S2 E5 (June 29-July 5) “They Never Did Fall Away”
Song featured in this week's episode is "Oh That I Were An Angel" by Dallin McAllister.
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When the king of the Lamanites declared that the word of God should “have no obstruction” among his people (see Alma 23:1–5), he opened the door to great blessings for them. As you read Alma 23–29, look for these blessings.
Blessings I saw:
Removal of the curse:
What was the curse: 2 Nephi 5:20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.
21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity
Nephi prophecies of the removal:
2 Nephi 30: 5 And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among athem; wherefore, bthey shall be restored unto the cknowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers.
6 And then shall they rejoice; for they shall aknow that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their bscales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a cdelightsome people.
7 And it shall come to pass that the aJews which are scattered also shall bbegin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people.
Curse removed: Alma 23:18 And they began to be a very aindustrious people; yea, and they were friendly with the Nephites; therefore, they did bopen a correspondence with them, and the ccurse of God did no more follow them.
They are blessed to know the goodness and mercy of God and the plan of salvation, angels visit them:
Alma 24: 14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our asouls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the bplan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.
15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us ahide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us bclean thereby.
They understood the true reason for the Law of Moses: Alma 25:15 Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the alaw of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a btype of his coming, and believing that they must keep those coutward dperformances until the time that he should be revealed unto them.
16 Now they did not suppose that asalvation came by the blaw of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a chope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come.
They were redeemed from their sins:
Alma 2614 Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the achains of hell.
15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting adarkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting blight, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.
The Nephites forgave them and gave them land and protected them:
Alma 27:22 And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the aland of bJershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance.
23 And behold, we will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi, that we may aprotect our brethren in the land Jershon; and this we do for our brethren, on account of their fear to take up arms against their brethren lest they should commit sin; and this their great fear came because of their sore repentance which they had, on account of their many murders and their awful wickedness.
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As you ponder the changes in the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, consider how your own conversion to Christ is changing you. What do you feel you still need to change so that the gospel can have greater power in your life?
Put down my weapons of rebellion
6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working amiracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were bconverted unto the Lord, cnever did fall away.
7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren.
Keep busy, be friendly and serve others
18 And they began to be a very aindustrious people; yea, and they were friendly with the Nephites; therefore, they did bopen a correspondence with them, and the ccurse of God did no more follow them.
I need to hold fast to the covenants and promises I’ve made to my Heavenly Father
18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they anever would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and bcovenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would cgive up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.
19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to abelieve and to know the truth, they were bfirm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.
Look at the commandments and covenants I’ve made as ways to keep me closer to Christ and my Heavenly Father.
16 Now they did not suppose that asalvation came by the blaw of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a chope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come.
Have zeal towards God and towards men. Be honest and upright in all things and firm in the faith of Christ even unto the end.
27 And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their azeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly bhonest and upright in all things; and they were cfirm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.
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What do you find in Alma 24:7–19 and 26:17–22 that helps you understand His mercy?
Alma 26:20 Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting agulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls.
As you read, you might think about these things: the ways you have been invited to repent, your experiences with repentance, how you have tried to avoid sinning again, and the blessings that have come to you through repentance. When you read the verses in this way, what do you learn about God’s mercy in your life?
3 Nephi 27:14–15
14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
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