Alma 9

(September 19, 2013)
I was struck, while reading, how the people of Ammonihah were accountable for things that they had never personally experienced.  What I mean by that is that they were to be punished for falling after having received visions and the ministering of angels, even though it is unlikely that these events happened to any of the people that Alma was preaching to.  I find that fascinating.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem to be fair to me.  After all, if they had not personally been saved from famine and diseases (for example) why should they be punished as if they had transgressed after these blessings had been given to them?  But one thing that is clear is that the Lord is perfectly fair – if what He is doing seems unfair to us, it is because we don’t properly understand what fair means.  It is these points of conflict between what we read in the scriptures and what we internally believe which show us what we have to learn.

I suppose that if the people of Ammonihah haven’t personally received these blessings, they at least received the benefits of these blessings.  After all, what is the benefit of a miracle?  Is it the miracle itself?  Or is it the increase in faith that accompanies the miraculous set of circumstances?  In an eternal sense, it is the latter.  They had the same history as the rest of the Nephites, which included these miracles, and yet they were the only ones so vigorously turning away from it.  The people in Zarahemla were unrighteous but could be reminded of their duty.  The people in Ammonihah were so proud that even Alma could not convert them.