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Alma 36 – 39
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(1.) DYING TO BE SAVED:
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The
deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt was a learning experience of
the plan of salvation. A generation had to die and only the next generation was
willing to keep the commandments enough to be saved and able to enter the
promised land to prosper there having been saved by the "Fountain of Living
Waters, the Rock of Salvation."
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(2.) THREE DAYS AND THREE
NIGHTS:
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Alma witnesses of a similar pattern through his languishing
experience of three days and three nights as dead and then coming alive again
being lifted up and saved. You will find that most of the scriptural references
with a time factor of three days and three nights have something to do with
being lifted up and being saved. Often this is a "center" of a
chiasmus, a focal point of redemption, a testimony of the Savior.
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(3.) TO BE LIFTED UP AND
PROSPER:
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Throughout scriptural history, peoples and lands are lifted up and
begin to prosper. In 1841, the Apostle Orson Hyde dedicated the Holy Land for
another return of its heirs. "Grant, therefore, O Lord . . .
to remove the barrenness and sterility of this land . . . let the land become
abundantly fruitful when possessed by its rightful heirs . . . let the clouds
distill virtue and richness . . ." (History of the Church, Vol.4, Ch.26,
p.457)
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(4.) TO BE BROUGHT DOWN:
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The return of Jews to their land is a righteous thing and those who oppose it
are opposing the will of the Lord. Their future is opposite of
"prospering." "Let that . . . people who shall take an active
part . . . in the raising up of Jerusalem, find favor in Thy sight . . . while
that nation . . . that will not serve Thee in this glorious work must perish . .
." (History of the Church, Vol.4, Ch.26, p.457)
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(5.) CONTINUAL REMINDERS:
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Throughout time there have been symbolic and functional artifacts that
reinforced God’s counsel to his children. Jews place a "Mezuzah" on
their door posts. "Mezuzah is the name of the parchment scroll attached to
the doorposts of a Jewish home. On it are written verses from Deuteronomy (6:
4--9 and 11: 13--21) in square Assyrian letters, traditionally arranged in 22
lines. The Torah commands of these verses that ‘you shall write them on the
doorposts (mezuzot) of your house and in your gates . . .’ the mezuzah is not
a good luck charm . . . many people, however, are accustomed to kiss . . . or to
touch it when entering or leaving." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)
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(6.) BEING LED BY THE LORD:
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The functional Liahona was a reminder that the Lord would lead his people. In
the Bible, the cloud and pillar (as well as the raised serpent) was a reminder
that God would lead Israel. "The Tabernacle stood in the center of the
Israelite camp and a cloud rested over it. When the cloud lifted, it was
considered a divine signal to move the camp. A silver trumpet was sounded, the
Levites dismantled the Tabernacle and transported it to its next resting
place." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)
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(7.) LOOKING "UP:"
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"To typify Christ and point attention to the salvation which would come
because he would be lifted up on the cross, Moses (as commanded by the Lord)
made a brazen serpent and lifted it up on a pole. This performance was . . .
intended to show the people that by looking to Christ they would be saved with
eternal life, but by refusing to look to him they would die spiritually (John
3:14-15; Alma 33:1922; Hela. 8:14-15)" (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine,
p.104) The pattern of directional tools is a metaphor to have us "look
up" in order to be "lifted up."
