THE SWINGING ZOROMITES

 

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social media recently in regards to this very thing that said ‘this is the 21^st century and we no longer accept such outdated rules and traditions’.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)

IN TRIBULATION AND CAPTIVITY

 

The winter of 1838-39 would have been the crucible of Joseph Smith’s life. It was the coldest winter on record in the state of Missouri and Joseph and four other Church leaders found themselves in a hell hole of Liberty Jail ‘surrounded with demons….where they were compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths, and witness a scene of blasphemy, and drunkenness and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of every description’ (History of the Church 3:290). In his letter to Emma on 21 March 1839, Joseph told her that “pen, or tongue, or angels” could not adequately describe “the malice of hell” that he suffered there (Personal Writings, 463, 464).

Liberty Jail was an inescapable prison with four feet thick walls.  It was a two-storey establishment with a rope and a bucket as the only link between the dungeon and the upper floor. It was in this dungeon of rough bare stones for a floor, covered by a bit of loose, dirty straw that Joseph and four others spent the cruelest winter of their lives. It was also through this depth of despair that the Lord gave us three of the most valuable sections of the Doctrine and Covenants: 121, 122, 123. Out of his extreme aloneness, when he felt the furthest away from heaven’s door, Joseph received glorious answers to his most heart-wrenching petition. Into the pit of hell known as Liberty Jail, where he knew not how long he would languish, came the most loving voice of God, addressing him in the most tender manner, as someone who knew the very depths of his soul: “My son, peace be unto thy soul…..” (D&C 121:7-8).

I wonder if Joseph ever reflected on another servant of God with a similar experience of tribulation in captivity, the man whose very experience he translated from the gold plates. Alma, and his convert and missionary companion, Amulek, found themselves in captivity in the most wicked city where they sat in a dungeon naked, suffering hunger, thirst, and physical abuse by their captors (Alma 14:18-23)….and having witnessed the catastrophe of Ammonihah in which the wives and children of the newly fresh converts were consumed by fire (Alma 14:8). Being constrained by the Spirit to prevent this tragedy was excruciating to Amulek who would have known these people of his city well (v 10,11). Amulek had many friends and kindreds in Ammonihah and was a rich man (Alma 10:4). He had an extensive household with wives and children (10:11). It is not clear from the record whether these children were young or grown and whether his family also perished in the fire. One thing we do know is that Amulek was left without family and possessions. Following their prison break-out, Mormon recorded that Alma took him back to Zarahemla to live with him and his family and ‘administered unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord’ (Alma 15:18). Amulek had undergone the most traumatic  change in his life. The painful effects of such on body and mind would have been extreme.

In the extremity of his captivity, Alma also, like Joseph, offered the most heart-wrenching petition to God when he asked: “How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord?” (Alma 14:26). One would wonder why the Lord would allow his most chosen servants to suffer so unjustly. The same for us who are striving so hard to be righteous and who inevitably come to face a crucible of our own lives. We often feel that we do not deserve it…..except there is an explanation. If we would be followers of Jesus Christ we must follow where He leads. Salvation and especially exaltation, comes at a price, and that price invariably leads to Gethsemane. If Christ himself did not suffer there, our trials and tribulations would be ever so much worse. He suffered the blow so that we wouldn’t but has given us a glorious promise through Joseph, our beloved prophet: “thy God shall be with you forever and ever” (D&C 122:4,9) and then the ultimate: “All thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ” (D&C 121:29).

-        CATHRYNE ALLEN

(I highly recommend the BYU talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland titled “Lessons from Liberty Jail” at speeches.byu.edu)

(ART: Replica of  Joseph Smith at Liberty Jail by Val Brinkerhoff)

HUMILITY AMIDST GREATNESS

 

Mormon called King Benjamin 'a holy man' (Words of Mormon 1:6). It is not hard to perceive what a good and humble king he was when one reads his monumental address to his people on the temple grounds of Zarahemla. The setting of King Benjamin’s speech was the occasion of his son Mosiah's succession to the throne. This was however, a coronation with a difference. 

It was common practice anciently for a new king ascending the throne to be given as many as five names or titles by which he was distinguished among the people; to acknowledge his greatness and his achievements; and to establish him as the link between the people and the divine.  (See Scripture Central Post of October 17, 2019, KnoWhy 536). King Benjamin, however, did something extraordinary at his son's coronation. Instead of using this occasion to bring prominence to his son, he mentions Mosiah only twice. Once to announce him as the new king and once again to affirm that he will act under the direction of God for the benefit of the people (Mosiah 2:30,31).

Rather than proclaiming his son as the divine king as was expected anciently, King Benjamin solidified his people's reliance on The Heavenly King (Mosiah 2:19) by enumerating His endless goodness and honouring Him with names worthy of His station as the promised Messiah, such as: Jesus Christ, The Son of God, The Father of Heaven and Earth, The Lord Omnipotent and The Creator of all things from the beginning. But King Benjamin didn't stop there. He bestowed upon his people a new name that would bind them to the Heavenly King forever. He proclaimed that they be known by the name of Christ rather than by his son's name which would have been the usual protocol. Thus the subjects of Mosiah became known as 'the children of Christ' (Mosiah 5:7). What profound effect his coronation would have had on Mosiah, the new king who ruled and reigned in righteousness all his days!

King Benjamin’s words had such an impact on his people that they fell to the earth with fear and ‘viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth’ (Mosiah 4:1,2). Viewing yourself less than the dust of the earth is a humbling exercise which acknowledges your imperfection and rebellion before God. In the words of President Joseph Fielding Smith: “….the dust of the earth is obedient. It moveth hither and thither at the command of the Lord. All things are in harmony with his laws. Everything in the universe obeys the law given unto it, so far as I know, except man. Everywhere you look you find law and order, the elements obeying the law given to them, true to their calling. But man rebels, and in this thing man is less than the dust of the earth because he rejects the counsels of the Lord” (In Conference Report April 1929, 55). (see also Helaman 12:7,8)

The humility of King Benjamin’s people led them to accept his teaching that there is no other name given whereby salvation comes than the name of Christ (Mosiah 3:17). Viewing themselves as less than the dust of the earth brought acknowledgement of their sins which made them seek forgiveness through Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mosiah 4:2). This is the hope, the only hope. When you can see your nothingness and come to believe that there is a way to be lifted above hopelessness. This is what the Saviour offers us. We might be made of dust but we were conceived in God’s glory and within us are planted seeds of godhood.

“An old rabbi once said that every man ought to carry two pieces of paper in his pocket. In times of self-satisfaction and complacency he should read the one that says: “I am dust and ashes”. When dejected and dispirited he should read the other that says: “For my sake was the world created”. And at all times he should remember: “I am made from the dust but it is in God’s image I am made”. (Author Unknown)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: El Rey Benjamin by Jorge Cocco)