Alma 14 | |
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3 1 Compare this verse with "sought to put them away privily" to Matthew 1:19 with "was minded to put her away privily". Note that there are only 15 instances the word "privily" in the KJV bible, but only the verse in Matthew 1 also contains any variation of the word "put". | |
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5 And the people went forth and witnessed against them--testifying that they had reviled against the law, and their lawyers and judges of the land, and also of all the people that were in the land; and also testified that there was but one God, and that he should send his Son among the people, but he should not save them; and many such things did the people testify against Alma and Amulek. Now this was done before the chief judge of the land. | 5 |
6 And it came to pass that Zeezrom was astonished at the words which had been spoken; and he also knew concerning the blindness of the minds, which he had caused among the people by his lying words; and his soul began to be harrowed up under a consciousness of his own guilt; yea, he began to be encircled about by the pains of hell. | 6 |
7 And it came to pass that he began to cry unto the people, saying: Behold, I am guilty, and these men are spotless before God. And he began to plead for them from that time forth; but they reviled him, saying: Art thou also possessed with the devil? And they spit upon him, and cast him out from among them, and also all those who believed in the words which had been spoken by Alma and Amulek; and they cast them out, and sent men to cast stones at them. | 7 |
8 And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by fire. | 8 |
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10 1 So let’s sort this out. Women and children are being burned to death in front of Alma. God won’t stop this “that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them.” Alma had just taught in the previous chapter that God has foreknowledge (Alma 13:3). Seems this foreknowledge should work conditionally too, as in, “Hey, I know and understand everything, and if I had let you, you would have burned those innocent women and children. The only reason you didn’t is because I interceded to end/prevent needless suffering.” Are we to believe this wouldn’t work because the would-be perps would complain, “But you didn’t even let us burn those women and children.”? And what about all the other times the scriptures say God interceded to protect the innocent from would-be perps? | |
11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day. | 11 1 Alma 14:10-11
So let’s sort this out.
Women and children are being burned to death in front of Alma.
God won’t stop this “that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them.”
Alma had just taught in the previous chapter that God has foreknowledge (Alma 13:3).
Seems this foreknowledge should work conditionally too, as in, “Hey, I know and understand everything, and if I had let you, you would have burned those innocent women and children. The only reason you didn’t is because I interceded to end/prevent needless suffering.” Are we to believe this wouldn’t work because the would-be perps would complain, “But you didn’t even let us burn those women and children.”?
And what about all the other times the scriptures say God interceded to protect the innocent from would-be perps? |
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14 Now it came to pass that when the bodies of those who had been cast into the fire were consumed, and also the records which were cast in with them, the chief judge of the land came and stood before Alma and Amulek, as they were bound; and he smote them with his hand upon their cheeks, and said unto them: After what ye have seen, will ye preach again unto this people, that they shall be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone? | 14 |
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20 And it came to pass that they departed and went their ways, but came again on the morrow; and the judge also smote them again on their cheeks. And many came forth also, and smote them, saying: Will ye stand again and judge this people, and condemn our law? If ye have such great power why do ye not deliver yourselves? | 20 |
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22 And many such things, yea, all manner of such things did they say unto them; and thus they did mock them for many days. And they did withhold food from them that they might hunger, and water that they might thirst; and they also did take from them their clothes that they were naked; and thus they were bound with strong cords, and confined in prison. | 22 |
23 And it came to pass after they had thus suffered for many days, (and it was on the twelfth day, in the tenth month, in the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi) that the chief judge over the land of Ammonihah and many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the prison where Alma and Amulek were bound with cords. | 23 |
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26 And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound; and when the people saw this, they began to flee, for the fear of destruction had come upon them. | 26 1 Alma 14:26-28 seems to borrow narrative elements from Acts 16:26-34. This includes have 2 faithful captives freed by miraculous earthquakes, their bands being loosed, and their captors being afraid. 1 Yeah, it would be horrible to experience this, but wouldn’t the horror be on a whole different level for the innocent women and children actually burning to death? Isn’t it like a husband who says, “I can’t be in the room while my wife is giving birth, because I can’t handle seeing my wife suffer.”?
(see Alma 14:8-11) |
27 And it came to pass that so great was their fear that they fell to the earth, and did not obtain the outer door of the prison; and the earth shook mightily, and the walls of the prison were rent in twain, so that they fell to the earth; and the chief judge, and the lawyers, and priests, and teachers, who smote upon Alma and Amulek, were slain by the fall thereof. | 27 |
28 And Alma and Amulek came forth out of the prison, and they were not hurt; for the Lord had granted unto them power, according to their faith which was in Christ. And they straightway came forth out of the prison; and they were loosed from their bands; and the prison had fallen to the earth, and every soul within the walls thereof, save it were Alma and Amulek, was slain; and they straightway came forth into the city. | 28 |
29 Now the people having heard a great noise came running together by multitudes to know the cause of it; and when they saw Alma and Amulek coming forth out of the prison, and the walls thereof had fallen to the earth, they were struck with great fear, and fled from the presence of Alma and Amulek even as a goat fleeth with her young from two lions; and thus they did flee from the presence of Alma and Amulek. | Anachronism 291 Domesticated goats and the species of lions known in the Old World would be anachronisms here, but I must admit that this one is a “soft” problem. There’s nothing in the context of the goats mentioned here to specify they are domesticated goats, and the lions could be mountain lions. I wouldn’t have read it that way as a believer, but you can’t definitively categorize these as anachronisms. |