Mosiah 25-26

Mosiah 25

Limhi and his people, and Alma and his people, are now safely rejoined with the main body of Nephites in the land of Zarahemla, governed by King Mosiah. Mosiah reads to all the people the record of Zeniff (which includes Zeniff leaving Zarahemla originally, then his wicked son Noah, then his good son Limhi—basically everything we just read from Mosiah chapters 9-24) and also the record of Alma and his people who broke off after Alma was converted by the preaching of Abinadi (who was burned at the stake by wicked King Noah). The Nephites are amazed at God’s blessings to these groups, like Limhi and Alma’s deliverance from bondage, and deeply saddened by the tragedies these people experienced.

But now they have a new start. The church is strongly organized in the land, and  the Nephites experience a period of great peace and prosperity.

Mosiah 26

Alma faces a new dilemma—many of the rising generation do not believe in God (they were not old enough to remember the powerful spiritual experiences the people have been through over the past decades), and they begin to influence many members of the church to commit serious sins. These church members are brought before Alma to be judged, but Alma doesn’t know what to do and tries to pass them over to King Mosiah to judge them. But Mosiah refuses to judge them because he is not the leader of the church, and passes them back to Alma.

So Alma approaches the Lord, pleading for guidance to handle this new wave of sinners in the church. He receives this answer:

 29 Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also.

 30 Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

 32 Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward.

The Lord’s approach to sinners is simple—and relieving! If a man or woman is humble and sorry for their mistakes, and will work to repent—or change and not commit that sin anymore—the Lord will forgive them. But keep in mind—repenting doesn’t not just mean confessing or saying “sorry” and then continuing on with the bad behavior with no real intention or desire to change. But if a person sincerely is attempting to change their ways, the Lord will forgive them as many times as it takes, as long as they are sincere in their desires to change. How amazing that the offer is “AS OFTEN AS MY PEOPLE REPENT, I will forgive them.” It is never too late for any of us!

There is one more important requirement in order to receive forgiveness:

 31 And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his neighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation.

How can we expect the Lord to forgive us of our mistakes if we don’t forgive others? It reminds me of the parable of the unmerciful servant who was forgiven of his enormous debt (equivalent to millions of dollars) by the king, but then the same servant went out and threw a man into prison who could not repay his debt of about $15 (see Matthew 18:23-25). We will always have more to be forgiven of than we have to forgive of others.

Alma takes this instruction from the Lord and confidently implements it. 

Mosiah 23-24

Mosiah 23

We now rewind a little and return to the record about Alma—the priest of King Noah who believed Abinadi and ran away—and the people who chose to follow him. Remember, they first hid in the wilderness by a place called the Waters of Mormon, but then they got word that the King’s armies had found them and were coming after them, so Alma & his people took off deeper into the wilderness. That’s where we last left off.

Now we learn that Alma & his people chose a new area to settle in. They were blessed to build up a prosperous city called Helam, and they thrived there for some time. But then—spoiler alert!—Mormon (who is abridging this history) inserts a comment about what is about to happen with Alma and his people.

19-20 And it came to pass that they began to prosper exceedingly in the land…and they built a city, which they called the city of Helam.

 21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.

 22 Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.

Sometimes the Lord allows bad things to happen to good people, because their patience and faith need to be tested. BUT if they put their trust in God, they will be “lifted up at the last day,” as the scripture says. Notice it doesn’t just say “they will get through it.” I believe it says we will be “lifted up”, because we can be made better/stronger/smarter/purer through our tests and trials. They are not punishment from God, but an opportunity. 

For Alma and his people, their test comes in the form of the Lamanite army who stumbles—by accident, actually—upon Alma and his people in the land of Helam. Remember how the Lamanite army went chasing after King Limhi and his people who escaped in the middle of the night?... well, the Lamanite army got lost in the wilderness for a few days, and then they stumbled across the wicked priests of King Noah who have been camping out in the wilderness with the Lamanite women they stole (remember that part in Mosiah 20?). The Lamanites take them in as equals and even give them leadership positions. After these two groups are united, they continue to wander lost through the wilderness and stumble across Alma and his people. They promise to spare their lives if they will tell the Lamanite army how to get back home, but then they don’t keep their promise and they keep Lamanite guards in the city to surround it. Alma and his people are now in bondage to the Lamanites and the wicked priests of King Noah. 

Mosiah 24

Amulon, one of the wicked priests, is given a lot of power by the Lamanite King. He has authority over Alma and his people, and he begins to persecute them, and teach his children to persecute their children, and give them grueling tasks with cruel task-masters watching over them. We don’t know details, but the afflictions are so great that the Nephite prisoners cry out-loud to God for help, which causes Amulon to forbid prayer amongst the Nephites. But the Nephites don’t stop praying in their hearts, and of course God can hear them.

And then comes one of my VERY FAVORITE passages in the Book of Mormon:

13 And it came 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 burdens 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 witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

 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 strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

Notice that the Lord does not immediately take away their burdens—instead, he strengthens the people so the burdens become light. Their actual circumstances haven’t changed at all—but THEY have changed, and to me that is more powerful and beneficial than just having a challenge removed. I remember a time in my early 20’s when I was drowning in challenges, working harder than I’ve ever worked, praying harder than I’ve ever prayed, and living thousands of miles from home and feeling queasy with homesickness. This passage of scripture became very applicable to me at that time as I realized that the Lord wasn’t going to change my circumstances any time soon… so what I needed Him to do was change ME. And He did. And just like these verses say, I can now “stand as a witness for Him hereafter, and I know of surety that the Lord God does visit his people in their afflictions.” (vs. 14)

And eventually, when God knows the time is right and we have learned what we need to learn from our trials, He can completely deliver us from our challenges. And this is what he did for Alma and his people, after they had shown they could bear their burdens with cheerfulness:

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.

Then, similarly to King Limhi and his people, the Lord helped them to escape into the wilderness in the middle of the night. But this time was an even greater miracle (which He will do for people with even greater faith) because they didn’t use wine to knock-out their guards at night. The Lord just caused a deep sleep to come over all of them. Pretty cool, I think! And after the guards woke up, the Lord caused them to get lost after a certain point so they couldn’t chase Alma’s people any further. And so Alma and his people made it safe and sound to the land of Zarahemla to join Mosiah, and Limhi, and all the other Nephites.

Mosiah 21-22

Mosiah 21

The Lamanites have taken an oath to not go to war against Limhi’s people again, but they begin to hang out in the borders of the land and make life miserable for the Nephites:

3 Now they durst not slay them, because of the oath which their king had made unto Limhi; but they would smite them on their cheeks, and exercise authority over them; and began to put heavy burdens upon their backs, and drive them as they would a dumb ass—

 4 Yea, all this was done that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled.

Verse 4 reminds us that the Lord warned them—over and over again through Abinadi—that this would happen if they did not repent of their wicked lifestyles. It was like Abinadi said in Mosiah 16:12, “for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent.” God doesn’t give us commandments to restrict us or to flex his mighty arm of authority. He gives us commands because he loves us and sees the natural trouble we will bring on ourselves if we disregard them. He also cannot be with us and help us through our struggles when we are blatantly disregarding his commands. 

The Nephites grow tired of these conditions and plead with their king to let them fight the Lamanites off. The king finally grants permission, but the Nephites fail miserably in their battle attempts and many men are killed.  They try to fight the Lamanites two more times, and each time they fail and more men are slain. Their anger and fear eventually turn into humility, and they begin to turn to the Lord.

Now the story comes full circle—this was the state of the people of Limhi when Ammon and his team arrive from Zarahemla. They were thrown into prison because the king first assumed they were the priests of Noah, who had been sneaking into the land at night and stealing food and supplies. But when King Limhi discovered who Ammon and his men were, he was overjoyed because he needed their help to escape from bondage from the Lamanites. These people are ready to repent, change, and start over. Now they just need help getting there (and I believe the Lord always sends help when we are ready to change). 

Mosiah 22

King Limhi and his people escape! They gather their possessions and sneak out of the back gate of the city because the Lamanite guards there are drunken and passed out. They travel many days in the wilderness and arrive in the land of Zarahemla and King Mosiah joyfully receives them.

In the meantime, the Lamanites have awaken and discovered that Limhi and his people have escaped, and they are searching for them in the wilderness… (Limhi and his people are safe now, but the story isn’t over for another set of Nephites you may remember)

Mosiah 19-20

Mosiah 19

King Noah’s people begin to be divided against him after Alma and his people escape into the wilderness. We aren’t given many details, just that “the lesser part began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them (v. 3).” A good man named Gideon, who is an enemy of the king, tries to kill King Noah with his sword. He is about to win the battle and king Noah flees to the top of a tower in the middle of the land. On top of the tower Noah sees that the Lamanite army is marching toward his land and begs Gideon to spare his life so he can save his people. Of course king Noah cares more about his own hide than his people, but it was a good excuse, and Gideon lets him go.

King Noah commands his people to flee into the wilderness, but the Lamanites catch up to them and begin slaying them! In his ultimate slime-bag moment, King Noah commands the men to leave their women and children, who are slowing them down. Some do it. Others refuse and stay with their families. Those who stay behind send their fair daughters to “stand forth and plead with the Lamanites that they would not slay them. And it came to pass that the Lamanites had compassion on them, for they were charmed with the beauty of their women. Therefore the Lamanites did spare their lives, and took them captives and carried them back to the land of Nephi, and granted unto them that they might possess the land, under the conditions that they would deliver up king Noah into the hands of the Lamanites, and deliver up their property, even one half of all they possessed, one half of their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things, and thus they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites from year to year (vs. 13-15).” I always liked that part about the fair daughters pleading and winning the hearts of the Lamanites.

King Noah has a son, Limhi, who is actually a decent guy. He stayed behind with the group of men, women, and children, so he is in charge now. He and Gideon (who tried to slay the king), send men into the wilderness to find King Noah and the cowardly men who left their wives and children. They find the group of men returning to their families, but King Noah and his priests are not with them. Apparently the group of men regretted their cowardice and wanted to return to help their wives and children. King Noah told them not to, and they all got fed up with him and burned him at the stake (remember Abinadi’s prophecy that King Noah would die the same way he did?). They would have burned the priests too, but the priests fled into the wilderness. 

So everyone returns to their homes, now with Limhi as king of the land, and with Lamanite guards surrounding the land, keeping them as prisoners and slaves. But for at least two years they are in relative peace because the Lamanites don’t harm or bother them.

Mosiah 20

Of course the wicked priests of Noah are not done causing trouble. They don’t dare return to their own wives and children for fear they will be killed like King Noah was, so they hide out in the wilderness. They abduct 24 young Lamanite women to be their new wives. When the Lamanites discover their daughters are missing, they are furious and assume it was the people of Limhi (the Nephites who are their slaves), and immediately go to war against them. 

The Nephites win the battle of the first day and find the king of the Lamanites lying among the dead, but he is still alive. They ask him why the Lamanites came to battle, and they learn about the stolen Lamanite daughters. Limhi orders for his people to be searched, but then Gideon (the guy who originally tried to slay king Noah) reminds him that Noah’s priests are roaming free in the wilderness and are the likely culprits. They tell the whole story to the Lamanite king, and his heart is softened enough that he is willing to go in front of the Nephite army the next day to plead with the Lamanite army to end the battle. It works, and everyone goes home in peace.

In Gideon’s remarks to the king he makes an important connection:

21 For are not the words of Abinadi fulfilled, which he prophesied against us—and all this because we would not hearken unto the words of the Lord, and turn from our iniquities?

Hardships in life are not always a result of our sins. But sometimes they are. And in many cases we were even warned of the consequences and we made the bad decisions anyway. Are you wise enough to recognize the consequences of your own choices (often fulfilled prophecy from the scriptures)?