Alma 30: 1-60

How do you know there is God?

In Alma 30: 1-60, Korihor was teaching his own belief--there is no God. And yet, as Alma told him: "All things denote there is a God." 

 "1 Behold, now it came to pass that after the ^apeople of Ammon were established in the land of Jershon, yea, and also after the Lamanites were ^bdriven out of the land, and their dead were buried by the people of the land—

2 Now their dead were not numbered because of the greatness of their numbers; neither were the dead of the Nephites numbered—but it came to pass after they had buried their dead, and also after the days of ^afasting, and ^bmourning, and prayer, (and it was in the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi) there began to be continual peace throughout all the land.

3 Yea, and the people did observe to keep the commandments of the Lord; and they were strict in observing the ^aordinances of God, according to the law of Moses; for they were taught to ^bkeep the law of Moses until it should be fulfilled.

4 And thus the people did have no disturbance in all the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

5 And it came to pass that in the commencement of the seventeenth year of the reign of the judges, there was continual peace.

6 But it came to pass in the latter end of the seventeenth year, there came a man into the land of Zarahemla, and he was ^aAnti-Christ, for he began to preach unto the people ^bagainst the prophecies which had been spoken by the prophets, concerning the coming of Christ.

7 Now there was no law against a ^aman’s ^bbelief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.

8 For thus saith the scripture: ^aChoose ye this day, whom ye will serve.

9 Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him.

10 But if he ^amurdered he was punished unto ^bdeath; and if he ^crobbed he was also punished; and if he stole he was also punished; and if he committed ^dadultery he was also punished; yea, for all this wickedness they were punished.

11 For there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law against a man’s belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done; therefore all men were on ^aequal grounds.

12 And this ^aAnti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and the law could have no hold upon him) began to preach unto the people that there should be ^bno Christ. And after this manner did he preach, saying:

13 O ye that are bound down under a ^afoolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can ^bknow of anything which is to come.

14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.

15 How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not ^asee; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.

16 Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a ^afrenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.

17 And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man ^afared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and ^bwhatsoever a man did was ^cno crime.

18 And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms—telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof.

19 Now this man went over to the land of ^aJershon also, to preach these things among the people of Ammon, who were once the people of the Lamanites.

20 But behold they were more wise than many of the Nephites; for they took him, and bound him, and carried him before Ammon, who was a ^ahigh priest over that people.

21 And it came to pass that he caused that he should be carried out of the land. And he came over into the land of Gideon, and began to preach unto them also; and here he did not have much success, for he was taken and bound and carried before the high priest, and also the chief judge over the land.

22 And it came to pass that the high priest said unto him: Why do ye go about perverting the ways of the Lord? Why do ye teach this people that there shall be no Christ, to interrupt their rejoicings? Why do ye speak against all the prophecies of the holy prophets?

23 Now the high priest’s name was Giddonah. And Korihor said unto him: Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your fathers, and because I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words.

24 Ye say that this people is a free people. Behold, I say they are in bondage. Ye say that those ancient prophecies are true. Behold, I say that ye do not know that they are true.

25 Ye say that this people is a guilty and a fallen people, because of the transgression of a parent. Behold, I say that a child is not guilty because of its parents.

26 And ye also say that Christ shall come. But behold, I say that ye do not know that there shall be a Christ. And ye say also that he shall be slain for the ^asins of the world—

27 And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges.

28 Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to their desires, and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say is God—a being who ^anever has been seen or known, who ^bnever was nor ever will be.

29 Now when the high priest and the ^achief judge saw the hardness of his heart, yea, when they saw that he would ^brevile even against God, they would not make any reply to his words; but they caused that he should be bound; and they delivered him up into the hands of the officers, and sent him to the land of Zarahemla, that he might be brought before Alma, and the chief judge who was governor over all the land.

30 And it came to pass that when he was brought before Alma and the chief judge, he did go on in the same manner as he did in the land of Gideon; yea, he went on to ^ablaspheme.

31 And he did rise up in great ^aswelling words before Alma, and did revile against the ^bpriests and teachers, accusing them of leading away the people after the silly traditions of their fathers, for the sake of glutting on the labors of the people.

32 Now Alma said unto him: Thou knowest that we do not glut ourselves upon the labors of this people; for behold I have ^alabored even from the commencement of the reign of the judges until now, with mine ^bown hands for my support, notwithstanding my many travels round about the land to declare the word of God unto my people.

33 And notwithstanding the many labors which I have performed in the church, I have never received so much as even one ^asenine for my labor; neither has any of my brethren, save it were in the judgment-seat; and then we have received only according to law for our time.

34 And now, if we do not receive anything for our labors in the church, what doth it profit us to labor in the church save it were to declare the truth, that we may have rejoicings in the ^ajoy of our brethren?

35 Then why sayest thou that we preach unto this people to get gain, when thou, of thyself, knowest that we receive no gain? And now, believest thou that we deceive this people, that ^acauses such joy in their hearts?

36 And Korihor answered him, Yea.

37 And then Alma said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?

38 And he answered, Nay.

39 Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come.

40 And now what evidence have ye that there is no ^aGod, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

41 But, behold, I have all things as a ^atestimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?

42 Behold, I know that thou ^abelievest, but thou art possessed with a ^blying spirit, and ye have put ^coff the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God.

43 And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a ^asign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words.

44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of ^aall these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the ^bearth, and ^call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its ^dmotion, yea, and also all the ^eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

45 And yet do ye go about, leading away the hearts of this people, testifying unto them there is no God? And yet will ye deny against all these ^awitnesses? And he said: Yea, I will deny, except ye shall show me a sign.

46 And now it came to pass that Alma said unto him: Behold, I am grieved because of the hardness of your heart, yea, that ye will still resist the spirit of the truth, that thy soul may be destroyed.

47 But behold, it is ^abetter that thy soul should be ^blost than that thou shouldst be the means of bringing many souls down to destruction, by thy lying and by thy flattering words; therefore if thou shalt deny again, behold God shall smite thee, that thou shalt become dumb, that thou shalt never open thy mouth any more, that thou shalt not deceive this people any more.

48 Now Korihor said unto him: I do not deny the existence of a God, but I do not believe that there is a God; and I say also, that ye do not know that there is a God; and except ye show me a sign, I will not believe.

49 Now Alma said unto him: This will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt be ^astruck dumb, according to my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance.

50 Now when Alma had said these words, Korihor was struck dumb, that he could not have utterance, according to the words of Alma.

51 And now when the chief judge saw this, he put forth his hand and wrote unto Korihor, saying: Art thou convinced of the power of God? In whom did ye desire that Alma should show forth his sign? Would ye that he should afflict others, to show unto thee a sign? Behold, he has showed unto you a sign; and now will ye dispute more?

52 And Korihor put forth his hand and wrote, saying: I know that I am dumb, for I cannot speak; and I know that nothing save it were the ^apower of God could bring this upon me; yea, and I always ^bknew that there was a God.

53 But behold, the devil hath ^adeceived me; for he ^bappeared unto me in the ^cform of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is ^dno God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the ^ecarnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great ^fcurse upon me.

54 Now when he had said this, he besought that Alma should pray unto God, that the ^acurse might be taken from him.

55 But Alma said unto him: If this curse should be taken from thee thou wouldst again lead away the hearts of this people; therefore, it shall be unto thee even as the Lord will.

56 And it came to pass that the curse was not taken off of Korihor; but he was ^acast out, and went about from house to house begging for his food.

57 Now the knowledge of what had happened unto Korihor was immediately published throughout all the land; yea, the proclamation was sent forth by the chief judge to all the people in the land, declaring unto those who had believed in the words of Korihor that they must speedily repent, ^alest the same judgments would come unto them.

58 And it came to pass that they were all convinced of the wickedness of Korihor; therefore they were all converted again unto the Lord; and this put an end to the iniquity after the manner of Korihor. And Korihor did go about from house to house, begging food for his support.

59 And it came to pass that as he went forth among the people, yea, among a people who had separated themselves from the Nephites and called themselves ^aZoramites, being led by a man whose name was Zoram—and as he went forth amongst them, behold, he was run upon and trodden down, even until he was ^bdead.

60 And thus we see the end of him who ^aperverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not ^bsupport his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to ^chell." (Alma 30: 1-50)

Have you encountered someone who doesn't believe in God? I never thought someone among our 1st graders at school would question the existence of God. During our Christmas Activity for 1st graders this school year ( online ), I was assigned to be in Google Meet room where students learn about the Christmas Story. One of the students commented saying, "It's not real." Then I asked him: "Who made the things around us?" He answered, "The earth." I asked him with another question, "Who made the earth?" And we're supposed to get going with the activity so I answered my own question saying, "God created the earth and everything on it."

I'm grateful for my privilege to share my belief about God with my students during our Reading and Speaking Class using the Bible Stories book. Indeed "all things denote there is a God." Man cannot create anything without everything God created for him. God has provided everything for us on this earth. How living things look like and are multiplying by themselves tells us that there is a Designer behind. Man cannot create even a tiny a seed and make it grow by himself. God created the seed of every plant which has the potential to grow once planted on the ground. And even bringing children into this world is not possible for a man and a woman to do by themselves. The breath of life came from God. He is lending us our breath. We cannot give another human being breath on our own. 

How have you seen the hand of God working in your life? He does have a plan for you and for me. And we can either choose to follow His plan or not. He gave us the gift of freedom when we were born in this life. And He wants to know how are we going to use this freedom of choice. We were born with our conscience or the Light of Christ and so we got the capacity to recognize right from wrong. Given different options to choose from, we are able to exercise our free agency and prove to God whether we will obey His will or not. How are you proving to God that you are following His will? 

Alma 29: 13-17

Who do you attribute your success and the success of others? Who do you share your success with? 

Alma the younger's joy is full because of his much success. And his joy is more full because of the success of his brethren. And He did acknowledge that it's God who has given him and his brethren their success. 

 " 13 Yea, and that same God did establish his church among them; yea, and that same God hath called me by a ^aholy calling, to ^bpreach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in the which my joy is full.

14 But I do not joy in my own ^asuccess alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren, who have been up to the land of Nephi.

15 Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward!

16 Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my ^ajoy.

17 And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they may praise him forever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. Amen." (Alma 29: 13-17)

Are we able to succeed in fulfilling our mission or in the achievement of our goals by ourselves? Are we able to do everything by ourselves without the help of the most powerful being in the universe who created us and has been lending us breath from one moment to another? He has been supporting you and me day by day. Every breath we take is a gift from Him. Every moment, minute, hour of each passing day is a privilege to use the power He has given us to fulfill our mission. He has given us our freedom of choice and the power to "do many things of our own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness". 

"27 Verily I say, men should be ^aanxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

28 For the power is in them, wherein they are ^aagents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their ^breward." (Doctrine and Covenants 58: 27-28)

We do have the power to make things happen. God has given us this power and everything that we have. No wonder He commanded us to thank Him for everything. And yet are we able to remember to take a bit of our time to thank Him? 

What would it be like if there is nobody around us to share our success with? Have you won before and nobody even know? Wouldn't you want to share with others something which brings you joy? Perhaps there are things you just want to keep to yourself and that's all right. Like when I decided to take that pop-singing lessons when I was a university student--I was not that confident with my singing ability. I did tell my friend I'm interested in taking the lessons. She told me to tell her when I do decide to enroll. And yet I didn't really want her around when I'm being coached in my singing. So, I did enroll and I did not tell my friend about it. And when it's time for our show, every student got family and friends who were cheering them on while there was no one there for me...And it's was all right for me then. I didn't want to spread the news about my taking that pop-singing lesson and I didn't do it to become famous with my singing ability. And yet when my friend asked me if I did enroll (of course I told her I did) and she said, "I could have been there cheering for you," it hit me--That time when I was singing on the stage could have been a wonderful moment to share with my friend and our other friends whether my performance was perfect or not. Well, it happened and I couldn't go back and change what I did then. I can only learn from it. I was young back then and needed much guidance to learn and grow. I'm so grateful for what I've been learning from the words of God, the scriptures. And the Book of Mormon is another book of scriptures aside from the Bible and others. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and is the living word of God just as all the other scriptures are. I've read this book many times over the years, from cover to cover and as I read from it everyday I've been learning something new. Now I want to be able to share with my family, friends and others not only my joys but also my pains and the lessons I'm learning as I go through and rise above them. And writing this blog is a great opportunity for me to share these things. And I would love to hear from you as well. Share your thoughts and feelings, your successes and failures, your joys and your pains because we are all in this together. And your joy can add to mine as my joy can add to yours. My pain can be eased as I shared it with you as your pain can be eased as you share it with me. Isn't it amazing how this works? Truly there is a purpose for everything. There's a reason why we were born into families and we're growing up surrounded with people everywhere we go. We are supposed to develop relationships and connect with one another to be able to share our joys, sorrows, hopes, dreams, our struggles, our successes and learn from one another and grow to become our better version. Indeed, no man is an island. Don't you agree?

Alma 29: 11-12

Have you ever felt that you were in bondage? Alma remembers how his fathers were in bondage, and they couldn't establish His church while in captivity and that the Lord deliver them just as He did deliver them "out of the hands of the Egyptians."

 "11 Yea, and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I surely do know that the ^aLord did deliver them out of bondage, and by this did establish his church; yea, the Lord God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, did deliver them out of bondage.

12 Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who ^adelivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of ^bbondage."

Just as Alma's fathers were delivered from bondage by the Lord, God is able to deliver us from our bondage of any kind--physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, financial, you name it.

 I can think of a couple of times when I was in bondage. The first one was during those number of years that I was carrying my own burden of sin. I knew God has forgiven me and yet I wasn't able to forgive myself. And so I was feeling like I don't deserve certain blessings. And when I realized I was supposed to forgive myself, and I did, my burden of sin was lifted. And it opened the way for me to receive the blessings I've been longing for and I was able to finally receive such blessings. All along, the Lord already has forgiven me. I was the one keeping myself in bondage. 

The second time was when I was teaching a lot of classes at my school. For a number of year I was have 20-22 classes. And on one particular year, it was 23 total of classes. I was teaching each class of 5th and 6th graders once a week. And each class has 30-35 students. So, I got about a total of 700 students in one school year! Imagine when it's time to mark the test papers after each exam. I would have lots of sleepless nights marking all the students' test papers! And there were also individual workbooks and worksheets I would check. I was feeling like I was indeed in bondage at that time. And then one day, as I was reading the Book of Mormon, I came across the passage which is about that time when Alma the first and his people were put in bondage by Amulon, the Nephite leader of the Lamanites who was also one of the priests of King Noah just as Alma was. Alma the first couldn't establish the church among his people because they were prohibited to even say their prayers aloud. So, they poured out their hearts in prayer to God. And God did hear their cry. Their burdens were not lifted right away. The Lord did strengthen them that they were able to carry their burdens easily. And then they were eventually delivered from bondage. And the Lord did strengthen me as well...And so I was able to carry my own burden cheerfully. I was able to find joy teaching my 700 students and marking their work even when I was having very little sleep. And I decided to pray for my boss and so my attitude towards her suddenly changed. I was able to see how she's just doing the best she could in fulfilling her own duties and responsibilities as the head of our department. I stopped judging her in my thoughts. And suddenly her attitude towards me has changed as well. Before I thought she didn't like me and she wanted to fire me. And then suddenly I heard my Irish teaching partner telling me that my boss does like me. And yes, she paired me up with my Irish co-teacher to teach the same subject. I got moved to teach a different subject which is a lot easier to teach compared with my former subject. And my teaching loads was lessened. It went down to 16 classes! And over the years my number of classes went down even more until it's only 2 classes. And this since the past school year, my number of classes has been down to only one class. I'm just teaching them 5 subjects. 

I said I can think of two and yet here's the third one. Actually I'm at a point at this time when I'm transitioning to a new career where I could work from home full-time and I will have more freedom. I'm breaking free from the bondage of working for 8 hours with overtime work at home from time to time. The challenge I'm going through because of the pandemic has made me decide to leave my teaching job at school and pursue a new career working from home. And when I am able to work from home full-time, I will have more time to spend with my family, friends and I will have more time for ministering and doing temple work. And this has been my goal. So, the situation I'm going through is actually a blessing in disguise. The Lord wants me to reach my goal quicker so I could spend more of my time fulfilling the mission He has called me to do in this earthly life. 

What is your mission? How is the Lord directing your life so you could fulfill the mission He has called you to do?