Book of Mormon Lesson Plan 24

Introduction

Let’s start by examining the context in which Alma and Amulek are preaching in Ammonihah.  Alma was initially rejected in Ammonihah, and left the city sorrowfully, presuming he would never return.  As he was leaving, an angel commanded Alma to return, and Amulek was prepared by an angel (same angel?) to help him physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  This was the fourth day of the seventh month (see Alma 10:6); although we have no idea how their calendar coincides with ours, we’ll call it July 4 for reference.

After Alma had spent some amount of time with Amulek, during which time Amulek was taught both by Alma and by heavenly messengers (see Alma 10:9-11), they began to preach.  One of the objections the people of Ammonihah raised related to authority; read Alma 9:6.  In Alma 13, Alma addresses the question of authority with a discourse on the Melchizedek Priesthood.

The Priesthood and Foreordination

The Melchizedek Priesthood helps us develop faith in Jesus Christ

Read Alma 13:1-2.  I have always been intrigued by the phrase, they “were ordained…in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.”  Throughout this chapter, look for ways that the priesthood and our interaction with it helps us understand Jesus Christ and the atonement better.

Those foreordained exercised faith and works

Read Alma 13:3-5.  When were men first “called and prepared” to receive the priesthood?  How did they demonstrate their worthiness?  Note in verse 3 that they exercised faith and works.  We do not “earn” our way back to heaven, but we consistently choose good.  Imagine the danger of giving God’s power to those who do otherwise.  How do these verses help us look to the Son for redemption?

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 365).

Does this foreordination in pre-mortality mean there is nothing we need to do in this life to receive the priesthood?  Or that once we have it, it is ours forever, regardless of what we do?  Of course not.  Read Alma 13:8-10.  Verse 8 actually speaks about their ordination – not their foreordination.  And the key is in verse 10 where as mortals, their choices were consistent with their pre-mortal choices; they exercised faith, repented, and chose to do the works of righteousness. 

Side note: notice Alma’s repeated emphasis on the individual choices of those who are righteous.  People who say religion takes away our freedom and ability to choose are simply wrong.  My good choices today do not preclude me from choosing evil tomorrow.  But my evil choices today may in fact remove my ability to choose good in the future.

How do these verses help us look to the Son for redemption?

We should sustain those called to any office in mortality

How do these verses about foreordination affect our actions in relation to callings – Callings we receive and accept?  Callings we receive and would rather not accept?  Callings others receive?  Consider this statement by President Kimball:

President Spencer W. Kimball taught: “Before we came here, faithful women were given certain assignments while faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood tasks. While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to. You are accountable for those things which long ago were expected of you just as are those we sustain as prophets and apostles!” (“The Role of Righteous Women,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 102).

How do these verses help us look to the Son for redemption?

The “rest of the Lord”

Alma uses a curious phrase in Alma 13:6.  What is “the rest of the Lord”?

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: “The rest of the Lord, where mortals are concerned, is to gain a perfect knowledge of the divinity of the great latter-day work. [President Joseph F. Smith said,] ‘It means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else; we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive.’ It is ‘rest from the religious turmoil of the world; from the cry that is going forth, here and there—lo, here is Christ; lo, there is Christ.’ (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed., pp. 58, 125–126.) The rest of the Lord, in eternity, is to inherit eternal life, to gain the fulness of the Lord’s glory (D. & C. 84:24.)” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 633).

How does the Melchizedek Priesthood help us enter the rest of the Lord?

Melchizedek is a type of Christ

The Melchizedek Priesthood received its name from a great high priest and king.  Read Alma 13:16-19.  Notice again that Alma points out that this is to help us know how to look to Jesus Christ for salvation.  How do these verses help us look to the Son for redemption?

• Melchizedek is a king; Jesus is a king
• Both kings’ subjects had waxed strong in iniquity
• Both exercised faith
• Both were ordained to the priesthood and to their special mission
• Both preached repentance
• Both reigned under their fathers
• Many preceded and followed these great men, but in their assignment, none was ever greater than they.  (Melchizedek was the greatest mortal king; Jesus was not called to be a political king in mortality.)

Alma pleads with the people to repent

Read Alma 13:27-30.  This plea is as relevant to us today as it was to the rebellious in Ammonihah.  How can we “not procrastinate”?  What is the danger in procrastinating?

Believers are persecuted and Ammonihah is destroyed

In Alma 14 the men who believe Alma and Amulek and repent are chased from the city.  Their wives and children are burned to death along with their scriptures.  It is a terrible example of men choosing evil rather than good.  Alma assured Amulek that those who were thus martyred were received by God in glory (see Alma 14:10-11).

Alma and Amulek were cast into prison and abused for “many days.”  On October 12 (by our calendar) Alma and Amulek were miraculously delivered.  The prison in which they were kept fell to the earth, killing all those who were in it except these two missionaries.

On February 5 of the next year the Lamanites invaded Nephite lands and completely destroyed the city of Ammonihah and all its inhabitants in one day (see Alma 16:1-3, 9-11). 

Alma ministers to Amulek and Zeezrom

Zeezrom was among the men chased from the city of Ammonihah, and he was tormented for his wickedness.  When he heard that Alma and Amulek were alive, he asked them to come to him.  See Alma 15:3-12.  Zeezrom spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel and helping others repent.

It was now Alma’s turn to take Amulek to his home and minister to his physical, spiritual, and emotional needs.  See Alma 15:16, 18.

Conclusion

Our lives will be blessed, and we will be able to bless the lives of others more effectively as we understand the order of the Priesthood, and as we strive to exercise faith and repent.  All these things will help us know better how to look to the Son of God for redemption.