Alma Chapter Five is one of my favorites in the Book of Mormon. A friend once observed it is a type and shadow of the interview you’ll have with the Savior after this life. I’m inclined to agree. That said, there are books worth of material discussed in this chapter. (Have you noticed I say that a lot?) The Book of Mormon is doctrinally dense. It’s like the oriental game “Go” I watched old men playing in Korea: the rules are simple, but mastery takes a lifetime. It can be read in a day almost, but mastering it will take years, even decades.
That said, this time through a couple passages stood out to me. The first is verse seven where Alma tells how the Lord saved the people of Noah. As I pondered that, I realized we all are, to different degrees, in spiritual darkness. His saving them is a testament to us that no matter where we are, the Lord can reach us too.
I also was touched by verses 45-47 where Alma teaches that he knew the truth of all that he’d taught because he’d learned for himself they were true. By fasting and prayer, he’d come to know the truthfulness of what he taught. Here is a person who’d seen the Savior and Heavenly Father in an unforgettable vision which changed his life. Despite this, or more accurately, besides this, he’d devoted a lifetime to studying the scriptures, prayer and fasting. And through these actions, the Holy Spirit had taught him the truth of these things.
He paid the same price to know which we must pay today. The powerful lesson is that as Alma did it, so can we…
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