Foolishness in Me?
Book of Mormon Notes - Thursday, October 5, 2023, Alma 37
Thus we see that the Lord worked through Nephi, Enos, Mormon, and many others, including Alma the Younger and Helaman, as the records were painstakingly prepared and preserved, and miraculously brought forth through the instrumentality of the prophet Joseph Smith and his gifts as a seer.
Thus we also see that writing and record keeping was and is crucial in the work of the Lord:
TG: Record Keeping
See also Write
Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, Ex. 24:4.
in the ark thou shalt put the testimony, Ex. 25:21.
Whosoever hath sinned … will I blot out of my book, Ex. 32:33 (Ps. 69:28; Rev. 3:5).
appointed certain of the Levites … to record, 1 Chr. 16:4.
search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers, Ezra 4:15.
every one … found written in the book, Dan. 12:1.
this is the record of John, John 1:19.
Write the things which thou hast seen, Rev. 1:19 (3 Ne. 27:23).
I make a record of my proceedings, 1 Ne. 1:1.
obtain these records, that we may preserve … language of our fathers, 1 Ne. 3:19.
record of the Jews from the beginning, 1 Ne. 5:12.
he and his fathers had kept the records, 1 Ne. 5:16.
words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records, 1 Ne. 13:41.
Nephi, had kept the records, 2 Ne. 5:29.
after this manner we keep the records, Omni 1:9.
they had brought no records with them, Omni 1:17.
keep a record of this people, Alma 37:2.
have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, Alma 37:3.
Jesus commanded that it should be written, 3 Ne. 23:13.
hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records, Morm. 6:6.
Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Morm. 8:1 (Ether 13:1).
brother of Jared … write the things which he had seen, Ether 4:1.
records which contain much of my gospel, D&C 6:26.
record of a fallen people, D&C 20:9.
names may be blotted out of … record, D&C 20:83.
a record kept among you, D&C 21:1.
record of the stick of Ephraim, D&C 27:5.
appointed … to keep the church record, D&C 47:3.
testimony … is recorded in heaven, D&C 62:3.
These things shall be had on record, D&C 72:6.
Lord commanded us to write, D&C 76:80.
keep a history, and a general church record, D&C 85:1.
your prayers … are recorded in the book, D&C 88:2.
write this commandment, D&C 90:32.
let all the records be had in order, D&C 127:9.
record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, D&C 128:8.
write the words which I speak, Moses 2:1.
book of remembrance was kept, in … which was recorded, Moses 6:5 (Mal. 3:16).
the records of the fathers … have I kept, Abr. 1:31.
See also D&C 107:57; Moses 1:23.
Alma remembered, and he taught his son, that the records had been, were, and ever would be kept for a wise purpose:
And now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the arecords which have been bentrusted with me;
And I also command you that ye keep a arecord of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a bwise purpose that they are kept. (Alma 37:1-2)
But when Alma the Younger taught his son to “keep all of these things sacred,” “these things” included more than the records. “These things” included the Liahona, the Urim and Thummim, the Sword of Laban, and probably other sacred objects and records.
One of the best, if not the best students of the Book of Mormon and especially of Nephite record keeping is Noel Reynolds. If anyone would like to catch a glimpse of how much more there is to discover in the Book of Mormon, a few minutes immersed in Noel Reynolds’ articles or Grant Hardy’s Understanding the Book of Mormon or Joseph Spencer’s An Other Testament, is always a helpful exercise. In the most recent FAIR LDS conference, Kerry Hull gave an excellent presentation on “Luminosity and the Sacred” that pertains specifically to our study of this chapter in the Book of Mormon as well. (See especially Alma 37:5)
In any case, Alma the Younger begins by instructing his son Helaman about the Plates of Brass. This makes perfect sense because the Plates of Brass contain the foundational records for the Nephite civilization. Can you imagine when the Plates of Brass are finally revealed? That will be amazing.
I imagine Alma the Younger with his son Helaman in a sacred chamber where the records and the other sacred objects are kept. I imagine Alma the Younger as he moves from one record or sacred object to another, instructing his son along the way. When Alma pauses by the Plates of Brass, he teaches:
And these aplates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the bgenealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning—
Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and ahanded down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the bmysteries contained thereon.
And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ. (Alma 37:3-5)
The Plates of Brass were very important to Alma, as they were to Lehi, Nephi, and all subsequent prophets, and indeed for the entire Nephite civilization from Lehi to Moroni. We may recall that Lehi’s study of the Brass Plates, which contain some of the greatest revelations and prophecies ever recorded, also inspired Lehi to prophesy concerning his own seed, because the Plates of Brass, through the testimony of Joseph, son of Israel, revealed to Lehi that he was of the posterity of Joseph:
And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine. (1 Nephi 5:14)
The Plates of Brass - filled with the prophecies of Joseph, Isaiah, and many other prophets - thus became the great springboard for revelation not only for Lehi and Nephi, but for all subsequent Book of Mormon prophets. I remember to have read somewhere that Truman G. Madsen once asked an audience if they had read their patriarchal blessing in the Book of Mormon, or something to that effect. My point is that just as the Plates of Brass connected Lehi to his past, present, and future - to his ancestors and his posterity - and just as the Plates of Brass and other records connected Alma and Helaman to their past, present, and future - to their ancestors and their posterity - the Book of Mormon does the same for us.
But there are a couple of verses in this chapter that demand particularly close attention:
Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
And the Lord God doth work by ameans to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very bsmall means the Lord doth cconfound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls. (Alma 37:6-7)
Alma has just taught his son about the records, and specifically about the Plates of Brass. He has spoken to his son about records, engravings, holy scriptures, genealogy, the hand of the Lord, mysteries, and holy writ. I’m sure that Helaman was paying very close attention and absorbing Alma’s every word. Then why would Alma mention that Helaman might suppose that this was afoolishness in him?
I don’t know. Helaman was still a very young man. Perhaps Alma was wondering if all of this was going into one of Helaman’s ear and out the other. Whatever the case, Alma had discovered a crucial lesson from his own study and experience with the plates and the other sacred objects. Furthermore, Alma was teaching his son about something that might have seemed impossible or at least extraordinarily unlikely, namely, that the Plates of Brass and the other Nephite plates would “retain their brightness” and that they would be handed down from one generation to the next until everyone in the world had access to them and would know about the mysteries contained therein.
Perhaps Alma wanted to reassure his son Helaman that the prophesies concerning the plates were not impossible, or even extraordinarily unlikely, but positively true and sure. Not only would the plates never be ruined or rusted or lost or destroyed, but they would “retain their brightness”. For metal plates to “retain their brightness” would be a miracle, and it is a miracle, a very under-appreciated miracle. Moreover, Alma had been teaching his son about the wise purposes of the Lord, and as previous prophets had also noted, these wise purposes of the Lord were not fully revealed to any one of them. Each of these great Book of Mormon prophets simply trust in the Lord and knew that the Lord could work through them in spite of their weakness and in spite of the fact that they only understood a small portion of what the Lord was doing in His work. Perhaps these are some reasons why Alma may have discerned that his son Helaman might wonder if his fathers seemingly fantastic prophesies were in any way “foolishness”. I don’t know. What do you think about this?
But the phrase “Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me;” probably refers to the teaching that directly follows that phrase (or to both that which precedes it and that which directly follows it):
Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
And the Lord God doth work by ameans to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very bsmall means the Lord doth cconfound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls. (Alma 37:6-7)
It may have seemed foolish that the Lord accomplishes His work through small and simple things. There are innumerable examples of this problem in scripture, and the example of Naaman the Syrian is perhaps the most famous example. We mortals often suppose, like Naaman, that some great thing must be done in order for the Lord to heal us or to accomplish His work, when in reality, the Lord works through small and simple things to accomplish great things. The Lord often uses the simple and the unlikely to accomplish the impossible.
This reminds me of one of Elder Maxwell’s many profound and perceptive observations regarding the nature of reality:
When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses?
But what exactly what Alma talking about? What was Alma’s source for teaching his son Helaman. A closer look reveals that Alma - who was in the process of conferring the Plates of Brass and the other Nephite plates upon his son Helaman - must have had Nephi’s record and teachings in mind. In fact, we know that this is true because Alma soon teaches his son about the meaning of the miraculous Liahona. It is the Liahona that worked by small and simple things to accomplish great things, or in Nephi’s own words:
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the afaith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us aunderstanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by bsmall means the Lord can bring about great things. (1 Nephi 16:28-29)
Alma soon mentions the same thing that Nephi mentions in his record, that is, that the Lord brings about great things by small means, and specifically that the Lord works according to our level of faith and diligence:
And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day. (Alma 37:40)
To be continued…