Behold, I say unto you, that there is no resurrection—or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption—until after the coming of Christ. Alma 40:2 What does that mean? Well, it means that we are corrupted, and until we resurrect, we will be still corrupted. But how are we corrupted? For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the […]

Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you. Alma 39:14 What does Alma mean when he says that? I think that there are a few meanings. First, they probably just can’t carry them with them. They might not have room to bring treasure. When Nephi and his family left Jerusalem, they probably knew that they weren’t staying in the area, so they probably brought a lot. But they didn’t have room for their treasure. Alma and his sons were just going on a little mission. I don’t think they […]

Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness. Alma 38:9 How is Jesus Christ all that? Well, here are some ways he can be those things. He is the life of the world: Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25 The death he’s talking about isn’t physical. It’s spiritual. Further spiritual death comes as a result of our own disobedience. Our sins make us unclean and unable to dwell […]

For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people might not be destroyed. Alma 37:28 What curse is Alma talking about? This one: Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which […]

Yea, and I had murdered many of his children Alma 36:14 Wait, what? Alma was a murderer before he repented? No, see what he says next? or rather led them away unto destruction Alma 36:14 So no, he did not kill their bodies. But he did lead them away from the truth. He led them off of the path. He led them towards hell. He removed any righteousness in them. He killed their soul. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both […]

My brother has called upon the words of Zenos, that redemption cometh through the Son of God, and also upon the words of Zenock; and also he has appealed unto Moses, to prove that these things are true. Alma 34:7 That’s what Amulek says after Alma talks about Zenos and Zenock. But Alma and Amulek aren’t brothers! Well, they kinda are brothers. As children of our Heavenly Father, all men and women are spiritually brothers and sisters. In the Church, male members and friends of the Church are often addressed as brothers. Brethren, Brother – Guide to the Scriptures Just […]

Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted. Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven […]

Nevertheless, after many days their dead bodies were heaped up upon the face of the earth, and they were covered with a shallow covering. And now so great was the scent thereof that the people did not go in to possess the land of Ammonihah for many years. And it was called Desolation of Nehors; for they were of the profession of Nehor, who were slain; and their lands remained desolate. What does that mean? So, there were dead bodies lying everywhere in Ammoniah, and it smelled really bad. It was called the “Desolation of Nehors”. What does that mean? […]

  And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed. Alma 13:15 Why did Abraham pay his thing to Melchizedek instead of God? Well, Genesis 14:18 says And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine so maybe it was more of a tax as he was the King. Or, the same verse also says: and he was the priest of the most high God. So maybe he was just the person to collect tithing, like how the Bishop collects our tithing today. […]

  The first 19 verses of Alma 11 explain the monetary system of the Nephites. Why do we need to know that, though? I’m not sure. Maybe it is so we can know, that when Zeezrom said unto [Amuek]: Behold, here are six onties of silver, and all these will I give thee if thou wilt deny the existence of a Supreme Being. we would know that that is a lot of money. But Mormon could have just written Zeezrom said unto Amulek: Behold, here are six onties of silver, and all these will I give thee if thou wilt […]

At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. We see the words in Deuteronomy 17:6 come true in Alma 9-14. When Alma comes, the people say: 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? But when Alma and Amulek both come, Now when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exceedingly, for he […]

And again I say unto you, the Spirit saith: Behold, the ax is laid at the root of the tree; therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire, yea, a fire which cannot be consumed, even an unquenchable fire. Behold, and remember, the Holy One hath spoken it. What tree and axe is Alma talking about? Remember Jacob 5, the parable of the vineyard? God will get rid of all the bad trees. He will cut them down. The axe is already at the tree, so the Lord is getting […]

Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. In Judges 2:16, a system of judges was started. In Mosiah, the same thing happened among the Nephites. I think that the Nephites might have got the idea from the Israelites. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/4?lang=eng&verse=#p

Therefore the people of the Nephites were aware of the intent of the Amlicites, and therefore they did prepare to meet them; yea, they did arm themselves with swords, and with cimeters, and with bows, and with arrows, and with stones, and with slings, and with all manner of weapons of war, of every kind. How were they aware? The scriptures don’t tell us, but I have some ideas: 1: The Nephites had a spy that told them. 2: The Amlicites mistakenly did all that in plain sight. 3: The Amlicites accidentally told the Nephites. 4: The spirit told them. […]

Alma 1:7-9 reads: And it came to pass as he was going, to preach to those who believed on his word, he met a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their teachers; and he began to contend with him sharply, that he might lead away the people of the church; but the man withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God. Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was an instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage. Now, because […]

In Mosiah 27, Alma the Younger is being very wicked. But then, only two chapters later, in Mosiah 29, And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be the first chief judge, he being also the high priest, his father having conferred the office upon him, and having given him the charge concerning all the affairs of the church. Look at the dates. Mosiah 27 takes place About 100–92 B.C. And Mosiah 29 happens About 92–91 B.C. Only 9 years at the most, and right away at the least! That just tells us how strong his conversion was, […]

Now I say unto you let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have any right to destroy another if he should be appointed in his stead. What does Mosiah mean, “destroy his son”? How would being king destroy him? Well, read the previous verse: … I fear there would rise contentions among you. And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions […]

And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed. reads Mosiah 26:19-39. But why does that matter? Why should we pray for the wicked? Well, we want to get back to heaven. And for that, we need to be like Jesus. If Jesus looses something, he will search until it is found, as he says in the following parables: And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which […]

And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of […]

Remember in Mosiah 20, when Noah’s priests stole the daughters of the Lamanites? They battled against Limhi’s people, but then realized that it was the priests of Noah, not Limhi. So what happened to the Lamanites? Now the armies of the Lamanites, which had followed after the people of king Limhi, had been lost in the wilderness for many days. So after leaving Limhi, they got lost. And behold, they had found those priests of king Noah, in a place which they called Amulon; and they had begun to possess the land of Amulon and had begun to till the […]

And now the priests of king Noah, being ashamed to return to the city of Nephi, yea, and also fearing that the people would slay them, therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children. And having tarried in the wilderness, and having discovered the daughters of the Lamanites, they laid and watched them; And when there were but few of them gathered together to dance, they came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness. […]

In Mosiah 20, Limhi mentions an oath with the Lamanites. Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; therefore, why should ye break the oath which ye made unto my people? When was that oath made? And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an oath unto them, that his people should not slay them. And also Limhi, being the son of the king, having the kingdom conferred upon him by the people, made oath unto the king of the Lamanites that his people should pay tribute unto him, even one […]

And it came to pass that the army of the king returned, having searched in vain for the people of the Lord. And now behold, the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people. And the lesser part began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them. How was the army “reduced”? Somehow, the army just had less people than when they left. How? The scriptures don’t tell us. The above scripture, Mosiah 19:1-3, does say that […]

“And for a testimony that the things that they had said are true they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold.” Where are the Jaredite plates mentioned, other than Mosiah 8:9 (that one)? “And it came to pass in the days of Mosiah, there was a large stone brought unto him with engravings on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and power of God. And they gave an account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and […]

Why is God punishing Limhi’s people in Mosiah 7? They seem pretty righteous to me! Well, now there are, but before they weren’t. A little while before, Limhi’s father, King Noah, killed the prophet, Abinadi. The people were punished for that. Then, Limhi became king and helped the people repent. But by that time, it was too late. They were already taken by the Lamanites even before Noah was king. Wait! I don’t remember reading about Abinidi yet! Well, that’s because you didn’t. Chapters 9 through 22 of Mosiah are going back in time. Somewhere in-between verses 19 and 20 […]

In Mosiah 5:4, the people preformed a Hosanna Shout during a Solemn Assembly: “And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy.” Why? “Solemn assemblies are used for three purposes: the dedication of temples, special instruction to priesthood leaders, and sustaining a new President of the Church.” said David B. Haight in 1994. King Benjamin got special instruction from God: a new covenant that every person old enough took upon themselves. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/5?lang=eng&verse=#p

“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Mosiah 2:17 says. What does that mean? He’s telling them this so they can be smart. When you help someone else, you are helping God. Matthew 25:40 also says that: “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have doneit unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” And Doctrine and Covenants 42:31: “And inasmuch as ye […]

“And now there was no more contention in all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who belonged to king Benjamin, so that king Benjamin had continual peace all the remainder of his days.” the Book of Mosiah starts. But wait! What contention? Mosiah has barely even started! We do have a record of it. It is in Omni 1:12-19. Yes, that is pretty short. There is an extended version on the large plates: in the lost pages. Why not just put it on both so we still have it? Because before King Benjamin’s time, there was still room […]

If you look at the dates on the scripture chapters, you will see that they go from 130 B.C. in Omni, to A.D. 385 in Words of Mormon, and then back to 124 B.C. for Mosiah 1! Why did it go forward a few hundred years? Did the Nephites invent time travel?! No, Words of Mormon is basically Mormon saying, “Alright, so I abridged everything after Amaleki, then I copied down these other plates.” But what chapters of Mormon does Words of Mormon take place between? Well, it must be after he gets the records: “And now I, Mormon, seeing […]

“…and these plates are full…” writes Amaleki in Omni 1:30. But wait! How could that be? The Book of Mormon isn’t even halfway done! Remember 1 Nephi 9:2? “And now, as I have spoken concerning these plates, behold they are not the plates upon which I make a full account of the history of my people; for the plates upon which I make a full account of my people I have given the name of Nephi; wherefore, they are called the plates of Nephi, after mine own name; and these plates also are called the plates of Nephi.” So there are […]