Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
Alma Chapter 7
ALMA PREACHES TO THE PEOPLE AT AMMONIHAH, VER. 1-23
Alma 7:4 And they said also, We will not believe thy words, if thou shouldst prophesy that this great
city should be destroyed in one day.
Alma began his sermon as the Lord had directed, but the people were in no mood to receive his
message. They began to heckle him.
"Who art thou?” "Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of one man, although he should
preach unto us that the earth should pass away?” (1,2) they asked. "Who is God, that sendeth no
more authority than one man among this people?" (6). The leaders stepped forth to seize him, but
changed their minds when Alma stood forth and spoke boldly to them (7).
Alma 7:8 And I stood with boldness to declare unto them, yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:
Behold, O ye wicked and perverse generation, how have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers; yea,
how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.
Only as men are moved fully by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit should such language be
used in rebuke. There are times when men may sense the perverseness of others and feel they
should be rebuked, but Jesus' advice was, "Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged." It
requires divine wisdom to know the thoughts and conditions which motivate men.
The people recognized the power by which Alma spoke and dared not "lay their hands on" him
(7).
He called their attention to "the tradition of your fathers." He referred to such men as Lehi, Nephi,
and Jacob. He mentioned God's "matchless power" in preserving them from destruction "even by
the hands of their own brethren” (11,12).
Alma 7:14 But behold, this is not all: he has commanded you to repent, or he will utterly destroy you
from off the face of the earth; yea, he will visit you in his anger, and in his fierce anger he will not turn
away.
When wicked men are told to repent, that alone seldom, if ever, creates any desire strong enough
to produce a change. The threat of total destruction of their city might do it, unless they are too
steeped in sin.
But Alma also reminded them of the promise God made to Lehi, "Inasmuch as ye shall keep my
commandments ye shall prosper in the land" (15). He reminded them of the plight of the
Lamanites who "have been cut off from the presence of the Lord" for their transgressions (16-18).
Alma 7:19 Nevertheless I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for them in the day of judgment
than for you, if ye remain in your sins;
Alma gave them first a warning of destruction, then reminded them of the promise of prosperity ,
and finally compared them with the past and future of the Lamanites.