Post by Nephihah
In the first five years of the reign of judges as Amnor related, so much rebellion, death and destruction consumed our people, there was universal cause to mourn. We’ve lost so many of our love ones as well as our flocks and herds, our fields of grain which were trodden under foot and destroyed. Because we believed this was the judgement of God sent upon us because of our wickedness, almost as a whole we were awakened to remember our duty to God and thus to each other.
Alma, our consecrated high priest over the people of the church, baptized thousands of souls in the waters of Sidon. As I at many times stood on the banks of the river witnessing these baptisms, I reflected how in recent years, countless bodies of those uselessly slain in battle were dumped into these very waters not to be raised again until the resurrection, to the resurrection of the just or the resurrection of the damned.
It is now the ninth year of the reign of judges and in these years following the great trials of the fifth year, our people have mostly enjoyed peace. It is now just in the last two years that people of the church have begun waxing proud. We have been so blessed by the Lord, our people have begun crediting themselves and their industry for their exceeding riches. And they are proud to show it. Proudly they adorn themselves in fine silks and fine twined linen. They boast of their many flocks and herds and other precious things.
As one of the Elders of the church, I share in the grieving for the wickedness of the people. This prosperity as we have seen countless times, sets people’s hearts upon riches and vain things of the world. Contentions almost immediately follow as people become scornful of one another and then persecution between believers and non-believers – initiated as much by the believers as not. There is as much envy, strife, malice, persecution and pride within the church as there is without.
The great progress of the church stalled. So now in the ninth year of the reign of Alma our chief judge, as what I call the final stone piled on Alma’s overly burdened back, our people turned their backs on the needy and naked and those who were hungry and thirsty, the sick and afflicted. This affliction poured out upon the true humble followers of Christ was as I said, more than Alma could take.
Remember, Alma, in his younger days was one of those applying the affliction, causing the mourning and inflicting the pain. He couldn’t stand by and even as the chief judge he had no legal power to do so.
Thus, meet the new Chief Judge—me, Nephihah. Amnor was more than happy to delegate the access to this blog to me. He continues to serve God with all his heart but his happy to turn this record over to me.
By Alma’s recommendation and with power according to the voice of the people, as Chief Judge, I now have power to enact laws according to the laws which have been given, and to put them in force according to the wickedness and the crimes of the people. Until now I had no conception of the responsibility to sit in the judgment-seat to judge and to govern the people.
Alma didn’t grant to me the office of being high priest over the church, he kept the office of high priest to himself. He did that so he, himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi to preach and teach and stir them up to remembrance of their duty and by the word of God he might pull down the pride, the craftiness and contentions among the people. Knowing Alma, he will do so with a pure testimony, using the high priesthood of the holy order of God according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy.
Alma 4 – Book of Mormon
