Three Previously Unnoticed Things
Book of Mormon Notes - Friday, August 25, 2023, Alma 16
There are several things that I’ve never really noticed before in the Book of Mormon in this chapter. The first is that there was a great Nephite military leader named Zoram, probably named after the original Zoram who chose to follow Lehi’s family into the wilderness. Zoram’s sons were Lehi and Aha. Great names.
Zoram wisely sought Alma’s direction for his military campaigns against the Lamanites. Alma’s prayers, and his inquiry of the Lord, were answered yet again, and he informed Zoram where the Lamanites would cross the River Sidon.
Another thing that I had never really noticed before is that Zoram, Lehi, and Aha rescued every Nephite who had been taken captive by those Lamanites at the River Sidon. There was not one soul of them had been lost that were taken captive. That’s amazing.
Meanwhile, Ammonihah, that great city whose inhabitants considered it to be invincible, was destroyed by the Lamanites in one day, and it was utter destruction.
One final thing in this chapter that I had never really noticed previously is that Alma and Amulek and their fellow missionaries prophesied specifically that the Lord would appear to the Nephites after his Resurrection. At first, Alma didn’t know exactly when Jesus Christ would come, he just knew that Jesus Christ would come:
Behold, I do not say that he will come among us at the time of his dwelling in his mortal tabernacle; for behold, the Spirit hath not said unto me that this should be the case. Now as to this thing I do not know; but this much I do know, that the Lord God hath power to do all things which are according to his word. (Alma 7:8)
But by this point (Alma 16) in the Book of Mormon narrative it had been revealed that Christ would visit the Nephites after His Resurrection:
And many of the people did inquire concerning the place where the Son of God should come; and they were taught that he would aappear unto them bafter his resurrection; and this the people did hear with great joy and gladness. (Alma 16:20)
As Christ’s coming approached, there were more specific prophecies about the time and location of His coming. It makes sense that the same will be true for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
This reminds me of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s teaching regarding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and a correction of one of the most common interpretations of the scriptures concerning the Second Coming of Christ:
Christ says, 'No man knoweth the day or the hour when the Son of Man cometh.' … Did Christ speak this as a general principle throughout all generations? Oh no; he spoke in the present tense. No man that was then living upon the footstool of God knew the day or the hour. But he did not say that there was no man throughout all generations that should know the day or the hour. No, for this would be in flat contradiction with other scripture, for the prophet says that God will do nothing but what he will reveal unto his servants the prophets [ Amos 3:7]. Consequently, if it is not made known to the prophets it will not come to pass.