The record of Alma
The record of Alma is an important part of the Book of Mormon. It is the major source of the material in 44 chapters of the Book of Mormon. It begins after the conversion of Alma the Younger with Alma Chapter 1. Notice the preface paragraph at the beginning of the book of Alma which begins, The account of Alma, who was the son of Alma … Near the end of that paragraph, we read, … according to the record of Alma, …
I presume that all which we have been reading in the book of Alma since then has been taken from the “record of Alma” as edited and commented upon by Mormon. It appears that Mormon used the “record of Alma” extensively in his selection and abridgment of these materials. In several places, Mormon uses Alma’s own words and quotes him in the first person as he teaches. Notice that Mormon refers to the “record of Alma” at the beginnings of chapters 7, 9, and 17. The last reference to the “record of Alma” is found at the end of Alma chapter 44, And thus ended the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the record of Alma, which was written upon the plates of Nephi. (v. 24)
Next to Christ Himself, who is the central figure of the Book of Mormon, and perhaps Nephi, the first writer, Alma the Younger may be the most important contributor to the Book of Mormon. (Mormon, for whom the book is named, is obviously of critical importance to the book but does not directly contribute as many chapters of his own story and sermons as do Nephi or Alma.) Alma’s 44 chapters are more than that of any other prophet, including Nephi (if you exclude the Isaiah chapters in Nephi’s two books.)
We are nearing the close of Alma’s ministry. It is now the 18th year of the reign of the Judges over the people of Nephi (approximately 74 BC). Everything that we will read in the next two and a half Come, Follow Me lessons from Alma 36 through Alma 44 will happen in this one year.
Book of Mormon Video
I hope you’ll take time to view the Book of Mormon video for this week and next (Alma 36-42) in which Alma individually counsels his three sons, Helaman, Shiblon and Corianton. It is really well done! You can break it up and watch part this week and part next. The whole video takes about 17 minutes, but it is good to get the impact of his counsel to all three sons, rather than dividing up the video between two weeks. I really like how expressive the face is of the actor who plays Alma the Younger. He is really good! Watch his eyebrows. And I really like the tender interactions between Alma and each of his sons — their embraces and his straightforward but loving way of counseling them. He is a good example for fathers and grandfathers of how to teach our children and grandchildren. I was also fascinated in the video by depiction of the Plates of Nephi and the Plates of Brass and the boxes in which they were kept. And I’m always fascinated by any model of the Liahona. Here is the link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/alma-36-42
I presume there will be more Book of Mormon videos to be released, but I can’t find any beyond Alma 42 in the Gospel Library App or in the Media Library at churchofjesuschrist.org. We’ll watch for more to come.
Chiasmus in Alma 36
We’ve already talked quite a bit about chiasmus this year as we have encountered it in earlier parts of our study. But we’ve now come to the crown jewel of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Alma’s counsel to his son Helaman as found in Alma 36, especially his retelling of his conversion story, is, according to Brother John (Jack) Welch, Of all the passages in world literature that have ever been found to be chiastic, Alma 36 is among the very best examples of this form of composition. It truly ranks as a masterpiece of world religious literature. Later in his notes, he calls Alma 36 the greatest chiastic composition ever written. (https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/archive-files/pdf/welch/2020-07-17/alma_36-38_formatted.pdf)
I learned this week that chiasmus was used in ancient writing because they didn’t have punctuation. Chiastic writing helped to join ideas together and let the reader know when the idea was complete. As you should know by now, chiasmus relates to the Greek letter chi, which looks like an X. Chiastic writing is a form of parallelism in which the second part of the structure repeats the first part. This focuses the reader on the fulcrum or center part of the chiasm, which is the most important part.
There are some excellent resources for learning more about chiasmus, depending on the level of your interest and the amount of time you want to spend.
I found an 11-minute video by Stephen Ehat from Book of Mormon Central to be very helpful. He gives some background for chiasmus and explains its role in ancient literature and in the Book of Mormon. It is a good place to start to learn more. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/liSSK0exf40
Tyler Griffin and Taylor Halverson invited Jack Welch to join them this week for their Come Follow Me Insights YouTube lesson to discuss chiasmus and Alma 36. I also found it very interesting. Here is the link: ttps://youtu.be/eyqSi4HjESo. Tyler and Taylor found the comments by Brother Welch to be so good, that they published a second video on YouTube this week with more of their interaction with Bro. Welch. I found this interesting to watch, as well. There is some overlap with the first mentioned video but the second adds some additional ideas. Here is the link to the Welch – Chiasmus YouTube video: https://youtu.be/adXw26iODdQ
Brother Welch talks on these videos about how he discovered chiasmus in Mosiah 5 as a missionary in Germany in 1967. It made me wonder if he discovered it reading the Book of Mormon in German or in English. So, I sent an email and asked him the question. Here is his reply:
Richard,
Good question.
Yes, I first discovered the chiastic structures in King Benjamin's speech in German (there are two YouTube videos talking about that discovery on August 16, 1967). I later found that the German translators had obscured some of the chiastic passages as they translated the English into German, so what had looked good in German looked even better in the original English (see, for example, my discussion of Alma 41 in my JWW Notes on that chapter).
Chiasmus can be translated well into most languages, if the translator is aware of the structure and wants to preserve this underlying feature of the text.
Today the instructions given by the Church to all translators instructs them to preserve the chiastic and other parallelistic structures whenever possible.
Brother Welch
There is also good material on chiasmus in Brother Welch’s Notes for this week, including some diagrams of the chiastic structure of Alma 36. There is one diagram in color (Figure 2 John W. Welch and Greg Welch, “Chiasmus in Alma 36," in Charting the Book of Mormon, chart 132) which is especially good! Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to paste it into this blog post or an email. You’ll have to go find it for yourself. The link is above.
It is very interesting to read Alma 36 when diagrammed in chiastic structure. It becomes immediately apparent that the central, most important part of Alma’s message to his son (and to us) is contained in verses 17-18, when Alma turned to the Savior.
And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to 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.
Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
The turning point of Alma’s experience was when he thought of “one” Jesus Christ and cried out to Him. When you see it diagrammed out, it is even more apparent. More about that a little later.
Brother Welch also points out that Joseph and Oliver, translating at a rate of about 15 words a minute, had barely over an hour to translate Alma 36 and yet it is such an incredible masterpiece!
Moreover, assuming that Joseph dictated his translation of this intricate text to Oliver Cowdery at their normal average rate of about 15 words per minute, Joseph would have only had about one hour and twenty minutes to bring this text forth, going through it one time only, with no opportunity ever for revisions or adjustments. As I’ve said many times before, this is phenomenal. (Welch Notes)
The presence of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, especially as elegantly represented in Alma 36, is a powerful, irrefutable internal witness of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon!
Alma chapter 36
What good fathers do for their children
At the conclusion of chapter 35, we read, Alma, being grieved for the iniquity of his people, … his heart was exceedingly sorrowful. Therefore, he caused that his sons should be gathered together, that he might give unto them every one his charge, separately, concerning the things pertaining unto righteousness. And we have an account of his commandments, which he gave unto them according to his own record. (35:15-16).
Fathers teach and bless their children! Sometimes fathers default the teaching of their children to their wives, the mothers of the children, or to the Church (though less so in the current environment.) Fathers need to step up and fulfill their responsibility to teach their children the gospel and to counsel and bless them. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of the children. (The Family: A Proclamation to the World) It comes naturally for mothers to nurture their children, but it doesn’t always come naturally for fathers to teach their children. Alma is a great example of this.
Alma was a diligent and devoted father. He had worked and traveled with these sons. He trusted them among his missionary companions when he went to Antionum in an effort to correct the situation with the Zoramites there. Alma knew the needs and characters of each of these individual sons. While his words to them do not sound to our ears like patriarchal blessings, in an important way these chapters preserve the father’s blessings given by Alma to his boys. Alma the Elder was a good father to Alma the Younger, and he in turn was a faithful father to these three sons.
When Alma wrote out these lessons, he apparently took great thought and care for their wording and content. He certainly worked with the Spirit, and he also worked with his literary skills. He was giving his very best in every way, even though his remarks were likely only for his three sons. That is really the audience here, isn’t sit? One son for each of his three messages. What does that tell you about the time, preparation, and attention that we ought to give when we sit down to write a letter to our children? Would we be better parents if we wrote the kind of wisdom literature Alma gave to Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton?
Welch Notes
Alma’s conversion story
In 30 verses, Alma tells his son Helaman the story of his being stopped in his tracks by an angel and the mental, emotional and spiritual anguish he suffered for three days until he remembered his father speaking of “one” Jesus Christ “a” Son of God. When he thought of Christ and cried out to Him, Alma tells Helaman that I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. He then goes on in a parallel fashion to his description of his agony and pain before he reached out to Christ and contrasts it with the joy and peace he felt after crying to the Savior. These 30 verses are a classic! I don’t feel inclined to dissect them verse by verse. It seems almost disrespectful to do so, like dissecting the Lord’s Prayer, the Gettysburg Address or the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Instead I’ll make just a few observations about these verses.
Alma was in real pain after the visit of the angel and before he turned to the Savior. The imagery of being harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins is graphic.[1] A farmer uses a harrow to break up the soil and make it more amenable for planting. I don’t know if they used the rack for torture in Alma’s time, but in Medieval times, the rack was a device for stretching the body of the victim and inflicting excruciating pain. And yet, after turning to Christ, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! He continues the contrast, there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. … on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
Note that it was not until Alma in his frenzied, tormented mind remembered that his father had prophesied of "one" Jesus Christ, "a" Son of God (The use of those words shows that Alma certainly was not acquainted with Christ personally at the time of his conversion.) and called upon Jesus Christ that he found relief. When he connected with Christ, he could remember his pains no more. It wasn't that he could remember his sins no more. I'm sure he retained a memory of his sins for the rest of his life, but the pain and anguish of his sinful life was taken from him by Christ.[2]
I, the Lord, remember them no more
I believe that the scripture in D&C 58:42, Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more, is incorrectly interpreted by many people. They think that, if they can still remember their sins, they haven't been forgiven for them. But it is the "pain" of our sins which "harrows" up our souls that is removed from us by the atonement of Christ, not the memory. In fact, there is protective value in retaining a memory of our sins, so that we hopefully won't make the same mistakes again.
As a priesthood leader, I’ve had people who are struggling to repent express the feeling that they must not be forgiven because they can still remember their sins. That’s not how it works. We will remember some of our sins for the rest of our lives, but the Savior takes away the pain. That’s when we know that we have been forgiven and it can come early in the repentance process. Many people think that sinning and then repenting are like hiking to the bottom of a deep canyon and then hiking back out, that going down is easy but it is much, much harder coming up. But that’s not how it is. Just turning around, turning to the Savior, is halfway home. As we climb up from the bottom of the canyon of sin, we climb with the Savior. Sometimes, He even carries us. Like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), who after he came to himself, turned around and began the journey home, when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are waiting for us to repent. As soon as we turn around, They are there to walk with us and, when necessary, even carry us.
Well-meaning teachers, in referring to the scripture above from D&C 58, teach that the Savior “forgets” our sins when we repent of them. I believe that is a misinterpretation of the scripture. It doesn’t say that He “forgets our sins”; the scripture says that He “remembers them no more.” Remembering is an active mental process. The Savior has such complete, perfect control over His memory that He chooses not to remember our sins. I don't think that the Savior has holes like Swiss cheese in His memory from all of the sins of the people which He has forgiven and forgotten. He knows all things and hasn't actually forgotten anything. Rather, I believe that He actively and lovingly chooses not to “remember” our sins, meaning not to think about them or bring them up. He has such control over His mind that when He sees us at the judgment bar, He will not recall or mention to us the sins of which we have repented, sins for which He has paid the price and forgiven us. When I meet Him one day, I don’t expect Him to say, “Wow, Rich, we went through some tough ones together! Remember the time you …? I didn’t know if you were going to make it that time, but I’m glad you did!” No, I don’t expect Him to even mention sins from which I have repented and for which He has paid the price.
We also will remember them no more
There is a corollary to this doctrine that I’d like to share here because it may be helpful to someone who may read this someday. I believe that one day, we will, like the Savior, also have complete control over our minds and what we choose to remember. I recall having a temple recommend interview with a good brother who had struggled to overcome and had repented of his pornography addiction. He was worthy of the temple recommend I had just signed. After handing it to him, he said, “But, president, I am still troubled by images from the past. Sometimes they come into my mind when I don’t want to recall them. Will I always be troubled by them?” I quoted to him this verse from D&C 58 and promised him that one day, he, like the Savior, will “remember them no more.” He will have complete control over his mind and one of the gifts of the atonement of the Savior to him and all repentant sinners is that, like the Savior, he will “remember them no more.” As I said that to him, a thought I’d never had before and was put into my mind, I believe, by the Spirit, I knew it was true. Alma warned the people of Zarahemla that, if they didn’t repent, they would have a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness. (Alma 5:18) On the other hand, if we have truly repented of our sins, we will “remember them [our sins and wickedness] no more.”
We don’t have to repent of our weaknesses
Another observation I'd like to make about repentance is that we don't have to repent of our weaknesses. (This concept, a powerful truth, was first taught to me by Wendy Ulrich, a contemporary LDS author and psychologist.) We repent of our sins and they are forgiven through the mercy of the atonement of Christ. The atonement is also for our weaknesses, but we don't have to repent of our weaknesses. Rather, our weaknesses make us humble and, if we come to Christ, He will make us strong through His grace (His enabling power). (See Ether 12:27)
There is a spectrum in our lives of effects of the Fall the extends from sin (our choices that violate commandments of God) on one extreme to weakness (aspects of our lives which are not because of our choices, such as physical or mental illness, depression, etc.) at the other extreme. All of the effects of the Fall in our lives are on this spectrum. Some are more toward the sin end of the spectrum - things we do wrong over which we have control but do them anyway. Some are more toward the weakness end of the spectrum - things about ourselves that are a problem for us but not because of our choices. The atonement of Christ is sufficient for the whole spectrum. The Savior descended below them all! (D&C 122:8)
Some aspects of the Fall in our life may begin as sin and end up as a weakness, such as an addiction. It may begin as a willful violation of the Word of Wisdom but end up as a weakness which the addicted smoker, alcoholic or drug user hates in himself or herself but can't conquer, except by the enabling power of the atonement (grace). On the other hand, a person may discover that they have same gender attraction, a weakness, of no choice of their own, but it is not a sin unless they act upon it and violate the law of chastity. Again, the atonement is sufficient for the whole spectrum.
A simple way to think of the difference between mercy and grace is as follows: Mercy is when we don’t get the things (punishment) we do deserve. On the other hand, grace is when we do get the things (enabling power) which we don’t deserve. Both grace and mercy come because of the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ individually applied in each of our lives. The sum of grace and mercy through the power of the atonement of Christ is sufficient to overcome all of the effects of the Fall in our lives. Oh, it is wonderful!
Alma is the poster child of being born again
After his three days and three nights of suffering and repenting, Alma finally arose. He later tells his son, Helaman, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.
I have said before that, if Nephi is the poster child of obedience (and he is!), then Alma the Younger is the poster child of being born again (and he is!). His experience is the classic model of spiritual rebirth. Like Saul of Tarsus, who was also born again and became Paul the Apostle and missionary, Alma is a model of the process of spiritual rebirth.
But there is one caution to express here. President Benson said it best, We must be cautious as we discuss these remarkable examples. Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception more than the rule. For every Paul, [for every Alma], for every Enos, and for every King Lamoni, there are hundreds and thousands of people who find the process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the Lord, little realizing they are building a godlike life.” (“A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, October 1989, p. 5.)
President Kimball made a similar statement applying it to the process of revelation, The burning bushes, the smoking mountains, … the Cumorahs, and the Kirtlands were realities; but they were the exceptions. The great volume of revelation came to Moses and to Joseph and comes to today’s prophet in the less spectacular way — that of deep impressions, without spectacle or glamour or dramatic events. Always expecting the spectacular, many will miss entirely the constant flow of revealed communication. (Spencer W. Kimball, Munich Germany Area Conference, 1973, 77.)
The experience of Alma the Younger, as recounted in Mosiah 27, Alma 36 and Alma 38, is spectacular to be sure! But we don’t have to have an experience like his to be truly born again. As Pres. Kimball implied, if we are “always expecting the spectacular”, we may miss many of the most important spiritual moments and opportunities for spiritual growth in our lives. I’ve never had an experience like that of Alma the Younger in my life, but I, like Alma, have been born again, born of the Spirit, born of Christ, who is the Father of my spiritual rebirth. The creation of the earth included the creation of “great rivers and small streams.” Alma is a great river. I am a small stream by comparison. But we are both part of the miracle of God’s work on this earth. And you are, too! Most, if not all of you who are reading this now, have been born again. You have not likely had an experience like Alma’s, but I suspect you can point to experiences in your life, as I can in mine, when you have felt the “touch of the Master’s hand” and your life has been changed. Hang on to those experiences and stay on the covenant path. If you do, you and Alma will one day end up in the same glorious place. I hope to be there with you!
Alma chapter 37
Helaman commanded to care for the plates and other precious treasures
Having told his conversation story in elegant, chiastic detail to Helaman, Alma now turns to business. Helaman will be his successor as high priest of the Church and keeper of the sacred records and other sacred treasures.
By the way, we learn later (Alma 50:37-38) that Nephihah, the second chief judge, died, having filled the judgment-seat with perfect uprightness before God. Nevertheless, he had refused Alma to take possession of those records and those things which were esteemed by Alma and his fathers to be most sacred; therefore Alma had conferred them upon his son, Helaman.
Alma tried to give the records to Nephihah so they would be passed down in the lineage of the chief judges, but Nephihah refused. Our Book of Mormon would be quite different today if he had not refused. Gratefully, the records were kept by an unbroken lineage of prophets from Alma to Moroni and we are blessed by their writings and Mormon’s abridgment thereof.
The Welch Notes for this week include an excellent graphic chart of all of the record keepers of the Book of Mormon from Nephi to Moroni. I’ve given you the reference to Welch’s Notes above. Since I can’t copy that figure into this blog post/email, I will reproduce a portion of it for you. I hope you will find it useful. I learned a lot by studying this chart. You may learn something, too. I hope that the columns and spacing will work on the device you are using to view this. The chart in Welch’s Notes begins with Nephi (1), but I will begin with Alma (1), the father of Alma the Younger. You can look up the chart to go backward from Alma (1), if you want. Here we go:
Record Keeper Appox. Dates Approx. Age at Death
Alma(1) 120-91 BC 83
Alma (2) 91-73 BC 55 (translated?)
Helaman (2) 73 - 57 BC 40
Shiblon 57-53 BC 42
Helaman (3) 53-39 BC 37
Nephi (2) 39 BC – 1 AD 67 (in 13 AD)
Nephi (3) 1 – 60 AD 90
Nephi (4) 60-110 AD ?
Amos (1) 110 – 194 AD 104
Amos (2) 194 – 305 AD 131
Ammaron 305 – 320 AD 130 (plates were hidden for 15 years)
Mormon (2) 335 – 385 AD 90 (killed by Lamanites in 401 AD)
Moroni (2) 385 – 421 AD 61 (“soon go to rest” 421 AD)
I hope you find that chart helpful. Notice how short the lifespans of these record keepers were before the coming of Christ and how long they were during the “mini-Millennium” after His ministry among these people. You might wonder about some of the numbers after the names of some of the keepers of the plates as I did. I had to look some of them up to find out that, for instance, Mormon’s father was also named Mormon. (Mormon 1:5)
By small and simple things
In speaking about the Plates of Brass, Alma says to Helaman, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; … the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
One of the errors of the Jews at the time of Jesus was their propensity for “looking beyond the mark.” Jacob wrote, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark. (Jacob 4:14) We need to be careful to not be like they were. Sometimes, we look beyond the small, simple but important things in our lives and focus on big issues about which we can do nothing. I once heard the advice to “think globally but act locally.” It’s ok for us to be aware of large issues in the world around us, a viral pandemic, racial tension, etc., but, if we allow ourselves to be consumed in those things to the exclusion of the important relationships nearest to us in our own homes and families, then we are looking beyond the mark.
Elder Cook, while still a Seventy, gave a great talk on this idea and warned about pursuing gospel hobbies and the philosophies of men. Here is the link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2003/03/looking-beyond-the-mark
Millet and McConkie also provide some excellent insight on this point in their Commentary on these verses:
“We observe vast, sweeping world events,” Elder M. Russell Ballard remarked; “however, we must remember that the purposes of the Lord in our personal lives generally are fulfilled through the small and simple things, and not the momentous and spectacular” (Ensign, May 1990, p. 6). We must remember that “the lengthy trek to Zion is accomplished one step at a time. Just as we do not generally bound into the celestial kingdom after only a brief mortal experience and testing, so also we do not qualify to be called a disciple of Christ by monumental moves alone. . . .
Well might we ask: If the Prophet Joseph had asked me to journey to Missouri, would I have gone? If the Lord had called me to serve as an Apostle, would I have accepted? If I were asked to tend the children or grandchildren of the members of the First Presidency, would I hesitate? If I had been bidden to attend the School of the Prophets, would I take along my scriptures, study and prepare ahead of time, and attend regularly? If my call to serve as a home or visiting teacher had come to me through an open vision, would I accept? Would I be faithful?” (Robert L. Millet, An Eye Single to the Glory of God, pp. 73, 76.)
“You can put it down in your little black book,” Elder Boyd K. Packer has warned us, “that if you will not be loyal in the small things, you will not be loyal in the large things. If you will not respond to the so-called insignificant or menial tasks which need to be performed in the Church and Kingdom, there will be no opportunity for service in the so-called greater challenges. A man who says he will sustain the President of the Church or the General Authorities, but cannot sustain his own bishop, is deceiving himself. The man who will not sustain the bishop of his ward and the president of his stake will not sustain the President of the Church.” (“Follow the Brethren,” BYU Speeches of the Year, 1965, pp. 4–5, italics added.)
President Joseph F. Smith observed, “To do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness” (Gospel Doctrine, pp. 285–86).
In this context, the so-called “Sunday School answers” of study, pray, attend church, keep the commandments, etc. really do make sense. The counsel from our current stake leaders in the stake where we live in Holladay, UT, is to devote ourselves to “daily discipleship.” What excellent advice! When I was interviewed by Elders Zwick and Pingree in 2007 as one of several brethren being considered for leadership in a new stake presidency, they asked me what I thought the stake members needed. My answer then (and still is) was that we need to return to and focus on the basics in our lives – meaningful prayer, conscientious gospel study, worshipful Sabbath observance, faithful temple attendance and diligent effort to live the gospel in our personal lives and homes – the “small and simple things.”
Wise counsel from a loving father
Alma had considered carefully what he would like to say to Helaman. He even wrote it down (before giving it or after.) And aren’t we grateful that he did!
He had important things to tell Helaman about the Plates of Brass, about the interpreters, the Liahona and the 24 gold plates of Ether. He gave all of these sacred artifacts to Helaman for his safe keeping with the counsel see that ye take care of these sacred things. They were safely kept by Helaman and a succession of prophets until the time of Moroni, who showed at least some of them to Joseph Smith and the Three Witnesses. Someday, they will probably be on display in the Church History Museum or some other safe place where they can be viewed by all who wish to see them. But for now, we accept the testimony of other witnesses that they really do still exist. I certainly believe they do!
I’ll close my comments on Alma’s words to Helaman by quoting this wonderful advice from a father to a worthy son, and to all of us:
O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.
Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
I’m not sure a mortal father ever gave his son better advice. I know from personal experience that, when we counsel with the Lord, He will direct us for good. I just need to learn to counsel with Him “in all [my] doing.” Too often, I rely on the “arm of flesh” and try to figure it out for myself.
Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers. (D&C 112:10)
At the close of his tender interview with Helaman, in the Book of Mormon video, they embrace as father and son and Alma asks Helaman to invite his brother, Shiblon, to come in.
Alma chapter 38
Alma’s counsel to his son Shiblon
We can learn a lot from some of the lesser-known figures in the Book of Mormon – Sam, the older but lesser known brother of Nephi, Lehi the worthy but younger brother of Nephi, (sons of Helaman) and Shiblon, the second son of Alma. As a lesser known younger brother, I can relate, and I’m fine with it. Not many of us will ever be a Nephi or an Alma, but we can be like Sam or Shiblon (or their female counterparts.) We can learn important things from Alma’s counsel to his second son, Shiblon.
Notice first that Alma’s counsel was individualized for each of his sons. Each received very different counsel. Alma knows his son Shiblon well! Take note of the positive adjectives he applies to Shiblon at the beginning of his counsel to his son. Alma describes him as: steady, faithful, diligent, patient, and long-suffering – all good qualities! We learn that Shiblon was stoned by the wicked Zoramites while on his mission there with his father and brother. I had wondered about that short segment in the Book of Mormon video that showed a young missionary jumping over a wall while Zoramites were throwing rocks at him. It turns out that the missionary was Shiblon and the segment shows up again in the video for this week as Alma counsels Shiblon.
Alma gives his son a powerful patriarchal promise, As much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day. Wonderful promise! I believe that it is true for us as well as for him.
Alma then recounts for his son, as he did for Helaman, the story of his conversion adding this testimony of Christ: There is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.
Because he knows him well, this loving father also has some cautionary counsel for his son Shiblon. I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things. See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength. 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.
It appears that Shiblon may be struggling a bit with pride and overbearance. His loving father has observed this in his son and cautions him to beware of these pitfalls.
Bridle all your passions
What an interesting phrase, Alma’s counsel to “bridle all your passions!” He didn’t tell Shiblon to extinguish all his passions but to “bridle” them. To bridle a horse is to put a bit in its mouth so its head can be turned with the reins to guide it where to go. Similarly, young people (especially hormone-rich young men) need to put the “bit in the mouth” of their passions so they can control them and direct them for good. You may be familiar with the famous quote by Will and Ariel Durant,
A youth boiling with hormones will wonder why he should not give full freedom to his sexual desires; and if he is unchecked by custom, morals, or laws, he may ruin his life before he matures sufficiently to understand that sex is a river of fire that must be banked and cooled by a hundred restraints if it is not to consume in chaos both the individual and the group.
The Lessons of History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968), pp. 35–36
We will talk next week about Alma’s advice to his third son, Corianton, who had trouble controlling this “river of fire.”
Imagine what it would mean to our society if all youth and adults could and would “bridle all their passions” to control this “river of fire” and keep it “within the bounds the Lord has set.” It would mean no infidelity in marriage, no promiscuity in youth before marriage or in single adults, no pornography, no sexual abuse of children or others, no incest, no lust, no prostitution, no sex trafficking, no sexually transmitted diseases, far fewer divorces and far few broken homes and broken hearts.
Perhaps inspired by next week’s Come, Follow Me lesson from the Book of Mormon, the Ensign for the month of August focuses on “Talking About Sexuality from a Gospel Perspective” and includes several helpful and appropriate articles, including an excellent article by our good friends and neighbors, Elder Dale and Sister Ruth Renlund. Isn’t it wonderful that our Church is open about such an important subject and provides excellent resources to help parents appropriately and thoughtfully teach and counsel their children in this most important area!
Alma’s final counsel to his son Shiblon is, may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be sober. My son, farewell.
From all we can tell, Shiblon stays faithful and follows his father’s counsel. As seen in the chart above, he became custodian of the plates for a brief period of time between the stewardships of Helaman (2) and his son Helaman (3). Shiblon is later mentioned among other righteous brethren leading the Church in Alma 49:30. And shortly before he dies, Mormon writes of Shiblon, He was a just man, and he did walk uprightly before God; and he did observe to do good continually, to keep the commandments of the Lord his God; and also did his brother. (By the way, this last reference is interesting. It probably applies to Corianton, indicating to us that he had repented and was on the gospel path at this time. More about him next week.)
Final thoughts
Aren’t we grateful that Alma was a diligent father and gave inspired counsel to his sons? And aren’t we grateful that he was conscientious enough to write down that counsel for our benefit?
Aren’t we grateful for the discovery of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon as a powerful, irrefutable witness of its authenticity? And aren’t we grateful for the preservation of the sacred records through generations of faithful record keepers, kings and prophets so that we might have the benefit of this most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion in order that we might get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book? (Introduction to the Book of Mormon)
I’m grateful for the Book of Mormon, for the faithful record keepers who recorded their stories, counsel and testimonies, for the Prophet Mormon who organized it with a vision of our day and its challenges and for the Prophet Joseph and his scribes who brought it to us in our day. I know that it is true. I don’t know everything about the archeology, geography or anthropology of the Book of Mormon lands and peoples, but my witness of its truth comes from the unimpeachable source of the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon is true! And the truth is the truth – regardless of where we stand in relation to it!
Thanks for reading!
Richard
Endnotes
The violation of God’s law requires punishment. In so saying we but echo the testimony of Lehi and Alma, who both reasoned that unless a penalty followed the breaking of divine law, the law would be nothing more than the figment of someone’s imagination. (See 2 Nephi 2:10–13; Alma 42:16–18.) Modern revelation assures us that this is the case, declaring that the unrepentant must suffer even as Christ suffered. “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink” (D&C 19:18).
What, then, of those who accept Jesus as the Christ and allow his infinite and eternal sacrifice to stand in the stead of the suffering just described? Are such excused from all suffering? Contrary to much in the Christian world tradition, the answer is no. True repentance, which centers in faith in Christ and his atoning sacrifice, still requires sufficient suffering on the part of those desiring to repent to make them one in mind and soul with the Savior. The blessings of salvation, though freely given, cannot be wholly undeserved. In all things we must unite our best effort with him who sacrificed all. The testimony of holy writ is that without suffering there is no repentance.
Millet & McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon
True repentance requires that we surrender the memory of the sin, not in the sense that we are without the knowledge that we once transgressed but rather in the sense that we have laid down the burden, that our confidence might now wax strong in the presence of the Lord (see 2 Nephi 10:20). If Alma was without any memory whatsoever of his sin, he could not have given this recitation to Helaman. We must retain sufficient memory of the pain to avoid a repetition of the suffering. Still, as we grow in the things of the Spirit, that which is forgiven is to be forgotten. It is not true repentance when we cling to a sensuous memory in whose mental replaying we find delight. “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them.” (D&C 58:42–43.)
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
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