Alma 12

Where we are

Alma 12 is the Book of Mormon's master text on the plan of redemption, the second death, and the probationary state. The chapter takes up where Amulek's resurrection sermon left off and builds the Fall-and-Atonement superstructure on the resurrection foundation. By the time it closes, it has taught a doctrine of graduated revelation, identified hell as the progressive loss of light, defined the second death as spiritual separation from God, reframed the Fall as mercy, and named mortality itself as a probationary state. Three doctrinal vocabularies that the Latter-day Saint tradition has carried for two centuries originate, in their cleanest scriptural form, in this chapter: the mysteries by heed and diligence, the rest of the Lord, and the probationary state.

The chapter is also one of the strongest pre-Pauline articulations in scripture. Hebrews 3–4 on the rest of God, Romans 5 on the Adamic Fall, Revelation 20 on the second death, and 1 Corinthians 13 on revelation in stages — all are anticipated here in pre-Christian Nephite language. The chapter is the second of the three cornerstone chapters of the Ammonihah arc, sitting between Amulek's resurrection sermon (Alma 11) and Alma's priesthood discourse (Alma 13).

The chapter has six movements:

1. Alma perceives Zeezrom's thoughts and rebukes the lying-in-wait (vv. 1–7).
2. The doctrine of the mysteries given according to heed and diligence (vv. 8–11).
3. The judgment by words, works, and thoughts (vv. 12–15).
4. The doctrine of the second death (vv. 16–18).
5. Antionah's Eden question and the master plan-of-redemption discourse (vv. 19–34).
6. The closing exhortation against hardening the heart (vv. 35–37).

Seven verses carry most of the weight:

1. v. 9 — it is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
2. vv. 10–11 — he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word… and they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil… Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
3. v. 14 — our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us… and our thoughts will also condemn us.
4. v. 16 — then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death.
5. vv. 22–24 — if it had been possible for Adam to have partaken of the fruit of the tree of life at that time, there would have been no death, and the word would have been void, making God a liar… therefore this life became a probationary state.
6. v. 30 — God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world.
7. v. 34 — whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.

Alma perceives Zeezrom's thoughts (verses 1–7)

Now Alma, seeing that the words of Amulek had silenced Zeezrom, for he beheld that Amulek had caught him in his lying and deceiving to destroy him, and seeing that he began to tremble under a consciousness of his guilt, he opened his mouth and began to speak unto him, and to establish the words of Amulek, and to explain things beyond, or to unfold the scriptures beyond that which Amulek had done. — Alma 12:1

The opening phrase is doing a lot of work. To explain things beyond, or to unfold the scriptures beyond that which Amulek had done. The second witness is not redundant; the second witness is the foundation on which the first witness builds upward. Amulek has laid resurrection; Alma will lay the Fall, the plan of redemption, and the rest of the Lord. Luke will name the same Spirit-led unfolding when Christ on the road to Emmaus opened to us the scriptures (Lk. 24:32). Alma 12 is the Nephite Emmaus moment.

Now Zeezrom, seeing that thou hast been taken in thy lying and craftiness, for thou hast not lied unto men only but thou hast lied unto God; for behold, he knows all thy thoughts, and thou seest that thy thoughts are made known unto us by his Spirit. — Alma 12:3

Peter will say the same to Ananias a century later: Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?… thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God (Acts 5:3–4). The chapter is one of the closest pre-Acts textual parallels in the Book of Mormon. The prophet who reads the deceiver's thoughts by the Spirit is doing exactly what the apostle will do at Jerusalem, with the same vocabulary and the same authority.

The mysteries given according to heed and diligence (verses 8–11)

Now Zeezrom said unto him: Will you tell us who the Son of God is? And he said unto him: This is he that shall come to take away the sins of the world, yea, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God. — Alma 12:7–8 (paraphrased)

The name Jesus Christ is spoken in pre-Christian Nephite testimony, eighty-plus years before the birth. The Nephite prophetic tradition had been given the name in advance — Nephi (2 Ne. 25:19), Benjamin (Mosiah 3:8), Mosiah I (Mosiah 26:23–24) had all heard it — and Alma names it here in answer to a hostile lawyer's question. The chapter is one of the Book of Mormon's clearest texts on the pre-mortal naming of the Lord by His prophets.

And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. — Alma 12:9

The chapter's master doctrine of revelation. The mysteries are given, but they are not given uniformly. A prophet who has been told much may impart only the portion the Lord authorizes him to impart, and the portion that any hearer may receive is itself a function of the hearer's heed and diligence. Revelation, on this account, is not a fixed deposit dropped onto a passive recipient; it is a living transaction calibrated to the receptivity of the receiver.

The Latter-day Saint tradition will carry the doctrine forward in the Restoration revelations: that which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day (D&C 50:24). The principle is the same. Light received with heed produces more light; light refused produces less.

And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. — Alma 12:10–11

A striking and important redefinition. The chains of hell in the chapter's reading are not iron fetters in an underworld prison. They are the progressive ignorance that follows the hardening of the heart. The hardened heart receives a smaller portion of the word; the smaller portion produces deeper ignorance; the deeper ignorance produces greater hardening; the greater hardening produces still smaller portions — until at last the soul knows nothing of the mysteries of God and is led down to destruction by a captor it can no longer see. Paul will name the same darkening in different vocabulary: having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart (Eph. 4:18).

The chapter teaches what later generations will call the doctrine of self-condemnation. The Lord does not punish by arbitrary fiat; the natural fruit of hardening is the loss of light, and the loss of light is the chain. Three stages are named in the chapter's other direction as well — lesser portion, greater portion, know them in full. Paul gestures at the same progression: now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known (1 Cor. 13:12).

The judgment by words, works, and thoughts (verses 12–15)

For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. — Alma 12:14

The chapter expands the Old Testament judgment formula. Ecclesiastes had taught judgment by works: God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (Eccl. 12:14). Alma adds words and thoughts. Christ would later teach the same threefold standard: every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment (Mt. 12:36). The judgment of God reaches not only the act but the speech and not only the speech but the inner intention.

The closing image — rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence — is exact Apocalyptic vocabulary. Hosea spoke it first: they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us (Hos. 10:8). John will see it in vision: and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne (Rev. 6:16). Christ will repeat it on the road to Calvary: then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us (Lk. 23:30). Alma 12 is the Nephite installment in the same image.

The doctrine of the second death (verses 16–18)

And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness. — Alma 12:16

The chapter introduces the term second death — the same term John will use at the climax of his Apocalypse (this is the second death, Rev. 20:14; cf. Rev. 2:11; 20:6; 21:8). The Nephite definition is the Apocalyptic definition: separation not from physical existence but from things pertaining unto righteousness. The first death is the body's; the second death is the soul's. Christ overcomes the first universally and the second conditionally. The Latter-day Saint tradition will inherit the term and apply it in D&C 76:36–39 to the sons of perdition who fall under no other label.

Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will. — Alma 12:17

The lake-of-fire-and-brimstone image is one of John's most repeated phrases in Revelation (Rev. 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8). The chapter places it in Nephite mouths a century in advance. The doctrine is consistent: the second death is the captivity of Satan, given over by the very wills that chose his way in mortality. The chapter teaches a sober principle: hell is not a place to which the Lord sends an unwilling soul; it is the home prepared by the will that refused His.

Antionah's Eden question and the plan-of-redemption discourse (verses 19–34)

Now Antionah, who was a chief ruler among them, came forth and said unto him: What is this that thou hast said, that man should rise from the dead and be changed from this mortal to an immortal state, that the soul can never die? What does the scripture mean, which saith that God placed cherubim and a flaming sword on the east of the garden of Eden, lest our first parents should enter and partake of the fruit of the tree of life, and live forever? And thus we see that there was no possible chance that they should live forever. — Alma 12:20–21

A chief ruler named Antionah steps forward with what he takes to be a clinching scriptural objection. If God set cherubim and a flaming sword to keep Adam and Eve from the tree of life, then the scripture itself rules out the immortality the prophets are preaching. Antionah quotes Genesis 3:24 almost verbatim. The Nephite Brass Plates preserved the same Eden narrative the King James Bible will later carry, and Antionah is using it as a weapon.

The chapter's answer will turn the question inside out. The cherubim are not a thwarting; they are a mercy. The objection becomes the doorway into the chapter's grandest doctrine.

And now behold, I say unto you that if it had been possible for Adam to have partaken of the fruit of the tree of life at that time, there would have been no death, and the word would have been void, making God a liar, for he said: If thou eat thou shalt surely die. — Alma 12:23

Alma answers Antionah with a syllogism. The Lord had said the eating of the forbidden fruit would bring death. If Adam had then immediately eaten of the tree of life and lived forever, the Lord's word would have been void. Therefore the cherubim were stationed to preserve God's word. The Fall, in this reading, is not a defeat to be lamented but the precondition of the plan itself. Paul will frame the same doctrine: if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself (2 Tim. 2:13).

The chapter is the Book of Mormon's clearest articulation of the doctrine the Latin tradition would later call felix culpa — the fortunate Fall. The mortality that followed the eating is not the curse it appears to be; it is the time of probation that makes redemption possible.

And we see that death cometh upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead. — Alma 12:24

The chapter's master verse on the meaning of mortality. A time to prepare to meet God. The phrase comes straight from Amos — prepare to meet thy God, O Israel (Amos 4:12) — and Alma applies it to the whole of mortal existence. Life is not waiting; life is preparation. Every day of mortality is a day in which the soul is fitting itself for the meeting that will come.

The Latter-day Saint tradition will canonize the doctrine in the Book of Abraham: we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them (Abr. 3:25). Alma 12:24 is the earliest scriptural articulation of the principle in such compact and pastoral form.

And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works. — Alma 12:30

The plan of redemption was not an emergency response to the Fall. It was prepared from the foundation of the world. The phrase is the precise language Christ will later use of the kingdom: the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Mt. 25:34). Paul will use it of the elect: he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). The Book of Abraham will narrate the pre-mortal council where the plan was laid out (Abr. 3:24–28). Alma 12 is the chapter that names the doctrine in the Book of Mormon in its plainest form.

The verse also teaches that the disclosure of the plan is gradual and conditional. According to their faith and repentance and their holy works. The doctrine is the same as v. 9: revelation is calibrated to receptivity. A people walking in faith receives more of the plan; a people walking in disobedience sees less of it. The same Lord conversed with Adam and Enoch and Noah and Abraham, and the conversation has continued in every generation that fitted itself to hear.

Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest. — Alma 12:34

A precise formula. Claim on mercy is legal-covenantal language: the Atonement creates a right that the repentant may claim. Whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart names the two conditions. The phrase enter into my rest anticipates Hebrews 3–4 exactly. They shall not enter into my rest (Heb. 3:11; 4:5); let us labour therefore to enter into that rest (Heb. 4:11). The Nephite text states the doctrine first, and Alma 13 will build the priesthood superstructure that explains how the rest is entered.

The closing exhortation (verses 35–37)

And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest. — Alma 12:35

Hebrews 3:11 word-for-word, drawn in both places from Psalm 95:11. The Nephite chapter and the New Testament epistle share a vocabulary and a doctrine. The Lord's rest is conditional on the heart, and the wrath He swears is the wrath of a Lord who has been refused entry for too long.

And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first. — Alma 12:36

Alma reads Ammonihah by the Sinai pattern. The first provocation was the golden calf (Ex. 32) and the murmuring at Massah and Meribah (Ex. 17:7). Hebrews 3:8 will recall the same provocation: harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Alma is teaching that the people who hardened their hearts at Sinai and the people who are now hardening their hearts at Ammonihah will be judged by the same standard. The final judgment recapitulates the wilderness judgment. The chapter is one of the Book of Mormon's clearest articulations of the principle that covenant history is template, not anecdote.

And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word. — Alma 12:37

The chapter closes with the same exhortation Hebrews will close its parallel passage with: let us labour therefore to enter into that rest (Heb. 4:11). Three things in one sentence: let us repent, harden not our hearts, enter into the rest of God. The three are the chapter's summary of the entire Alma-Amulek discourse to this point.

The chapter's architecture

The chapter has six panels. Verses 1–7 give Alma's perception of Zeezrom's thoughts. Verses 8–11 give the doctrine of mysteries by heed and diligence. Verses 12–15 give the threefold judgment. Verses 16–18 give the second death. Verses 19–34 give Antionah's Eden question and the plan-of-redemption answer. Verses 35–37 give the closing exhortation.

The theological center sits in v. 24: this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God. Everything before that verse leads to it, and everything after it draws from it. Mortality is purpose, not delay.

The chapter operates as the Book of Mormon's clearest text on the doctrine of the Fall as mercy. The cherubim and the flaming sword bar the tree of life not to thwart Adam and Eve but to grant them the time of probation. The Latin tradition will call this the fortunate Fall; Alma names it without the Latin, and in language a hostile lawyer's first question could not refuse.

The chapter is also the foundational text on graduated revelation. The mysteries are given by portion, the portion is calibrated to heed and diligence, and the chains of hell are the progressive ignorance that follows the hardening of the heart. The Latter-day Saint tradition's whole doctrine of the receptivity of revelation traces to this passage and to its Restoration echo in D&C 50:24.

The chapter is also the cleanest pre-Apocalyptic articulation of the second death. The term itself, the imagery of the lake of fire and brimstone, and the doctrine of the captivity of Satan all appear here in Nephite vocabulary that anticipates John's Revelation almost word-for-word.

The chapter is also the cleanest pre-Hebrews articulation of the rest of the Lord. The same vocabulary — enter into my rest, swore in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest — runs through both texts. Alma 13 will build the priesthood doctrine that explains how the rest is reached, and the next chapter will pick up Alma 12's vocabulary at almost every turn.

Finally, the chapter is the hinge into the densest doctrinal sequence in the Book of Mormon. Alma 11 laid resurrection; Alma 12 has laid the Fall and the plan of redemption; Alma 13 will rise to the priesthood after the order of the Son of God. Three of the most cited and most studied chapters in Latter-day Saint scripture stand together, and Alma 12 is the center on which the other two depend.