Merry Christmas!

In honor of Christmas, I’d like to break from the flow and quote some verses about the birth and life of Jesus Christ. We read these verses back in 1 Nephi 11, and learned that Nephi saw a vision of the birth of Christ which would happen 600 years after his time. But Nephi wasn’t the only one—as Peter taught in the New Testament, “All the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days (Acts 3:24).” The coming of Christ was the most important news mankind could look forward to, or back on—that of a Savior coming to Redeemer all mankind who would come unto Him. I know He lives and has all power, all wisdom, and more love for us than we can imagine. May He bless you and yours this Christmas season!

Nephi’s Vision in 1 Nephi 11:

13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.

14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?

15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.

16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.

19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!

20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.

21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!...

24 And after he had said these words, he said unto me: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him.

27 And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken; and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove.

28 And I beheld that he went forth ministering unto the people, in power and great glory; and the multitudes were gathered together to hear him; and I beheld that they cast him out from among them.

29 And I also beheld twelve others following him. And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.

30 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them.

31 And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.

32 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.

33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.

Alma 16

Alma 16

The vengeance of God comes upon the wicked people of Ammonihah, who had tortured Alma and Amulek in jail, kicked out the men believers, and burned the women and children believers. The Lamanites launched a surprise attack against the Nephites—after years of peace and calm—and the first Nephite city they attacked was Ammonihah! The Nephites were able to gather together an army to drive the Lamanites away… but not until the entire city of Ammonihah had already been destroyed.

9 And thus ended the eleventh year of the judges, the Lamanites having been driven out of the land, and the people of Ammonihah were destroyed; yea, every living soul of the Ammonihahites was destroyed, and also their great city, which they said God could not destroy, because of its greatness.

I don’t know if God actually seeks vengeance on the wicked. In cases as extreme as burning women and children, I think He just might. But I also believe that in most cases He just removes His protective power from the wicked, and allows them to destroy each other (in this case, the wicked Lamanites chose to wipe out the wicked Ammonihahites). The Lord has great protective power for those who follow Him, and those who reject or mock that protective power can be humbled very quickly.

But peace is restored to the land, and the church grows in numbers and in strength. The priests of the church teach primarily about the coming of Jesus Christ (the date is about 80 B.C. right now). These passages give you a little foreshadowing that Jesus Christ will visit the Nephites on the American continent after he finishes his mortal ministry in the Middle East. This was prophesied to the Nephites many years before it ever happened. (Stay tuned and we will read all about it in the book of 3^rd Nephi.)

18 Now those priests who did go forth among the people did preach against all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and malice, and revilings, and stealing, robbing, plundering, murdering, committing adultery, and all manner of lasciviousness, crying that these things ought not so to be—

 19 Holding forth things which must shortly come; yea, holding forth the coming of the Son of God, his sufferings and death, and also the resurrection of the dead.

 20 And many of the people did inquire concerning the place where the Son of God should come; and they were taught that he would appear unto them after his resurrection; and this the people did hear with great joy and gladness.

Alma 14-15

Alma 14

Alma and Amulek’s preaching creates great waves in Ammonihah! There are many people who believe and begin to repent, and believe it or not, the lawyer Zeezrom who originally led the interrogation of Alma and Amulek, is greatly impacted by their words.

Unfortunately, the majority of the people are angered by Alma and Amulek, and bring them tied and bound to the Chief Judge of their land, who is an awful guy. When the believers, including converted-Zeezrom, try to stick up for Alma and Amulek in their unfair trial, they are chased out of the land by the unbelievers. And most horribly, the wives and children of the believers are gathered together and thrown into a pit of fire to be burned along with their scriptures. Alma and Amulek are forced to watch this awful scene. 

Why don’t Alma and Amulek call upon God to save these innocent people? Why does God allow terrible things to happen to good people? We probably won't understand all the answers in this life; but in this case, Alma tells Amulek just one reason why God sometimes allows bad people to do bad things to good people:

10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.

 11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

 12 Now Amulek said unto Alma: Behold, perhaps they will burn us also.

 13 And Alma said: Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore they burn us not.

After witnessing this awful scene, Alma and Amulek are thrown into prison for days where they are stripped, starved, and beaten, and every day the Chief Judge and his entourage come to question them, mock them, and beat them more. Alma and Amulek refuse to speak.

After many days of this routine, Alma and Amulek finally cry to God for deliverance while their crowd of oppressors are in the prison, and the entire prison crashes to the ground. Every person in the prison is killed except for Alma and Amulek, who walk out free.

Alma 15

The Lord commands Alma and Amulek to leave the city of Ammonihah, where the people remain hard-hearted and attribute Alma and Amulek’s power to the devil.

They go to the neighboring town of Sidom where they find all the men who had believed Alma and Amulek and fled from Ammonihaha. Alma and Amulek tell them the tragic news of what happened to their wives and children, and also what happened to them in prison.

A miracle of healing occurs in vs. 3-12 for Zeezrom—remember, the bad lawyer turned good? I’ll let you read it yourself.

Alma and Amulek establish the church in the land of Sidom, and then they are able to rest and rejuvenate from their labors for a time. Even the prophets have to re-coop sometimes!

Alma 12-13

Alma 12

Parts of the Plan of Salvation (or God's plan for His children) are discussed in this chapter.

Alma continues to debate with the town lawyers, although Zeezrom is starting to back off because he has been affected by what Amulek taught. There are a few important doctrines I'd like to highlight that Alma teaches in this chapter.

1.  Our personal understanding of spiritual things AND our personal spiritual freedom are directly related to the “hardness” of our hearts—how willing we are to learn and believe. And it’s a spiral, either upward or downward.

10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.

2.   Our lives, and the state of our hearts, will stand as irrefutable testimony against us (or for us) in the Final Judgment when we stand before God, which will happen for every single person.

13 Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.

 14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.

Alma obviously chose to emphasize the bad-case-scenario here, because he is speaking to a hard-hearted group of people. These verses can definitely come across as gloomy or threatening… OR they can be a hopeful, helpful warning before it’s too late, of the reality that our very own consciences will burn within us before God someday IF we choose to ignore his mercy and waste our time on earth.

The end of vs. 15 tells us that if we are not prepared to meet God then we will “acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance”—meaning that there is nothing unfair or unkind about his judgments, and we had the option to accept His mercy but we know fully well in our hearts that it was our own choice to ignore it.

3. There is an important purpose to our lives—we are here to become more like God, and to prepare to meet Him again after we die. Don't waste this time!

 24 And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead.

4. God had His whole plan laid out (including a plan for resurrecting all His children) before He ever sent Adam and Eve down to earth to start the human race!

25 Now, if it had not been for the plan of redemption, which was laid from the foundation of the world, there could have been no resurrection of the dead; but there was a plan of redemption laid, which shall bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, of which has been spoken.

5. Because life has a purpose, and God has a plan for it all, He communicates with mankind so we will know all we need to know in order to fulfill our purpose here and be able to return to Him. His plan centers around Jesus Christ as our Savior. It is available to all, but He forces no one.

30 ...therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works.

 31 Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men… knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—

 32 Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God.

 33 But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;

Alma 13
The Book of Mormon is full of prophecies about the coming of Christ (keep in mind that this part of the Book of Alma was written about 82 B.C.). See in this passage how much Alma is looking forward to that day:

 24 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

 25 And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we know not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice.

 26 And it shall be made known unto just and holy men, by the mouth of angels, at the time of his coming, that the words of our fathers may be fulfilled, according to that which they have spoken concerning him, which was according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them.

 

Alma 10-11

Alma 10

Amulek takes the stage to preach to the people! We learn that he is from an impressive blood-line, and that he is actually a wealthy and well-known person in the community, which is why the people of Ammonihah are so surprised to see him up preaching with Alma!

Even though Amulek was from a blood-line of influential religious leaders, he confesses that he had never really been into the religion thing. I appreciate the accountability Amulek is willing to take for his decision to ignore spiritual things earlier in his life:

5 Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people.

6 Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know;

He tells the people that he now believes Alma and what he testifies. Amulek has an advantage, because an angel came to him to tell him to help and accept Alma. But he also believes because of his own personal experience with Alma:

 11 For behold, he hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed, and the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake.

I don’t think this just means that Alma “blessed his house” by touching each person’s head and uttering a blessing, like a priest would do. I think it means that Amulek saw change and goodness and benefits come to his family as a direct result of Alma being there. That, to me, is the real evidence of a true servant of God.

Amulek then begins to preach repentance, warning the people of Ammonihah that they need to repent or they will be destroyed. You will find this warning he issues to be very relevant later: 

22 Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction;

23 But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore, if ye will cast out the righteous from among you then will not the Lord stay his hand; but in his fierce anger he will come out against you;

Also I will add, many people aren’t very comfortable with the concept of the fierce anger of the Lord or the destructive power of the Lord. Usually I’m not either and I don’t think God is like that in most cases… but just wait until you see how horrendous these people really are—and you might feel some fierce anger, too!

Alma 11

The Nephite Lawyers and Judges like to stir up trouble in their cities, because they are paid per gig. Zeezrom, one particularly cunning lawyer, steps forward to debate with Amulek and tries to trip him up in his words and make the crowd angry with him.

I appreciate Zeezrom’s trouble-making-attempts, actually, because during this exchange we learn some beautiful and important doctrine from Amulek, including:

• Christ can and will save every single person from our sins IF we properly repent and access his power in the way he has laid out for us. But if we choose not to use this gift he has provided, he cannot save us IN our sins if we refuse to change. (vs. 34-37) 

37 And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins.

• Similar to the point above, each person must choose to believe and follow Christ in order to utilize his redemptive power. To those who choose to reject Christ, it is as though no redemption was made EXCEPT that they will all live again, no matter what (i.e. every person will be resurrected thanks to Christ’s sacrifice, but the conditions and rewards thereafter will differ according to personal choice and worthiness). Did you know that?? This doctrine is incredible to me (read the verses below, they are amazing)!

40 And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.

 41 Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.

43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.

44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.