The Contrasts of the First Fifteen Years

At the end of the first fifteen years of their society based on judges instead of kings, Alma summarized it this way: “And from the first year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed” (Alma 28:10).  To contrast this bleak picture he also spoke of how many of those who had died “are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness” (Alma 28:12).  He finished his summary of the period by writing of “the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life” (Alma 28:14). 

These opposites that he highlights here—death vs. salvation, sorrow vs. rejoicing—are representative of the great contrasts that we find in the story of these momentous fifteen years.  We have the contrast of Nehor, the great missionary for Satan who preached that “all mankind should be saved”, and of Alma, the powerful missionary for the Lord who taught that “the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!” (Alma 1:4, Alma 5:31).  There’s the obvious difference in the reception of the gospel in different cities: Gideon, for example, accepted easily the teachings of Alma and did “worship the true and living God” (Alma 7:6), whereas Ammonihah failed to heed the messages of repentance after many chances.  We also have the stark contrast between the people of Ammon and the Nephite dissenters.  On the one hand the Anti-Nephi-Lehies softened their hearts to the word and became a people who were “distinguished for their zeal toward God” and “were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end” (Alma 27:27).  On the other hand the Amalekites and Amulonites—Nephite dissenters—“became more hardened” and sought to destroy the righteous (Alma 24:30).  Another contrast we find in these stories is that of religious freedom vs. religious persecution.  When Lamoni’s father accepted the gospel, “he sent his proclamation throughout the land unto his people, that the word of God might have no obstruction”; in other words, the people were granted religious freedom (Alma 23:3).  This is opposite of what the descendants of the priests of Noah did: They “usurped the power and authority over the Lamanites, caused that many of the Lamanites should perish by fire because of their belief” (Alma 25:5).  More contrasts are found in the depiction of the power of God vs. the weakness of the wicked.  For example, Alma and Amulek were given power to come forth out of prison in a miraculous way.  Those who rejected their message, though, were eventually destroyed with the city of Ammonihah despite having what they assumed to be great power.  Ammon was given great power to defend the flocks of the king, whereas the wicked Lamanites who assumed they could defeat Alma in fact had no power over him (even when he was asleep).  I’m sure there are many more examples that we could cite showing the great dichotomy of the first fifteen years.  Ultimately the message for us is to stay true to the gospel message despite the wars, contention, and great wickedness around us and find “joy because of the light of Christ unto life.”