The Lord's Deliverance

 When the people of Alma were living righteously and peacefully in Helam, a group of Lamanites found them and brought them under bondage. In a cruel turn of events, Alma found himself and those he was with under the severe hand of his former companion Amulon from the court of Noah. Amulon had rejected the Lord’s commandments and the Law of Moses and was working his way up in Lamanite society as he sought only that which would benefit himself. It had to have been frustrating to Alma to see that though he was the one who repented and turned to the Lord, though he had followed Abinadi and was seeking diligently to keep the commandments, it was Amulon who appeared to have everything going for him. But there is certainly no mention of that in the text, and instead of focusing on the injustice of the situation, Alma and his people focused on turning to the Lord for help: “And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts” (Mosiah 24:12). They did not dwell on their animosity towards their enemies but rather turned to the only One who could help them. Mormon commented, “Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people. For behold, I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God, yea, even the God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob” (Mosiah 23:22-23). Surely that is a great lesson for us—when life’s experiences tempt to turn us bitter, we must instead turn to the Lord and place our trust in Him. That is our only hope for deliverance and relief.

               I believe there is a reason that Mormon chose here to specifically mention “the God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob” as the One who would be able to help Alma’s people out of bondage. Each of those great patriarchs was similarly saved by the Lord from death. Abraham of course was miraculously saved when he was about to be slain on the altar: “And as they lifted up their hands upon me, that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands” (Abraham 1:15). Isaac was also saved by the Lord at the last second before being offered up upon the altar: “And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven… And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him” (Genesis 22:11-12). And Jacob was preserved from death by famine when Joseph was able to send him food from Egypt. They undoubtedly had other experiences as well in which it was only the hand of the Lord that could save their lives, such as when Abraham went down to Egypt and was protected. Perhaps Mormon’s point was for us to remember some of these examples and to encourage us in our struggles to focus on the Lord and His deliverance and not on our challenges or enemies. Alma’s people learned for themselves this powerful truth that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew and that we must all learn: “I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions” (Mosiah 24:14).