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Benjamin Wilcox

LESSON PLAN FOR ALMA 13-16

Watch the Video Presentation on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/ZfAYNGVTdlM


INTRO:

This week’s chapters cover part 2 of what I call “The Tragedy of Ammonihah”. And one certainly has to stop and ask why Alma, or Mormon for that matter, decided to include so many chapters on this particular story in the Book of Mormon. 9 whole chapters dedicated to the Ammonihah story. I mean, Ammon doesn’t get that many chapters, the stripling warriors don’t get that many chapters. There must be something about what happened in Ammonihah that God really wanted us to understand in the latter days. And I don’t claim to know the definitive reason why, but it’s a good question for us to consider as we study Alma 8-16. Remember that this week is part 2 of the Ammonihah chapters. If you haven’t watched part 1 yet covering chapters 8-12, I recommend you do that first.  This week we’ll zero on chapters 13-16. Well, last week we identified two major themes in these chapters: the rescuers and the lost. We’ll do the same this week and begin with the rescuers. Chapter 13 is a rescuer chapter.


ICEBREAKER

What if you had God’s power?  What would you do with it? 

I mean he can part seas, move mountains, protect people from their enemies, he can call down fire from heaven, heal people, and numerous other miracles that we find in the scriptures. What would you do with it though? 


Usually, you get some pretty fun answers to that question. Especially if you’re teaching the youth, they really let their imaginations run wild, so have fun with it.


TRANSITION

But then you can transition with this comment. Well, I’m willing to bet that there are people in this room that actually do have God’s power. Who might I be talking about? And I let them think about it for a bit. And the answer is that they do! Anybody who has access to the priesthood or priesthood authority has God’s power. That’s what priesthood is. We can access it and we have the ability to hold a measure of it within ourselves.  So, the question is, if we have all these individuals in the church with that power, then why don’t we see more of those miraculous kinds of things happen that we were just talking about? Parting rush hour traffic. President Nelson traveling from hospital to hospital healing all the sick? Moving mountains to aid with construction projects. Multiplying food for church activities. Why not more of that kind of thing? Because that’s not really its major purpose is it. We believe in miracles, but the purpose of the priesthood is not to bring convenience into our live, or to remove all obstacles and problems, or to bring attention or glory to the one performing them. Alma chapter 13 is going to help us to understand real priesthood purpose. 


WOMEN AND THE PRIESTHOOD

And before we dive into this phenomenal chapter, I want to express how grateful I am for the added understanding and insight we’ve been given in recent years concerning women and the priesthood. This chapter is not just a “man” chapter. This is a children of God chapter. We should keep that in mind when we talk about the priesthood that there is a distinction between priesthood authority and priesthood keys. President Oaks explained it best:


"We are not accustomed to speaking of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church callings, but what other authority can it be? When a woman—young or old—is set apart to preach the gospel as a full-time missionary, she is given priesthood authority to perform a priesthood function. The same is true when a woman is set apart to function as an officer or teacher in a Church organization under the direction of one who holds the keys of the priesthood. Whoever functions in an office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties."

Dallin H. Oaks (Conference Report, April 2014)


So keep this in mind as we study this chapter, that both men and women exercise priesthood authority in their God-given assignments. 

GOSPEL GRAMMAR

Well, priesthood is one of those words that I think we use so often that it begins to lose its meaning. But if we really examine those words more closely or substitute them with synonyms, we can begin to grasp their meaning better.  So we’re going to approach this with a lesson activity that I call Gospel Grammar. So I hope you remember your parts of speech from elementary because it’s back to school. I want you to read Alma 13:1-12 looking for individual words that teach you truths about the priesthood. See if you can find at least one that will fit into each of the following parts of speech and ponder what they teach us about priesthood. And be sure not to divorce the words from their context either. Try to keep in mind the general principles that are being taught as you read as well.


  • Find a noun that refers to the priesthood

  • Find an adjective that describes the priesthood or priesthood bearers. 

  • Find a verb that describes what priesthood bearers do 

NOUNS

Order (1,2,6,7,8,9,10,11) Shows up a lot. 

What does that word suggest about priesthood? I think you can read that two ways. Order as in, organization or structure. This power he bestows upon humanity has standards and qualifications. Not just anybody can wake up and decide that they are authorized to act in God’s name. God’s house is a house of order. Just like a person can’t wake up and decide they are going to start issuing speeding tickets, making arrests, performing surgeries, or teaching college classes. Even if they have the best intentions in the world to do so. No, you have to receive the authority from a recognized body to consider yourself a police officer, or a surgeon, or a professor. That creates order and trust in a society. If there was no governing body, some centralized system that assigns authority, our nations would descend into chaos and distrust. In terms of the gospel, we need a trusted, authorized system of authority to operate under.

But you could also define order as a unified group, a fellowship, or an alliance. Priesthood has that connotation as well. A power of God that brings people together, and links and binds them. You can see that suggested in the suffix -hood. Think of other words that end with it. Neighborhood, knighthood, brotherhood, sisterhood. They are unified bodies of individuals working towards a common goal. The priesthood is an order based on order. 


Calling (3, 4, 5, 8)

The priesthood is a calling. Calling suggests duty, responsibility, or being given an assignment. But it’s also defined as a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action. I think it can mean both. We sometimes talk about fulfilling our calling in life.  So yes, that calling comes from God, but it also burns within and inspires us. We learn in verse 3 that that calling came "from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God”.  This is the doctrine of foreordination that teaches that individuals received callings and foreordinations even before they were born. These were individuals that had shown, with there premortal agency, exceeding faith, and a desire to choose good over evil. This doesn’t mean that people with certain callings or gifts or stations in life are considered more precious or important than anybody else. But they were individuals whom God could see before mortality that he could trust with a responsibility to bless and help as many of his other children as possible.  And this certainly doesn’t apply to just prophets or apostles or just men, or just members of the church even.  Patriarchal blessings are an indicator of the nature of some of these callings given according to the foreknowledge of God. 


Privilege (4)

Exercising priesthood power is a privilege. A GREAT privilege. It’s not an entitlement. It’s not a burden. There’s nothing mundane or routine about it. It’s a privilege. Hopefully when we get the opportunity to use it, that we feel that way. Do the young men feel it a privilege to administer the sacrament? Do young women’s youth presidencies feel it a privilege to lead their groups? Do we feel it a privilege to speak in sacrament meeting? Do we feel it a privilege to be assigned as a minister to a less active family? I hope we feel privileged to have these opportunities and responsibilities placed upon us. 


Ordinance(8)

This word appears twice in verse 8 but reminds us that being ordained to priesthood office is an ordinance.  Ordinances are symbolic formal acts that teach us gospel principles through physical actions. What’s the symbolism in having an individual confer power by placing their hands on your head? Keep that question in mind. We’ll come back to that idea when we talk about Melchizedek.


ADJECTIVES

Holy-the word comes up 13 times in these verses. He talks about a holy order, a holy calling, a holy ordinance. Holy means consecrated or dedicated for a special purpose. What a great word to describe the priesthood itself and those that apply it. Hopefully we can be consecrated and dedicated to God’s special purposes.


Prepared-I count that word 5 times. We learn that the priesthood was prepared from the foundation of the world, from eternity to all eternity. This was always part of the plan. Priesthood is eternal and essential for God’s purposes to be fulfilled. It was no afterthought. It was prepared. But there’s something else in these verses that is described as being prepared.  In verse 5. What else, or who else, was prepared before the foundation of the world. God’s only Begotten Son, the Savior, was also prepared. 


Lastly, 5 adjectives that are similar in nature so we’ll group them here:

Sanctified, washed, white, pure, spotless. What will the priesthood do for those who exercise it? It will sanctify and purify them. And conversely, individuals who wish to exercise this power will strive to be pure, spotless, and sanctified. They will be people who cannot look upon sin save it were with abhorrence. They have no more disposition to do evil, as King Benjamin’s people would say. 


VERBS

Choose-The priesthood bearer will choose good and not evil. 


Exercising-What is it that is being exercised here? Faith. The priesthood bearer exercises exceedingly great faith. The connection of priesthood with faith is a strong one. It’s said four times in these verses. Faith is one of the prerequisites for exercising this power. 

Become-Bearing the priesthood isn’t just about doing something. It’s about becoming something.


And then I’ve saved this one for last, because I think it stands out to me as one of the preeminent purposes of priesthood power. It’s right there in verse 1, the very first thing Alma highlights as a purpose of the priesthood. 


To Teach-these things unto the people. What are “these things” that he is referring to? Well, what he just taught in Chapter 12. The plan of  Salvation and God’s commandments. So that (verse 2) the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption. The purpose of the priesthood is to help people know what they need to do to gain redemption. Again in verse 6, God called and ordained them “to teach” his commandments unto the children of the men. 


Now I want to dive in a little deeper here. This, for me, was the most powerful idea expressed in this chapter. If I say to myself. Ok, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have access to the power of God’s priesthood. What do I do with it? Is it about barking out orders? No. Is it about running meetings, or asking people to say the opening prayer? Or making sure that ordinances are done correctly? Maybe a little. God needs to run his kingdom in order. But I really think that that’s secondary. What is it really all about? We talk about honoring the priesthood. What does that mean? How do I honor my priesthood?


MELCHIZEDEK

Alma is going to teach us this by sharing an example. Somebody that he felt embodied what the priesthood was all about. That person’s name? Melchizedek. I want you to read Alma 13:14-19 and mark everything you learn about Melchizedek.

Some of the things you may have picked out: 

  • He was a high priest

  • Abraham paid tithing to him

  • He was a King over the land of Salem.

  • His people were wicked. Full of all manner of wickedness. 

  • But with mighty faith, he preached repentance to his people, and lo and behold, they repent. He established peace in the land.


 In D&C 107 we learn that the full name of the higher priesthood  is “The Holy Priesthood after the order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they,  the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek . . .” And why Melchizedek? D&C 107:2 Because he was such a great high priest. He is the perfect example of what a priesthood holder is and should do. What did he do? Through his faith, through his preaching, through his example he was able to turn a wicked people into righteous one. He was able to establish peace in people’s lives. That is exercising priesthood authority at its best. Teaching, acting and leading in such a way that it lifts and blesses others and brings peace to them. Melchizedek, come to find out, is actually a title rather than a given name. More than likely, Melchizedek is Shem, one of Noah’s sons.  But Melchizedek, the title,  means King of Righteousness, and we learn that they also called him the prince of peace. That’s the kind of authority God wants to be exercised in his name. The kind that encourages righteousness and peace, not dominion and conquest. 


Earlier I mentioned the symbolism of the ordinance of formally receiving priesthood authority. How is that performed? The individual sits in a chair, while another person with authority places their hands on their heads and gives them that power. What’s the symbolism?  When a King becomes a King, there is a ceremony. It’s called a coronation. The future king sits on a chair or throne, while somebody with authority, usually a member of the clergy, places a crown upon their heads and utters words of blessing. When priesthood is conferred, It’s the same movement and same idea. Except when you receive priesthood or priesthood office or a calling, you are becoming a different kind of prince or king or royalty.  A prince of peace, and a king of righteousness. A princess of peace, a Queen of righteousness.  As we exercise priesthood authority, hopefully we can earn those titles and follow the example of Melchizedek.


So how do we know if we are honoring our priesthood authority? Are people’s lives better because of what we do, because of who we are? Do we lift people? Do they find it easier to do what’s right when they are around us? Do we bring peace into their lives. If so, we are honoring our priesthood authority. 


PREPARERS

And then I’d like to take you another verse in this chapter and add one more verb to our list here. See if you can find it in verse 24


24 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.


The key verb to me there? Preparing. That is the role of priesthood authority and it includes all the things that we’ve already talked about. Teaching, living righteously, establishing peace. It’s all about using that God-given power and responsibility to prepare others to receive Christ and his word. In short, priesthood is not about me. It’s not about the one exercising the authority. It’s all about blessing and lifting and preparing others for Christ to come into their lives. I know this verse is talking about angels, but aren’t priesthood leaders also angels in a way? Isn’t that what Alma and Amulek are doing at this very point with the people of Ammonihah? Aren’t they preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive Christ’s word? Isn’t that what Melchizedek did? And here, the coming he’s referring to is the literal coming of Christ to the Nephites, but whenever the scriptures speak of Christ’s coming, whether it’s taking about his mortal ministry or his second coming, it applies to more than just those relatively few that just happen to be alive when he came or comes. If these kind of verses only apply to them, then why are there so many? Christ’s coming can happen to all of us in our lifetime in some way. Probably not physically, but certainly he can manifest himself to us through the Spirit.  And that’s what those bearing priesthood authority are preparing the way for. Not only are we rescuers, but we’re preparers. 


I know we emphasize in the church the fact that we need to come unto Christ. That we need to go to Him. This whole course of study is called Come, Follow Me. And I think that’s wonderful. That is a true and vital principle. We do need to go to Him and follow Him. But if we visualize in our minds that Christ is static, just standing there, waiting for us to come unto Him, then I think we’re missing a key component. The scriptures also speak of Christ coming to us as well. He’s moving towards us as we move towards Him. We meet in the middle. One place you can see this is John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

Alma understands this better than anybody. He reached towards his Savior from the depths of his suffering in repentance, but the Savior snatched him out of it. We reach, and He reaches. We come, and he comes and I use my priesthood authority to help prepare people for that coming, and to encourage them to move towards Him.  John the Baptist was called a preparer for Christ. He was called to make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth.” That’s our job as priesthood bearers. There are barriers between others and Christ. So we become valley fillers, mountain levelers, road straighteners and smoothers”. 


And we do it (vs. 27) “from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain, that [they] will hearken unto [my] words. 

Again, it’s not about us. It’s about them.


And now that we’ve been taught the purpose of priesthood authority, let’s see it in action.  Alma and Amulek in Chapter 16:13-21. What aspects of priesthood authority that we’ve just learned about do you see in these verses? 


They go out and preach repentance, just like Melchizedek did, without respect of persons. Then there’s another one of our key verbs. Through their efforts, the Spirit was able to prepare their minds and their hearts to receive Christ’s words at his coming. 


ENTER INTO MY REST

And this is all leading to one overall goal that God has for his children. It’s a key phrase we haven’t identified yet, but if you’ve been reading close, you may have picked up on it.  It’s here in 16:17.

But it’s also in 

  • 12:34

  • 12:35

  • 12:36

  • 13:6

  • 13:12

  • 13:13

  • 13:16

  • 13:29

What’s the phrase? Enter into his rest. Ultimately, we want all to enter into God’s rest. Doctrine and Covenants 84:24 tells us that his rest is the fulness of his glory. 


Well that’s what I want to do. That’s what I want to use my priesthood authority for. I want to be a teacher, I want to be a preparer. I want to be a valley filler and a mountain leveler. I don’t need to be in charge, I don’t need to have people look at me, or think highly of me, or obey me. It’s not about me. The priesthood is never about us. I want to be a preparer to all that I meet. I want to prepare the hearts and minds of my ward members and those that aren’t members to receive the words of Christ. I want to prepare my students to receive the words of Christ, I want to prepare my children for Christ’s coming into their lives, and I do it from the inmost part of my heart, with great anxiety even unto pain. Because I want them to enter into God’s rest. I want them to have joy and gladness. I want them to experience the fulness of God’s glory. 


LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

Some questions to ponder:

Who have been some of the preparers in your life? How have they influenced you?

What can you do to fulfill the purpose of your priesthood authority more fully in your life?

What Gospel Grammar word meant the most to you in this lesson?

CONCLUSION

So, the priesthood is about being a preparer. Preparing the hearts and minds of others for the coming of Christ. It’s not about me. I’m so grateful for the preparers and rescuers in my life. My father was a preparer, my mother was a preparer, my bishops, my youth leaders, my teachers, my grandparents, my siblings, the living prophets and apostles. These are people who have righteously used their priesthood authority to prepare my mind and heart to receive Christ and his word. And I am forever grateful to them. May we all seek to fulfill these roles in our sphere of influence, and save many, including ourselves, so that we all can rejoice and enter into His rest.


THE AMMONIHAH PATTERN


ICEBREAKER

Can you recognize the pattern here? Which puzzle piece should come next? Choose from the pieces in the second row. The correct one would be this piece. Why? You can see that the sides of the puzzle pieces either go out or in. So take each edge of the pieces one at a time. Along the top edge of the piece, it goes, in, in, in, in. So our correct shape will have an in on the top. Then in the middle of the piece, it goes in on the left side, in on the right side, out on the left side, out on the right side, so the next piece would be in on the left side. Then the bottom edge of the piece goes in, out, in, out, so next would be in. This piece is the correct answer.


TRANSITION

Well that activity has hopefully given you some practice on recognizing patterns. Because I have another one for you. I call it the Ammonihah pattern. Last week we began to look at this pattern of witnesses and reactions. Let’s go a little deeper into what happened. See if you can fill out the following pattern chart to discover how God often works with societies that are nearing what we would a fullness of iniquity. We discovered last week that God will never destroy a people without first sending them witnesses, or rescuers to try and turn them around. Remember God loves all his children, even his rebellious ones, and wants to give them ample opportunities to change before he allows their destruction. So here we go.


These first three boxes should be fairly easy to fill in since we discussed them last week, however, we didn’t really focus much on the  people’s reactions or the results, but let’s do that now. 


Our first witness. Alma. What was the people’s first reaction in 8:13? They withstood his words, reviled him, spit upon him, and cast him out. What was the result of this reaction? In 8:28, the people did wax more gross in their iniquities. They got worse. 


Ok, our second witness. Amulek. What was the peoples initial reaction to him? 10:13. They sought to catch him and Alma in their words, so that they could deliver them to their judges to be cast into prison. And the outcome of this rejection and desire? 10:24. They were more angry with Amulek. All right, we’re going downhill fast. 


Our third witness. Zeezrom. What was the people’s reaction to his witness when he turns and begins to defend Alma and Amulek?

14:7. They reviled him, spit on him, and cast him out from among them, and then they went and sent people to throw rocks at him and the other believers. The result of this rejection? Well, by this point, they have completely lost not only the spirit, but all semblance of humanity and ethics as they burn women and children in a giant fire and make Alma and Amulek watch. Certainly, this is a people that has reached a fullness of iniquity. It makes me wonder what kind of hatred or evil could cause a human being to throw a child into a fire. Satan has obviously gained full power over these people and their actions. 


And why do they decide to kill them in that particular way? The disturbing answer comes in verse 14. Here they gloat over Alma and Amulek saying “After what ye have seen, will ye preach again unto this people that they shall be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone?” See what they’re doing there. Oh, we’re going to burn eh? WE'RE going to be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone? We’ll show you fire and brimstone. Whose burning now? Turning Alma’s figurative words into a literal nightmare. 


It’s amazing to me that even after this horrific display of agency, God is still willing to give them, or at least some of them, one final witness. See if you can find it. It’s a different kind of voice this time. Alma and Amulek are thrown into prison, bound, deprived food and water, stripped of their clothes, gnashed on, spit upon, and mocked for the space of many days. Finally, the Lord says, enough is enough. And he gives them a fourth witness. A fourth voice. But it’s a different kind of voice. How would you describe this witness?


Read Alma 14:26-29


So who, or better yet, what is the fourth witness or voice? I would call it, the voice of nature. Remember the amplification principle we discussed. God using more and more powerful witnesses. Louder voices if you will. They’ve long since ignored the still small voice, then they’ve rejected the louder voice of God’s prophets and witnesses, so now he’s going to speak even louder. And just like when you were younger, the louder your Mom or Dad’s voice got, the more trouble you were in. One of the best places to see this principle is in Doctrine and Covenants 43:24-26


24 O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!

25 How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!

26 Behold, the day has come, when the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full.


Do you see the message there? God has called often and with many different voices. You can almost sense the tone of exasperation in that list. I’ve tried everything with you guys, but you won’t listen! I’ve tried the soft voice, I’ve tried the loud and scary voice, I’ve tried the voice of judgment and the voice of mercy (remember Alma 9) I’ve tried it all. Nothing works. And so now, the cup of mine indignation is full. You’ve reached the fullness of iniquity. The day of mercy has passed. 


Still, we have yet to see the people's reaction to this louder voice. Will they change after seeing this? Their leaders and judges and lawyers have been killed in the collapse. But the rest of the people. Are they going to repent? Are they going to repent after such an awesome and obvious display of God’s power? Alma 15:1. Alma and Amulek are commanded to depart out of the city. It doesn’t work. They tell them to leave.  No change. No desire to repent. So, as we’ve seen in the pattern already established, every time they reject a witness, what happens to their level of iniquity? 15:15 They yet remained a hard-hearted and a stiff-necked people, and they repented not of their sins. 


Well, this is all leading up to our final outcome. After they have rejected all those witnesses, what eventually becomes of the people of Ammonihah? Chapter 16 holds the answer. And before we take a look at verses 9 through 11, check out these fascinating historical bookends. In verse 1 we discover that there have been no wars or contentions for a certain number of years between the Nephites and the Lamanites. So, a period of peace for some time. But then all of a sudden, in that same year that Alma and Amulek are cast our of Ammonihah, the Lamanites attack. And, by chance, what is the first city they happen upon. It’s Ammonihah. And it’s not until after Ammonihah is destroyed that the Nephites are able to raise a sufficiently sized army  to combat them, and eventually the Lamanites are defeated and driven out of the land. Then look at verse 12. 


12 And the Lamanites did not come again to war against the Nephites until the fourteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus for three years did the people of Nephi have continual peace in all the land.


So years of peace before and years of peace afterward. We just have this one little problem out of nowhere in that year of 81 BC. Coincidence? I’ll let you decide. 


So the final outcome for the people of Ammonihah:

Read Alma 16:9-11


This particular lesson may be why so many chapters are dedicated to the Ammonihah story.  Yet, it's not the only one of its kind in the Book of Mormon. We encounter a number of stories where a group of people, a nation, or a city suffers destruction or annihilation. In fact, the Book of Mormon both begins and ends with one. In the very first chapter of the Book of Mormon, we see Lehi warning the inhabitants of Jerusalem that they will be destroyed because of wickedness. As the reader, we know that this does eventually take place. Then the Book of Mormon also ends with such a story as we witness the annihilation of the entire Nephite society. And in between those two stories, we have a few more examples such as the story of the Jaredites, the people at the time of Christ’s coming, and the people of Ammonihah. 

In the history of our earth, sometimes a group of people becomes so wicked that they lose the right to continue living on the planet. There is a point that is reached where it seems that God feels it makes no more sense to allow their society to continue making themselves and other people more miserable through their wickedness. I’m sure he laments having to send the spirits of his children to societies that have reached this point, knowing that they don’t really even stand a chance for righteousness and happiness in such terrible conditions. Perhaps he feels they stand a better chance of changing in the Spirit world. They’ve reached the fullness of iniquity, and when that happens, they are swept off the face of the earth. 

So what is the message for you and I? Let’s heed the warning of the tragedy of Ammonihah. Yes, this acts as a general warning to our society as a whole, but we, as individuals, can’t really control the whole of society. We can only control ourselves. But the personal message? What do you think it would be?

My thought. Listen to the witnesses! When we begin to rebel in any form against God’s commandments, lovingly, he will send voices and witnesses to correct us. Rescuers and preparers. Hopefully we’ll change when we hear the soft whisperings of the Spirit telling us we need to shape up, or change, or resist temptation. But if that fails, hopefully we’ll change when we hear the voice of family members, teachers, local church leaders, and prophets. And if that fails, hopefully, we will change when the voice of nature speaks in the form of challenges, consequences, and calamities. The Lord loves us enough to chastise us, admonish us, counsel us, and allow us to suffer the consequences of our poor decisions. He will give us many chances. But be careful about your rejections, because the more we reject the harder it is to change.


LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

A final question to consider here:

What do you feel is the most important thing the Ammonihah chapters have taught you. Why?




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