Alma is Rejected in Ammonihah

After Alma had taught the people of Gideon many things, too many to be written, and had established the order of the church as he had in the land of Zarahemla, he returned to his home in Zarahemla to rest from his labors. This is how 83 BC ended—the ninth year of the judges’ reign over the Nephites.

In 82 BC, Alma went to the land of Melek, west of the Sidon River, near the wilderness. He taught the people in the land of Melek according to the holy order of God—the order by which he had been called to teach. From all over the land that bordered the wilderness, people came to him to be baptized. After Alma finished his work in Melek, he traveled north for three days. He arrived at a city called Ammonihah. (It was a Nephite custom to name the lands, cities, and even small villages after the name of the leader who first lived there. This city had been named after Ammonihah.) Alma began to preach God’s word to the people in Ammonihah, but Satan had taken great hold upon their hearts, and they would not listen to him. Alma labored in the Spirit, asking God in mighty prayer to pour out His Spirit upon the people, that he might baptize them and make their repentance complete. But the people hardened their hearts and said, “We know who you are. You are Alma, the high priest over the church that you have established in many parts of the land according to your tradition. We do not belong to your church or believe in your foolish traditions. Since we are not members of your church, we know you do not have power over us. And since you have given the judgment-seat to Nephihah, you are not even chief judge over us.”

After the people reviled and rejected him, and even spit on him, they threw him out of their city. Alma left and traveled toward the city of Aaron. As he went, he sorrowed over the people’s wickedness in Ammonihah. His soul was weighed down with great tribulation and anguish. Then one of the Lord’s angels appeared to him, and said:

“You are blessed Alma, so lift up your head and rejoice, for you have great cause to rejoice. You have been faithful in keeping God’s commandments from the time that I came to give you His first message. I have been sent to you again to command you to return to Ammonihah and preach to the people there. Tell them that unless they repent, the Lord God will destroy them. The people of Ammonihah are planning to destroy the liberty of your people, which is against the statutes, judgments, and commandments that the Lord has given them.”

After receiving this message, Alma quickly returned to Ammonihah, entering the city from the south side. Alma had been fasting for many days, so he asked a man, “Will you give a humble servant of God something to eat?” The man replied, “I am a Nephite, and I know you are a holy prophet of God, for you are the man that an angel showed me in a vision and told me to receive. Come with me to my house and I will give you something to eat, for I know you will be a blessing to me and my family.”

The man who fed Alma with bread and meat was Amulek. After eating his fill, Alma blessed Amulek and his family and gave thanks to God. Then he said, “I am Alma, the high priest over the church of God throughout the land. I have been called to preach God’s word among all this people, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy.

“When I was here before, the people rejected me, and I planned never to come back again. But I was commanded to come back and prophesy to this people again—to testify against their sinfulness. Amulek, because you took me in and fed me, you are blessed. For I was very hungry, having fasted for many days.”

Alma stayed with Amulek and taught him for many days before preaching to the people again. By this time, the people were even more sinful than before. Then the Lord’s word came to Alma, “Go with Amulek and prophesy to this people, saying: Repent, for the Lord has said that unless you repent, He will visit you in His fierce anger, and not turn it away!”

Alma and Amulek went to declare the word of God, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost. They had been given power, so they could not be kept in dungeons or be killed. But they never showed their power until they had been tied up and thrown into prison. This is how the Lord showed His power to the people of Ammonihah.

Alma and Amulek went about preaching to the people, according to the spirit and the power that the Lord had given them.