I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come Follow Me Alma 36-38 (If you missed last week’s insights for Come Follow Me Alma 32-35 click here). Save this pin to read later.
Foreshadows Of Christ.
“And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs.” Alma 36:10
One of my favorite things within the scriptures is finding things that foreshadow Christ. In this verse, Alma talks about being almost dead for 3 days… Just like Christ, and how He was dead. At the end of the 3 days, Alma was “born of God” and came back to life. And at the end of 3 days of being in the tomb, Christ came back to life and was resurrected!
“He was crucified and placed in the tomb. On the third day, he did arise to live again—the Savior of all mankind and the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Through this atoning sacrifice, all men shall be saved from the grave and shall live again. This always has been the testimony of the Apostles”
~Howard W. Hunter
Inherent Witnesses: Polishing the Gold Plates
“And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ.” Alma 37:5
In one of my classes at my local University, we were talking about methods of recording history. We talked about parchment, papyri, and many other methods including metal plates. My Professor said that papyrus was the favorite, And metal was avoided.
I brought up that in Korea that have used Gold plates before, He said that most people preferred papyri over metal because unless metal was polished it would tarnish. But if you were to polish the metal it would be the best, but that polishing took too much effort, so it was avoided.
Verse five talks about that the brass and gold plates must be polished and stay bright. The very next verse, six details Alma’s opinion on polishing.
“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.” Alma 37:6
Joseph Smith said that when he found the Gold plates that they were wrapped in an oil-soaked cloth, by doing that, it prevented oxidation and tarnish.
Thus small and simple things provided the means to bring forth the Book of Mormon, and confound the wise.
Being Sober.
“And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be sober. My son, farewell.”
Alma 38:15
The meanings of words change over time, today, if I talked about the virtue of being “Sober” culture, would say that means abstaining from alcohol. But the true meaning of this word is far more than to abstain from alcohol.
Mormon was chosen because was sober, the Sons of Helaman’s described by their ‘Soberness”, and Paul often refers to soberness in his epistles. So what is the virtue of Soberness?
“Being sober means being earnest and serious in assessing your circumstances and careful and circumspect in weighing the consequences of your actions. Soberness therefore yields good judgment, as well as measured conduct.”
~Elder James J. Hamula
