Insight From the Scriptures

 In this chapter, Alma has gone into hiding and is teaching some of the people about Abinidai's message.  It's a beautiful chapter and I'm so impressed and inspired that Alma could remember the words that Abinidi had spoken.  I can't even remember what the speaker said in church on Sunday. Alma wants to baptize the people and they say in verse 11:  And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts. They've been living under a very unrighteous king, but they are yearning for this goodness to find them. Also, Alma names  the  church and  organizes  it: And they were called the church of God, or the  a church  of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church. 18  And it came to pass that Alma, having  a authority  from God,  b ordained  priests; ev...

  (and I cannot write but a   a little   of my words, because of the   b difficulty   of engraving our words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain I have often wondered about that; how the writers in the Book of Mormon could write such lengthy words because it would be so difficult to carve them in the plates.  But, the irony of this sentence is that after Jacob wrote this, he went on to write a rather lengthy section on the allegory of the olive tree.  Seems ironic that he would write so long just after telling how difficult it is, but before that allegory, he says this, which is so beautiful and profound: 2  But whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon  a plates  must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers— 3  Now in...