The Lamanite King's Request of Aaron

What would the old Lamanite King request of Aaron?  This could have gone ALL bad...but instead another tender mercy!

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



image from www.lds.org

His request to Aaron was simple. "Where is your brother, Ammon?" Awesome! 

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.

Artist: James H. Fullmer
 

As the King stood he began to minister to his wife and the servants. The whole household was converted unto the Lord. Did that last sentence soak in?  Yes....the WHOLE household was converted unto the Lord!

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:

What principles did you discover in this section of the Book of Mormon?  Here are a few to consider:

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!

 

Ammon, Part II, A Story of Tender Mercies

Image by: Josh Cotton (www.wikimedia.org)

Last we saw the four sons of King Mosiah; Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni had given up their father's kingdom for a chance to preach the gospel to their mortal enemies, the Lamanites.  They had packed up their bags filled with the spirit of God and began their missions for parts unknown. 

Ammon being the oldest of them, "...did administer unto them.....after having blessed them according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took their several journeys throughout the land."  Alma 17:18

Image: www.lds.org

I wonder what that brotherly goodbye was like.  After Priesthood blessings, words of wisdom and admonition, I picture hugs, smiles and probably many tears.  These boys had already been through so much together.  Now they were embarking on the greatest adventure of their lives, each alone with only God by their sides.

Ammon went to the land of Ishmael.  As he entered the borders of the land, the Lamanites took him and bound him.   This was the Lamanite custom as the scripture points out, "...to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands and carry them before the king..." Alma 17:20   Great custom, huh?

At this point, the Nephite intruder would be taken before the King who would have four options.  The King could:

1.  kill them

2.  keep them held captive

3.  cast them into prison

4.  throw them out of his land. 

All of these things being done "according to his [the King's] will and pleasure."  Alma 17:21  

The King over the land of Ishmael at this time was a Lamanite named Lamoni.   The first thing King Lamoni asked of Ammon was "...If it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people." Alma 17:22.   

TENDER MERCY ALERT:  Don't you find it strange yet totally awesome that with all the frightful options that the King had at his disposal, he would simply ask Ammon if he would like to stay in his Kingdom?   I testify that the Lord blesses all those who are willing to serve Him!  

Ammon's response was "Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die. Alma 17:23    Of course the King was very pleased with this reply.  But remember as King he still had those 4 options!  Instead, he loosed the bands that tied Ammon. 

Here comes another TENDER MERCY ALERT:  The King asks Ammon if he would want to marry one of his daughters!!!!  What?  Of all his options, marrying the Nephite intruder off to one of his daughters, was not in the normal play book, I'm sure!

Ammon responds in all humility that he could not take a daughter to wife, but that he would be a servant to the King.   Lamoni agrees and so Ammon sets off with the rest of the servants to guard and care for the King's flocks. 

After only 3 days of service, Ammon just going about his business, takes the flocks to a place where they could drink water.  This place was called Sebus and was where all Lamanites would have taken their flocks to do the same thing.  I can picture in my mind the busy hubbub of comings and goings there.

While the animals were receiving water, another group of Lamanites who had been at the same place watering their own flocks decides to scatter the flocks that Ammon and the others were tending to.  The flocks went in every direction.

I always like to picture myself in these situations.  Can you imagine you have been on the job 3 days among these people who really are your adversary, you are trying to impress the King and some group of hooligans come along and make all the animals you are in charge of, run away! 

The other servants who were with Ammon began to be afraid and said, "Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men.  And they began to weep exceedingly." Alma 17:28

I can picture sheep everywhere, servants crying in fear of their lives and Ammon composed and full of the spirit as ever he could be.  As a matter of fact, the scriptures say that Ammon was "swollen within him with joy, for said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power, which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe my words." Alma 17:29

Ammon was not puffed up within himself because of pride, so that he could be the big man and save the day.  He was swollen with joy because he could see this situation would win over the hearts of the people and then if he won over their hearts HE COULD TEACH THEM THE GOSPEL!  Which was his only priority in the first place!

Ammon so full of positivity says, "My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us." Alma 17:31 

And that is exactly what they did.  The servants followed Ammon and they rushed forth "with much swiftness" Alma 17:32  and gathered all the flocks together again at the place of water. 

Another TENDER MERCY ALERT:  Only with the hand of the Lord and the total faith of Ammon, could these flocks have been gathered all back together so quickly or at all.  Another miracle!

Just as the flocks were again together, the hooligans that scattered them in the first place came back.  Annoying and ridiculous!  Ammon gave swift direction to his fellow servants, "Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not, and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks."  Alma 17:33.  Of course the servants jumped on Ammon's words and did exactly as he commanded. 

Ammon went up against this terrible group and the scriptures state "...they were in number not a few." Alma 17:34  and "they delighted in the destruction of their brethren." Alma 17:35.  What a wicked bunch!

Of course these guys did not fear Ammon, just one lone guy.  What they did NOT know however, was anything about the Lord or the faithfulness of this young Nephite!

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Ammon stood up.  At first he cast stones at them with his sling (aka David & Goliath).  The scriptures say that Ammon had "mighty power".  He actually killed a few of them.  After he did this, the group "began to be astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore seeing that they could not hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to slay him."  Alma 17:36

As every single Lamanite lifted up his club to hit him, Ammon would cut off their arms with his sword.  "He did withstand their blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him, yea, and they were not few in number, and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm.  Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he slew non, save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few."  Alma 17:37 

Another TENDER MERCY ALERT:  Of course Ammon was strong, but could any mortal have been that strong in and of himself? Of course not!  The Lord was there, helping him, strengthening him and fulfilling the promise he had made to Ammon's father that he would be safe in the land of the Lamanites. 

After the group was driven away, Ammon simply returned to watering the flocks and returned them to the King's pasture.  The arms were then carried into the king for a testimony and proof of the things which had happened that day.

King Lamoni listened to the stories of his servants as they recounted everything that had happened.  He learned of the faithfulness of Ammon and also the great strength and power that Ammon had displayed against the enemies.  King Lamoni was "astonished exceedingly." Alma 18:2

King Lamoni hearing all of this, knew that Ammon indeed must be the Great Spirit of whom their Lamanite forefathers had spoken.   Lamoni's conscience must have begun to prick him because he began to fear greatly because of his previous sins.

In the space of three short days, tender mercy after tender mercy had occurred:  Ammon found favor with the King of the Lamanites, brought the King's flocks back to safety, endeared himself to the King's servants, calmed their fears and nerves, and withstood a whole group of Lamanite killers.

Ammon now has this people right where he wants them.....

What tender mercies have you received from the Lord today?