The
Book of Mormon always lists the seven Lehite tribes in this order: Nephites,
Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites (Jacob
1:13; 4 Nephi 1:37-38; Mormon 1:8-9). The Nephites, Jacobites and Josephites
were the believers in Christ and were collectively called Nephites while
Lamanites, Lemuelites and Ishmaelites were non-believers, referred to as Lamanites.
Zoramites are always listed in the middle of the tribes, because Zoramites were
the swinging tribe. Sometimes they sided with the Nephites and sometimes with
the Lamanites.
About 74 BC was a particularly tense period in the Book of Mormon history
during which the Zoromites separated
themselves from the Nephites and made them fear they would 'enter into a
correspondence with the Lamanites' and incite wars (Alma 31:2,3,4). To prevent
this, Alma organised a mission to the Zoramites to strenghten their alliance
with the Nephites and be counted amongst the believers. Thus the Zoromite
mission became a political move as well as a spiritual endeavour (Alma 30:5).
Alma
Chapter 31 lists ‘the great errors’ the Zoromites had fallen into, despite
being dissenters from the Nephites and having had the word of God preached to
them (v 8). In other words when they were associated with the Nephites they
were good but not so much when they aligned themselves with the Lamanites. This
is ‘swinging’ in opinion, dedication and commitment and this is what caused it:
-
They were not consistent with keeping the commandments
of God (v 9)
-
They were not keeping up with the performances of the
Church such as prayer that they might not enter into temptation (v 10)
-
They set their hearts on their possessions and the
things of the world (v 24)
-
They became lifted up in pride (v 25)
The most
important error they fell into is one we can recognize in our society today. This
chapter alone mentions three times that the Zoromites discounted the standards
of the Church, including belief in Christ, as ‘foolish traditions of the
fathers’ (v 16, 17, 22). Have we not in our day discounted the Christian values
we once lived by? I saw a ridiculing comment on social media recently in
regards to this very thing that said ‘this is the 21st century and
we no longer accept such outdated rules and traditions’.
Chapter 31
of Alma contains the most emotive and heart wrenching description of Alma’s
suffering for the sins of the people. It describes his anguish as a state of
his ‘sickened and sorrowful and pained heart’ (v 1,2,30,31). His prayer to God
for ‘comfort of his soul in Christ’ because of the sinful state of the Zoromite
tribe leaves me breathless (v 26-35). Alma pleaded from the depths of his soul
for success in bringing these sinners and ‘puffed up people’ back to Christ (v
34). He could not bear the thought of one soul being lost because ‘their souls
were precious’ (v 35) and that they might ‘taste of the exceeding joy’ of
salvation through Christ which he tasted at the time of his repentance (Alma
36:24).
May we be
steadfast and immovable in living by the standard of truth found in the Gospel
of Jesus Christ that we might be an ensign to the nations as we live in this
world of Zoromite mentality. May we bring Christ to the world and soothe His
aching heart as rejection of His salvation rises and becomes more and more an
outdated tradition of yesterday for the day will come when ‘every knee shall
bow and every tongue confess…..that he is God; then shall they confess, who
live without God in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is
just upon them….’ (Mosiah 27:31)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
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