The Anti-Nephi-Lehies (or the people of Ammon)

I promised I was going to give you a post every week at least, and so I was trying to think today of what to write about. Nothing very interesting has happened to me this week. I registered for classes and purchased my books, one of which is for a philosophy class. I read the introduction yesterday, and it’s made me really excited for the class itself and for the opportunity to learn more about philosophy. I have all the classes I can register for before the semester starts set in place, and so that makes me happy. I’m all set. I also bought a computer, an 11” Macbook Air. But I’ll write more about that when it comes. I want to write a solid review about it so that those of you who are looking to buy a computer can take it into account. I’m not sure what my conclusions will be.

In any case, what I want to write about today (since it is Sunday, and that’s probably the day I put the most effort into my spiritual progression) is a verse in Alma 27, and an incredible example of faith. Verse number 28:

"And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it."

Now, the first thing I want to do is put this in context. The verse is about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (or the people that Ammon and his brethren converted to the church). They have made a covenant with the Lord to no longer use their weapons of war, and they bury them in the ground so that they will not be stained with blood. They change their ways and become people of the Lord. But that bit isn’t what I want to focus on. It’s the last part that interests me the most:

“they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it.” (portion of Alma 27:28, italics added).

If you look at the bottom of the page where this is found in the Book of Mormon, you will find that the time period in which the events surrounding the verse are occurring is between 90 and 77 BC. Now, we know from the system widely accepted for counting years that BC means, “Before Christ.” This is 90 to 77 years before Christ is born, and yet death is still swallowed up to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies by the victory of Christ over it. They have no temporal confirmation that he will be born, and certainly no conformation that he has been born because he hasn’t yet. Nor do they have any confirmation that he has undergone the steps which they believe will lead to his victory of death, and no confirmation that he has been resurrected. Now, I’m not trying to tamp down anyone’s faith. This is what I know: That Jesus Christ does live, and he loves us, that I have felt the healing effects of his Atonement in my life, and that there is a world after this one, where we can be with our families again forever. I'm just trying to point out that it amazes me that these people, who have not heard tell of Jesus in the flesh, can believe that he will exist, and that he will have a victory over death. And then that they apply that principle, and have no fear of death, because of the incredibly firm faith that they have. It impresses me and is a great example of faith in the Savior.