The scene of apostasy among the Zoramites that presented
itself to Alma and his fellow missionaries was astonishing and appalling! The Rameumpton stood in the middle of the synagogue
like a high dive into hell. Parishioners,
one by one, ascending and descending the rungs of its ladder, speaking hellish
oaths full of blasphemy and devilish pride.
How could they have fallen so far?
The answer is pride!
As Alma prepares to continue his mission to the Zoramites,
he lays his hands on each of the missionaries in his group and blesses
them. They are filled with the Holy
Ghost. In his personal prayer on their
behalf, Alma pleads with the Lord to “comfort my soul, and give unto me
success, and also my fellow laborers…Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in
Christ. Wilt thou grant unto them that
they may have strength, that they may bear their afflictions which shall come
upon them …wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them
again unto thee in Christ…Behold O Lord, their souls are precious….”
Indeed, Alma’s prayer
was answered, for Mormon records, “And the Lord provided for them that they
should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them
strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were
swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now
this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.”
Yet, one of Alma’s sons, exercising his moral agency, chose
to break the mission rules. Even the
prayer of faith by Alma, could not keep his son from making some very poor
choices. In chapter 39 of Alma we will
see how a faithful father is able to recover his son.
No comments:
Post a Comment