Commentary for the Book of Mormon: Alma 30-31

Chapter 30 

30:2 -- Continual Peace 

We learn that after the major war that resulted in many loss of lives, the people buried their dead and fasted, mourned, and prayed, the 16th year ended and the Nephites once again began to have continual peace. Turning back to Mosiah 29, we get a sense of what type of peace the Nephites experienced. 

14 And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God, and to establish peace throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity; (Mosiah 29)

In chapter 29, Mosiah offers his speech up the dangers of a wicked king. Throughout his speech, Mosiah compares what a wicked king does and then Mosiah contracts that with what he has done. In verse 14, Mosiah explains that he established peace. For Mosiah, peace means the absence of the following things: 

• Absence of wars
• Absence of contentions
• Absence of stealing
• Absence of plundering
• Absence of murdering 
• Absence of any manner of iniquity (perversions or distortion) 

Thus when Mormon notes that there was continual peace in the 16th year of the reign of the judges and into the 17th, Mormon may mean that this type of peace is what existed. The existence of peace in the land, then, refers to more than the absence of war, but also encompasses other conduct as well. 

Further note the type of conduct described. Each of the conducts or actions taken against or involved another person. The only exception could be iniquity. However, as the Book of Mormon teaches us, even iniquity can affect other persons. We'll come back to this point later on. 

The fact that terms peace, as used in the Book of Mormon, could have such a specific meaning makes sense if we realize the effect of sin. To understand the effects of sin, we have to turn back to Genesis 1. 

Genesis 1 reads:

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 ¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Although Genesis 1 is about the creation. A careful reading also reveals that it provides an insight into God's working in the universe. When God created the world, he didn't just organize matter, but he also established order out of the chaos. Verse 2, is particularly important to look at: 

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Here, we see that in the beginning the earth was formless and void. In other words, it was chaotic. There was no order to the earth and instead matter was left without order, structure, or purpose. Part of the act of creation was creating order by giving each matter a purpose and function. Ultimately, then creation was about creating order out of the chaos. God imposed order on reality. Throughout the creation narrative, God calls each of his ordering of chaos "good." 

Moreover, this idea of chaos is not just Biblical, but scientific. Science tells us that everything decays. It shows us that everyone and everything is in a state of decay

But how does this relate to sin? Sin, particularly the types of sin described above, bring chaos into the world. The laws established for us by the Lord are based on natural law -- laws that are immutable. 

36 All kingdoms have a law given;

37 And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom.

Also consider this statement about eternal laws from the Doctrine and Covenants manual: 

The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that “all kingdoms have a law given; and … there is no space in the which there is no kingdom” (D&C 88:36–37). Thus, it is clear that all things in the vast immensity of space are under the influence of law. All things are controlled, governed, and upheld by law—“nothing is exempt.” Nothing is arbitrary or left to chance. The “same invarying result always flows from the same cause.” The principles of eternal law “are immutable, eternal, everlasting.” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 433.)

The truth of this teaching is substantiated both by the revelations of God and by the scientific observations of mortals. As mankind progresses in scientific knowledge, it becomes more and more apparent that there is order in the universe, and that all things are governed by consistent and harmonious laws. From the atomic realm to the vast immensity of space there is universal order and consistency.

President Brigham Young taught that “there is no being in all the eternities but what is governed by law” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 1). Elder Bruce R. McConkie stated, similarly, that Christ “governs and is governed by law” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 432.) God has said, for example, that He is bound when His children do what He says (see D&C 82:10). He is bound to fulfill His promises, for He is a being of complete integrity who conforms totally to the laws of righteousness. He is a celestial being and abides by celestial law, for any being “who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory” (D&C 88:22).

President John Taylor said: “God is unchangeable, so are also his laws, in all their forms, and in all their applications, and being Himself the essence of law, the giver of law, the sustainer of law, all of those laws are eternal in all their operations, in all bodies and matter, and throughout all space. It would be impossible for Him to violate law, because in so doing He would strike at His own dignity, power, principles, glory, exaltation and existence.” (Mediation and Atonement, p. 168.) 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/enrichment-g-the-nature-and-purpose-of-law?lang=eng 

 The laws established by the Lord are designed to align us with natural law. When we are aligned with natural law, we are living in order. When we fall out alignment, we are living in disorder. Disorder invites chaos. And chaos will seep in and affect the order of the world. 

Have you ever wondered why people are often afflicted by natural phenomena -- such as disease, famine, and earthquakes -- as a consequence for their wickedness? Or did you notice that the earth changed as a consequence for Adam and Eve's sin? 

23 And unto Adam, I, the Lord God, said: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the fruit of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying—Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed shall be the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

24 Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. (Moses 4) 

The answer is because the natural disasters are the natural result of chaos left unchecked. Persistent sin invites more and more chaos until it can't be held back. Unless the people repent, God will allow the chaos to enter into the world because it is a natural consequence of sin. Thus the more disorder we create through sin, the more chaos we experience in the world. 

The consequence for the wickedness of the earth when Noah was around was the flood. Although water can represent life, a deluge of water, such as a flood, is a sign of chaos. For obvious reasons floods wreck havoc. The water and force of a flood is so great and so power that a flood will run its course. There is nothing to stop it. For Noah, the entire world was wicked 

22 And God saw that the wickedness of men had become great in the earth; and every man was lifted up in the imagination of the thoughts of his heart, being only evil continually. (Moses 8) 

As the result of such this level of wickedness, God floods the earth 

28 The earth was corrupt before God, and it was filled with violence.

29 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.

30 And God said unto Noah: The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh from off the earth. (Moses 8) 

This is why a host of natural phenomena will accompany the end-times. As the world has grown ripe in iniquity, disorder of a great magnitude is unleashed. Moreover, this disorder is the result of us creating chaos by living in persistent sin (through adopting false beliefs and going against what we know the be right).

One of the great sins our society is guilt of is redefining gender by permitting a variety of different gender that a person can identify with. This redefinition is creating chaos. 

The reason why is because the natural order of things is binary -- masculine and feminine. A few examples of this: the sun and the moon. The sun represents the male, moon represents the female. Just as the sun gives light, men as priesthood holders are to give "light" to the word by acquiring knowledge and sharing it with others -- particular their family (see D&C 93).  And just as the sun gives light, the moon (female) reflects the light from the male. That is the female is to serve reflect the light provided by the male. The moon which has 28 cycles, represents the female's menstrual cycle. 

Another duality is between planting a seed and growing a tree. The seed represents the masculine and the tree represents the feminine, "bearing fruit." We also have the duality between light and dark, hot and cold, land and sea, right and wrong, wisdom and understanding, etc. Moreover, the concept of the ying and yang of taoism represents this duality. 

Yet our society's desire to create ambiguity and remove the duality, goes against the natural order. And because it does, invites chaos. 

Besides the pandemic, there is evidence that nature is becoming chaotic. Earlier this year we had raging fires in Australia. In the North East there is evidence of deadly mosquitoes, and just recently, Florida has warned about deadly "brain-destroying" amoeba found in Florida's lakes, oceans, and rivers. Expect to see more things like this in the future. 

Thus when Mormon uses the word peace, saying that the Nephites had continual peace, he may be indicating that the Nephites had peace because they did not invite chaos into the world. And they did this by not engaging in conduct against another person. To have peace then is to have order. Moreover, to have peace in a society is to have a common order . That common order encompassed: 

• Absence of wars
• Absence of contentions
• Absence of stealing
• Absence of plundering
• Absence of murdering 
• Absence of any manner of iniquity (perversions or distortion) 

30:6 -- Korihor 

In chapter 30, we are introduced to another false teacher, Korihor. Korihor is the 3rd in the list of false teachers we've read about. The other two were Sherem and Nehor. Although many of us conflate these false teachers into teaching the same things and sharing the same philosophy, an overview of each of these false teachers will show that while they are united in the pursuit of wealth and fame, there philosophies are different. Understanding the difference will add more dimension to our reading of the Book of Mormon. 

Let's first look at the philosophies of Korihor and then compare them to those of Sherem and Nehor. 

1. Korihor 

Korihor is present in only one chapter in the Book of Mormon. From that chapter we learn that his views and character consisted of the following: 

• No Christ (verse 12) 
• Impossible to know about the future (verse 13) 
• Prophecies are foolish traditions (verse 14) 
• Can only know of things that you can see. (verse 15) 
• The feeling/knowledge of having received a remission of you sins is actually a result of a "frenzied" and "deranged" mind, which has been passed on through you traditions (verse 16) 
• People succeed and prosper by their own merits (verse 17)
• No such thing as a crime (verse 17) 
• No life after death (verse 18) 
• The leaders of the Nephite church take advantage of the members by teaching the false traditions of their fathers (verse 27)
• Sought for a sign (verse 43) 
• Later killed (verse 59) 

2. Sherem 

From Jacob 7

• No Christ (verse 2) 
• Sought to overthrow the doctrine of Christ (verse 2) 
• Learned and so had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people (verse 4) 
• Defender of the Law of Moses (verse 7) 
• Believed in the scriptures (verse 10) 
• Sought for a sign (verse 13) 
• Cursed and died three days later (verse 20)

3. Nehor 

From Alma 1 

• Every priest and teacher ought to be popular (verse 3) 
• Every priest and teacher ought to be supported by the people (verse 3) 
• All mankind will be saved (verse 4) 
• The Lord will redeem all men (verse 4)
• All men will have eternal life (verse 4) 
• Wore costly apparel (verse 6)
• Established a church (verse 6) 
• Later acknowledged what that what he taught was false (verse 15) 
• Executed because he killed Gideon (verse 15) 

This overview is helpful because we can see that while each of these false teachers share similarities (both seek for fame, wealth, and later acknowledge they were wrong), there are also some important differences. 

The main difference is that Korihor, unlike Sherem and Nehor, does not believe in God. In today's vocabulary, Korihor would be an atheist. This is different from both Sherem and Nehor who believed in God, although varied in their types of beliefs.  

Reading Jacob 7, we learn that Sherem's main point is that people should focus on the Law of Moses and not Christ. Although we don't know the particulars, Sherem's teachings are about preserving the Law of Moses from corruption. Because he is a staunch defender of the law of Moses, it's likely that he believes in God. Sherem's issue, however, is with the idea of a Savior coming to save people. This is further evident in his statement to Jacob; 

7 And ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God, and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years hence. And now behold, I, Sherem, declare unto you that this is blasphemy; for no man knoweth of such things; for he cannot tell of things to come. And after this manner did Sherem contend against me.

From this we see that Sherem's issue is that Christ detracts from the Law of Moses. Sherem, instead, wants the Law of Moses to reign supreme -- he wants the Law of Moses, not Christ, to be worshipped. The Law of Moses for Sherem is the "right way."  Sherem could be considered a prototype for the Pharisee tradition during Christ's time and after, which centered its focus on the Law of Moses. 

Nehor is different from Sherem and Korihor in that Nehor appears to believe in Christ. The primary teaching of Nehor is that all men are saved and that every priest and teacher should be popular. Moreover, we learn that Nehor established a church. Thus Nehor was "religious" in the sense of believing in a God. Today, the beliefs of Nehor are similar to that of the Prosperity Gospel movement, which is an Evangelical movement that believes financial blessings and physical well-being are always the will of God for them. 

Comparing these different false teachers, we can observe that while each false teacher bore similarities with one another, we can see that Satan uses different tactics to deceive people. Satan's tactic with Sherem was to place focus on the Law of Moses above anything else. With Nehor, was to allow people to believe in Christ but convince them that there is no need for repentance. And with Korihor, Satan's tactic was to outright deny the existence of Christ and appeal to people's intelligence - arguing that Christ can't be known because x, y, z. 

Observations

What this ultimately means it that it's not hard to be deceived. Because the way to God requires strict obedience to light and truth, all Satan has to do is twist or distort a few things to lead people astray -- i.e., to mix lies with truth. 

For instance, the Law of Moses was an important law that the Israelites were required to obey. The destruction of the Israelites was a result of breaking the Law of Moses. Given that the Nephites are Israelites, the Nephites would've understood the importance of the law of Moses. That the Law of Moses was important was a truth. 

Yet, Satan's tactic through Sherem was to get the people to believe in the Law of Moses and hold it above anything else. This was the lie. By making the Law of Moses supreme, there was no room to believe anything else.  Satan wanted people  to draw a line in the sand, saying "we'll believe up to this point and no more else." By getting the people to do this, he could then remove their belief in Christ, which was necessary for their salvation. And because they didn't believe in Christ, they couldn't repent to be saved. 

The same applies with Nehor. Here, Satan allows for Christ to be taught, but he twists the gospel by removing the need for repentance. Through the teachings of Nehor, people can believe in Christ but are led astray because they don't believe that they need to repent. And because they don't believe they need to repent, they never will and thus they remain in their sin which gives Satan power over them. 

And then, of course, sometimes Satan doesn't hide the ball and deceives us outright by appealing to our intelligence. Instead of twisting certain beliefs, Satan will flat out deny God by seeking to use reason and logic. This is the case with Korihor. By arguing against the existence of God, Satan could tempt us to indulge in sin because if there is not God, then there is no judgement and thus no objective moral wrong removing the incentive to obey God's commands. 

18 And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms—telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof. (Alma 30)

30: 15, 39-44 -- Korihor's Arguments and Alma's Rebuttal

In arguing against the existence of God, Korihor makes two arguments. These arguments are still used today by many atheists. The first argument is that nobody can know of things in the future. The second argument is that we can only know what we can sense. 

The second argument is what I'd like to focus on --- the argument that we can only know what we can sense. In today's speak, this type of argument is called empiricism. It should be noted that the idea of empiricism itself doesn't necessarily disprove God. Rather, appealing to empirical truth claims can be used to argue against God's existence. Here, Korihor says that because you can't see God, you can't know whether he exists.  

Alma's response to Korihor is three-fold. First Alma appears to directly attack the claim of not seeing God. We know that Alma has both seen angels and Jesus. Thus, Alma can say that he has seen God and thus knows of God's existence. And he can also testify that Christ will come. 

Next, Alma turns Korihor's argument back on him by asking how he knows that there isn't any God or how does Korihor knows that Christ won't come. Here, Alma points out that Korihor doesn't have any evidence for either of these things, except his word alone. 

Last, Alma then makes a teleological argument for God's existence. The teleological argument is that we can infer God exists by the ordering, design, and structure of the universe. 

...all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator. (Alma 30) 

Here, Alma argues that the order, design, and structure of the universe, from the planets and their rotations to the earth and its form, "witness that there is a Supreme Creator."  Interestingly enough, science today provides a lot of evidence for an ordered and structured universe, indicating that the universe was intelligently designed (designed by a creator).

 

For those of you who are interested in learning about the intelligent design of the universe, I recommend reading Darwin's Black Box by Michael J. Behe. I haven't read it yet, but I have heard good things about it. Contrary to Darwin's argument that universe is random, Behe argues that some biological systems "strongly appear to be the result of deliberate intelligent design". Behe does not go as far as to say that Intelligent Design proves that the Christian God is real. But he does provide evidence that someone or something is behind the creation of the universe -- in other words, that the universe was created and didn't just happen from randomness. You can find his talk about it here. 

Yet, despite arguments that can be made for God's existence or to rebut arguments against the existence of God, the exchange between Korihor and Alma reveals that people who make arguments against God are generally not looking to find truth. Instead, they want signs. They want to mock God until they get the sign they desire. 

30:53 -- The Devil Deceived Me

Upon asking for a sign, Korihor is cursed by being made dumb. Korihor, in writing, makes his confession. 

53 But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me.

Korihor's statement reveals two things. First, we learn how Satan deceives. Second, we get an understanding of why false teachers teach. And third, we can infer why Korihor was cursed.

1. How Satan Deceives

The sad truth about life and seeking for God is the possibility of being deceived. Deception can come by receiving and following thoughts. But it can also come from what we see. Here, we learn that Satan appeared to Korihor in the "form of an angel." 

From Doctrine and Covenants 128, it appears the same things happened to Joseph Smith

20 And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! (DC 128) 

This passages teach us that we are to always be on guard and follow the apostle Paul's counsel to test (try) the spirits. 

  

2. Why False Teachers Teach 

According to Korihor's statements, he taught what he did because they were pleasing to the carnal mind and he had much success in teaching them. 

3. Why Korihor Was Cursed

Korihor also explains that because of the success and pleasure he gained from teaching the false doctrine, he withstood the truth. It appears that Korihor knew that he was teaching falsehood, but kept on teaching it anyway. Thus Korihor was in open rebellion against God and would not repent. Furthermore, since Korihor knew that he was going against the truth, his asking for a sign from God was mockery. Korihor didn't need a sign because he already knew. 

30:58 -- Put An End to the Iniquity 

Now that we know that iniquity refers to distorting truth, we understand Mormon's statement. The "iniquity after the manner of Korihor" was the distortion that God did not exist, Christ was not coming, and that there was no sin.  

Chapter 31 

31:1 -- Idol Worship 

It's interesting to observe that up until this time, there has not been much discussion on the worshipping of idols. This is different from the OT, where idol worship was a major problem for Israel. 

31:4 -- Entering into Correspondence 

We learn in verse 4 that the reason Alma and his associates preached the gospel to the Zoramites was to hopefully win the Zoramites over. And because the word of God has a "great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else", they Nephites thought it best to send Alma and his associates. 

31:8-23 -- The Zoramites 

Mormon explains to us the following about the Zoramites

• They were dissenters from the Nephites
• They had fallen into great errors
• They did pervert the ways of the Lord
• Worshipped in synagogues 
• Worshipped on one day during the week, which day they called the "day of the Lord." 
• Worship involved them praying on the top of the a large "place", called the Rameumptom, built in the center of the synagogue. 
• Each person offered the same prayer on the Rameumptom 
• Only spoke about God on the day of worship 
• Their hearts we "set upon gold, silver, and all manner of fine goods." 
• They were very prideful because of their preoccupation on the "vain things of the world" 
• They do not believe in Christ 

31: 23: Never Speaking of God Until They Assembled Again 

One way to get the most of scriptures is to compare the people in scriptures to ourselves and to other groups. The Zoramites are clearly apostate. Learning about their religion and comparing it to how we practice ours is a helpful way to spot the sign of apostasy in our life. 

One of the notable practices of the Zoramites was that they only talked about God during their days of worship. 

23 Now, after the people had all offered up thanks after this manner, they returned to their homes, never speaking of their God again until they had assembled themselves together again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks after their manner.

The absence of God from the discussion of the Zoramites was one sign of dead and ineffective religion.  The question for us is do we do the same? 

• Do we make God the center of our lives? 
• Do our lives revolve around God or does he revolve around us? 
• What do we think about the majority of the day? 
• Is Sunday the only time we read and study scripture? 
• Are you comfortable talking about God with others? 

Despite being LDS (or even Christian) our true status is measured by our actions towards God. Just like the sun in our solar system, God must be the center of our lives. 

31:31 -- I May Suffer With Patience...

There are two ways that the false beliefs we or our society adopts can affect the righteous. 

First, because we live in society, our actions will affect others. This means that our false beliefs can affect others. If those false beliefs gain wide-spread acceptance, then society will be changed to adjust for those false beliefs. This is particularly true for us who live in a democracy. Given that representatives  (generally) act on behalf of their constituents, the views of society will become adopted and codified into law. Those who have more truth and disagree with the law, will be affected by it. 

Another way false beliefs can affect another by truth sharing. Those who have more truth will seek to teach what they know to help others get out of their false beliefs. However, if a person or people has adopted false beliefs for so long and the beliefs become entrenched, the people are more likely to push back. This form of push back could be rejection or it could even result in persecution. Undoubtedly this would be hard for the truth bearer. 

31:38 -- Joy of Christ 

Mormon tells us that the "Lord provided for" Alma and his associates" that "they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ." 

What does it mean for one's joy to be swallowed up in the joy of Christ? It means that any affliction a person experiences will add to their joy. Thus, it doesn't mean that they won't experience affliction. Instead, it means that whatever affliction they experienced, will be compensated or outweighed by the joy they receive from the affliction. 

Turning back to 2 Nephi, we learn from Lehi that there is opposition in all things. This means two things. First, it means that there is good and evil. It also means that whatever degree of good exists, there is the same degree of evil -- and vice-versa. Applied to Mormon's statement in Alma 31:38, this also means that whatever degree of suffering we experience, there is almost the same degree of joy. 

Understanding this truth gives us hope during our trials. If we trust that whatever challenge we face will be balanced with the commensurate level of joy, we can have a greater ability to endure through our trials.