Cut Off From the Presence of the Lord

Alma taught the people of Ammonihah, “Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.” He emphasized how this had come to pass for the Lamanites: “Now I would that ye should remember, that inasmuch as the Lamanites have not kept the commandments of God, they have been cut off from the presence of the Lord. Now we see that the word of the Lord has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites have been cut off from his presence, from the beginning of their transgressions in the land” (Alma 9:13-14). He later taught this same thing to his sons. To Helaman he said, “Ye ought to know as I do know, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence” (Alma 36:30). In case Helaman missed that, Alma said again, “O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence” (Alma 37:13). When he spoke to Shiblon he began with the same message: “My son, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence” (Alma 38:1). Alma knew what it was like to be cut off from the Lord’s presence when he was in rebellion against God, and he knew firsthand the difference of having that presence return through the Holy Ghost after he repented.

                We see the fulfillment of this promise specifically in the scattering of the northern kingdom as we are reading about in the Come, Follow Me program this week. The northern kingdom of Israel rejected the commandments of the Lord even after so many witnesses and the powerful ministry of Elisha, and after his death they were finally to be cut off completely from the Lord’s presence. We read, “And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them;… And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God.” And so they were physically cut off: “Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight” (2 Kings 17:15-18). They were conquered by the Assyrians and carried away because they would not keep His commandments and thus they lost His presence to protect them. Their story and these passages of the Book of Mormon stand as a warning to us in our day: if we do not keep the commandments He has given then we will eventually be cut off from His presence. Unlike the tribes of Israel we likely will not be scattered physically, but for us to be cut off from His presence means that we will not have the sustaining power of the Holy Ghost to guide and direct and bless us. This is what the brother of Jared learned from the Lord: “Ye shall remember that my Spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord” (Ether 2:15). To be cut off from Him is to lose the Spirit as happened to the Nephites in the days of Moronihah: “And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples” (Helaman 4:24). If we want to keep His Spirit with us to “guide [us] in wisdom’s paths that [we] may be blessed, prospered, and preserved,” we must hold fast to His commandments and continue to obey His word (Mosiah 2:36). Otherwise, we too will be cut off and be without His protecting hand in our lives.