- 12Alma saw that Amulek’s words silenced Zeezrom. Zeezrom realized Amulek caught him lying and misleading, attempting to destroy him. Because Zeezrom was trembling in fear from his guilt, Alma spoke directly to him, confirming Amulek’s words and elaborating and explaining the scriptures beyond what Amulek had covered. 2What Alma told Zeezrom was overheard by everyone who gathered around them. He said this: 3Now Zeezrom, your lies and misrepresentations have been exposed. But you haven’t just lied to these people, you’ve also lied to God. He knows all your thoughts and God has revealed your thoughts to us by His Spirit. 4You see we understand your plan. It was cunning, but follows Satan’s pattern, hoping to use a lie to deceive these people, so you could turn them against us. You expected them to scorn us and throw us out. 5Now this was your adversary’s plan, and you’ve surrendered, letting him control you. Remember that what I tell you, I tell to everyone. 6I warn all of you that this was a trap of the adversary he has used to control you. He hopes you follow him and get caught in his chains. He wants your everlasting destruction, which results from letting him control you.
- 7When Alma had said this; Zeezrom began to tremble even more intensely, since he was convinced more and more of God’s power. He also realized Alma and Amulek had exposed him. And he was convinced they knew the thoughts and secret intentions of his heart. They knew this because of the spirit of prophecy. 8And Zeezrom began to ask them sincere questions, so he could learn more about God’s kingdom. He asked Alma: What do Amulek’s words about the resurrection of the dead mean? How will all rise from the dead, both the just and unjust, and be brought to stand before God to be judged according to their works?
- 9Alma began to elaborate, saying: Many people are given knowledge of God’s mysteries; however, they’re placed under a strict command to only discuss that part of His word He allows to be given to mankind, corresponding to their obedience and diligence given to Him. 10Those who harden their hearts receive less of His word. Those who don’t harden their hearts are given a greater part of His word, until they understand God’s mysteries. They can be given God’s mysteries until everything is fully known. 11However those who harden their hearts are given less of His word, until they know nothing about His mysteries. Then the accuser captures them and leads them by his will down to destruction. This is what the chains of hell mean.
- 12Amulek has spoken plainly about death and being changed from a state of mortality to a state of immortality and brought before God’s seat to be judged for our works. 13Then if we’ve hardened our hearts and rejected His word so that it isn’t part of us, our judgment will be awful. At that point, we’ll be condemned. 14Our words will condemn us, our works will condemn us, our thoughts will condemn us, and we can’t be found spotless. In that awful condition, we won’t dare to look up to God. Under such circumstances, we would want to be able to command stones and mountains to fall on us and hide us from His presence. 15But this can’t be. We must appear and stand before Him in His glory, power, strength, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all His judgments are righteous, that He is righteous in all He’s done. He was merciful to mankind, and He has the power to save everyone who believes in His name and shows by their conduct they’ve actually repented.
- 16Now there will also be a second death or a spiritual death for anyone whose mortal death happened while in their sins. They will also die spiritually. They die as to everything righteous. 17That’s when their torment will be like a fiery lake of lava, whose flames ascend from eternity to eternity. That’s when they’ll be chained down to everlasting destruction according to Satan’s power and captivity, who will have subjugated them. That’s his plan. 18I tell you at that point they will be as if no redemption had been made, since they can’t be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they can’t die, since there’s no more decay.
- 19When Alma had finished speaking these words, the people became even more surprised. 20But Antionah, who was a chief ruler, stepped forward and asked: What is this that you’ve said, that man would rise from the dead and be changed from this mortal state to an immortal state, so the soul can never die? 21What does the scripture mean that says God placed cherubim and a sword of fire east of the Garden of Eden so our first parents couldn’t enter and eat the fruit of the tree of life and live forever? Obviously it was impossible for them to live forever. 22Alma replied: This is what I was about to explain. We see that Adam fell by eating the forbidden fruit, according to God’s word. We see because of his fall all mankind became lost and fallen. 23Now if it had been possible for Adam to have then eaten the fruit of the tree of life, there would be no death and God’s word would have been empty, making God a liar, since He said: If you eat, you will certainly die. 24And death has come upon mankind, the death mentioned by Amulek, which is the temporal death. Nevertheless, mankind is given time to repent. Therefore this life has become a probationary state, a time to prepare to come face to face with God. It’s a time to prepare for the endless state we talked about, which is after the resurrection of the dead. 25Now if it weren’t for the plan of redemption established at the foundation of creation, there wouldn’t be any resurrection of the dead. But there is a plan of redemption that provides the resurrection of the dead we mentioned.
- 26If it was possible for our first parents to have returned to eat from the tree of life, they would be miserable forever without any chance to prepare. The plan of redemption would be frustrated, and God would have broken His word. Redemption would have no effect. 27But it wasn’t so. Instead, mankind would die, and after death they face judgment. We told you about that judgment that happens at the end. 28After God decreed these things would happen to mankind, He wanted them to know about His plan to redeem them. 29So He sent angels to explain it to them, who let mankind see His glory. 30Once they understood, they began to call on His name. So God communicated with mankind to reveal the plan of redemption prepared from the foundation of creation. He revealed it to them based on their faith, repentance, and holy works.
- 31He then gave commandments after they previously broke His first commandments involving temporal things. They had become like the Gods, knowing good from evil, putting themselves in a condition to act on their own choices, whether choosing evil or good. 32Therefore after they understood the plan of redemption, God commanded them not to be evil, the penalty for it being a second death, an everlasting death as to righteousness. Because the plan of redemption couldn’t help such a person, since according to God’s decree justice can’t be ignored. 33And so God called on mankind in the name of His Son, as the ordained plan of redemption required. God announced: If you repent and don’t harden your hearts, I’ll have mercy on you through My Only Begotten Son. 34Therefore any who repent and don’t harden their hearts will qualify for mercy and remission of their sins through My Only Begotten Son and you will enter My rest. 35But any who harden their hearts and commit iniquity, I swear in My wrath they won’t enter My rest. 36I tell you people that if you harden your hearts, you won’t enter the Lord’s rest. Indeed, your iniquity will provoke His wrath on you as when He was first provoked. He explained what would happen at both the first and at the last if mankind provoked His judgments. Now your souls face everlasting destruction according to His word, if you provoke the last death like the first death was provoked.
- 37Now, my people, since we know these things and since they’re true, let’s repent and not harden our hearts. We don’t want to provoke the Lord our God to bring down His wrath on us by disobeying His second commandments to us. Let’s enter God’s rest, which according to His word is available for us.
- 13In addition, my people, I would remind you of the moment the Lord God gave His children these commandments. Remember the Lord God ordained priests according to His Holy Order, which was according to the Order of His Son, to teach the people these things. 2Such priests were ordained to the Order of His Son in such a way, so that by it the people would recognize how to look forward to His Son for redemption. 3And this is how they were ordained: they were called and prepared from the foundation of creation according to God’s foreknowledge, because of their great faith and good works. In the first place, since they were permitted to choose good or evil, they chose to do good and exercised great faith. As a result, they’re called with a holy calling that had been prepared with and according to the planned redemption for those who qualified. 4Therefore they were and are called to this holy calling because of their faith, while others chose to reject the Spirit of God because of their hard hearts and blind minds, and if it hadn’t been for this, they could have had the same status as their brothers. 5Or to be brief: in the first place they had the same opportunity as the others and this holy calling was available from the beginning of creation for any who chose not to harden their hearts. It was made available by the Only Begotten Son who was prepared to provide the atonement. 6So they’re called by this holy calling and ordained to the High Priesthood of the Holy Order of God to teach His commandments to mankind, so they also could enter His rest. 7This High Priesthood is according to the Order of His Son, which Order existed from the foundation of creation. In other words, it is without beginning of days or end of years, having been prepared from eternity to all eternity according to His foreknowledge of all things. 8Now this is how they were ordained: having qualified to receive a holy calling, they were ordained with a holy ordinance which confers upon them the High Priesthood of the Holy Order — which calling, ordinance, and High Priesthood has no beginning or end. 9So they become high priests forever conforming to the Order of the Son, the Father’s Only Begotten, who has no beginning of days or end of years, and who’s full of grace, fairness, and truth. And so it is. Amen.
Chapter 9