The request made by the Lamanite King was the following..."I insist that ye shall administer unto me; for I have been somewhat troubled in mind because of the generosity and the greatness of the words of thy brother Ammon; and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee." Alma 22:3
His request to Aaron was simple. "Where is your brother, Ammon?" Awesome!  |
| image from www.lds.org |
Aaron has a great reply. "Behold, the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way" Alma 21:4.
The King was intrigued by Aaron's choice of words. "What is this that ye have said concerning the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, this is the thing which doth trouble me." Alma 22:6
The King was also concerned about repentance and salvation. Aaron began to teach and preach to the aged King. The King was receptive to his words. Can you imagine how Aaron must have felt? Such joy and probably relief! The King was teachable as he said "If now thou sayest there is a God, behold I will believe". Alma 22:7
Aaron's heart rejoiced. He began a great teaching discussion speaking of everything from the creation of Adam, the fall of Adam, the plan of redemption, Jesus Christ, faith, repentance, the atonement, resurrection and basically the whole plan of salvation from beginning to end.
After Aaron spoke these powerful words, the King wondered..."What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? What shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." Alma 22:16
Talk about a golden contact!!
Aaron said with great conviction, "If thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest." Alma 22:16
As Aaron said these words, the King did exactly what he was asked to do. He bowed down right then and there before the Lord on his knees and actually went a little further and laid down upon the earth and cried mightily saying:
"O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God, and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day." Alma 22:18
As the King said these words...he was struck as if he were dead. Uh, oh...sound familiar? Here we go again.
In another deja vu moment, the servants ran and told the King's wife. She came in and saw the King laying on the ground as if he were dead and saw Aaron and his brothers standing as though they were the cause of the fall. She put 'two plus two' together assuming that Aaron had killed the King. She was very angry with them and commanded that her servants should take Aaron and his people and kill them.
The servants saw what had actually happened and so they would not do as the Queen asked because they saw the power with which Aaron spoke. As the Queen saw the fear of the servants, she began to fear too. So she told her servants to go find some other people that they would kill Aaron and his people. She wasn't letting this go!
As Aaron realized the determination of this Queen and the hardness of the Lamanite people which he had seen first hand, he made a split second (smart!) decision. Aaron put forth his hand and raised the King from the earth and said unto him. "STAND" And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength." Alma 22:22. WOW....another blessed miracle for a son of Mosiah.
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| Artist: James H. Fullmer |
A large group gathered together at the King's residence and many murmurings began among them. The King stood forth in front of them and caused that Aaron and his people should preach the word of God unto them. The king went further.
He caused a proclamation to be sent throughout the land, among all the people in the vast Kingdom that he ruled over. This proclamation said that no one could lay their hands on Ammon, Aaron, Omner or Himni, nor any of their brethren as they went forth preaching the word of God, in whatever place they should be in any part of their land. The proclamation went further.
It stated that no one could bind them, cast them into prison, spit upon them, hit them, or even cast them out of their synagogues. They couldn't scourge them or hit them with stones. The brothers could have FULL access to their houses, their temples and their sanctuaries. They were basically given free and safe reign to preach the word of God and the gospel to whoever and wherever the Lord sent them! Another tender and gigantic mercy of the Lord!
Aaron and his brethren went from city to city, from house to house, establishing churches, consecrating priests and teachers throughout the Land of the Lamanites. Thousands were brought to the knowledge of the Lord, to believe in the traditions of the Nephites and taught the records and prophecies which had been handed down from generation to generation of Nephites.
"....Through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them--yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, NEVER DID FALL AWAY." Alma 23:6 They NEVER did fall away.
They became a righteous people...and all of this because four brothers decided to leave the comfort of their homes and go to a strange land of enemies to preach the Gospel in full faith.....no matter what the consequences.
PRINCIPLE POWER:
1. Don't be afraid to approach someone about the Gospel. Aaron approached the powerful King because the Spirit directed him to. When the Spirit directs me, do I hesitate, ignore or listen and act?
2. Heavenly Father will always hear our prayers. Always. Even when you don't think he is listening. He is. The Spirit has taught this to me over and over in my life. Pray. Even when you don't want to, or don't think it will matter. It will matter and He will be there.
3. Through all the hard work, road blocks, setbacks and tribulation that happened to Aaron and his brethren, great miracles were had. In my mind, the greatest being the group of amazing Lamanites who embraced the gospel and NEVER did fall away from it. Sometimes the greatest blessings come AFTER the trials. I wonder if Aaron realized when he was sitting in prison being tormented that his greatest accomplishments would soon occur! We need to look beyond our trials and disappointments. Have faith in the Lord and our Heavenly Father and look to them for guidance. The greatest things will happen after the trial of our faith!
4. Tender mercies came abundantly to Aaron and his brothers. Tender mercies can and do come to each one of us. Sometimes we just don't realize it. We think it's a 'coincidence' or just 'good luck'. I testify that as we write down tender mercies that occur in our own lives, the spirit of the Lord will testify to each of us that they are NOT coincidence or luck. They are gifts from the Lord.
Challenge: For 30 days, put a pad of post-its by your bathroom mirror. Each day, reflect and write each tender mercy that comes into your life on a post-it and attach it to your mirror. You will be able to see the hand of the Lord working miracles in your life. Sometimes we are so busy we don't recognize or realize it until it's spelled out in front of us!
