Snatched
Book of Mormon Notes - Friday, August 4, 2023, Mosiah 27
The angel’s message to Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah was so powerful that they fell to the ground, and Alma the Younger was so shaken that he fell into a kind of coma. He could not speak. He could not move his hands.
It looks like the sons of Mosiah carried Alma the Younger to his father. Alma the Elder knew that the Lord had answered his prayers on behalf of his son. The priests and the people gathered around Alma the Younger, fasting and praying on his behalf. After two days and two nights, Alma the Younger awakened from his comatose state, and he began to speak and to comfort his audience. It looks like Mormon included a verbatim record of Alma the Younger’s first testimony:
For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been aredeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.
And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be aborn again; yea, bborn of God, cchanged from their carnal and dfallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his esons and daughters;
And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in anowise inherit the kingdom of God.
I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off.
Nevertheless, after awading through much btribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an ceverlasting burning, and I am born of God.
My soul hath been aredeemed from the gall of bitterness and bbonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was cracked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is dpained no more.
I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto aall.
Yea, aevery knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be bjudged of him, then shall they confess that he is cGod; then shall they confess, who live dwithout God in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his eall-searching eye. (Mosiah 27:24-31)
Alma the Younger experienced intense spiritual, emotional, and physical pain because of his sins. He waded through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death. He was snatched out of an everlasting burning. He was redeemed from the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. He was in the darkest abyss. His soul was racked with eternal torment. When Alma the Younger was brought face to face with the angel of the Lord, and when his conscience was awakened, he suffered intense pain.
Alma the Younger uses a very interesting word to describe how the Lord rescued him: snatched. The Lord snatched him out of eternal torment, the darkest abyss, and everlasting burnings. To my knowledge, the word snatch is used only one other time in the Book of Mormon:
Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and polluted state? (Alma 26:17)
And only one other time in the Bible:
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall aeat every man the bflesh of his own arm: (Isaiah 9:20)
It is a very interesting and descriptive word, meaning to rescue, to save, to deliver, and to redeem. The Lord is the Great Snatcher. Only He can snatch us out of an everlasting burning. Only He can snatch us from the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. Only He can snatch us from the darkest abyss and eternal torment.
Alma the Younger uses another very interesting word to describe his pain: racked. These are some things to remember when, later in the Book of Mormon, Alma the Younger recounts this experience while teaching and testifying to his sons.
Alma the Younger was born of God, born of the Spirit, changed, or, we might say, converted unto the Lord. This conversion to Jesus Christ is a major theme throughout the Book of Mormon, but it is also the major purpose of the Book of Mormon itself. No wonder, then, that Mormon includes the story of Alma’s conversion through Abinadi’s testimony, and Alma the Younger’s conversion through the angel’s testimony in the abridgment of his record. While most conversions to Jesus Christ are gradual and less conspicuous, we might wonder why these miraculous and almost immediate conversions are so central to the Book of Mormon.
The contrasts in Alma the Younger’s testimony, both here and later on in the Book of Mormon, are very stark. Darkness and light, pain and joy, death and birth. Interestingly, Alma the Younger confesses that, in essence, he had followed the path of the surrounding culture in Zarahemla, the culture of the rising generation that taught the youth to deny the coming of Christ, the resurrection, and to reject the righteous traditions of the fathers:
I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto aall.
Notice too that, like Nephi before him, Alma the Younger refers to Jesus Christ as “my Redeemer”. Whereas before the experience with the angel, Alma the Younger was part of the popular movement that denied the coming of Christ and righteous traditions of the fathers, after he was struck dumb and comatose with amazement, he spoke of the Lord and his relationship with the Lord in very personal and affectionate terms. He had a direct experience with Jesus Christ, and everything changed because of this experience.
Living and loving covenant commitments creates a connection with the Lord that is deeply personal and spiritually powerful. As we honor the conditions of sacred covenants and ordinances, we gradually and incrementally are drawn closer to Him13 and experience the impact of His divinity and living reality in our lives. Jesus then becomes much more than the central character in scripture stories; His example and teachings influence our every desire, thought, and action…
I have noted in these member responses a particular pattern that is especially significant. First and foremost, these disciples have firm testimonies of Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness and the role of Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior. And second, their spiritual knowledge and conviction are individual, personal, and specific; they are not general and abstract. I listen to these devoted souls speak of covenants providing strength to overcome opposition and their connection with the living Lord supporting them through times both good and bad. To these individuals, Jesus Christ indeed is a personal Savior.
Alma’s conversion was rapid and thorough, and his newfound testimony enabled him to prophesy of the last days. He and his friends, the sons of Mosiah began to preach the Gospel from that time forward, endeavoring to repair the damage that they previously had done. Alma and the sons of Mosiah became a great blessing to the Church that they had previously sought to destroy. They endured much persecution, and even physical aggression, from the unbelievers.
It seems that Alma the Younger’s group of apostate friends included more than just the sons of Mosiah, so that there were more people who saw and heard the angel. But Mormon focuses his narrative upon four of these friends in particular:
And four of them were the asons of Mosiah; and their names were Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni; these were the names of the sons of Mosiah. (Mosiah 27:34)
These are some of the greatest heroes of the Book of Mormon. We’ve seen the name Ammon already in the Book of Mormon, but this new Ammon proves to be one of the greatest missionaries of all time.
The repentance of Alma the Younger and his friends, particularly the four sons of Mosiah, was sincere and deep:
And they traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the apeople who were under the reign of king Mosiah, bzealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, cconfessing all their sins, and publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them.
And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer.
And how blessed are they! For they did apublish bpeace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth. (Mosiah 27:35-37)
Whenever Mormon uses the phrase “thus we see” or “thus,” we want to pay close attention. These words and phrases signal a spiritual lesson that Mormon derives from the narrative that he records in his abridgment. In this particular passage we learn that “thus” Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah “were instruments in the hands of God.” This is another significant theme in the Book of Mormon. What do instruments in the hands of God do? In this case, as instruments in the hands of God, Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah brought many to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And as we learned from Alma the Younger and Elder Bednar, knowledge of the Redeemer does not just mean knowledge about Jesus Christ. It means really knowing Him in the way that brings eternal life:
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)
This is eternal lives—to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law. (D&C 132:24)
Notice too that Mormon ties this conversion story into the conversion story of Alma the Elder because of the testimony of Abinadi, who explained the words of Isaiah:
And how blessed are they! For they did apublish bpeace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth. (Mosiah 27:37)