General Comments on Alma 8-15 In this accounting of Alma and Amulek's preaching in ch. 8- 15, Mormon is quoting Alma at length from his own record. Mormon might even be quoting from a record written by Amulek as well in ch. 10. But, Mormon abridges the records considerably (cf. 9:34) and makes comments as he goes (cf. 10:31-11:20), so these chapters are clearly not a verbatim quotation of a record by Alma as was ch. 5 and 7. Comments on Alma 8 v1-2 After he finishes preaching and arranging the affairs of the church in the land of Gideon, Alma returns to Zarahemla and rests for a while. v3-5 In the tenth year of the judges Alma resumes his missionary labors and travels throughout the land of Melek (v. 3). He teaches them according to the Priesthood (v. 4), and they're baptized (v. 5). v6-13 After he is done in the land of Melek, Alma travels to the city of Ammonihah (v. 6) and preaches the word of God there (v. 8). The people there are very wicked, so the refuse to listen to Alma's preaching (v. 9). Alma works very hard with the Spirit, and pleads with God in prayer that He might pour His spirit out on the people there so they will repent (v. 10). But, they never do. They inform him they are not part of his church and don't believe in his foolish traditions (v. 11), and since he gave up the position of chief judge they don't have to answer to him on that account either (v. 12). They then insult him, spit on him, and have him thrown out of the city. Given this overwhelming rejection, Alma gives up and decides to move on to another city (v. 13). v7 is a parenthetical comment by Mormon explaining the custom of naming cities among the Nephites. v10-11 illustrate the Lord's unwillingness to overpower people's free agency by the Spirit. Regardless of Alma's considerable zeal, the people simply choose to reject him. Alma wants the Lord to overpower the people by the Spirit, but the Lord won't do it. Alma can fast and pray a great deal, but this still doesn't bring the Lord to the point where He will overpower people's free agency. This also serves to show that sometimes what we want and what the Lord has planned don't match up. Then, when we don't get what we want, we leave dejected, cf. 13. v10 "labored much in the spirit", in this verse it days that Alma "wrestl[ed] with God in mighty prayer". We are also informed in v. 26 that Alma "had fasted many days", so this gives us an indication of what kind of "labor" he performed in the spirit. v11 "the church which thou hast established", note the implicit insult of the church being a church created by himself for himself. This is simply a case of projection as they are after the order of Nehor (cf. 14:16-18, 15:15), which order is one of self-promotion (cf. 1:3-6). v11-13 The people Alma is arguing with here are probably the religious and political leaders of the city of Ammonihah, and not the people in general. The first point indicating this is the case is that Amulek doesn't know who Alma is before they meet in v. 19-20, which suggests that Alma's preaching thus far was not extensive. Had Alma been preaching publicly prior to this for any length of time it seems likely Amulek would have at least heard of him. The second point indicating this is the fact that a considerable number of people in the city of Ammonihah believe Alma's message after they hear it, cf. 14:1. Had Alma come into contact with a large group of people, which would have presumably had some believers among them, in v. 10-11 then it seems unlikely he would have entirely abandoned his efforts there and decided to move on in v. 13. His decision to abandon the city and move on make more sense is he came up against complete opposition from the city's religious and political leadership and assumed they represented the population at large. The third point indicating this is the case is that the arguments used by the two audiences Alma addresses are different, suggesting two separate groups. In v. 11-12 the first audience responds with arguments rejecting him as the leader of his own church and of having no authority over them because he is no longer the chief judge. This suggests the group he is presently addressing would have formerly had to answer to him when he was the chief judge. Their rejection of his being leader of his own church makes it plain he has no authority over their own church, suggesting there are religious leaders present who reject him. The second audience in 9:2-6 uses a different set of arguments questioning who this solitary person was and why it was God was sending only one person to speak for Him. In the case of the latter audience it is plain Alma and Amulek are addressing the people in general in a public setting as crowds gather and the lawyers get involved in the dispute, cf. 10:13-11:35. Thus, Alma doesn't address a large audience until ch. 9, which means he is addressing some smaller group in v. 10-11, which smaller group was in all probability the religious and political leadership of the city. v14-17 Alma is feeling depressed and dejected after the upset at the city Ammonihah when he is confronted by an angel (v. 14). The angel blesses Alma for his faithfulness in keeping the commandments since the time he was first told to repent by none other than he himself (v. 15, cp. Mosiah 27:11-16). The angel then tells Alma to return to the city Ammonihah and tell them to repent otherwise the Lord will destroy them (v. 16), because they are planning to overthrow the freedom of the Nephites. And this is a direct contradiction of the commands He has given (v. 17). v14 illustrates the eminently human reaction we all experience in the face of overwhelming rejection. Alma, despite his considerable spiritual experiences and successes in the church, is still human and his feelings of rejection are natural. v15-17 are a quotation of the angel. v16 "except they repent the Lord God will destroy them", this is ultimately fulfilled in 16:1-3. It is common to think of this kind of threat as the Lord doing something much more overt than simply having the Lamanites invade. A secular observer would explain away such an event in very natural terms of history, politics, and sociology. However, it is plain from the text God is an active social engineer who moves people when it is expedient to Him. v17 "that they may destroy the liberty of thy people", as noted in Mosiah 27:13 the Lord will not permit any external force to overthrow the church. As these people are of the order of Nehor and are hostile to the church, then if they overpowered the Nephite political system the church would suffer terribly. The Lord must therefore take action against them. v18-27 The angel's commission reinvigorates Alma and he quickly returns to the city Ammonihah, but he goes back in a different way than that which he was thrown out in v. 13 (v. 18). As he was going in the city he humbly asks a man for something to eat (v. 19). It turns out the man he asks for something to eat has been prepared beforehand by a vision of an angel. The man, named Amulek, says that as a result of the vision he knows Alma is a prophet and he is to take him in and feed him (v. 20), and he does so (v. 21). After eating, Alma gives thanks to God, presumably for the act of providence in leading him to Amulek, and blesses Amulek and his house (v. 22), presumably for their generosity. He then informs Amulek he is the high priest over the church (v. 23) and was called to preach the word of God to all the people in the land. But, he has been rejected by the people in this city. So, he was about to abandon the city entirely (v. 24) when he was commanded to return and testify against their iniquities (v. 25). He then informs Amulek that he will blessed for his act of charity in feeding him, because he had been fasting for some time (v. 26). Alma then stays with Amulek some time before they begin to preach to the people (v. 27). v19 As Alma was entering the city we would assume Amulek was as well. Amulek states in 10:7 that he was headed off to visit a relative when the vision came to him telling him to return him. If he was headed out of the city then it seems likely he was headed back in the city the same time Alma was. v27 It is safe to assume that while Alma stayed with Amulek he taught him concerning the gospel and Scriptures and so forth. As for how long the "many days" was, it was probably about a month or so. In 10:6 we are informed it was the fourth day of the seventh month when Alma and Amulek met, and then 14:23 informs us the end of Alma and Amulek's mission "after they had thus suffered [in prison] many days" ended on the twelfth day of the tenth month. Assuming a lunar calendar of 28 days, that leaves 92 days to be divided up between two periods of "many days". Note in this verse it says Alma tarried and then "he", in the singular, began to preach to the people again. But, we are informed in v. 28 the people got even worse. Then in v. 29 the Lord commands Alma to enlist Amulek's help in preaching to the people. It is entirely likely that after staying with Amulek for some time in v. 27 that Alma again attempted solo preaching but continued to meet with failure, as indicated in v. 28. The result is then that Amulek, a local, is called to go and preach to his literal neighbors in v. 29. v28-32 The people of Ammonihah continue in the downward spiral of iniquity (v. 28) so the Lord commands Alma and Amulek to preach repentance to the people or He will destroy them (v. 29). Mormon then offers a prelude to their ministry (v. 30-32), informing us both Alma and Amulek follow the Lord's command and have the Spirit (v. 30) and are filled with the power of the Lord (v. 31). And thus they did preach according to the Spirit and power made available to them (v. 31). Copyright © 2001 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.