Hey, friends, what’s up? Derek here from BOM Socks with more BOM Bites, where we feast upon the words of Christ one bite at a time. Yesterday, we got King Limhi’s people back to Zarahemla. Now, one of the cool things about that story is their deliverance came because they turned to the Lord and put their trust in him, which really fulfills King Limhi’s, I don’t want to call it prophecy, because he’s not a prophet, but his wonderful statement back in Chapter 7:33, where it says, If you will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart and put your trust in him and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage. We watched that happen in Chapter 22. I love the fulfillment of that wonderful statement from King Limhi to his people, encouraging them, Look, as we do this, this is going to happen. If we are involved in sin, the message is to repent. What will happen is you will start to gradually see that deliverance from bondage that you desire. Great little message as we got Limhi’s people back to Zerahimla.
Now we got group number two we need to get to Zerahimla, and that is Alma’s people. Now, they are there for a different reason. Granted, Alma had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but Alma repented and changed, and he’s building up the church there, but they are still in that area of Lehi Nifa where it’s Lamanite land. As Alma’s people are trying to build the church there, they’re just like, Alma, we would love to have you be our king. Alma’s like, Oh, trust me, you don’t want that. I’ve hung out with kings. It’s not a good idea. Why don’t we just teach one another and help one another out through this process? I will help lead you. In fact, he becomes the great high priest in the land, and he serves them, and he takes good care of them. They’re doing great. Verse 18, this is chapter 23, They did watch over their people, did nourish them with things pertaining to righteousness. Came to pass, they began to prosper exceedingly in the land. They called the land, ‘Heal’ them. They did multiply, they’re prospering exceedingly in the land. They built a city. They’re doing very, very well.
Now, oftentimes in our lives, when we are starting to really well with things and we’re starting to get comfortable, whenever I see in the Book of Norman where people start to prosper, there is that tendency to get into that pride cycle. Here’s where the Lord throws some things into this. In fact, this is Norman’s commentary. I love through this whole story, Norman gives his little commentaries of what he sees going on from his perspective. Verse number 21, Nevertheless, again, this is Norman speaking, The Lord seeth fit to chasten his people. He tryeth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless, whosoever puteth his trust in him, it’s that same message we started with, the same shall be lifted up in the last day. Yey, and thus it was with this people. That’s Norman just giving his perspective. It’s like, You’re going to see that very thing happen with these people. I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God. Yey, even the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I love that phrase there. Again, same God. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago.
That helped out Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and all those. It’s going to help you and I as well. Came to pass that he did deliver them, and he did show forth his mighty power unto them, and great were their rejoicings. So as they’re doing really well in this land of Helam, behold, an army of Lamanites was in the borders of the land. And the people start getting scared because of that, because things have been going so well. And all of a sudden, these Lamanites start coming after them. Alma went forth, stood among them, exhorted them that they should not be frightened, but that they should remember the Lord their God, and that he would deliver them. Man, Alma Noah is a changed man. I don’t care how bad he was in King Noah’s court. This man’s a good man. Therefore, they hushed their fears. That’s a cool statement. And began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that they would spare them and their wives and their children. And the Lord did soften the hearts of the Lamanites. But what we end up with is the Lamanites taking possession of the land of Helam.
So here we are. They are still in Lamanite bondage. Verse number 32. We are introduced to, in my opinion, one of the worst bad guys in the Book of Mormen. His name is Amulon. He was one of King Noah’s priests. They joined with the Lamanites, and a lot of these bad guys in the Book of Mormen finagled their way into becoming a king in the Lamanite territories. You’ve got Amulon, who now is a king in the Lamanite areas. And who is he over now? Alma’s people. This is where it gets ugly because Alma and Amulon were priests together in King Noah’s court. Now, chapter 24, you have got the Lamanite starting to prosper and doing well. Here’s the problem. Verse number 8, Amulon began to exercise authority over Alma and his brehtheron and began to persecute them, causing that his children should also persecute their children. This is where it’s getting a problem. For verse 9, Amulon knew Alma, that he had been one of the king’s priests, that he had believed the words of Abinnodai and was driven out before the king, therefore he was wroth with him, for he was subject to king Laman, and he exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put taskmasters over them.
One of the reasons I think Amulon is such a bad dude is because every person that is trying to move forward with repentance and change in their lives, everybody’s got an Amulon in their past who’s going to show up, who often will rear their ugly head in our lives and remind us of how we used to be. Here’s Amulon, I’m sure, given Alma all kinds of griefs. It’s like, yeah, you remember when we were together in King Noah’s court? You remember when you did those things and I did those things? Here’s Alma moving forward. It is so hard to move forward when Amulons start showing up in our lives. These people who, if you will, know where the dead bodies are buried in our lives. They know all the stories about us, and we’re trying to move forward in our lives. I remember coming across a quote. It’s an unknown. In fact, I’ve seen it attributed to many different people, so I don’t know who it originated with, but I love this quote. The devil will try to upset you by accusing you of being unworthy of the blessings that you have received. Simply remain cheerful, and we’re going to see that in this chapter, do your best to ignore the devil’s nagging.
When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. That’s what you do, and that’s what you see in this chapter. As Amulon is coming along and trying to mess up Alma’s happiness, he remembers the Lord, and he focuses on the goodness of Jesus Christ. That’s what we do as well. When we are repenting and changing, we remember the savior. When Satan tries to come along and remind us, we remember the savior in our lives. Now, you get into Mosiah Chapter 24:10-17. You have got some of the most, what I would call, sacred writings of scripture right here, as you’ve got this people who turn to the Lord. As they cry mightily to the Lord, Amulon starts putting guards over them. You catch these people praying, you kill them. What do they do? They pour out their hearts to the Lord, and he did know of their hearts. Verse number 13, came to pass, the voice of the Lord came to them in their affliction, saying, Lift up your heads, be of good comfort. I know of the covenant which you have made unto me. I think this goes back to chapter 18, I remember the covenant that you made with me.
I will covenant with my people, and I will deliver them out of bondage. I will ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you’re in bondage. This will I do, that ye may stand as witnesses. There’s that statement again from chapter 18, For me hereafter, that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord, do visit my people in their afflictions. And then what happens? The burdens which were laid upon Alma and his Brethren were made light. The Lord did strengthen them, that they could bear up their burdens with ease. And they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. I would submit to you that that is easier said than done, because if it was easy, everybody would do that. Cheerfully submitting to the difficulties and challenges that we have in our lives requires daily connection and covenant keeping with God. And it came to pass that so great was their faith and patience that the voice of the Lord came to them again saying, ‘Be of good comfort for on the morrow, I will deliver you out of bondage.
In fact, verse 17 The Lord says to Alma, ‘T thou shalt go before this people, and I will go with thee and deliver this people out of bondage. ‘ So what happens? The Lord causes a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites. Got them drunk in the last chapter, but here’s the deep sleep that comes. And they pour out their thanks to God. None could deliver them, except it were the Lord their God. They gave thanks. This chapter is filled with things that you and I can do when we’re going through trials that somehow are not the cause of our particular behavior, but it’s the the Lord needing us to change a little bit. Anyway, happy ending. They end up back in Zerahemla, and King Mosaiam did also receive them with joy. Bottom line with all of this right here, with yesterday’s group, with Limhi’s people, if you are sinning, repent, and the The Lord will deliver you. For Alma’s people who weren’t necessarily sinning but are doing their best, cry unto the Lord, cheerfully submit to his will, and be patient. The Lord will deliver you according to your faith and his timing. I love these messages in these chapters.
I am so grateful for them. I know that they are true. Thank you so much for watching. Thanks for subscribing. Thanks for sharing these messages. As always, we’re so grateful that you do that. If you like what you see, click the like button, and you’ve got to go check out our amazingly comfortable gospel-themed socks at bombsocks. Com. God speed, and we will see you next week. Take care. Bye-bye.
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dyejo
