Mosiah 23:2 the Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah
could not overtake them
One might imagine that a
group of 450 people, young and old, women and children, flocks and possessions,
would not be able to travel very fast. A trained army should be able to
overtake them within a relatively short time. This did not occur because of the
protection and strength that they received from the Lord. Otherwise, they would
have most certainly been captured by Noah’s army.
Mosiah 23:7 it is not expedient that we should have a king
All
the righteous Nephite leaders understood that there was great danger in
establishing a monarchial form of government. Alma’s people should have known
this better than anybody because of their experience with king Noah. Yet, we
see this pattern repeat itself throughout the Book of Mormon. The first
instance is when the Jaredites set up king. At this time, the brother of Jared
warned, Surely this thing leadeth into captivity
(Ether 6:23).
Note some of the passages which followed:
a)
Corihor rebelled against his father
b)
Shule was angry with his brother…and gave
battle unto his brother Corihor
c)
Noah rebelled against Shule…and gave battle
unto Shule
d)
The sons of Shule crept into the house of Noah
by night and slew him
e)
Jared rebelled against his father…and gave
battle unto his father
f)
Esrom and Coriantumr…were exceedingly angry
because of the doings of Jared their brother…And…they did give battle unto him
by night
(See Ether 7-8).
This
great history of conflict among the Jaredites culminated in the destruction of
the entire nation.
Nephi was faced with a
people who looked up to them as their leader, And it
came to pass that they would that I should be their king. But I, Nephi, was
desirous that they should have no king; nevertheless, I did for them according
to that which was in my power (2 Ne 5:18). In the Old Testament, we read
that when the Israelites asked the prophet Samuel for a king so that they could
be like all the other nations in the land, the Lord replied, Hearken unto the voice of the people…for they have not
rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them
(1 Sam 8:7). The Israelites would have benefited most if they had the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev 19:16) as their king. Therefore, Alma counsels the people
to set up a government based on the principle that one
man shall not think himself above another, but the Lord God is their
king, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their
king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words (2 Ne
10:14).
Erastus Snow
“In
all ages when the people of God listened to the voice and counsel of apostles
and prophets, they enjoyed the blessings growing out of human freedom, and the
tyranny and oppression of kings and rulers was impossible. There never was a
kingly power placed over ancient Israel except against the remonstrance of the
prophets.” (Journal of Discourses, vol 23, Feb. 26, 1882, p. 233)
Mosiah 23:8 if it were possible that ye could always have just men to
be your kings it would be well for you
The next best thing to
having Jehovah as king is to have righteous men as kings. Later, Mosiah gives
the example of righteous king Benjamin, if ye could
have men for your kings who would do even as my father Benjamin did for this
people—I say nto you, if this could always be the case then it would be
expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you (Mosiah
29:13), but he warns against wicked kings, saying, For
behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and
what great destruction! (Mosiah 29:17).
Mosiah 23:10 has made me an instrument in his hands
The humble servant understands
his relationship with the Lord. All miracles occur by the power of God with his
servants acting as instruments. The servant is the hammer, but the Lord drives
the nail. Isaiah rebuked the pride of the king of Assyria by asking, Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?
(Isa 10:15). After Ammon’s success as a missionary among the Lamanites, he
began to rejoice in the fruit of his labors. His brother, Aaron said, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting.
But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength…I know that I am
nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but
I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea behold,
many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his
name forever (Alma 26:10-13).
Mosiah 23:16 Alma was…the founder of their church
“In
the part of the Book of Mormon where we first read that Alma was the ‘founder of their church,’ the pronoun their refers
only to the people who were with Alma in the wilderness; it does not refer to
the entire Nephite nation.” (Daniel Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of
Mormon, p.189)
Mosiah 23:19 they called the land Helam
Helam was apparently a
leader in the community. He was respected enough that the people named the land
after him. He was also the first among them to be baptized, being baptized by
Alma (Mosiah 18:14).
Mosiah 23:21 the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth
their patience and their faith
The typical response to
affliction is to assume that it occurs as a punishment from God. Such is the
logic of the question asked of the Savior, who did
sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? (Jn 9:2). Yet,
this view of the world is very near-sighted. Can it be fairly stated that every
time life doesn’t go as we expect, that the Lord is punishing us? The
scriptures teach otherwise. There are times when the wicked are not punished
immediately, how long shall the wicked triumph? (Ps
94:3), and there are times when the righteous suffer affliction without
warranting it. The Lord will try and chasten his people even when they are
righteous, For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth
(Heb12:6). This is the case with Alma’s people. They had been faithful to their
new leader, they had made a covenant by being baptized, and yet they are about
to be put into bondage.
Neal A. Maxwell
“Faith
… includes faith in God’s developmental purposes, for ‘the
Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their
faith.’ (Mosiah 23:21.) Still, some of us have trouble when God’s
tutoring is applied to us! We plead for exemption more than we do for
sanctification.” (Ensign, May 1991, p. 90.)
Neal A. Maxwell
“The
following wintry verse instructs and reminds us of one of the most central and
regular challenges for the men and women of Christ:
‘Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he
trieth their patience and their faith’
(Mosiah 23:21).
“Such
declarations of divine purpose ought to keep us on spiritual alert as to life's
purposeful adversities, especially as we seek to become more saintly. Disciples
will escape neither adversity nor the irony forming the hard crust on the bread
of adversity.
“Irony
tries both our faith and our patience. Irony can be a particularly bitter form
of chastening because it involves disturbing incongruity; it involves outcomes in
violation of our expectations, including what we feel we ‘deserved.’ Sometimes
it lays waste our good-intentioned and best-laid plans.
“On
occasion we even set up our own ironies by being too declarative and too
certain. Such was the case with Peter, who said he would never deny Jesus.
Peter was quickly reminded by the Savior that soon, before the rooster crowed,
Peter would deny Him three times. (See Matthew 26:31-35.) In like manner today
our rigidities and deficiencies sometimes may actually invite tutoring…
“With
its inverting of the anticipated consequences, irony becomes the frequent cause
of an individual's being offended. The larger and the more untamed a person's
ego, the greater the likelihood of his being offended, especially when tasting
his portion of vinegar and gall. Words may issue: ‘Why me?’ ‘Why this?’ ‘Why
now?’ It is hoped such words will give way to subsequent spiritual composure;
but when such words precede bitter inconsolability, then it is a surprisingly
short distance to bitterness. Amid life's varied ironies we may begin to
wonder: ‘Didn't God notice this torturous turn of events? And if He noticed,
why did He permit it? Am I not valued? Didn't I deserve better?’ Our planning
usually assumes that our destiny is largely in our own hands. Then come
intruding events, first elbowing aside, then evicting, what we had anticipated
and even earned. Hence we can be offended by events as well as by people.
“Irony
may involve not only unexpected suffering but also undeserved suffering. We feel
we deserved better, and yet we fared worse. We had other plans-even commendable
plans; did they not count? For example, a physician who trained laboriously to
help the sick cannot do so now because of his own illness. For a period,
because of constraining circumstances, a diligent prophet of the Lord was an ‘idle witness’ (Mormon 3:16). Frustrating conditions
keep more than a few of us from making our appointed rounds. Customized
challenges are thus added to that affliction and temptation that Paul described
as ‘common to man’ (1 Corinthians 10:13).” (Men
and Women of Christ, pp. 61-3)
Howard W. Hunter
“Mormon
surely knew that no pain we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It
ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience,
faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure,
especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our
hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy
to be called the children of God.” (Ensign, Nov. 1987, p. 60 as taken from
Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas
Bassett, p. 316)
Mosiah 23:27 Alma went forth…and exhorted them that they should not be
frightened
Alma’s people were terrified
by the Lamanites, but Alma knew that perfect love
casteth out all fear (Moroni 8:16). He knew that whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the
last day (v. 22). These weren’t idle words, but codes to live by.
Accordingly, Alma faced the Lamanites without fear, and negotiated an
arrangement by which his people would be free (v. 36). The Lamanites, of
course, broke their promise and oppressed Alma’s people (v. 37).
Mosiah 23:32 the leader of those priests was Amulon
Amulon and his fellow
priests had kidnapped then married Lamanite women. Their collective descendants
became known as the Amulonites. They did join the
Lamanites (v. 35) and become one of the most wicked groups in the
history of the Book of Mormon. George Reynolds condenses their history:
“They
were Nephites on their father's side and Lamanites on their mother's but by
association and education were of the latter race. Many of them, however, were
displeased with the conduct of their fathers and took upon them the name of
Nephites and were considered among that people ever after. Of those who
remained Amulonites many became followers of Nehor and were scattered in the
lands of Amulon, Helam and Jerusalem all of which appear to have been limited
districts in the same region of country. In the later years the sons of Mosiah
and their fellow-missionaries preached to them but not one repented and
received the gospel message; on the contrary, they became leaders in the
persecutions carried on against the suffering people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi and
were those who, with the Amalekites, slew the greater number of that
unoffending people who suffered martyrdom. In the succeeding war with the
Nephites (B.C. 81), when Ammonihah was destroyed, nearly all the Amulonites
were killed in the battle in which Zoram, the Nephite general, defeated the
Lamanites. The remainder of the Amulonites fled into the east wilderness where
they usurped power over the people of Laman and in their bitter hatred to the
truth caused many of the latter to be burned to death because of their belief
in the gospel. These outrages aroused the Lamanites and they in turn began to
hunt the Amulonites and to put them to death. This was in fulfillment of the
words of Abinadi, who, as he suffered martyrdom by fire at the hands of Amulon
and his associates, told them, ‘What ye shall do
unto me, shall be a type of things to come’ by which he meant that many
should suffer death by fire as he had suffered.” (A Dictionary of the Book
of Mormon, pp. 59-60)