Alma Appointed First Chief Judge

Event 69

Reference: Mosiah 29:1-47

NOW when Mosiah had done this he sent out throughout allthe land, among all the people, desiring to know their willconcerning who should be their king.MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.2 And it came to pass that the voice of the people came,saying:We are desirous that Aaron thy son should be our king and ourruler.People3 Now Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi, thereforethe king could not confer the kingdom upon him; neitherwould Aaron take upon him the kingdom; neither were anyof the sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them thekingdom. 4 Therefore king Mosiah sent again among thepeople; yea, even a written word sent he among the people.And these were the words that were written, saying:Mormon5 Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you assuch, I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye are calledto consider—for ye are desirous to have a king. 6 Now I declareunto you that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong hasdeclined, and will not take upon him the kingdom. 7 And now ifthere should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear therewould rise contentions among you. And who knoweth but whatmy son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to beangry and draw away a part of this people after him, which wouldcause wars and contentions among you, which would be the causeof shedding much blood and perverting the way of the Lord, yea,and destroy the souls of many people.King Mosiah8 Now I say unto you let us be wise and consider these things, forwe have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have anyright to destroy another if he should be appointed in his stead. 9And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things hewould recall the things which he had said, and claim his right tothe kingdom, which would cause him and also this people tocommit much sin. 10 And now let us be wise and look forward tothese things, and do that which will make for the peace of thispeople. 11 Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days;nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people accordingto our law; and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, forwe will appoint wise men to be judges, that will judge this peopleaccording to the commandments of God.12 Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than ofman, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgmentsof man are not always just. 13 Therefore, if it were possible that you could have just men to be your kings, who would establish thelaws of God, and judge this people according to hiscommandments, yea, if ye could have men for your kings whowould do even as my father Benjamin did for this people—I sayunto you, if this could always be the case then it would beexpedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you. 14And even I myself have labored with all the power and facultieswhich I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God,and to establish peace throughout the land, that there should be nowars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering,nor any manner of iniquity; 15 And whosoever has committediniquity, him have I punished according to the crime which he hascommitted, according to the law which has been given to us by ourfathers.King MosiahLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.16 Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is notexpedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you. 17For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to becommitted, yea, and what great destruction! 18 Yea, rememberking Noah, his wickedness and his abominations, and also thewickedness and abominations of his people. Behold what greatdestruction did come upon them; and also because of theiriniquities they were brought into bondage. 19 And were it not forthe interposition of their all-wise Creator, and this because of theirsincere repentance, they must unavoidably remain in bondage untilnow. 20 But behold, he did deliver them because they did humblethemselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto himhe did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord workwith his power in all cases among the children of men, extendingthe arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him.21 And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot dethrone aniniquitous king save it be through much contention, and theshedding of much blood. 22 For behold, he has his friends ininiquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth upthe laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him;and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God; 23And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people,yea, laws after the manner of his own wickedness; and whosoeverdoth not obey his laws he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoeverdoth rebel against him he will send his armies against them to war,and if he can he will destroy them; and thus an unrighteous kingdoth pervert the ways of all righteousness. 24 And now behold Isay unto you, it is not expedient that such abominations shouldcome upon you. 25 Therefore, choose you by the voice of thispeople, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws whichhave been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and whichwere given them by the hand of the Lord. 26 Now it is notcommon that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary tothat which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of thepeople to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall yeobserve and make it your law—to do your business by the voice ofthe people. 27 And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth chooseiniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come uponyou; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destructioneven as he has hitherto visited this land. 28 And now if ye havejudges, and they do not judge you according to the law which hasbeen given, ye can cause that they may be judged of a higherjudge. 29 If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments,ye shall cause that a small number of your lower judges should begathered together, and they shall judge your higher judges,according to the voice of the people.King MosiahLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.30 And I command you to do these things in the fear of the Lord;and I command you to do these things, and that ye have no king;that if these people commit sins and iniquities they shall beanswered upon their own heads. 31 For behold I say unto you, thesins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of theirkings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads oftheir kings. 32 And now I desire that this inequality should be nomore in this land, especially among this my people; but I desirethat this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy hisrights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we maylive and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterityremains upon the face of the land.33 And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them,unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteousking, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and alsoall the murmurings of the people to their king; and heexplained it all unto them. 34 And he told them that thesethings ought not to be; but that the burden should comeupon all the people, that every man might bear his part. 35And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages theylabored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule overthem; 36 Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and all thewars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the stealing, andthe plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and allmanner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated—tellingthem that these things ought not to be, that they wereexpressly repugnant to the commandments of God.Mormon37 And now it came to pass, after king Mosiah had sentthese things forth among the people they were convinced ofthe truth of his words. 38 Therefore they relinquished theirdesires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious thatevery man should have an equal chance throughout all theland; yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answerfor his own sins.39 Therefore, it came to pass that they assembledthemselves together in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges, to judgethem according to the law which had been given them; andthey were exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty whichhad been granted unto them. 40 And they did wax strong inlove towards Mosiah; yea, they did esteem him more thanany other man; for they did not look upon him as a tyrantwho was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre which dothcorrupt the soul; for he had not exacted riches of them,neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but hehad established peace in the land, and he had granted untohis people that they should be delivered from all manner ofbondage; therefore they did esteem him, yea, exceedingly,beyond measure.MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.41 And it came to pass that they did appoint judges to ruleover them, or to judge them according to the law; and thisthey did throughout all the land.42 And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be thefirst chief judge, he being also the high priest, his fatherhaving conferred the office upon him, and having given himthe charge concerning all the affairs of the church.43 And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in the waysof the Lord, and he did keep his commandments, and he didjudge righteous judgments; and there was continual peacethrough the land. 44 And thus commenced the reign of thejudges throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all thepeople who were called the Nephites; and Alma was thefirst and chief judge.45 And now it came to pass that his father died, being eightyand two years old, having lived to fulfil the commandmentsof God.46 And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirtyand third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old;making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from thetime Lehi left Jerusalem. 47 And thus ended the reign of thekings over the people of Nephi; and thus ended the days ofAlma, who was the founder of their church.92 B.C.