Bearing Burdens & 'Nasar'
- Alma's people bear light on the baptismal covenant
- The Place of Mormon
- We are all to tried like Abraham and Sarah
- How 'Nasar' may play a role in the Spiritual Economy
- The shame of bad decisions and prophets with imperfect pasts
- Tyranny dislikes religious allegiance
Website- https://www.cwicmedia.com
Come Follow Me
LDS Mormon Book of Mormon Mosiah Alma
in this Cwic come follow me episode
we're going to cover burying each
other's burdens and gnash are there we
go alright so we are going to dip into
Mosiah 18 through 24 in this episode
we're basically picking up where a
minute I left off is kind of a tag-team
here where Abinadi tags out and Alma
tags in right so Alma was present at the
trial of Abinadi he believes the
words of a Bennett I apparently the only
one there or at least the only priest
that believed in what a Bennett I was
saying and he flees out into the
wilderness and there's going to be a
number of people that end up following
him right and are converted and become
baptized and so we can see here that
even though Obinna die is put to death
look at what he changes look at the
lives that he changes just from one
person one person deciding that they're
going to you know believing in his words
and deciding that they're going to stand
up for the truth in reality the entirety
of the people of King Noah for the most
part outside of him and most of his
priests end up converting and moving
with King limb High eventually right
Noah's son back - is there a hem Allah
and with the yet with the other knee
fights and then of course Alma and their
people eventually are going to make it
back to Zarahemla as well even though
they separate for a number of years out
into the wilderness but here Alma now is
going to take the torch and he's going
to preach the gospel of Christ and he's
going to baptize with the authority that
he has remember he always pointed out
that he is a direct descendant of Nephi
and I think that has to do with the
priesthood somehow that has to do with
the priesthood and Obinna die was
right descendent of Nephi as well and so
Alma leaves he begins to preach and
people start to flock to him out in the
wilderness at a place called Mormon a
couple things on the word Mormon that's
kind of an important one to us right
the word Mormon there's been a couple
interpretations out there of what this
place is and what Mormon means one that
is popular that I to me is more of a
full tale than anything is that it means
more good I don't believe that
interpretation
it's a secondhand source that says that
Joseph Smith said that it's meant more
good of course think of how that really
you know the word Mormon more is gonna
happen to be the same thing in English
and Hmong somehow is good it's
it's on shaky ground to me I think quite
a bit and so I don't think that's what
it means the other thing that sometimes
gets interpreted with the word Mormon
and it's from this chapter right here in
chapter 18 is that it means waters of
some sort and I don't think that has
anything to do with it let's as we go
through this chapter you'll see what I
mean I don't think it's necessarily
named for the waters we read here in
verse 4 it says and it came to pass that
as many as did believe him that's Alma
did go forth to a place which was called
Mormon having received its name from the
king being in the borders of the land so
this would be out on the outside
outskirts of the land possibly in some
Hills or mountains having been infested
by times or at seasons by wild beasts
why does that get inserted there to me
this is the thing that seems to be
brought up more than the waters or
anything else it kind of sits out on its
own about these wild beasts and it says
here in verse 7 and it came to pass
after many days there was a goodly
number gathered together at the place of
Mormons of the waters there to hear the
words of Alma they all were gathered
together that believed on his word
to hear him and he did teach them and
did preach unto them repentance and
redemption and faith on the Lord of
course that's what he's teaching what is
he teaching what is the torch that
abated I passed on to Alma based on our
last two episodes right what is it it's
the doctrine of Christ that's what is
brought in here and of course with that
doctrine of Christ now if that had been
lost then even if these individuals had
had some kind of a baptism previously it
may very well have been a baptism that
had nothing to do with Jesus Christ that
would not have been in the proper name
and it wouldn't have been a baptism that
was based on repentance through your
faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ and so it's very possible that
these other individual that all these
individuals here were already baptized
in some way or another but it would not
be in common anciently when there is a
new start to something to rewash
yourself to go through than the
ordinance anew that may very well be
what is happening here at Mormon and
then we start going into something that
we've spoken a lot about here and that
is the idea the principle of covenant
amongst each other and that's what Alma
through Mormon here is going to explain
to us he says in verse 8 and it came to
pass that he said unto them behold here
are the waters of Mormon for thus they
were called and now as ye are desirous
to come into the fold of God and to be
called his people right remember King
Benjamin they took on the name of Christ
and are willing to bear one another's
burdens that they may be light so that's
a big part of being a member of the
church and you know of course how do we
execute that how do we carry that out
well we have callings right we have
programs we have projects and service
that we go out and help others within
God's fold to help bear their burdens
another way that that happens think
about your own family your own spouse
your own children your own parents is
amongst us how do we bear burdens we
bear the greatest burden typically of
those we love the most and those that we
are the closest to you know as I've said
before one of the words for bearing you
know as if you were to bear a burden
we're carrying in Hebrew is Nassau and
another meaning of Nassau is actually to
forgive and so when we think about the
spiritual economy right amongst us and
and with our Savior that makes a lot of
sense when you think about it right in
that in a way we can make somebody
else's burden lighter and certainly our
own as well if we can forgive people our
burden becomes lighter their burden
becomes lighter and so part of bearing
each other's burdens I think is to give
people the benefit of the doubt and to
have charity for them and to forgive
them
that would be bearing their burden as
well certainly spiritually but this is
the idea of covenant of everybody
reaching down and pulling each other up
that's part of being in the church
that's part of being in a covenant
relationship with the Lord that we're
going to treat others right as we would
want to be treated ourselves the golden
rule and as we talk about the Platinum
rule we want to treat others as we want
God to treat us or judge others as God
will judge us that is all in the char
and it's a central point of the plan of
salvation we don't do this alone
no exalted
man or woman is on an island he
continues in verse nine yay and are
willing to mourn with those that mourn
yea and comfort those that stand in need
of comfort by the waist and can be
another interpretation of the word in
the charr there might be some wordplay
in there and to stand as witnesses of
God at all times and in all things and
in all places so that's something
important too that we should understand
when we become members of the church
right is that's our job is to also bear
witness of the truth to bear witness of
the church to bear witness of the gospel
and especially in our times to defend it
now there's different ways to approach
that you know from Bible bashing to put
your arm around somebody right but we
should defend the doctrine and we should
defend the Brethren and we should defend
the restoration of the church if you are
defining yourself as a covenant person
on a covenant path then that cutting of
the covenant right that cut out that eat
naturally means that you are pulling
away from something else there is a
distinction there is a border there is a
line that you must draw otherwise there
is no definition defining something is
defining what it is and what it's not
and if you're in the game if you are a
player if you are committed in a
covenant relationship then part of that
covenant of being a member of the church
and that baptismal covenant is to defend
the church there are a lot of groups now
that you'll see even within the church
that are that are not that right if we
talk again about the glass half-empty in
the glass half-full the church is not
perfect there are problems there always
will be but it is the greatest
organization in the world and if you if
someone wants to attack the church and
say it's not a good organization what do
you
pairing that to because to me it is the
most righteous organization that has
ever existed that doesn't mean that
there aren't going to be problems that
there aren't mistakes that there aren't
things that you we all need to travail
through that's natural it's supposed to
be that way but if you get to a point
where eventually you are criticizing the
church over and over again that that is
the attitude that is developed that it
is a an organization of a glass
half-empty and that you need to change
it and that is more your relationship
with a church van defending it then I
think that's a problem I don't see
anything here in the baptismal covenant
that says make sure you try to change
the church make sure that you're
criticizing it wherever you can find an
Achilles tendon we can take doubts we
can take things that we don't understand
I have these things all the time come up
and yes we can put them on the shelf and
we can focus our minds and our support
and our love and our spirits behind the
purpose of the church so after Alma has
said these words he and Elam who's
wondering that was there with him we're
buried in the water and they arose and
came forth out of the water rejoicing
being filled with the spirit so the
first baptism was both of them right in
a sense they were both being washed and
new and then the next came in and Alma
baptized that next person than the next
person and in a total here there's a
total of 205 souls that are baptized at
the waters of Mormon at this time and
Alma in verse 18 came to pass that
having authority from God obviously very
important he ordained priests even one
priest to every 50 of their number he
did ordained to preach so at this time
there would have been I guess four
priests and that's a common number right
for the Israelites remember that when
Moses was struggling right he was trying
to tend to everybody and be the judge in
Israel so to speak of all of the people
right
hundreds of thousands of people Jethro
his father-in-law who by the way is the
one that gave Moses the Melchizedek
Priesthood comes to him and says what
are you doing this is crazy and so
that's where they come Mackay MUP with
the idea of building into hundreds and
fifties and tens so fifty is a very
common number for the Israelites a
grouping right under a specific
authority or teacher priest and he gets
very specific with these priests as to
what they're supposed to teach because
this is again very different again we
can we can look at this kind of like our
moment with Lehi and Nephi leaving
Jerusalem right when Alma leaves
the land of Nephi he is leaving the same
thing that the Levites left in Jerusalem
a land of corrupted belief where they
still thought they held a high moral
ground a high moral standing but had
gotten rid of the doctrine of Christ
it's the exact same thing here with the
land of Nephi and so what are they going
to write about what are they going to
make sure that it's taught here it's the
same thing that Lehi Nephi do when we
start off with a book of Mormon they
know that the doctrine of Christ has
been removed
in Jerusalem so they are going to be
very much on their game in making sure
that what they write about is focused on
Jesus Christ and they do so that's what
Alma's doing here it says here in 19 he
commanded them that they should teach
nothing save it where the things which
had been taught and which had been
spoken by the mouth of the Holy Prophets
and all of the holy prophets had
prophesied and preached about Jesus
Christ
yay even he commanded them and he
clarifies it here that they should
preach nothing save it were repentance
on what it says while they get baptized
repentance and faith on the Lord that's
Jehovah who had redeemed his people
right Jesus Christ
then he goes on and shows what a
vineyard I was trying to show the
priests of Noah he says and he commanded
them that they should observe this out
of the Sabbath day and keep it holy and
also every day they should give thanks
to the Lord their God in other words
he's still making sure and putting in I
I believe that's what this is saying
he's putting in the law of Moses right
that's a representation of saying maybe
abridged but they're going to teach the
law of Moses as they're supposed to but
they're going to make sure that they
understand as a Bennett I said that it
is a type of things to come and you
can't get buried in the types of things
and you can't get buried in the law you
know just like today we can't get buried
in the law we can't get buried in the
commandments and think that there's no
destination for those commandments of
where they go what they mean why we have
them and then he also says here again
writing something to make sure that it
is distinct and different from what King
knowing the priests practiced in 26 and
the priests were not to depend upon the
people for their support but for their
labor they were to receive the grace of
God that they might lack strong in the
spirit having the knowledge of God that
they might teach with power and
authority from God so in other words it
seems to me that what he's teaching here
is that when you have a paid priesthood
right when you have bishops when you
have your elders quorum president when
you have all of your leaders even add in
all of the auxiliaries right the Relief
Society president and the primary
president if we're paying all those
people it makes it so that there there's
a loss of the spirit right we fall too
far into the temporal spirit this
temporal economy and that is going to
draw away from put us into debt if you
will on the balance sheet of the
spiritual economy it seems to me like
that is the principle that they are
teaching you cannot have a
paid priesthood certainly not at the
local levels and have a full ability to
make sure that spirituality is what is
taught and that the doctrine stays solid
it's hard enough to do that anyway and
then in verse 30 we get this repeat and
it makes sense from Mormon to do this
his name is Mormon right and so the
first source we get of the word Mormon
is here with Alma at the land of Mormon
in the land of Mormon in 30 it says and
now it came to pass that all this was
done in Mormon yeah by the waters of
Mormon so Mormon is not the waters in
the forest that was near the waters of
Mormon yeah the place of Mormon the
waters of Mormon the forests of Mormon
so you know get all this repeat hear
about the word Mormon and then he says
something interesting looks to me like
he's parroting Isaiah 52 7 to 10 oh how
beautiful are the feet of those on the
mountains right says how beautiful are
they to the eyes of them who there came
to the knowledge of their Redeemer
what is he focusing on it never leaves
this if we pay attention we get the
string that the continual chain
of the doctrine of Christ throughout the
Book of Mormon we see where it gets lost
and then we see where it gets grabbed
onto again so here it passes from a Ben
and I over to Alma and he's making sure
making sure that the doctrine of Christ
is central to what they believe and what
they teach
how beautiful are they to the eyes of
them who their came to the knowledge of
their Redeemer yay and how blessed are
they for they shall sing to his praise
forever sounds to me like they're
parroting Isaiah 52 7 so then Alma is
told that King Noah's army is going to
is coming out
them in the wilderness and so they pack
up everything their tents everything
they've got there and they take off out
further out into the wilderness and then
what happens this is part of the people
leaving out to the place called Mormon
this is part of a bin and I and the
turmoil that he has kind of caused here
right it's kind of like Jesus saying you
know I did not come completely in peace
here right I have come to turn brother
against brother and father against son
and mother against daughter and what
does that mean
it means that there is a big change
that's going to happen there's going to
be contention there's going to be
problems and really everything starts to
unravel at this point because of a bin
and I believe and there are
contentions within there are factions of
different beliefs and people that start
to attack and to criticize and to
protest against King Noah and one of
those people was probably maybe it may
be one of the strongmen one of maybe one
of Noah's own 50 who knows but he was a
warrior and a large strong man and he
chased down King Noah and King Noah
games up going up the tower which was by
the temple this would have probably been
the temple of Nephi and while
they're up there and Gideon's about to
slay him they see that the armies of the
NEFA of the Lamanites are coming up on
the borders of the land and so Noah bags
Gideon to save his life so then King
Noah goes back to his people and says
let's get out of here right and they
flee they run away but they're not
they're not able to outrun the Lamanites
so what does the great king Noah do he
commands that all the men should leave
their wives their women their children
behind and run so that they can get away
a little more light on the character of
King Noah so a number of the men run off
with King Noah and the men that stable
mind who are completely outmatched by
the Lamanites they send their daughters
out it's kind of an interesting tactic
right it's very effective they send the
daughters out to beg for mercy for their
families and the Lamanites buy it right
they have compassion for as we're told
here the fair daughters of the Nephites
and so instead of slaying them they
bring them back to the land of Nephi but
put him under a tax of fifty percent of
everything that they produce and one of
them among those people is Limhi and
he is one of the sons of King Noah and
he ends up becoming the leader the new
king of the people of the land of Nephi
and Limhi sends out Gideon to look for
the man that ran away that left their
women and children behind and they find
him but the men are repentant and they
swear that if they if necessary they
will fight and give up their lives to
redeem themselves for a bad decision
and this is one of those things where
you think about your own life's path
right and you make a bad mistake you
make a bad decision and you're ashamed I
mean this is really bad obviously but
you do sometimes make a big mistake and
you want to redeem yourself and that's
the right thing right you want to redeem
yourself
now how much better would it have been
for them how much better would it have
been for their families if they never
would have left well much much better so
you are starting the game back up so to
speak
further behind it's like you're going
further and further into debt but there
is redemption there for them there can
be redemption as hideous as that is a
mistake to make there can be redemption
for them and of course with us as we
make mistakes there can be redemption
for
there can be hope and there can be
change being ashamed of something you've
done is usually a good thing right it's
you it should be used in a way that it
is a motivator to make yourself better
and I think if you felt that before that
that's a good way to recognize what that
is in some ways it's a gift to help
motivate you to make up for what you've
done and to improve yourself now the men
while they were out there were angry
that they were persuaded to leave their
families and so they take the king they
were gonna take the priests also and do
the same thing but the priests fled away
and so they take the king and they burn
him at the stake it looks like so he
gets a similar death - what a Bennett I
had as was foretold but they can't catch
the priest so the priests run off so
here now is Limhi the son of King Noah
the grandson of King Zenith who is a
vassal king under tribute to the
Lamanite King and they're taxed 50% and
the burdens end up becoming too much for
them a lot of what we're talking about
here is about burden there is a there's
a theme that Mormon is going through I
believe here which is why I titled this
what I did this episode of Nassar there
is a theme that goes through these
chapters that I think Mormon in
intentionally is giving us that has to
do with Michonne it has to do with this
spiritual economy it has to do with
these burdens there is a message built
around all of these little stories about
this covenant of bearing each other's
burdens and the burden for the people of
King limb high is this 50% tax
and other atrocities that come from the
Lamanites now the priests of Noah who
have fled away they are out in the
wilderness and they notice these young
women that are out by themselves dancing
this was a very common thing to do the
ancient Greek women did this in fact a
lot of it is tradition and even ceremony
or ritual but they're out dancing on
their own there's a place where they
would go to and the priests end up
abducting 24 of the young laymen night
women and again this goes back to that
idea of the Sanhedrin that would make
all the sense in the world I don't know
exactly how they would get to exactly 24
so I'm not going to go into a lot of
depth here on and ever there's so much
that happens here in these chapters a
lot of story that goes on but
essentially because the priests took the
daughters the Lamanites get mad they
think it's the people of them high they
come to attack them the people of limb
high the land of Nephi they fight and so
finally they end up capturing the king
of the Lamanites who's wounded they take
him back with him and they tell him
what's going on and Gideon says hey look
I mean this is not us understand that
this is probably the priests who are
still out there because getting is the
one had be who had gone out to try and
capture them so they pacify the king who
pacifies his army they leave him alone
now but they keep the 50% tax on and
what we've been doing here is we've been
filling in the backstory right of
limp I remember going all the way back
now when a man leaves Zarahemla with his
small party and they find the land of
Nephi and they're captured by King limb
high and limb high learns that the
people of Zarahemla are still alive
we've been filling in the backstory on
that all the way from the time of Zenith
to King Noah and Obinna died and now
down to Elma and King limb high we'll
continue with that in a minute with Alma
here but this is now bringing us to if
you'll notice the chapter summary up on
chapter 21 we're
now down to about the time when Ammon
and his small party came to the land of
Nephi so they live in peace for a little
while but the tormenting and the taxes
and the atrocities from the Lamanites
still upon the people of King Lim highs
is too much so they decide to go to war
a couple times they go out to battle
they get slaughtered right they just
they go out to battle but they can't win
they don't have enough people and they
come back and they do it again right
from these atrocities and from these
taxes they just can't live this way it's
too much of a burden on them and so they
settle for now trying to figure out what
what they're going to do how they're
gonna get through this now they
mentioned something here in verse 17
that we get actually a lot because it's
a very common thing in the ancient world
it's a common thing today and that's
about widows right it says here in verse
17 now there was a great number of women
more than there was of men therefore
King Lim High commanded that every man
should impart to the support of the
widows and their children that they
might not perish with hunger and this
they did because of the greatness of
their number that had been slain now
going back again anciently right this
isn't a matter of a patriarchy in or
anything like that right it's
you're working the land and how does a
woman do that as effectively with
especially when she might have little
children right it's very difficult for
her to be able to do that not to mention
the fact that you're down to one parent
so this is something that is included in
the duties of the Melchizedek Priesthood
actually today right when you are a high
priest especially your duty is to take
care of the widows so we get these
little traces throughout the scriptures
about these things that are mentioned
and as far as Covenants goes as far as
charity and lifting up those that
are in need that's something that is
mentioned often and it's a priest of the
responsibility so now we get down to a
min here
now we're back full circle to a man
coming in and meeting with King Lehi and
as they go over these things the
hearts of the people of limb high they
have a broken heart and a contrite
spirit they are desperate and they are
converted and they ask a man actually
you know hey can you baptize us we want
to be baptized we want to be part of
what Alma was teaching but Ammon says
he's not the right guy and this is an
interesting point here because he says
in verse 33 and they came to pass the
King Lim high and many of his people
were desirous to be baptized but there
was none in the land that had authority
from God that's kind of interesting did
they just think there wasn't was there
was there no one of the previous priests
that would have had the authority were
they all dead did they die in battle
right this is obviously not a widespread
thing like we have today there are very
few that hold this Authority but there
was none of the land that had authority
from God and then it's a period and
Ammon declined doing this thing
considering himself an unworthy servant
it sounds like Ammon has the priesthood
to me but he's declining to do awhile
swear they bring this up
they don't say that he's one of those
that doesn't have the authority says
that he didn't consider himself a worthy
servant which is an interesting point
here because he's a Mulekite so if
that's true that Ammon here has the
authority but is unworthy and won't do
it for that reason then we would assume
that mule kites would have received the
priesthood some of them would have
received the priesthood from the
Nephites and it might be even like it is
today if there are some that could claim
Levitical lines of priesthood in other
words coming from directly from Aaron
actually right if you're a son of Aaron
even today in the Doctrine come
you are automatically born with that
authority you don't even need to have
hands laid on your head to receive the
Aaronic priesthood nothing has changed
from the old days right you are born
with that and you have the right of it
in fact you have the right of the
position of bishop of the office of
Bishop not to do Melchizedek priesthood
things but to do the Aaronic priesthood
functions of calling a bishop which is
an ironic priesthood office so maybe
there is some Aaronite Levitical blood
that is running through the Mulekites
from the original party of Mulek right
there the son of Zedekiah he wouldn't
have it although he may have some right
to a monistic priesthood that's possible
but they would not have the right of the
ironic creased hood by birth but maybe
part of his circle part of the party
that went with him would have had that
that wouldn't be surprising and that
might be why a man has this that would
we be really interesting to find out as
if they went through the bloodlines of
the mule kites to find that Aaronite
blood so they can't get baptized at
this point well they want to be but they
do devise a plan to get out of bondage
right to get out from under this burden
and so we get these stories here the
covenant that they make at baptism here
is to bear each other's burdens right
that's one side of it we want the burden
of others right and then there's the
tyrannical burden that is placed on us
in this mortality there are burdens that
are placed on us that we don't go out
and seek in terms of charity or support
but we're given weaknesses and we're
given trials like Abraham and Sarah
probably not that bad typically but
eventually probably right we're all
going to be tried like Abraham and Sarah
so we get both
here of this this idea of burden of
mashach so they devised a plan they get
the guards the limonite guards drunk and
they all flee at night taking everything
with them and they go all the way back
through that with the guidance probably
a new map that am and now is created
because they that's they know the way
because they just came from there and so
now that group has joined back to Zarahemla
right the group were missing still
is Alma’s group so we catch up to them
and get their record which is separate
from Lim highs and the record of Zenith
in chapters 23 and 24 and starting off
in 23 we get this concept that is that
is very particular to the Book of
Mormon and in many ways different from
the Old Testament and that's the idea of
kingship here you have Mormon who has
just been comparing and contrasting King
Benjamin with King Noah right and then
kind of looking at the different roles
that are played there with the King of
Kings with Jehovah the one who sits on
the throne in the Holy of Holies but
this idea of kingship we get a little
bit of doctrine here about having a king
over a people and it says here in verse
6 and the people were desirous that alma
should be their King for he was beloved
by his people now think of a scenario
they just came out of right they were
not in a good situation with a king they
had and this is what he tells them in
response he says behold it is not
expedient that we should have a king for
thus saith the Lord he shall not esteem
one flesh above another now taking that
in mind here for a moment think about
the way things are in the church right
if the truth is that we believe in
some ways in a more of a democratic
royalty and when I say that what I mean
is that the peep
are actually kings and queens in a sense
and so there's a different
there's a different doctrine in the
church right that we might find
somewhere else and to me it has to do
with that doctrine of Christ it has to
do with the ascension part it has to do
with us being in the image of God you
know where everybody is to be a king and
a queen and a priest and a priestess but
to have one king over you to esteem one
flesh above the other is very dangerous
and he says you don't want one man to
think of himself above another right so
the example of King Benjamin where that
works out really well is one where he
did not do that right we get the example
through the ritual the tradition of him
being a servant to his people that's
important to even Christ
even Christ who is our King our King of
Kings descended below all people to
serve them right part a major part of
the doctrine of Christ but we need to
accept we don't want to fall into the
trap that King Noah and his priests -
well God wouldn't be like us right if we
want that to me in my experience my
relationship with a savior is
strengthened when I understand that more
and more that he wants to come down to
my level and he did to help me out so he
reminds everybody about the iniquity of
king Noah and that he himself says I
myself was caught in a snare and did
many things which were abominable in the
sight of the Lord which caused me sore
repentance so again here's an idea here
where we have those men who had left
their women and children and and you
know the shame well he's going through
the same thing so don't think to
yourself that all those men that left
their you know how do you forgive them
well pretty tough that's for sure
right but here you have a prophet of the
Lord one of the main central figures of
the entire Book of Mormon who himself is
saying
that he did abominable things do we give
him Craig credence do we give him
honor do we give him reverence for who
he is of course because we believe in
the atonement he says here nevertheless
after much tribulation the Lord did hear
my cries and did answer my prayers and
has made me an instrument in his hands
in bringing so many of you to a
knowledge of its truth it's very
possible that sometimes the Lord needs
these types of individuals because they
understand from where they've been how
to help people stay away from it right
they've gone through the mental
gymnastics they've gone through the
spiritual gymnastics they've gone
through the consequences and the shame
right the tribulation and they can warn
others about it or they think they can
understand like the Savior does when
someone has been is in that situation
now and we who are imperfect can take
someone like Alma and use him as an
example for us in that way we can't even
have a savior give us an example of that
right he's an example in the sense that
he took it on but he didn't do things
that caused himself shame right the
shame was laid on him the burdens were
laid on him but he didn't cost that and
so we think oftentimes of Alma the
younger right Alma's son later on here
where we really get the emphasis on this
in in Mosiah 27 here coming up shortly
of someone who has lost their way and
then had a huge change that's the father
also
I almost father how will the youngers
father is the same way he did the same
thing so you can imagine when Alma the
younger goes through this Alma knows
them dad he already knows he's not some
perfect human being that has never made
big mistakes he knows what his son is
going through he went through it pretty
interesting to think about so they go
off into the wilderness
Alma does not accept being king they
start building a new land right a new
village so to speak called Gilam and this
is kind of interesting there's some
possibilities for what Gilam means and my
little bit of research on this it seems
to me that this has a lot to do with
being for example mighty or a fortress
and area fortress or something that
means steadfast or to stand fast and
look at the word that we get here in
verse 13 of 23 and now as he have been
delivered by the power of God out of
these bonds right that's leaving out
from King Noah even out of the hands of
King Noah and his people and also from
the bonds of iniquity even so I desire
that ye should stand fast in this
Liberty wherewith he have been made free
and that you trust no man to be a king
over you so if he's gonna be playing
with words which they oftentimes do this
is part of the way they write it would
make sense that they would call this
land heal him because he brings that up
here in a few more verses he also says
by warning trust no one to be your
teacher nor your minister except he be a
man of God I get this with my kids right
who leave and you probably have to some
of you you've got kids that leave
the nest and now they're subject to less
of an anchor in place every day and
there's all these new concepts and
ideologies that get thrown their way and
you've got to be able to identify are
these people of God right are these
people who walk in his ways and keep his
Commandments
that's a key because otherwise the
likelihood that you're going to be
swayed to something different to a
different to something that we can
easily today compared to a virus right
some virus that infects you a spiritual
virus is fairly high so it's very good
advice make sure that your teachers
those that have will even put this into
a broader spectrum and say those that
have an influence over you your friends
right who do you surround yourself with
are they men and women of God and do
they walk in the way and keep his
Commandments and we're told here that
Alma was their high priest so that's
interesting to think about because later
on in Alma we get a whole sermon on the
Melchizedek priesthood and on Melchizedek
it's always this the high priest and the
ironic priesthood or is this a high
priest of a priest of El Elyon so to
speak which would be other multi-city
priesthood they must have the motivic
priesthood because that's where the more
their priesthood would come from not
from the ironic priesthood they're not
Aaronites that's though some of the
mullah kites might be but the Nephites
are not Aaronites
and in nineteen and it came to pass that
they began to prosper exceedingly in the
land and they called the land Gilam so
maybe steadfast right or stand fast
mighty a fortress and then real quick in
twenty-two nevertheless whosoever
putteth his trust in him his faith
that's what faith is his trust in him
the same shall be lifted up at the last
day and thus it was with his people I
always tried to emphasize that phrase
when you see it lift it up
because it's so central to our concepts
or principles of the Nehor principle
and an understanding of the doctrine of
Christ because that brazen serpent who
represents Christ was raised up right
and you'll see that phrase often and I
believe that the authors in the Old
Testament in the New Testament and here
in the Book of Mormon know exactly what
they are referring to and it is this
whole concept that all this context and
richness that is brought together into
the doctrine of Christ look for that
phrase lift it up and know that that is
a there's a lot behind that so then the
lost laminate army happens to fall upon
the people that heal him here Alma and
his people and they find him there and
they trick them they tell them that
they're gonna let him go and they'll be
free as long as they tell them how to
get back to the land of Nephi again we
think about the terrain here and I don't
do a lot of geography stuff but you know
think about the terrain these are people
that have lived here their whole lives
and yet you know we're talking about a
decent distance here but they can't find
their way back and oftentimes these
parties leave the land of Nephi they're
coming from Zarahemla they're the
Lamanites here now they don't know how
to get back to these places so we can
imagine that the Train the terrain is
very tricky it's very difficult may be
very thick jungles may be cliffs and
mountains and but a difficult terrain to
find your way around and in the meantime
this army had fallen upon the priests
and the priests of King Noah and
the priest has sent there now new wives
out to claim and to beg for
compassion right so they do the same
thing that the men that had remained
behind with her men and their
their wives and their children did from
the people of limb hi very effective
it's a very effective thing to do you
know when you when you try and meet
strength with strength sometimes that's
not the best way to do it there are
different types of strength and that
is a female strength and a mule on who
is the leader
the priest who would have been there
with Alma in the tribunal of Abinadi has
made friendly with the Lamanites and he
ends up as the overlord so to speak of
Helium and a few other villages and they
do something really interesting they
began to tell the people of Alma that
they can't even pray and Ammulon has been
put into this priestly type of position
with the Lamanites where he's teaching
them but of course again he doesn't
teach the doctrine of Christ and he's
not even teaching them the law of Moses
right because again I mean if you don't
have a doctrine of Christ what so what's
the point anyway so they you know there
might be some principles that he's
bringing here but the Lamanites actually
start to grow into prosper under a mule
on so they persecute the people of Alma
and they lay very Grievous burdens on
them they don't allow them here these
people have just been converted and had
these incredible spiritual experiences
if they catch them praying and they're
gonna put him to death right the a
mule on and his Lamanites are going to
put them to death which is again a very
common thing when you when you have a
civilization a society that is taken
over by a tyrannical power they can't
afford for people to gather under a
different ideology that looks up to
somebody else right outside of the state
that's what we see with Marxism right a
little bit even with Nazism and if
there's enough strong Allegiance there
in the church then they're gonna feel
like hate you don't have allegiance to
me and we see that today we see that in
in China we see that in North Korea we
see that in Cuba we see the conflicts
that happen in Venezuela even and of
course the same thing that would happen
in the Middle East looks like that's
opening up a little bit in some places
even within the church right and we've
got a temple going in into the Middle
East here but for the most part those
are theocracies where if you don't
follow their religion on the state then
you're very Lim
what you can do there they don't want
allegiance to something else so they the
people of Alma they secretly pour their
souls out in prayer that they can be
relieved of these burdens right it's
more burdens it's tyrannical burdens
just like the people of Limhi went
through and that's an interesting point
the people of Alma became converted and
did the right thing they did the right
thing and they started building they're
all there they started building up
healing this new society whether there
was no contention and there was peace
they were doing the right thing and look
what happened to him right there put
into a horrible circumstance horrible
circumstance may be worse than it was
even with King Noah bad things happen to
good people we all have to go through
different trials and we all get put in
different situations so that we can grow
closer to the Lord we can refine
ourselves through struggle regardless of
whether we are doing the right thing or
not
and everybody has to do this everybody
gets this thrown at them maybe some more
in this life maybe some more in another
but they also get all these burdens
placed onto them it’s Nasar right
they're bearing these burdens and then
the Lord says finally of them answers
their prayers I'll answer your prayers
you're going to be able to leave
tomorrow he puts a deep sleep over the
Lamanites who knows maybe they got drunk
too and the people escape while they're
in this deep sleep and they eventually
find ourselves find their ways back to
Zarahemla and so now we have the people
of all the people of Limhi that were
there and this band of alma-ites right
that also find their way back to Zaire
ahem Allah so now we've got them all
back together
everybody's back together so this whole
excursion that Zenith had 80 years ago
brought about all these other records
and these other stories of King Noah and
Obinna died and Alma and Lin
hi and Gideon and the wicked priests and
now they're all coming full circle again
right again that concept of covenant
there's a splitting apart and then
there's a bringing back together again
so burdens we all carry burdens that are
given to us in mortality we all have
this this necessity to grow and we
probably wouldn't do it on our own but
we agreed in the pre-existence we agree
agreed in our premortal life to do this
and we should remember that we agreed
that we would be tried like Abraham and
Sarah so that we could grow that we
would take on the battle scars of
mortality the anxieties and the
depressions and the turmoil the pain
this struggle right in life that is
sometimes worse than others so that we
could grow and become more like the
Savior that's part of the plan and this
whole theme here I believe is Mormon
purposefully talking about these things
and giving us this theme of bearing each
other's burdens or as of burdens as a
whole burdens are given to us in
mortality regardless of whether we want
them or not regardless of whether or not
we're doing the right thing now there
might be fewer because we're doing the
right thing but regardless we're going
to be given burden so that we can grow
and the idea of being in the church
knowing that everybody has burdens is
that we help each other out to bear
these other people's burdens for them
and forgive others as part of that mesh
our
that's part of the plan of salvation all
of these burdens are to be given to us
while we're here on earth we help each
other out and we reach out stronger to
the Savior and to our heavenly father
and we become more like them through the
char through bearing each other's
burdens and the burdens that are put
upon our backs I'll talk to you next
time
50% Complete
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