Site:SS lessons/BOM lesson 20

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Mosiah 25:1-5

The Book of Mormon > Mosiah > Chapter 25

Previous (Mosiah 24:21-25)

Next (Mosiah 25:6-10)

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Questions

Verses 1-3: To which groups do “people of Nephi” and “people of Zarahemla” refer? Why is it important for us to know that the Nephites were a minority, a smaller group than the people of Zarahemla, and that the two groups together were much smaller than the Lamanites? What might account for those relative differences in size?

Verses 5-11: How do you account for the see-saw of emotions that we see here?

Verses 5-6: King Mosiah here reads to the people. Later in the chapter, Alma -- the priest and prophet -- preaches to and exorts the same people. Why does Mosiah read while Alma's presentation is purely oral? Is there some connection here between Mosiah's status as a "political" leader and Alma's status as a "religious" leader?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 1

This story opens with an overtly political situation: "king Mosiah caused that all the people should be gathered together." The splits and rejoinings that have characterized the whole book of Mosiah are finally coming to their climax, as all the Nephites are together again, but now in a much more complicated political situation. The gathering is the first gathering of all the Nephites as such, since those who left for the land of Nephi left even before Benjamin's final speech. This gathering seems meant to echo Benjamin's speech in some ways, though it is clearly also intended to go beyond it. The political shifts that characterize especially Mosiah 29 find their official beginnings in this very assembly.

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Verse 5

Beginning here and continuing through v. 6, King Mosiah begins reading the records of the various Nephite groups. The figure of Mosiah in this chapter seems to be paired with the figure of Alma. One is king and one is something like a priest or prophet. Interestingly, Alma also addresses the people beginning in v. 15 of the chapter, but in contrast to Mosiah he does not read but rather he is preaches (v. 15) and exhorts (v.16). There is some sense in which the "political" discourse of Mosiah is a written discourse, while the "religious" discourse of Alma is oral. However, the categories of political and religious must be treated with some skepticism for as we see in the following verses, Mosiah's "political" message is couched in terms of "religious" stories, and Alma's "religious" message has a "political" aspect to it, as in v. 17 where King Limhi is converted "and all his people were desirous that they might be baptized as well."

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Questions

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 15: It speaks here of "repentance and faith" but usually we reverse the order of those two words and say "faith and repentence." Why the unusual word order in this verse?

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 19: (See also Mosiah 26:8.) How can a king decide who has authority over the Church? What does your answer to that question tell us about Mosiah and Alma’s society?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

Verses 18-19: There is an interesting interplay of authority between these two verses. In verse 18, Alma's activity is explicitly compared to his actions at the Waters of Mormon. There his authority seems to have come from the power of the spirit descending upon him. (Although he was a priest of Noah, previously.) Note also that in this verse church is singular, and modified by God. In verse 19, the authority comes not from the spirit or some other explicitly divine source, but rather from the king and it is he that grants the power to ordain priests and teachers. Notice also that in this verse we have "churches" plural and they are unmodified by any other sobriquet. Part of what seems to be going on in these verses is the reconcilliation of the potentially competing authorities of Alma and Mosiah. One might read these verses as suggesting a kind of doctrine of two churches, one spiritual, indivisible, and ultimately responsible to God through his prophet, and the other, plural, earthly, and ultimately responsible to the community through its king.

Verses 20: This verses seems to begin reconciliation of the constrast created in verses 18 and 19. Note that the action taken by the king in verse 19 is explained in practical, logistical terms. The verses that follow (v.21-24), however, affirm the transcendent aspect of "the church of God" (v.21).

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Questions

v. 22: What is the point of the remark that the bodies of believers were called churches?

v. 22: Notice also that "the church of God" is identified with the oral preaching of Alma in verse 15, rather than the written records of Mosiah earlier in the chapter. Why do you think this is?

v. 23: What is the significance, if any, that there were seven churches in the land of Zarahemla?

vv. 23-24: In verse 23 those who join the church are desirous of taking on them the name of Christ, but in the next verse they are named the people of God. Is there any significance to these contrasting names?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

One way of reading these verses is to see them as the reconciliation of the tension between the singular "church of God" created by Alma in v. 18 and the plural "churches" authorized by King Mosiah in v. 19. In verse 20-21, Mosiah's action is explained in practical terms. Notice, however, that verse 21 ends with a reference not to the authority of Mosiah, but of Alma ("the word according as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma"). Verse 22 affirms the unity of the churches in "all one church, yea even the church of God."

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Questions

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Verse 1

Why wouldn't the rising generation be able to understand the words of king Benjamin? What was it about the words that were so difficult to understand?
Why would their being little children when Benjamin gave his speech make it hard for them to understand his words later, when the speech could be read to them? Was there something about the context of the speech--the temple festival, perhaps--that the children couldn't get from the written account of his words?
Why wouldn't the young people believe the tradition of their fathers? What other influences or belief systems were present to provide an alternative?
Why is it so important for the young people to understand King Benjamin’s words? Is there something about that specific sermon that is essential to them?
Tradition. What does the word “tradition” mean? What tradition could their parents have given them that would have taught them what Benjamin meant? Can we teach our children the meaning of Benjamin’s sermon by our tradition? How?

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Verse 2

Why wouldn't the young people believe in the resurrection of the dead? Did they not believe in the resurrection at all, or was it something specific about Benjamin's teachings that didn't resonate with them?
Why wouldn't the young people "believe concerning the coming of Christ"? What was it exactly about the Christ narrative that they didn't believe?

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Verse 3

What is the relation between unbelief and understanding the word of God? Does this passage imply that it is impossible to understand ("they could not") the word of God "because of...unbelief"?
What does it mean to have a hardened heart? What is the difference between simply not believing and having a heard heart?
What is the relationship between unbelief and having a hardened heart?

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Verse 4

What was it that led these people to eschew baptism?
What did it mean to "join the church" at this period of time?
What is this "separate" faith mentioned here? Are these the Nehors?
How does not being baptized or joining the church leave these people in a "carnal and sinful state"? What is the relationship between calling upon the Lord and remaining in a carnal and sinful state?
How is Christ "the Lord their God" if the people don't "call upon" Him?

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Verse 5

If "not half" of the people "became more numerous", does that mean that they became a majority? Are we being told that most of the people now are not members of the Church?
If all of the people (accept the little children) had accepted king Benjamin's covenant, and Alma and Limhi's people had all joined the newly organized church, what happened to make perhaps a majority of the people dissent away from the church?
Dissensions. What are dissensions?

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Lexical notes

Hardened hearts. In the King James Version of the Old Testament, heardened hearts can refer to either a) hearts that are made strong or firm, as in stiffening the will (Heb chazaq), or hearts that may be made heavy (Heb kabad--the same word used for honor or glory). In Joseph Smith's time, Webster's 1828 dictionary defines hardened, in part, as "made unfeeling; made obstinate; confirmed in error or vice."

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Exegesis

Belief and understanding: Notice in v.3 that in order to understand the scriptures we must believe.

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Questions

vv. 10-12: Why do Alma and Mosiah each seem to shirk from judging the people who have been brought before them?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

While the Book of Mormon calls Mosiah a king, in current anthropological terminology, early Nephite kings such as Mosiah may have functioned more as a "Big Man" who rules more by power of personal influence than by the ability to marshall enforcement of laws or edicts. Besides a hesitancy to judge harshly, other evidence for this may be Mosiah and Benjamin's growing of their own food--something that doesn't usually happen in a more hierarchically organized chiefdom or kingdom.

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 17: What does it mean that Alma’s people shall be the Lord’s people? How does this tie in with King Benjamin’s sermon? Does it help explain why that sermon was so important? How is it important to us?

v. 20: Three things occur in this verse: the Lord calls Alma his servant; the Lord covenants that Alma will have eternal life; and the Lord says that Alma will serve him. (This rhetorical pattern, a cousin of chiasmus, is called inclusion.) How are these things connected to one another? Why is the covenant “sandwiched” between the descriptions of Alma as a servant—what does the arrangement tell us? What is a covenant? (It is more than a contract or mutual promise.) What does this covenant mean? What does it mean to have eternal life?

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 29: Alma asked what to do about the transgressors in vv. 13-14. Not until v. 29 does he receive an answer. Before giving Alma the answer to his prayer, the Lord blesses Alma, reaffirms the covenant relation with him, and tells Alma about the Atonement and the final judgment. Why that long interlude between Alma’s question and the Lord’s answer?

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 31: This verse suggests that we are to take the word of the person who tells us that he or she has repented. Why?

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 3: Not only are the non-members forbidden to persecute the members, but the members are forbidden to persecute one another. How might members do that? How might we persecute each other today?

v.3: The members are told that there should be equality among all men. What does “equality: mean in this instance? In what or in what way are people supposed to be equal? Equality is grammatically parallel to the absence of persecution. Does that tell us something about what each means?

v. 4: Does this verse explain at least some of what it means not to persecute and to be equal?

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 1

Why are the priests called Mosiah's priests in this verse? Was there a separate priesthood for the court, or perhaps the temple, that operated separately from the Church organized by Alma?

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Verse 2

What is the "land round about"? Is this the first indication of Mosiah ruling beyond the immediate environs of Zarahemla?

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Verse 3

What types of persecutions are being represented here?
What does there being no persecutions have to do with their being "an equality among all men"?
Who is giving this command "throughout all the churches? Does this come from Alma, the leader of the Church? Or is this a royal edict from Mosiah?
How can there be a command to be equal? What does it mean to be equal "among all men"?

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Verse 4

Does this verse tell us what led to persecutions and inequality--i.e. pride and haughtiness?
How does pride or haughtiness "disturb" peace? What does it mean to disturb peace?
Laboring for who? While the pronoun use is a little ambiguous here, is it possible to read this as stating that every person should labor "with his or her own hands for the support of their neighbor?" Or is this just saying that each person should support their own self?
If this verse is just stating that everyone should support themselves, what does this have to do with esteeming his neighbor as himself"

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Litany of "thats" in verses 3-4

Is this just a list of commandments, or is there something else going on here? Are these somehow related to each other?
Can each of these "thats" be read as leading somehow to the other--i.e. does persecution lead to inequality? Inequality lead too pride and haughtiness, which disturbs the peace, etc.?

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 6

Cities. Why is it important that Mormon mentions the building of cities and villages?

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Verse 8

This verse says that Alma was idolatrous. What does that mean? Does Mosiah 28:4 explain this remark? Notice that there is no description in the Book of Mormon of what we usually think of as idol-worship. Does that mean that the Nephites didn’t have a problem with idol-worship or just that it isn’t mentioned? Why might it not be mentioned?
Alma leads people away by flattery, something mentioned frequently in the Book of Mormon in this connection. What kind of flattery might he be using? How would flattery get people to follow him in sin? Where might we see such flattery in our own lives?

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Verse 10

Why do Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah do what they do secretly? Why does it say that the king had forbidden what they are doing? It is against the law to persecute the saints, but is it against the law to flatter people into unbelief? Or might there be some connection between flattery and persecution? What might that be?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

Cities. Apparently, before this time, all of the Nephites (consisting of the people of Mosiah, people of Zarahemla, and Alma and Gideon's recent emigrants from the Land of Lehi-Nephi, had all lived in the land of Zarahemla. But now, apparently the people are spreading out into new cities and villages. This will place a huge burden on the leaders in Zarahemla who might want to maintain some sort of rulership over the separate cities, and along with the change of heart in the sons of Mosiah (also recounted in this chapter), and probably served as the death knoll for the Mosiah-Benjamin-Mosiah egalitarian leadership style and nascent dynastic chiefdom. Anthropologically, when rank village or city societies become so large that they extend across several cities or villages, they become stratified into castes or ranks, and leadership becomes more powerful under a centralized and hereditary complex chiefdom. So, in a real sense, this chapter is recounting how the small Nephite society is thrust into a new level of complex politics (and political instability) due to the building of new cities and the loss of the presumed Nephite royal heirs.

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Questions

v. 11: What do we learn from being told that they were rebelling against God? What are the connotations of that word? What is the significance of the way the angel appears to them: “as it were in a cloud” and “as it were with a voice of thunder"? What are we to envision? Is any connection being made to other appearances of heavenly beings, either by comparison or by contrast?

v. 13: The angel has appeared to all five of them. Why does he address only Alma?

v. 14: Alma the elder has prayed that his son might come to a knowledge of the truth. What does this mean? Surely his father has taught him. And we know from v. 11 that he was rebelling, but you can’t rebel against something if you don’t know what it is. What is it Alma the elder wants him to know that he doesn’t yet know?

Verse 14 tells us that because of the prayers of the people and the prayers of Alma (the elder),the angel has come to convince Alma the younger of the power and authority of God. There are many wayward children who are prayed over, why don't more angels appear to them to convince them of the power of God?

What are similarities and differences between Alma the Younger's experience here and Paul's experience on the way to Damascus (Acts 9:3-7).?

Why does this experience make such a difference in Alma the Younger's life and in the lives of the sons of Mosiah? Compare Luke 16:31. Also compare Laman and Lemuel's experience seeing an angel.

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

v.13: If the only thing that can overthrow the church is the transgression of the members, Alma has been on the right path for his purposes, persuading people to become sinners.

v.14: Whatever Alma the elder hopes Alma the younger will learn, he seems to learn it in this experience.

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Questions

v. 16: Did the angel come to save Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah? Notice that the angel uses the type of Israel in captivity to Egypt and then freed by God’s power, and he applies that type to Alma the younger’s life: remember when you were in captivity and the great things that the Lord has done for you in freeing you from bondage. Why is that type so important for Alma the younger? In what ways it is important to our understanding of the Gospel? To our understanding of our own lives?

v. 19: How were the experiences of Alma the Younger and the Apostle Paul after their first heavenly visitations similar? See Acts 9:8-9.

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 21: Alma the elder uses his son as a testimony of God’s power. Notice that he calls people to see “what the Lord had done for his son.” What had the Lord done besides frighten him into unconsciousness? The angel commanded Alma the younger to stop destroying the church, even if he himself wanted to be destroyed. He said nothing to him or to the sons of Mosiah about being converted. How can his father be so confident that he will be saved?

v. 23: Notice that “after two days and two nights” means the same as “on the third day.” What is the significance of rising on the third day? What does it mean to be of good comfort? What does the word “comfort” mean in this context?

vv. 23-24: What is the difference between Alma's experience before an angel and Laman’s and Lemuel’s experience before one? Why do we have such a dramatic difference between the results of the two?

v. 24: What does it mean to repent? What does the word “redeemed” mean? What does it mean to be redeemed by the Lord? What does it mean to be born of the Spirit?

v. 25: Notice that “born of God,” “changed from their carnal state to a state of righteousness,” “redeemed of God,” and “becoming his sons and daughters” are parallel. How does this compare to what King Benjamin taught about becoming sons and daughters of God (Mosiah 5:7—see also Rom 8:14.) What do the scriptures tell us it means to be a son or daughter of God? How is that related to the doctrine that we are the literal spiritual offspring of God? Why is the word “changed"— in the phrase “changed from their carnal state to a state of righteousness"—passive?

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 26: What does the word “creature” mean? (Look at the first five letters of the word to see its etymology.) What does it mean to become a new creature? Does being a new creature help explain the use of the passive voice (v. 25)?

v. 28: What does it mean to repent “nigh unto death"? What does it mean to be snatched from an everlasting burning? (D&C 19:6-12 may be relevant here.)

v. 29: What is gall? What is “the gall of bitterness"? What does it mean to be racked? What does he mean when he says “I am snatched"? Why does he put that in the present tense rather than the past?

v. 29: What difference would explain why Alma the younger went through such a horrible experience and the sons of Mosiah don’t seem to have? Both he and they seem equally converted. Why would he have to experience such torment and not they?

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v. 35: They explained the prophecies and scriptures to all who would hear them. What might this say about their childhood training? Had they been taught in their youth? If so, why didn’t they understand the prophecies and scriptures before? What made the difference? (Mosiah 26:3 seems relevant here.)

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Exegesis

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Questions

vv. 3-4: Verse 4 says the feelings described in v. 3 are given by the Spirit of the Lord. Would the Spirit give anyone the same feelings? (If so, the absence of such feelings indicates the absence of the Spirit.)

v. 3-4: Alma the younger had endured endless torment (Mosiah 27:29), but there is no indication that the sons of Mosiah had, even though they did suffer. What might give them the feelings described in verse 3?

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v. 18: Reading of a group of people who were destroyed might sober us or even make us sad, but it usually wouldn’t make us “mourn exceedingly.” Why do you think Mosiah’s people reacted in this way? What kind of knowledge did they get which caused them to rejoice?

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Exegesis

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Questions

Why does Alma counsel his sons individually rather than together?

Why do we, like Helaman, sometimes need to be reminded of the miracles God has done to deliver his people in times past?

Often when we think of God delivering people from bondage, we think of Jehovah, Moses, and the Exodus. Why does Alma instead refer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

v. 2: What is the significance of what Alma asks Helaman to remember? (Compare Mosiah 27:16.)

v. 3: Why do you think Alma bears this particular testimony to Helaman: “whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day"? Why this rather than something else?

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Lexical notes

Verse 1 starts a chiasmus that goes until the end of the chapter. In verse one, Alma says, “…inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.” This parallels verse thirty, “…inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.” The middle of the chiasmus is in verses 17 and 18.

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Exegesis

In verse 1 Alma tells his son that by keeping the commandments he will prosper in the land. Note that in the last verse of the chapter, Alma repeats this promise--that he will prosper in the land if he keeps the commandments. Most of what happens between the first and last verse of this chapter is that Alma tells the story of his conversion. One way of reading this is that Alma uses the story of his own life as an example of how someone who keeps the commandments of God prospers in the land. This reading suggests that the phrase "prosper in the land" isn't strictly about having material blessings like lots of flocks, riches or posterity. Why? Because instead of talking about these material blessings, Alma tells his son how by following the Lord he received spiritual blessings, for example, the blessings of great joy (verses 20-21; 25) and the blessing of support through trials (verse 27).

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Questions

Why would Alma go into such great detail of how he was once a sinner that fought against the church of God?

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Verse 11

Why did the thought of being destroyed strike Alma with "such great fear and amazement"? What does it mean to be "destroyed"? How does being destroyed translate into our current LDS thinking? What might being destroyed have meant in Alma's cultural context?

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Verse 12

Is there a connection between the fear of being destroyed and remembering sin?

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Verse 13

Why could Alma remember all his sins in this moment?

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Verse 14

Why do you think that Alma describes what he had done as murder? (Compare Alma 5:23 and Matt 10:28 — what does it mean to destroy both soul, i.e., spirit, and body in hell?)

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

Being destroyed: While we don't know for sure about the teachings of the Nehors or other dissenters among the Nephites at this period, throughout Mesoamerica most people believed in the immortality of the human soul, so the thought of that soul being utterly destroyed would have been amazing and frightful. According to modern revelation, all people will be resurrected, though Brigham Young taught that those who become sons of perdition will eventually be destroyed and lose their identity as organized beings, with their eternal elements being recycled (Journal of Discourses 1:118). Perhaps Alma realizes at this point that he has had enough light and knowledge to become a son of perdition if he continues on his course of apostasy.

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Questions

What symbolism can we see in Alma being stricken for 3 days and 3 nights? How does this relate to other prophets' experiences?

vv. 18-19: Why does Alma’s cry in v. 18 bring the results in v. 19? How is this connected to King Benjamin’s teaching in Mosiah 4? Is it significant that Benjamin delivered that address to a people who were diligent in keeping the commandments but that it also seems to apply to someone like Alma who has openly rebelled against those commandments?

v. 19: Since Alma is here telling us about the pains he experienced, what can he mean when he says “I could remember my pains no more"?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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In verse 18 Alma makes his plea to Jesus Christ to be delivered from his suffering. We must make a similar plea for ourselves to Christ.

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Questions

Why might Alma have chosen to share his conversion story with his son Helaman? What did Alma want Helaman to learn from his past?

v. 22: Why would Alma have had a vision of Lehi at this point?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

In verses 6-20 Alma tells the story how he was converted unto the church of Jesus Christ through an Angel. He described his feelings- horror, fear, amazement, torment, and finally joy that was as great as his pain. He shared this story with only Helaman. He wanted him to know, as he says in verse 21 that “…there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.” Alma wanted Helaman to know that ever since that experience, he has spent his life serving and loving the Lord. He wanted to bring people to taste that sweet bitterness that he tasted during the conversion in his life. He wanted them to be born of God and be baptized into His church (verse 26). Alma wants Helaman to love the Lord just as much as he loves Him. He wanted him to follow in his footsteps and give his life in service to the Lord.

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Questions

How does the Lord deliver us in our daily trials?

Verse 28: Is this verse parallel to v. 2? Why would Alma begin and end the account of his conversion by reminding Helaman of this scriptural type?

Verse 30: How are verses 28-29 (and, therefore, also v. 3) a type for what Alma says in this verse?

Verse 30: Here Alma repeats the promise made in verse 1 but adds the warning "and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence." Why is this warning not included at the begininning of their discussion (in verse 1)?

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Lexical notes

v. 27: Notice the parallelism found in this passage. "God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me."

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Exegesis

vs.28-30: In verses 28-29 Alma cites examples of how the Lord has delivered His people in the past and exhorts them to retain [these things] in rememberance. In verse 30 he turns to the importance of keeping the commandments and how, if we do, we will not be cut off from the presence of the Lord. Alma's preaching to the people of Zarahemla in Alma 5 also called on the people to remember how the Lord had delivered their fathers from captivity. He then asks "And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?" Alma 5:6 Alma seems to be emphasizing the importance of retaining in rememberance that the Lord's deliverance is not only physical but also spiritual.

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Site:SS lessons/BOM lesson 20

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.

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Verse 5

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Verse 1

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Verse 5

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Litany of "thats" in verses 3-4

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