Preparation to Hear the Word
Book of Mormon Notes - Saturday, September 23, 2023, Alma 32
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever served a mission or preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Alma and his brethren began to have the most success among the poor of the Zoramites. Remember President Benson’s astute observation and how it applies to us today:
The two groups in the Book of Mormon that seemed to have the greatest difficulty with pride are the “learned, and the rich.” (2 Ne. 28:15.) But the word of God can pull down pride. (See Alma 4:19.)
Why do the learned and the rich have the most difficulty with pride? Is it because whenever we trust in our own wisdom or wealth then we have less room in our hearts to trust in the Lord?
The wealthy Zoramites had treated their poorer and humbler brethren very poorly. Even though these good poor people desired to worship God, they were cast out from the very synagogues that they had labored with their own hands to build. Although I’ve only done minor amounts of construction work in my life, I know exactly how it feels to be cast out of institutions that I had labored diligently to build. One of these institutions was Middlebury Interactive Languages. One day out of the blue the company simply fired almost every one of their employees. Another is the Wheatley Institution (now the Wheatley Institute) at Brigham Young University. My supposedly “nonessential” position was eliminated with no explanation during the so-called pandemic. Another is Cardio Miracle. When I called out the CEO for his violent rampages and unethical leadership, I was gradually demoted and then forced to leave the company. Even though I wasn’t building synagogues, I can relate somewhat with these poor Zoramites who had been cast out of the places of worship, even though they did all of the work.
In his abridgment of Alma’s record, Mormon notes that the poor Zoramites were cast out because of the coarseness of their apparel. They didn’t wear the fine twined linens and fancy clothing that the rich Zoramites wore. Nevertheless, Alma rejoiced because the poverty of these good people had humbled them and prepared them to receive the word of God. Whereas the self-satisfied and supposedly self-sufficient rich rejected Alma and his message, the poor in heart were prepared and willing to receive instruction. When I think of the success of missionaries in third world countries in Africa, South America, and so forth, I am reminded of the success of Alma and his brethren. Remember that Alma had prayed in faith, and his prayers had begun to be answered.
Material poverty doesn’t always lead to humility and the quality of being poor in heart, but in the case of these poor Zoramites, they were truly humbled because of their afflictions. For this reason, they were blessed. Ironically, it was the priests among the Zoramites who had most rejected the poor among them. What might Mormon wish for his latter-day audience to understand about religious leaders and priests who reject and cast out the poor among them? The leader of the destitute Zoramites came to Alma with the golden question:
Behold, awhat shall these my brethren do, for they are bdespised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have ccast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have dno place to worship our God; and behold, ewhat shall we do? (Alma 32:5)
Like Alma, modern missionaries rejoice when their investigators ask this kind of question. Remember when Peter testified of Jesus Christ and his audience was moved to ask a similar question? Peter was ready with a response:
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:37-38)
Alma was also always ready to give a reason for his hope. This simple question from the leader of the poor Zoramites brought forth one of the most beautiful and memorable sermons on humility, repentance, and faith in all of scripture. It also contains one of the best and simplest definitions of faith that can be found anywhere:
And now as I said concerning faith—afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye bhope for things which are cnot seen, which are true. (Alma 32:21)
Compare Paul’s teaching:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
Alma also explains what God’s first desire is for us, His children:
And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is amerciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word. (Alma 32:22)
It seems clear to me that the Lord takes particular delight in doing His own work in His own way and in a way that only the truly penitent and humble will ever understand:
And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, anot only men but women also. Now this is not all; little bchildren do have words given unto them many times, which cconfound the wise and the learned. (Alma 32:23)
Remember what Jesus said about this same principle:
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. (Matthew 11:25)
And,
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. (Luke 10:21)
And,
And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the children of the multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did loose their tongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that they could utter.
And it came to pass that after he had ascended into heaven—the second time that he showed himself unto them, and had gone unto the Father, after having healed all their sick, and their lame, and opened the eyes of their blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf, and even had done all manner of cures among them, and raised a man from the dead, and had shown forth his power unto them, and had ascended unto the Father—
Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them. (3 Nephi 26:14-16)
The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke in a similar way when he taught his fellow servants:
[One] Sunday night [in 1834] the Prophet [Joseph Smith] called on all who held the Priesthood to gather into the little log school [in Kirtland, Ohio]. . . . It was a small house, perhaps 14 feet square. But it held the whole of the Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were then in the town of Kirtland, and who had gathered together to go off in Zion’s camp. . . . The Prophet called upon the Elders of Israel with him to bear testimony of this work. . . . When they got through, the Prophet said, “Brethren, I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it. . . . It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will [grow until it will] fill North and South America—it will fill the world. (Wilford Woodruff, in Conference Report, April 1898, 57, punctuation modernized, as cited in Boyd K. Packer, worldwide leadership training meeting, January 11, 2003.)
And,
I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. (D&C 128:18)
The Lord reveals things to women and to little children. The Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible, and He works through the weak things of the earth:
To prepare the weak for those things which are coming on the earth, and for the Lord’s errand in the day when the weak shall confound the wise, and the little one become a strong nation, and two shall put their tens of thousands to flight. (D&C 133:58)
This reminds me of the material in the Come, Follow Me curriculum this week, particularly Paul’s exultation in weakness and infirmity:
I speak as concerning areproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.
Are they aHebrews? so am I. Are they bIsraelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
Are they aministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) bI am more; in clabours more abundant, in dstripes above measure, in eprisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I aforty stripes save one.
Thrice was I abeaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own acountrymen, in perils by the bheathen, in cperils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
In aweariness and bpainfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not aweak? who is offended, and I bburn not?
If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to aapprehend me:
And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. (2 Corinthians 11:21-33)
And,
For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
And lest I should be aexalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a bthorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
And he said unto me, My agrace is sufficient for thee: for my bstrength is made perfect in cweakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may drest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in ainfirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in bpersecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am cweak, then am I dstrong. (2 Corinthians 12:6-11)
I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very achiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
Remember Ammon’s declaration:
But Ammon said unto him: I do not aboast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my bjoy is full, yea, my heart is brim with cjoy, and I will rejoice in my God.
Yea, I know that I am anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will bnot boast of myself, but I will cboast of my God, for in his dstrength I can do all ethings; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. (Alma 26:11-12)
Alma proceeds to teach the humble Zoramites what they need to do to worship God, and how to exercise faith in Christ. All it takes to begin is a particle of faith.