Book of Mormon 2020 - Alma 36-38

I first wrote about Alma 36 to 39 in 2016. This is the link to that post: https://gospeldoctrine2016.blogspot.com/2016/09/book-of-mormon-29-give-ear-to-my-words.html.

Alma 36 to 38 consist of Alma’s instruction and counsel to his sons Helaman and Shiblon. Alma 36 is a chiasmus. I explained chiasmus in a previous Book of Mormon lesson looking at King Benjamin’s speech in Mosiah 4 to 6. This can be found at: https://gospeldoctrine2016.blogspot.com/2020/05/book-of-mormon-2020-mosiah-4-to-6.html

The video below is well worth watching. It explains how chiasmus was first found in the Book of Mormon.

To explain a chiasmus is quite difficult. It has a specific shape and literary boundaries. The centre of the chiasmus will have two words/phrases that are the same appearing in both lines. Then above and below the centre will be inverted patterns with a well-balanced symmetry, based on major keywords and phrases. If you look at the diagram below you can see Alma 36 set out in a way that demonstrates the chiasmus.

In Alma 36, Alma recalls the story of his conversion to his son Helaman. The very centre of the chiasmus is Jesus Christ, the son of God. At the point (Alma 36:17) where he was harrowed by the “pains of a damned soul” and “the memory of his sins”, he had a recollection, “I…have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world”. He cried out to Jesus Christ to have mercy and he felt the flood of pure light that led him to know that his sins had been forgiven. An interesting comparison is between verse 14 and verse 22. Before Alma pleaded for forgiveness, he said, “the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror”; yet, after he repented, he saw “God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels…yea, and my soul did long to be there”. What a transformation! I thought a lot about where I was on a continuum between verse 14 and verse 22. In Don’t miss this in the Book of Mormon (2019), by David Butler and Emily Freeman, we read, “Perhaps if we feel like the old Alma, uncomfortable with the thought of being in His presence, then we have something more to learn about who He truly is and how all-encompassing His mercy can be. When we come to truly know Him, our hearts will long to be with Him”.

I thought about the question, what blessings do I hope for? In a perfect world, I would love my children to be active in church, my mother to be healthy, and I would like to be fully employed. Of course, my ideal job would be to work for the church, but those jobs are few and far between. At this point in time, I would like to just have a job! I have no high ambitions for the eternities because I do not believe I am good enough. I have failed my children. I did not set as good an example for them as I should have. I would like to serve in some capacity in the eternities. I do not aspire to be like God. I just want to serve. I want my family but, at this rate, that is the one thing I will not have.

Alma 37 continues the counsel of Alma to his son Helaman. Alma provides instruction for taking care of the sacred records. “Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and handed 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 mysteries contained thereon” (Alma 37:4). The blessings of scripture are illustrated in the simple but beautiful Primary hymn, As I search the holy scriptures, shown below, as well as in the little church video called The blessing of scripture.

I discovered a random slide on Google and it made me think a lot about Alma 37. It can be seen here. It suggests there are patterns in Alma 37. I will deal with the positive pattern because this is meaningful to me personally. In Alma 37:6 we read, “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass”. I remember there were times as a youth in the church where my small effort at missionary work led to miracles. One incident occurred with my school history teacher. I remember he was a brilliant man with an in-depth knowledge of Biblical history and scripture. I challenged him to read the Book of Mormon. He said that he would if I could have a conversation with him and answer his questions from scriptures in the Bible, without using the Book of Mormon. I was 14 years old and I did not have a great knowledge of the Bible, so I prayed and prayed and prayed some more! I remember the hour I spent with my teacher. Every question he asked me, I turned to a relevant scripture in the Bible. I know I was not opening the scriptures myself. But the answers were there. The Spirit made sure that every question had an answer. My teacher read the Book of Mormon and said he could not find fault with it. I have no idea if he ever joined the church, but he did receive spiritual confirmation of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The little YouTube video below shows an example of the truth of Alma 37:6. It recalls The simple miracle that helped the Whitmers further the Book of Mormon.

I love the scripture about scriptures found in Alma 37:8. It mentions that the scriptures “have enlarged the memory of this people”. Reading from the scriptures daily will benefit us spiritually, intellectually, and even physically. ‘Enlarge’ is a physical process. It suggests we can literally enlarge not just our spirits but the capacity of our brains to learn. Brother John Bytheway, in his weekly Come Follow Me podcast, recalls one of his Mission President’s favourite sayings, “Wise people learn from experience. Super wise people learn from the experience of others”. So, if we want to be ‘super wise’ we should take every opportunity to learn from the experiences of others in the Book of Mormon.

Alma’s words to his son Shiblon were much briefer than his words to Helaman. Shiblon had been faithful through a challenging mission. In Alma 38:4 we read, “For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee”. Alma outlined his conversion. He then counselled his son to continue as a missionary teaching the word of God to the people. Brother John Bytheway recalled hearing Elder Neil A. Maxwell speak on Alma 38:12. Elder Maxwell stated that if you could compress the entire Missionary Handbook into one verse of scripture, it would be this one, “Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness”. This is great counsel for any missionary and any member. Perhaps there are areas in our lives where we need to be bolder and others where we need greater patience and forbearing.

The counsel Alma gave to his sons contains so much that we can apply to our lives to make us better people and better Saints. The messages Alma delivered to his sons are still being delivered today by our wonderful prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. His tweet below guides us towards eternal peace and happiness.