May 25 - 31

Mosiah 29 - Alma 4

Underline the questions from the manual?

Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing

What was the state of Gods people in Zarahamla before Alma came 'back' from the land of Nephi?

You can tell Mosiah had given the matter of the Kingdom much thought.

Mosiah 29:31, 38 With a king some of the responsibility for your sins lands on the king. With an elected government, the people are more accountable. The people chose this. Very similar to the two options from the pre-mortal existence.

One line that is almost invisible. Alma 1:24. There were those that had their names blotted out. Presumably for apostasy. But it says there were also many that withdrew themselves from among [the church of God]. Many people just slipped away. This is most common these days.

One of the reasons I don't like the book of Alma is because it is full of war and contention.

Alma 4:3-4 I just can't imagine people thinking like this today. I'm afflicted, therefore it my be the judgement of God upon me and I must repent. People today are more likely to curse God if they experience afflictions and turn away.

Alma 4:9 The believers began to persecute those that did not, and the pride of those the belonged to the church exceeded that of those that did not!!!

What is priestcraft? Men preaching and setting themselves up for a light to the world that they may get gain and praise of the world;

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/priestcraft?lang=eng

Questions from the manual this week.

Have you noticed religious rights being threatened in your nation or community? What do you learn from the way the Nephites responded to this threat?

How can you, like the Nephites, make sure that your voice is included in “the voice of the people”?

are there other ways you can be a positive influence in your community?

Why might people have found Nehor’s teachings enticing?

How can you be more like the people of God? Do you notice any “priestcraft” in your own service?

how would you describe the attitude that “humble followers of God” have toward riches and prosperity? What do you feel inspired to change about your own attitude?

What impresses you about his approach to helping his people? 

Lesson Plan

I was going to start this lesson by explaining that there has been something about this study of the book of mormon that has been different to all other years I have studied it. At 1st I couldn't figure out what it was, but after a bit of thought I figured it out. It's all the study aids I've been using to compliment the Come Follow Me material. The Book of Mormon videos produced by the church, the podcasts and you tube videos. They have all helped to put additional context around what's going on in each chapter. Podcasts & you tube have been around for over a decade now, but I don't think they have been used to help do as much good as they are today.

What I thought I'd do is a quick two min summary of the movements of the last 500 years of the Nephites from the time they arrived in the promised land.

It wasn't long after they arrived that Lehi died. Nephi's brothers were angry with Nephi, again, so he took his side of the family and left to establish a new nation. This became known as the land of Nephi. But then, many years and generations later the Lamanites, again, attacked the Nephites and invaded the land of Nephi, so the people of Nephi fled (Omni 1:12) and wondered looking for somewhere new to settle.

This is where it gets interesting, because in their search they discovered the land of Zarahemla (Omni 1:14). Their descendants too had come from Jerusalem (Omni 1:15), but they had  no records to remind them of their creator (Omni 1:17). The Nephites joined the people of Zarahemla (Omni 1:19).

After a while a man called Zeniff (200-187 BC) lead a group to a the land of their inheritance, the Land of Nephi, now inhabited by Lamanites (Mosiah 9). The Laminate King granted them the land, with a plan to let them prosper, fix up the city, then put them in captivity. Zeniff's son was king Noah, that didn't go well. Noah's son was Limhi. It was Limhi that was met by the scout Ammon who had left Zarahemla to look for Zeniff's people, the people Limhi was now king over.

Ammon helps Limhi and his people return to Zarahemla (Mosiah 22).

While Noah was king, Alma started a following and they left the land of Nephi, established the city of Helam, before long they are persecuted by the laminates too and then managed to escape bondage and make it to the land of Zarahemla (Mosiah 24).

By the time they got to Zarahemla king Benjamin had passed away and Mosiah II was their king.

Last week we learned about Alma (the son of Alma the high priest) & the sons of King Mosiah and how after their 'conversion' Mosiah's sons went on missions to preach to the laminates.

And this is where we start this weeks reading.

Mosiah, getting old now has a problem. He can't give the kingdom to his sons as they are away serving missions and he can't give it to anyone else for fear of causing contention. We don't have time to read all of Chapter 29 but as I read it it became clear King Mosiah had given a lot of thought and prayer with regards to what to do. Basically he concludes Monarch's are not as good as elected leadership. Mosiah 29:39 describes the ability to take more responsibility as liberty.

[Read] Mosiah 29:31, 38 & 39.

[Question] Do these ideas remind you of anything? The war in heaven? The opportunity to grow.

Out of interest I googled how many nations have elected leaders. It was hard to work out but clear the vast majority do. So this is clearly a popular way of governing people.

Peter to share some thoughts on King Mosiah II (King Benjamin's son).

So the People elect Alma, the younger, to be the chief Judge. The chief Judge being like the Prime Minister. Elected leader of the nation. Rather than a Monarch born or battled into the role. Note; Alma was already the High Priest, like the president of the church, so he was already a busy man (Mosiah 29:42).

About a year later King Mosiah passed away and Alma, Alma's dad, also passed away. Leaving Alma, the younger in charge of the church and the governance of the people (Mosiah 29:45-46).

It didn't take long before more contentions came. A man named Nehor starts threatening the church & teaching falsehoods (Alma 1:2-6). He is challenged by a man named Gideon. (Anyone remember what Gideon did? Almost killed King Noah but spared his life to se to the approaching Lamanites & helped King Limhi and the people escape the land of Nephi.) Nehor slays Gideon (Alma 1:7-9), so Gideon must have been considered quite a thereat. But the people take him and he is judged and sentenced to death (Alma 1:10-14).

But it isn't long before a man called Amlici started teaching similar to what Nehor was teaching. Except he was keen to reestablish kings and like any man full of pride, he was suggesting that would be himself (Alma 2:2).

[Read] Alma 2:5-7

[Question] What did the people do? Voted for good. They could see Amlici was trouble.

Here are tree questions from the manual.

[Question] Have you noticed religious rights being threatened in your nation or community?

What about going to church? Hopefully most people understand that this is for our own safety. But, we do have ways to continue to meet. We've not been told we cannot practice our religion, we just can't physically meet.

I think we are very lucky here. We, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, can worship without restrictions.

[Question] How can you, like the Nephites, make sure that your voice is included in “the voice of the people”?

Vote.
Write.
Teach/Preach.
Support/Promote.

[Question] Are there other ways you can be a positive influence in your community?

Depends on how you define community. Youth group, class room, office, neighbourhood, Sports/Running Club, Women's Institute, religious group, home!, local FB group, ward what's app group, 

Be a good example, always.
Create a Podcast.
Clap on Thursday's, keep to the rules/guidelines.
Lots of people have been helping make PPE for the NHS and other services.
Donate