That time when (almost) everyone thought King Lamoni had died...or, how an entire nation turns to Christ -- Part 2

In the last post, we looked at how King Lamoni's conversion story fits the pattern of crying for mercy and finding it through Jesus Christ. The saw how elements 1-4 of the following pattern are very closely outlined, in order, in Alma 18:

1. The person is in darkness, fear, or pain.
2. A divine messenger delivers (or has delivered) a message.
3. The person prays/cries out ...
4. ... for mercy.
5. They come to know of Christ, the son of God (or a symbol of Christ) 
6. They receive comfort and a remission of sins.
7. The person experiences the fruits of the Spirit.

But in this example, there is an important variation.  That will be the focus of this post.

Departing from the script...for a reason

If we recall, this story is actually about more than the king's conversion.  We see his entire kingdom change their ways and accept Christ.  Thus, the story diverges from the other examples. Notice the words of the kings at the time when he believes all the words of Ammon and begins to cry for mercy:

41...O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant mercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people. (Alma 18)

He's not just praying for himself here. He prays for mercy for his people.  This is an important detail.

Then we get an abrupt plot twist:

42 And now, when he had said this, he fell unto the earth, as if he were dead. (Alma 18)

Conversion is about a voluntary surrender of one's own will to the will of God.  In essence, it is giving up one's life and becoming a new creature, born of God, willing to serve God from that point on. This is portrayed quite literally in this story (and several others).

The lifeless body of the king is carried to his wife and family, and they mourn his loss.  After two days and two nights, they call for Ammon (who hasn't forced himself into the situation up to that point). The wife of Lamoni faces a turning point. Unlike others in her entourage, she isn't convinced he's dead:  "to me he doth not stink."

Ammon knew exactly what was going on.  Notice the very next verse, which we'll come back to later (notice the use of the light/dark contrast, too):

6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God (Alma 19)

Darkness was being replaced by light in the king's soul.  It's no wonder Ammon, the long-time associate of Alma-2, recognized exactly what was going on here. See Mosiah 27:19-26. I'll make a separate post about the similarities between the conversion of Alma-2 and King Lamoni. Ammon was a witness to both events.


All of this happens in order to grant the king's prayer -- to show forth the Lord's mercy not just on Lamoni, but also on his people.

Three important details stand out to me in the rest of chapter 19, each of which contributes to the mirculous events detailed at the end of the chapter:

1.  The Queen believes all the words of Ammon, even over her own associates. (See Alma 19:9.)
2.  Abish, a servant to the queen who had privately converted years earlier, recognized the opportunity to have her people see the power of God and "ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people." (See Alma 19:16-17.)
3. A miraculous and divine intervention stops the efforts of enemies who try to slay Ammon. (See Alma 19:22-24.)

Hearkening to the word + participating in the work of salvation = outpouring of miracles.

The King and Queen come to know Jesus

The pattern resumes again once the stage is set for a miraculous display of God's power.

The King arises and says this:

12 ...Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou.

13 For as sure as thou livest, behold, I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be born of a woman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name. ... (Alma 19)

The Queen arises after Abish touches her hand (notice the elements of the pattern in this short passage):

29 ... as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood upon her feet, and cried with a loud voice, saying: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed God, have mercy on this people!

30 And when she had said this, she clasped her hands, being filled with joy ... (Alma 19)

The people witness a massive outpouring of the Spirit. Many are converted. Some see angels.

"And thus ... we see..."

Mormon summarizes this story with these words:

35 And it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them.
36 And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name. (Alma 19)

In my view, this variant of the pattern demonstrates how the Gospel is to be spread.  Divinely appointed messengers boldly serve and teach by the power of the Spirit.  Those who are prepared to hearken to the words of the messengers receive the word with joy, and ordinances follow as a natural results of this.

That time when (almost) everyone thought King Lamoni had died...or, how an entire nation turns to Christ -- Part 1

I could think of many apt titles for this post.  I went with the one above for good reason.  In this post, I'll take a deep dive into the story of the conversion of King Lamoni, which comes as a result of the missionary efforts of Ammon.  If you haven't yet read my two most recent posts (here and here), please take the time to read them before reading below.  The pattern provides a key to understanding more of this miraculous conversion story.

Here is the pattern:

1. The person is in darkness, fear, or pain.
2. A divine messenger delivers (or has delivered) a message.
3. The person prays/cries out ...
4. ... for mercy.
5. They come to know of Christ, the son of God (or a symbol of Christ) 
6. They receive comfort and a remission of sins.
7. The person experiences the fruits of the Spirit.

The conversion of King Lamoni

This story begins much like the examples in the two previous posts...the pattern is followed pretty much line for line.

#1: After the brave exploits of Ammon in protecting the king's flocks, King Lamoni begins to fear.

Alma 18:2 -- "...he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Surely, this is more than a man."

Alma 18:5 -- "Now this was the tradition of Lamoni, which he had received from his father, that there was a Great Spirit. Notwithstanding they believed in a Great Spirit, they supposed that whatsoever they did was right; nevertheless, Lamoni began to fear exceedingly, with fear lest he had done wrong in slaying his servants;"

#2: The divine messenger (Ammon) teaches him.

It is worth noting that prior to being taught, King Lamoni makes it clear how seriously he is taking this instruction:

20 And the king said: How knowest thou the thoughts of my heart? Thou mayest speak boldly, and tell me concerning these things; and also tell me by what power ye slew and smote off the arms of my brethren that scattered my flocks—
21 And now, if thou wilt tell me concerning these things, whatsoever thou desirest I will give unto thee; and if it were needed, I would guard thee with my armies; but I know that thou art more powerful than all they; nevertheless, whatsoever thou desirest of me I will grant it unto thee. (Alma 18)

With this assurance, Ammon makes it clear to the king what he truly desires of him:

22 Now Ammon being wise, yet harmless, he said unto Lamoni: Wilt thou hearken unto my words, if I tell thee by what power I do these things? And this is the thing that I desire of thee.
23 And the king answered him, and said: Yea, I will believe all thy words. And thus he was caught with guile. (Alma 18)

This reminds me of the words of King Benjamin:

9 ...My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view. (Mosiah 2)

Our willingness to hearken to the word plays a major role in what portion of the word we receive.

What did Ammon teach King Lamoni?  The sermon is not recorded, but the topics are listed in Alma 18:36-39:

• the creation of the world
• the creation of Adam
• all the things concerning the fall of man
• the records and the holy scriptures of the people
• all the journeyings of their fathers in the wilderness
• all their sufferings with hunger and thirst, and their travail, and so forth
• the rebellions of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, yea, all their rebellions
• all the records and scriptures from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem down to the present time
• the plan of redemption
• the coming of Christ
• all the works of the Lord

#3/#4: True to the pattern, King Lamoni "began to cry unto the Lord"...for "mercy"

40 And it came to pass that after he had said all these things, and expounded them to the king, that the king believed all his words.
41 And he began to cry unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant mercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people. (Alma 18)

So far, the story of Lamoni's conversion follows the pattern perfectly, but at this point we get a unique variation which leads to the conversion of an entire kingdom. In the next post, we'll look at the rest of this pattern and see how it varies from the example cited in my last two posts, and what results.