufferthat such wickedness and infidelity shall be among this people? OLord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may bear with mineinfirmities. For I am infirm, and such wickedness among thispeople doth pain my soul. 31 O Lord, my heart is exceedinglysorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thougrant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer withpatience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because ofthe iniquity of this people. 32 O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul,and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who arewith me—yea, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and also Amulekand Zeezrom and also my two sons—yea, even all these wilt thoucomfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ. 33Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that theymay bear their afflictions which shall come upon them because ofthe iniquities of this people. 34 O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us thatwe may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.35 Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them areour brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdomthat we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.36 Now it came to pass that when Alma had said thesewords, that he clapped his hands upon all them who werewith him. And behold, as he clapped his hands upon them,they were filled with the Holy Spirit. 37 And after that theyMormon did separate themselves one from another, taking nothought for themselves what they should eat, or what theyshould drink, or what they should put on. 38 And the Lordprovided for them that they should hunger not, neithershould they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, thatthey should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it wereswallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was accordingto the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.MormonLand of Antionum75 B.C.1 AND it came to pass that they did go forth, and began topreach the word of God unto the people, entering into theirsynagogues, and into their houses; yea, and even they didpreach the word in their streets.2 And it came to pass that after much labor among them,they began to have success among the poor class of people;for behold, they were cast out of the synagogues because ofthe coarseness of their apparel— 3 Therefore they were notpermitted to enter into their synagogues to worship God,being esteemed as filthiness; therefore they were poor; yea,they were esteemed by their brethren as dross; thereforethey were poor as to things of the world; and also they werepoor in heart. 4 Now, as Alma was teaching and speakingunto the people upon the hill Onidah, there came a greatmultitude unto him, who were those of whom we have beenspeaking, of whom were poor in heart, because of theirpoverty as to the things of the world. 5 And they came untoAlma; and the one who was the foremost among them saidunto him:Hill Onidah in landof AntionumBehold, what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised ofall men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by ourpriests; for they have cast us out of our synagogues which we havelabored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they havecast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have noplace to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do?Spokesperson6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, hisface immediately towards him, and he beheld with greatjoy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbledthem, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word. 7Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; but hestretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom hebeheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them:Mormon8 I behold that ye are lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye. 9Behold thy brother hath said, What shall we do?—for we are castout of our synagogues, that we cannot worship our God. 10 BeholdAlma I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save itbe in your synagogues only? 11 And moreover, I would ask, do yesuppose that ye must not worship God only once in a week? 12 Isay unto you, it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues,that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn wisdom; for it isnecessary that ye should learn wisdom; for it is because that ye arecast out, that ye are despised of your brethren because of yourexceeding poverty, that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart; forye are necessarily brought to be humble.AlmaHill Onidah in landof Antionum75 B.C.13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed areye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seekethrepentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy;and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shallbe saved. 14 And now, as I said unto you, that because ye werecompelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose thatthey are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of theword? 15 Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of hissins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea,much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humblebecause of their exceeding poverty. 16 Therefore, blessed are theywho humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; orrather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word ofGod, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, withoutbeing brought to know the word, or even compelled to know,before they will believe.17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us asign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shallbelieve. 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay;for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for heknoweth it. 19 And now, how much more cursed is he thatknoweth the will of God and doeth it not, than he that onlybelieveth, or only hath cause to believe, and falleth intotransgression? 20 Now of this thing ye must judge. Behold, I sayunto you, that it is on the one hand even as it is on the other; and itshall be unto every man according to his work.21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have aperfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope forthings which are not seen, which are true. 22 And now, behold, Isay unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God ismerciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth,in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word. 23And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not onlymen but women also. Now this is not all; little children do havewords given unto them many times, which confound the wise andthe learned.24 And now, my beloved brethren, as ye have desired to know ofme what ye shall do because ye are afflicted and cast out—now Ido not desire that ye should suppose that I mean to judge you onlyaccording to that which is true— 25 For I do not mean that ye all of you have been compelled to humble yourselves; for I verilybelieve that there are some among you who would humblethemselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might.AlmaHill Onidah in landof Antionum75 B.C.26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfectknowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of theirsurety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfectknowledge. 27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse yourfaculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise aparticle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe,let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner thatye can give place for a portion of my words. 28 Now, we willcompare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seedmay be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a goodseed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist theSpirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within yourbreasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin tosay within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, orthat the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, itbeginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to bedelicious to me.29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you,Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge. 30But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth togrow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold itswelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold,will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen yourfaith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold itsprouteth and beginneth to grow. 31 And now, behold, are ye surethat this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seedbringeth forth unto its own likeness. 32 Therefore, if a seedgroweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good,therefore it is cast away. 33 And now, behold, because ye havetried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth andsprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that theseed is good.34 And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, yourknowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; andthis because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelledyour souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that yourunderstanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind dothbegin to expand. 35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea,because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it isdiscernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and nowbehold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside yourfaith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that yemight try the experiment to know if the seed was good. 37 Andbehold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it maygrow up, and bring forth fruit unto us.AlmaHill Onidah in landof Antionum75 B.C.And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root,and grow up, and bring forth fruit. 38 But if ye neglect the tree,and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get anyroot; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it,because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and castit out. 39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither isit because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is becauseyour ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, thereforeye cannot have the fruit thereof. 40 And thus, if ye will not nourishthe word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof,ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life. 41 But if ye willnourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, byyour faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forwardto the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a treespringing up unto everlasting life.42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patiencewith the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold,by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious,which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white aboveall that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shallfeast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not,neither shall ye thirst. 43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap therewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.1 NOW after Alma had spoken these words, they sent forthunto him desiring to know whether they should believe inone God, that they might obtain this fruit of which he hadspoken, or how they should plant the seed, or the word ofwhich he had spoken, which he said must be planted in theirhearts; or in what manner they should begin to exercisetheir faith. 2 And Alma said unto them:MormonBehold, ye have said that ye could not worship your God becauseye are cast out of your synagogues. But behold, I say unto you, ifye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and yeought to search the scriptures; if ye suppose that they have taughtyou this, ye do not understand them. 3 Do ye remember to haveread what Zenos, the prophet of old, has said concerning prayer orworship? 4 For he said:AlmaThou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, evenwhen I was in the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when Iprayed concerning those who were mine enemies, and thoudidst turn them to me. 5 Yea, O God, and thou wast mercifulunto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cryunto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me. 6 And again, OGod, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in myprayer. 7 And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, andZenos prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me. 8 Yea, thou art mercifulunto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of theeand not of men, and thou wilt hear them.ZenosHill Onidah in landof Antionum75 B.C.9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard mycries in the midst of thy congregations. 10 Yea, and thou hastalso heard me when I have been cast out and have beendespised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, andwast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst visit them inthine anger with speedy destruction. 11 And thou didst hear mebecause of mine afflictions and my sincerity; and it is becauseof thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore Iwill cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy;for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because ofthy Son.12 And now Alma said unto them:MormonDo ye believe those scriptures which have been written by them ofold? 13 Behold, if ye do, ye must believe what Zenos said; for,behold he said:AlmaThou hast turned away thy judgments because of thy Son.Zenos14 Now behold, my brethren, I would ask if ye have read thescriptures? If ye have, how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?15 For it is not written that Zenos alone spake of these things, butZenock also spake of these things— 16 For behold, he said:AlmaThou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will notunderstand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon thembecause of thy Son.Zenock17 And now, my brethren, ye see that a second prophet of old hastestified of the Son of God, and because the people would notunderstand his words they stoned him to death. 18 But behold, thisis not all; these are not the only ones who have spoken concerningthe Son of God. 19 Behold, he was spoken of by Moses; yea, andbehold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoeverwould look upon it might live. And many did look and live. 20 Butfew understood the meaning of those things, and this because ofthe hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were sohardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Nowthe reason they would not look is because they did not believe thatit would heal them.Alma21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting aboutyour eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, orwould ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful,that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish? 22 Ifso, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about youreyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come toredeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone fortheir sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him,to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to theirworks.AlmaHill Onidah in landof Antionum75 B.C.23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word inyour hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by yourfaith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you untoeverlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that yourburdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all thiscan ye do if ye will. Amen.