pgs. 320 and 321...when Alma had done this he departed out of the land of Zarahemla...and was never heard of more...

20 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should ^acease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a ^bcovenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness.

21 Now the number of their dead was not numbered because of the greatness of the number; yea, the number of their dead was exceedingly great, both on the Nephites and on the Lamanites.

22 And it came to pass that they did cast their dead into the waters of Sidon, and they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the ^asea.

23 And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned and came to their houses and their lands.

24 And thus *ended the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the record of Alma, which was written upon the plates of Nephi.

* VERSE 24 (73 B.C.).

THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA

The account of the people of Nephi, and their wars and dissensions, in the days of Helaman, according to the record of Helaman, which he kept in his days. Comprising chapters 45 to 62 inclusive.

CHAPTER 45

Helaman believes the words of Alma—Alma prophesies the destruction of the Nephites—He blesses and curses the land—Alma is taken up by the Spirit, even as Moses—Dissension grows in the Church. 73 B.C.

1 Behold, now it came to pass that the people of Nephi were exceedingly rejoiced, because the Lord had again ^adelivered them out of the hands of their enemies; therefore they gave thanks unto the Lord their God; yea, and they did ^bfast much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy.

2 And it came to pass in the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma came unto his son Helaman and said unto him: Believest thou the words which I spake unto thee concerning those ^arecords which have been kept?

3 And Helaman said unto him: Yea, I ^abelieve.

4 And Alma said again: Believest thou in Jesus Christ, who shall come?

5 And he said: Yea, I believe all the words which thou hast spoken.

6 And Alma said unto him again: Will ye ^akeep my commandments?

7 And he said: Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart.

8 Then Alma said unto him: Blessed art thou; and the Lord shall ^aprosper thee in this land.

9 But behold, I have somewhat to ^aprophesy unto thee; but what I prophesy unto thee ye shall not make known; yea, what I prophesy unto thee shall not be made known, even until the prophecy is fulfilled; therefore write the words which I shall say.

10 And these are the words: Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in ^afour hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in ^bunbelief.

11 Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become ^aextinct—

12 Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and ^alasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities; yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the ^bfourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come.

13 And when that great day cometh, behold, the time very soon cometh that those who are now, or the seed of those who are now numbered among the people of Nephi, shall ^ano more be numbered among the people of Nephi.

14 But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be ^anumbered among the ^bLamanites, and shall become like unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue even ^cuntil they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled.

15 And now it came to pass that after Alma had said these things to Helaman, he ^ablessed him, and also his other sons; and he also blessed the earth for the ^brighteous’ sake.

16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—^aCursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do ^bwickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the ^cblessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the ^dleast degree of allowance.

17 And now, when Alma had said these words he blessed the ^achurch, yea, all those who should stand fast in the faith from that time henceforth.

18 And when Alma had done this he ^adeparted out of the land of Zarahemla, as if to go into the land of ^bMelek. And it came to pass that he was never heard of more; as to his death or burial we know not of.

19 Behold, this we know, that he was a righteous man; and the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the ^aSpirit, or ^bburied by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself; and we suppose that he has also received Alma in the spirit, unto himself; therefore, for this cause we know nothing concerning his death and burial.

20 And now it came to pass in the *commencement of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Helaman went forth among the people to declare the ^aword unto them.

21 For behold, because of their wars with the Lamanites and the many little dissensions and disturbances which had been among the people, it became expedient that the ^aword of God should be declared among them, yea, and that a ^bregulation should be made throughout the church.

22 Therefore, ^aHelaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, yea, in every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. And it came to pass that they did appoint ^bpriests and ^cteachers throughout all the land, over all the churches.

23 And now it came to pass that after Helaman and his brethren had appointed priests and teachers over the churches that there arose a ^adissension among them, and they would not give heed to the words of Helaman and his brethren;

24 But they grew proud, being lifted up in their hearts, because of their exceedingly great ^ariches; therefore they grew rich in their own eyes, and would not give heed to their words, to ^bwalk uprightly before God.

* VERSE 20 (73 B.C.).

In this chapter we bid farewell to Alma. When we first met him in the Book of Mormon he was a rebellious young man causing his father all sorts of problems. Now, all these years later, he has shown his devotion to the Lord in countless ways and his faithfulness is truly remarkable. It seems to me like he must have known that he was about to leave his people because he made sure Helaman understood his duties and recorded his last prophecy. He also cursed and blessed the land that it would be destroyed when wickedness became "fully ripe." I am so curious about where he went and what happened to him. Wherever he is now I hope he knows how much he is appreciated for his amazing contribution to humanity as recorded in the Book of Mormon.

pgs. 318 and 319...God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion...

THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 44

Moroni commands the Lamanites to make a covenant of peace or be destroyed—Zerahemnah rejects the offer, and the battle resumes—Moroni’s armies defeat the Lamanites. About 74—73 B.C.

1 And it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them. And Moroni said unto ^aZerahemnah: Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do ^bnot desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.

2 Behold, we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the ^ayoke of bondage. But this is the ^bvery cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.

3 But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us ^abecause of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.

4 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are ^afaithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.

5 And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, ^aby our faith, by our religion, and by our ^brites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our ^cwives and our children, by that ^dliberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us—

6 Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye ^adeliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will ^bspare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us.

7 And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and ^ainflict the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.

8 And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his ^asword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an ^boath unto you, which we know that we shall break, and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer.

9 Behold, we are ^anot of your faith; we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands; but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords. Behold, it is your ^bbreastplates and your shields that have preserved you.

10 And now when Zerahemnah had made an end of speaking these words, Moroni returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict.

11 Now I cannot recall the words which I have spoken, therefore as the Lord liveth, ye shall not depart except ye depart with an oath that ye will not return again against us to war. Now as ye are in our hands we will spill your blood upon the ground, or ye shall submit to the conditions which I have proposed.

12 And now when Moroni had said these words, Zerahemnah retained his sword, and he was angry with Moroni, and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni; but as he raised his sword, behold, one of Moroni’s soldiers smote it even to the earth, and it broke by the hilt; and he also smote Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers.

13 And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice:

14 Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace.

15 Now there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a ^acovenant of peace. And as many as entered into a covenant they suffered to ^bdepart into the wilderness.

16 Now it came to pass that Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger, to contend more powerfully against the Nephites.

17 And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites; therefore he commanded his people that they should fall upon them and slay them. And it came to pass that they began to slay them; yea, and the Lamanites did contend with their swords and their might.

18 But behold, their naked skins and their bare heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites; yea, behold they were pierced and smitten, yea, and did fall exceedingly fast before the swords of the Nephites; and they began to be swept down, even as the soldier of Moroni had prophesied.

19 Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they ^anever would come to war again against them.

Captain Moroni holds his ground in this encounter with Zerahemnah. He is not willing to lower his expectation of a covenant of peace. He doesn't accept a half-hearted surrender which he could see was probably just a trick. He stays strong in fighting until he wins. He is definitely no nonsense and makes no apologies for his willingness to defend liberty.

pgs. 316 and 317...they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children...

25 Now Moroni, leaving a part of his army in the land of Jershon, lest by any means a part of the Lamanites should come into that land and take possession of the city, took the remaining part of his army and marched over into the land of Manti.

26 And he caused that all the people in that quarter of the land should gather themselves together to battle against the Lamanites, to defend their lands and their country, their rights and their liberties; therefore they were prepared against the time of the coming of the Lamanites.

27 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that his army should be secreted in the valley which was near the bank of the river Sidon, which was on the west of the river Sidon in the wilderness.

28 And Moroni placed spies round about, that he might know when the camp of the Lamanites should come.

29 And now, as Moroni knew the ^aintention of the Lamanites, that it was their intention to destroy their brethren, or to ^bsubject them and bring them into bondage that they might establish a kingdom unto themselves over all the land;

30 And he also knowing that it was the ^aonly desire of the Nephites to preserve their lands, and their ^bliberty, and their church, therefore he thought it no sin that he should defend them by ^cstratagem; therefore, he found by his spies which course the Lamanites were to take.

31 Therefore, he divided his army and brought a part over into the valley, and ^aconcealed them on the east, and on the south of the hill Riplah;

32 And the remainder he concealed in the west ^avalley, on the west of the river Sidon, and so down into the borders of the land Manti.

33 And thus having placed his army according to his desire, he was prepared to meet them.

34 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came up on the north of the hill, where a part of the army of Moroni was concealed.

35 And as the Lamanites had passed the hill Riplah, and came into the valley, and began to cross the river Sidon, the army which was concealed on the south of the hill, which was led by a man whose name was ^aLehi, and he led his army forth and encircled the Lamanites about on the east in their rear.

36 And it came to pass that the Lamanites, when they saw the Nephites coming upon them in their rear, turned them about and began to contend with the army of Lehi.

37 And the work of death commenced on both sides, but it was more dreadful on the part of the Lamanites, for their ^anakedness was exposed to the heavy blows of the Nephites with their swords and their cimeters, which brought death almost at every stroke.

38 While on the other hand, there was now and then a man fell among the Nephites, by their swords and the loss of blood, they being shielded from the more vital parts of the body, or the more vital parts of the body being shielded from the strokes of the Lamanites, by their ^abreastplates, and their armshields, and their head-plates; and thus the Nephites did carry on the work of death among the Lamanites.

39 And it came to pass that the Lamanites became frightened, because of the great destruction among them, even until they began to flee towards the river Sidon.

40 And they were pursued by Lehi and his men; and they were driven by Lehi into the waters of Sidon, and they crossed the waters of Sidon. And Lehi retained his armies upon the bank of the river Sidon that they should not cross.

41 And it came to pass that Moroni and his army met the Lamanites in the ^avalley, on the other side of the river Sidon, and began to fall upon them and to slay them.

42 And the Lamanites did flee again before them, towards the land of Manti; and they were met again by the armies of Moroni.

43 Now in this case the Lamanites did fight exceedingly; yea, never had the Lamanites been known to fight with such exceedingly great strength and courage, no, not even from the beginning.

44 And they were inspired by the ^aZoramites and the Amalekites, who were their chief captains and leaders, and by Zerahemnah, who was their chief captain, or their chief leader and commander; yea, they did fight like dragons, and many of the Nephites were slain by their hands, yea, for they did smite in two many of their head-plates, and they did pierce many of their breastplates, and they did smite off many of their arms; and thus the Lamanites did smite in their fierce anger.

45 Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a ^abetter cause, for they were not ^bfighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their ^cliberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.

46 And they were doing that which they felt was the ^aduty which they owed to their God; for the Lord had said unto them, and also unto their fathers, that: ^bInasmuch as ye are not guilty of the ^cfirst offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies.

47 And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall ^adefend your families even unto ^bbloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.

48 And it came to pass that when the men of Moroni saw the fierceness and the anger of the Lamanites, they were about to shrink and flee from them. And Moroni, perceiving their intent, sent forth and inspired their hearts with these thoughts—yea, the thoughts of their lands, their liberty, yea, their freedom from bondage.

49 And it came to pass that they turned upon the Lamanites, and they ^acried with one voice ^bunto the Lord their God, for their ^cliberty and their freedom from bondage.

50 And they ^abegan to stand against the Lamanites with power; and in that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them; and they fled even to the waters of Sidon.

51 Now, the Lamanites were more ^anumerous, yea, by more than double the number of the Nephites; nevertheless, they were driven insomuch that they were gathered together in one body in the valley, upon the bank by the river Sidon.

52 Therefore the armies of Moroni encircled them about, yea, even on both sides of the river, for behold, on the east were the men of Lehi.

53 Therefore when Zerahemnah saw the men of Lehi on the east of the river Sidon, and the armies of Moroni on the west of the river Sidon, that they were encircled about by the Nephites, they were struck with terror.

54 Now Moroni, when he saw their ^aterror, commanded his men that they should stop shedding their blood.

This reading points out that the Lord does support war when it is in the defense of freedom. In fact many times he expects the righteous to stand up to evil. This was explained well by Bruce R McConkie in Mormon Doctrine where he wrote:

“Self-defense is as justifiable where war is concerned as where one man seeks to take the life of another. . . . Righteous men are entitled, expected, and obligated to defend themselves; they must engage in battle when there is no other way to preserve their rights and freedoms and to protect their families, homes, land, and the truths of salvation which they have espoused”

It's hard for me to ever want to support war. But I do see how it is necessary to defend our rights. It is just so sad when I think how poorly humans can treat each other.

pgs. 314 and 315...the word of the Lord came unto Alma, and Alma informed the messengers of Moroni...

THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 43

Alma and his sons preach the word—The Zoramites and other Nephite dissenters become Lamanites—The Lamanites come against the Nephites in war—Moroni arms the Nephites with defensive armor—The Lord reveals to Alma the strategy of the Lamanites—The Nephites defend their homes, liberties, families, and religion—The armies of Moroni and Lehi surround the Lamanites. About 74 B.C.

1 And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not ^arest, and he also went forth.

2 Now ^awe shall say no more concerning their preaching, except that they preached the word, and the truth, according to the spirit of prophecy and revelation; and they preached after the ^bholy order of God by which they were called.

3 And now ^aI return to an ^baccount of the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites, in the *eighteenth year of the reign of the judges.

4 For behold, it came to pass that the ^aZoramites became Lamanites; therefore, in the commencement of the eighteenth year the people of the Nephites saw that the Lamanites were coming upon them; therefore they made preparations for war; yea, they gathered together their armies in the land of Jershon.

5 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came with their thousands; and they came into the land of ^aAntionum, which is the land of the Zoramites; and a man by the name of ^bZerahemnah was their leader.

6 And now, as the ^aAmalekites were of a more wicked and murderous disposition than the Lamanites were, in and of themselves, therefore, Zerahemnah appointed chief ^bcaptains over the Lamanites, and they were all Amalekites and ^cZoramites.

7 Now this he did that he might preserve their ^ahatred towards the Nephites, that he might bring them into subjection to the accomplishment of his designs.

8 For behold, his ^adesigns were to ^bstir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites; this he did that he might usurp great power over them, and also that he might gain power over the Nephites by bringing them into ^cbondage.

9 And now the design of the Nephites was to support their lands, and their houses, and their ^awives, and their children, that they might preserve them from the hands of their enemies; and also that they might preserve their ^brights and their privileges, yea, and also their ^cliberty, that they might worship God according to their desires.

10 For they knew that if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites, that whosoever should ^aworship God in ^bspirit and in truth, the true and the living God, the Lamanites would ^cdestroy.

11 Yea, and they also knew the extreme hatred of the Lamanites towards their ^abrethren, who were the ^bpeople of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, who were called the people of Ammon—and they would not take up arms, yea, they had entered into a covenant and they would not break it—therefore, if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites they would be destroyed.

12 And the Nephites would not suffer that they should be destroyed; therefore they gave them lands for their inheritance.

13 And the people of Ammon did give unto the Nephites a large portion of their substance to ^asupport their armies; and thus the Nephites were compelled, alone, to withstand against the Lamanites, who were a compound of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, and all those who had dissented from the Nephites, who were Amalekites and Zoramites, and the ^bdescendants of the priests of Noah.

14 Now those descendants were as numerous, nearly, as were the Nephites; and thus the Nephites were obliged to contend with their brethren, even unto bloodshed.

15 And it came to pass as the armies of the Lamanites had gathered together in the land of Antionum, behold, the armies of the Nephites were prepared to meet them in the ^aland of Jershon.

16 Now, the leader of the Nephites, or the man who had been ^aappointed to be the ^bchief captain over the Nephites—now the chief captain took the command of all the armies of the Nephites—and his name was Moroni;

17 And Moroni took all the command, and the government of their wars. And he was only twenty and five years old when he was appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites.

18 And it came to pass that he met the Lamanites in the borders of Jershon, and his people were armed with swords, and with cimeters, and all manner of ^aweapons of war.

19 And when the armies of the Lamanites saw that the people of Nephi, or that Moroni, had ^aprepared his people with ^bbreastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing—

20 Now the army of Zerahemnah was not prepared with any such thing; they had only their ^aswords and their cimeters, their bows and their arrows, their ^bstones and their slings; and they were ^cnaked, save it were a skin which was girded about their loins; yea, all were naked, save it were the Zoramites and the Amalekites;

21 But they were not armed with breastplates, nor shields—therefore, they were exceedingly afraid of the armies of the Nephites because of their armor, notwithstanding their number being so much greater than the Nephites.

22 Behold, now it came to pass that they durst not come against the Nephites in the borders of Jershon; therefore they departed out of the land of Antionum into the wilderness, and took their journey round about in the wilderness, away by the head of the river Sidon, that they might come into the land of ^aManti and take possession of the land; for they did not suppose that the armies of Moroni would know whither they had gone.

23 But it came to pass, as soon as they had departed into the wilderness Moroni sent spies into the wilderness to watch their camp; and Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men unto him, desiring him that he should ^ainquire of the Lord ^bwhither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

24 And it came to pass that the ^aword of the Lord came unto Alma, and Alma informed the messengers of Moroni, that the armies of the Lamanites were marching round about in the wilderness, that they might come over into the land of Manti, that they might commence an attack upon the weaker part of the people. And those messengers went and delivered the message unto Moroni.


In our reading of Alma so far we have learned about several groups of people. Two of these groups were the Zoramites (the apostates who had the Rameumptom tower) and the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's (the Lamanite converts who escaped to the land of Zarahemla after joining the church.) These two groups are beginning a war against each other and so we begin the "war chapters" of Alma. The war chapters are a little notorious for being long and hard to get through but I recently read this list of the things we learn from these chapters and it is leading me into this with a different perspective. Here is the list of questions we will find the answers to as listed in Your Study of the Book of Mormon Made Easier by David J. Ridges:

1. Under what conditions is it appropriate for a nation to go to war?
2. In times of relative peace is it okay to produce and stockpile weapons in case of attack?
3. What should be done about individuals of military age and capability who enjoy the freedoms of a country but refuse to go to war to defend those privileges?
4. What should a commander in chief do about government leaders and groups who refuse to support the defense effort?
5. Is it ever proper to go after the leaders of enemy forces as part of a defense strategy?
6. What if an enemy force surrenders but has no intention to sign and keep a peace treaty?

pgs. 312 and 313...Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.

9 Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the ^afall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual ^bdeath as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.

10 Therefore, as they had become ^acarnal, sensual, and devilish, by ^bnature, this ^cprobationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.

11 And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside) as soon as they were dead their souls were ^amiserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord.

12 And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which ^aman had brought upon himself because of his own ^bdisobedience;

13 Therefore, according to justice, the ^aplan of ^bredemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would ^ccease to be God.

14 And thus we see that all mankind were ^afallen, and they were in the grasp of ^bjustice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence.

15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself ^aatoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of ^bmercy, to appease the demands of ^cjustice, that God might be a ^dperfect, just God, and a ^emerciful God also.

16 Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were a ^apunishment, which also was ^beternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed ^copposite to the plan of happiness, which was as ^deternal also as the life of the soul.

17 Now, how could a man repent except he should ^asin? How could he sin if there was no ^blaw? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?

18 Now, there was a punishment affixed, and a just law given, which brought remorse of ^aconscience unto man.

19 Now, if there was no law given—if a man ^amurdered he should ^bdie—would he be afraid he would die if he should murder?

20 And also, if there was no law given against sin men would not be afraid to sin.

21 And if there was ^ano law given, if men sinned what could justice do, or mercy either, for they would have no claim upon the creature?

22 But there is a law given, and a ^apunishment affixed, and a ^brepentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the ^claw, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.

23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and ^amercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the ^batonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the ^cresurrection of the dead; and the ^dresurrection of the dead bringeth ^eback men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be ^fjudged according to their works, according to the law and justice.

24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also ^amercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.

25 What, do ye suppose that ^amercy can rob ^bjustice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.

26 And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal ^apurposes, which were prepared ^bfrom the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery.

27 Therefore, O my son, ^awhosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be ^brestored unto him according to his ^cdeeds.

28 If he has desired to do ^aevil, and has not repented in his days, behold, evil shall be done unto him, according to the restoration of God.

29 And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things ^atrouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance.

30 O my son, I desire that ye should deny the ^ajustice of God no more. Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his ^bmercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in ^chumility.

31 And now, O my son, ye are called of God to ^apreach the word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth and soberness, that thou mayest ^bbring souls unto repentance, that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them. And may God grant unto you even according to my words. Amen.

This reading explains a lot about why God must hold us accountable for our actions. I know a lot of people say that if He really loved us He would not ever punish us. He doesn't want to, but the law of the justice must be fulfilled. It's just like the law of heat...if a child touches the stove, he will get burned even though of course a loving parent would not want their child to suffer that pain. Thankfully, mercy is available through the atonement and also we cannot partake of "the fruit of the tree of life." This is a great protection to us because if we did partake of it we would live in a fallen state forever.

pgs. 310 and 311...Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

3 And it is requisite with the ^ajustice of God that men should be ^bjudged according to their ^cworks; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be ^drestored unto that which is good.

4 And if their works are evil they shall be ^arestored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be ^brestored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—^cmortality raised to ^dimmortality, ^ecorruption to incorruption—raised to ^fendless happiness to ^ginherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—

5 The one raised to ^ahappiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.

7 ^aThese are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own ^bjudges, whether to do good or do evil.

8 Now, the decrees of God are ^aunalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that ^bwhosoever will may ^cwalk therein and be saved.

9 And now behold, my son, do not risk ^aone more offense against your God upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin.

10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, ^awickedness never was ^bhappiness.

11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of ^anature, or I would say, in a ^bcarnal state, are in the ^cgall of bitterness and in the ^dbonds of iniquity; they are ^ewithout God in the world, and they have gone ^fcontrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

12 And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?

13 O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again ^aevil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.

14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal ^ajustly, ^bjudge righteously, and do ^cgood continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your ^dreward; yea, ye shall have ^emercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.

15 For that which ye do ^asend out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.

THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 42

Mortality is a probationary time to enable man to repent and serve God—The fall brought temporal and spiritual death upon all mankind—Redemption comes through repentance—God himself atoneth for the sins of the world—Mercy is for those who repent—All others are subject to God’s justice—Mercy cometh because of the atonement—Only the truly penitent are saved. About 73 B.C.

1 And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the ^ajustice of God in the ^bpunishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is ^cinjustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.

2 Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of ^aEden, to till the ^bground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, ^ccherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life—

3 Now, we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God placed ^acherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit—

4 And thus we see, that there was a ^atime granted unto man to repent, yea, a ^bprobationary time, a time to repent and serve God.

5 For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and ^apartaken of the ^btree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.

6 But behold, it was appointed unto man to ^adie—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became ^blost forever, yea, they became ^cfallen man.

7 And now, ye see by this that our first parents were ^acut off both temporally and spiritually from the ^bpresence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own ^cwill.

8 Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this ^atemporal death, for that would destroy the great ^bplan of happiness.


In my opinion it was great for Alma to explain The Fall to his son at this time. It makes his lecture seem more loving when he tells Corianton that even Adam and Eve needed the atonement and repentance. The bottom line is every single one of us does. It is nothing to be ashamed of. We are all here in this probationary state to experience the consequences of our choices. No one makes all right choices. The great thing about that is that we can all learn from our own experience that "wickedness never was happiness."

pgs. 308 and 309...yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

9 Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection. And now, concerning this space of time, what becometh of the souls of men is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing of which I do know.

10 And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God ^aknoweth all the ^btimes which are appointed unto man.

11 Now, concerning the ^astate of the soul between ^bdeath and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are ^ctaken ^dhome to that God who gave them life.

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of ^ahappiness, which is called ^bparadise, a state of rest, a state of ^cpeace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

13 And then shall it come to pass, that the ^aspirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the ^bdevil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer ^cdarkness; there shall be ^dweeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

14 Now this is the state of the ^asouls of the ^bwicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, ^cfearful looking for the fiery ^dindignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this ^estate, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

15 Now, there are some that have understood that this state of happiness and this state of misery of the soul, before the resurrection, was a first resurrection. Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection, the ^araising of the spirit or the soul and their consignation to happiness or misery, according to the words which have been spoken.

16 And behold, again it hath been spoken, that there is a ^afirst ^bresurrection, a resurrection of all those who have been, or who are, or who shall be, down to the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

17 Now, we do not suppose that this first resurrection, which is spoken of in this manner, can be the resurrection of the souls and their ^aconsignation to happiness or misery. Ye cannot suppose that this is what it meaneth.

18 Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but it meaneth the ^areuniting of the soul with the body, of those from the days of Adam down to the resurrection of Christ.

19 Now, whether the souls and the bodies of those of whom has been spoken shall all be reunited at once, the wicked as well as the righteous, I do not say; let it suffice, that I say that they all come forth; or in other words, their resurrection cometh to pass ^abefore the resurrection of those who die after the resurrection of Christ.

20 Now, my son, I do not say that their resurrection cometh at the resurrection of Christ; but behold, I give it as my opinion, that the souls and the bodies are reunited, of the righteous, at the resurrection of Christ, and his ^aascension into heaven.

21 But whether it be at his resurrection or after, I do not say; but this much I say, that there is a ^aspace between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in ^bhappiness or in ^cmisery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be ^dbrought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

22 Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets.

23 The ^asoul shall be ^brestored to the ^cbody, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a ^dhair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and ^eperfect frame.

24 And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been ^aspoken by the mouths of the prophets—

25 And then shall the ^arighteous shine forth in the kingdom of God.

26 But behold, an awful ^adeath cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and ^bno unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter ^ccup.

THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 41

In the resurrection men come forth to a state of endless happiness or endless misery—Wickedness never was happiness—Carnal men are without God in the world—Every person receives again in the restoration the characteristics and attributes acquired in mortality. About 73 B.C.

1 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken; for behold, some have ^awrested the scriptures, and have gone far ^bastray because of this thing. And I perceive that thy mind has been ^cworried also concerning this thing. But behold, I will explain it unto thee.

2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every ^apart of the body should be restored to itself.


I am in awe of the immortal nature and perfection of our bodies which will be fulfilled at the time of the resurrection. It is an amazing gift from our Savior Jesus Christ. It brings me so much joy to know that I will be able to live with those I love in a life after death. Joseph F. Smith summed it up so beautifully when he said:

“What a glorious thought it is . . . that those from whom we have to part here, we will meet again and see as they are. We will meet the same identical being that we associated with here in the flesh—not some other soul, some other being, or the same being in some other form, but the same identity and the same form and likeness, the same person we knew and were associated with in our mortal existence, even to the wounds in the flesh. Not that a person will always be marred by scars, wounds, deformities, defects or infirmities, for these will be removed in their course, in their proper time, according to the merciful providence of God. Deformity will be removed; defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall attain to the perfection of their spirits, to the perfection that God designed in the beginning. It is his purpose that men and women, his children, born to become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, shall be made perfect, physically as well as spiritually, through obedience to the law by which he has provided the means that perfection shall come to all his children. . . .

“. . . What else would satisfy us? What else would satisfy the desire of the immortal soul? Would we be satisfied to be imperfect? Would we be satisfied to be decrepit? Would we be satisfied to remain forever and ever in the form of infirmity incident to age? No! . . . From the day of the resurrection, the body will develop until it reaches the full measure of the stature of its spirit, whether it be male or female” (Gospel Doctrine, pp. 23–24).