Book of Mormon 2020 - Alma 32-35

In 2016, I wrote a post about this week’s scriptures. If you would like to read this post, you can find it on this link: https://gospeldoctrine2016.blogspot.com/2016/09/nook-of-mormon-28-word-is-in-christ.html

I have a great appreciation of both Alma and Amulek. They were great missionaries and taught profound doctrine. Yet they were also genuine and caring and loved the people they taught. They did not just teach in the synagogues but also on the streets. Many people were not allowed to worship in the synagogues. The reason was they were “esteemed as filthiness; therefore they were poor; yea, they were esteemed by their brethren as dross” (Alma 32:3). This is stunning in its arrogance that the synagogue was reserved for those with wealth who could dress in fine clothing and jewellery. Alma and Amulek were content to teach these people in all places. In fact, Alma was teaching on the hill Onidah when a large group of the poor came to listen to him preach. “And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word” (Alma 32:6).

I gained a great understanding of Alma 32 and 33, by listening to the talk by John Bytheway called ‘Weed your brain. Grow your testimony’. This talk appears below (almost an hour, but worth every second!) Brother Bytheway talks about the Parable of the Sower. He suggests that there are four parts to the parable, as follows:

Part 1 deals with the soil. This is found in Matthew 13.

Part 2 deals with the seed. This is covered in Alma 32 and 33.

Part 3 deals with the season. This is also in Alma 32 and 33.

Part 4 deals with the supper and the Tree of Life (Alma 33:40).

Alma encouraged the people to experiment on his words (Alma 32:27), i.e. to allow a seed to be planted in their hearts. The desire to know the truth would allow the seed (the word) to have a place to grow. In verse 28 Alma said, “Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me”. This is the long answer to the question, how do you know if the seed is good. Brother Bytheway suggests a quick way to remember this answer:

There is a much easier answer to the question about knowing if the seed is good. This is found in Alma 32:32, “Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away”. 

Alma 32:37-39 moves on to Part 3 of Brother Bytheway’s interpretation of the Parable of the Sower, i.e. the season. If the tree is not nourished it will not bear fruit. In the hot sun, the tree will never bear fruit “because it hath no root it withers away” (Alma 32:37). Then in verse 40, he mentions that “if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life”. It is not good enough to merely taste the fruit. In Lehi’s dream there were those who ate the fruit but still fell away. “And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost” (1 Nephi 8:28). We need to eat the fruit until we are full.

Brother Bytheway talks about gardening. It is not easy to grow a garden. I have a ‘Vegepod’. This is supposed to be an easy way of gardening, but I am surprised by how much work and care is needed even in this controlled environment. Brother Bytheway mentioned three things that a gardener can guarantee:

1. If you want good things, you must put them there.
2. Unwanted things will come out of nowhere.
3. Weeds/pests will come back constantly.

This is so true. I made sure I planted some lovely seeds and small plants (herbs, vegetables) and we have been using these things in some very delicious meals. Unwanted things do seem to appear out of nowhere. Despite my Vegepod having a covering, these tiny little insects sneak under the cover and eat the herbs. I have had no problem with weeds, but the pests are so frustrating. I need to learn and have faith that I can master the process. Brother Bytheway emphasised the same thing as Alma, that the seed must be nourished through faith. In Alma 33:22-23, Alma states that the seed, the belief that the Son of God will redeem, atone, be resurrected, and judge at the judgement day, will swell and be nourished by faith and “become a tree, springing up into everlasting life”.

In Alma 34, Amulek taught the people three key doctrines: the importance of an infinite and eternal atonement; how to pray; and not to procrastinate repentance. The first key doctrine is expressed in Alma 34:10, which states, “For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice… it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice”. It must be an infinite atonement to overcome infinite death and only an infinite being could accomplish this end, the Son of God. Amulek demonstrated that true worship is centred on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He emphasised that all men, whether rich or poor, were lost without Christ’s Atonement and had as much right to Christ’s redeeming power.

The second key doctrine is very close to my heart. We need to pray always. We can pray anywhere, and we can pray about anything. I know the Lord hears and answers my prayers. I have had so many miraculous witnesses in my life to the power of prayer. I learned to pray as a young child, and I have relied on prayer ever since. The following YouTube video is a delightful look at how children explain prayer.

In Alma 34: 33 we are presented with the third key doctrine, “do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed”. This scripture is always a good wake-up call. It is a reminder to make use of Christ’s Atonement in our lives and follow the process of repentance. President Russell M. Nelson sums up repentance so simply and clearly.

We cannot go wrong of we follow the counsel of our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. In a talk at the April 2019 General Conference he said, “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process.” I pray that we may follow the process and the wise words of our prophet by experiencing the strengthening power of daily repentance; of doing and being a little better each day.