Aaron gets to teach King Lamoni Senior - Alma 22 and 23



Ammon



Now, as Ammon was thus teaching the people of Lamoni continually,


Aaron and his missionary friends went to the land of King Lamoni Senior

 we will return to the account of Aaron... he was ^aled by the Spirit to the land of Nephi, even to the house of the king which was ^bover all the land ^csave it were the land of Ishmael; and he was the father of Lamoni. 

King Lamoni Senior



 2 And it came to pass that he went in unto him into the king’s palace, with his brethren, and bowed himself before the king, and said unto him: Behold, O king, we are the brethren of Ammon, whom thou hast ^adelivered out of ^bprison.

 3 And now, O king, if thou wilt spare our lives, we will be thy servants.  


King Lamoni Senior said to the missionaries
 that they could not be my servants, but please help me understand

 And the king said unto them: Arise, for I will grant unto you your lives, and I will not suffer that ye shall be my servants; but I will insist that ye shall administer unto me; for I have been somewhat ^atroubled in mind because of the ^bgenerosity and the greatness of the words of thy brother Ammon; and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee.





Ammon went away to the land
where King Lamoni Jr. lived, while Aaron stayed
to teach King Lamoni Senior



 4 And Aaron said unto the king: Behold, the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way; he has gone ^ato the land of Ishmael, to teach the people of Lamoni.

  5Now the king said unto them: What is this that ye have said concerning the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, this is the thing which doth trouble me.

 6 And also, what is this that Ammon said—^aIf ye will repent ye shall be saved, and if ye will not repent, ye shall be cast off at the last day?

 7 And Aaron answered him and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God? And the king said: I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God, and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him. And if now thou sayest there is a God, behold I will ^abelieve.



They spoke about the Great Spirit

  8 And now when Aaron heard this, his heart began to rejoice, and he said: Behold, assuredly as thou livest, O king, there is a God.

 9 And the king said: Is God that ^aGreat Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem?

 10 And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he ^acreated all things both in heaven and in earth. Believest thou this?

 11 And he said: Yea, I believe that the Great Spirit created all things, and I desire that ye should tell me concerning all these things, and I will ^abelieve thy words.

 12 And it came to pass that when Aaron saw that the king would believe his words, he began from the creation of Adam, ^areading the scriptures unto the king—how God ^bcreated man after his own image, and that God gave him commandments, and that because of transgression, man had fallen.

Adam and Eve

 13 And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the ^acreation of Adam,   
laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the ^bplan of ^credemption, which was prepared ^dfrom the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name.



Aaron taught the king about the atonement of Jesus

  14 And since man had ^afallen he could not ^bmerit anything of himself; but the sufferings and ^cdeath of Christ ^datone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the ^egrave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.

 15 And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: ^aWhat shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be ^bborn of God, having this wicked spirit ^crooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up ^dall that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

 16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt ^abow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the ^bhope which thou desirest.

 17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did ^abow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried ^bmightily, saying:

  

King Lamoni Senior prayed to the God of Aaron in faith

 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.

And now when the king had said these words, he was struck ^aas if he were dead. 


Queen Lamoni, Senior, was angry
because she thought Aaron had hurt her husband



 19 And it came to pass that his servants ran and told the queen all that had happened unto the king. And she came in unto the king; and when she saw him lay as if he were dead, and also Aaron and his brethren standing as though they had been the cause of his fall, she was angry with them, and commanded that her servants, or the servants of the king, should take them and slay them.

 20 Now the servants had seen the cause of the king’s fall, therefore they durst not lay their hands on Aaron and his brethren; and they pled with the queen saying: Why commandest thou that we should slay these men, when behold one of them is ^amightier than us all? Therefore we shall fall before them.



The queen saw that the servants were afraid to obey her





  21 Now when the queen saw the fear of the servants she also began to fear exceedingly, lest there should some evil come upon her. And she commanded her servants that they should go and call the people, that they might slay Aaron and his brethren.

 22 Now when Aaron saw the determination of the queen,  

Aaron put forth his hand

he, also knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, feared lest that a multitude should assemble themselves together, and there should be a great contention and a disturbance among them; therefore he put forth his ^ahand and raised the king from the earth, and said unto him: Stand. And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength.

 23 Now this was done in the presence of the queen and many of the servants. And when they saw it they greatly marveled, and began to fear. And the king stood forth, and began to ^aminister unto them. And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his ^bwhole household were ^cconverted unto the Lord.

The queen and all the household listened to the king when he arose



 24 Now there was a multitude gathered together because of the commandment of the queen, and there began to be great murmurings among them because of Aaron and his brethren.

 25 But the king stood forth among them and administered unto them. And they were ^apacified towards Aaron and those who were with him.

 26 And it came to pass that when the king saw that the people were pacified, he caused that Aaron and his brethren should stand forth in the midst of the multitude, and that they should preach the word unto them.



The king sent a faithful proclamation to every portion of his land.

    And it came to pass that the king sent a ^aproclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about...

King Lamoni, Senior, had the missionaries preach to the people

Aaron and his brethren bring thousands of Lamanites to the gospel - Alma 23

 

The king's proclamation said that no one may hurt the missionaries



Behold, now it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites sent a ^aproclamation among all his people, that they should not lay their hands on  Ammon, or

 Aaron, or Omner, or  Himni, nor either of their brethren who should go forth preaching the word of God, in whatsoever place they should be, in any part of their land.





     

Ammon and Aaron







Omner



Himni

 2 Yea, he sent a decree among them, that they should not lay their hands on them to bind them, or to cast them into prison; neither should they spit upon them, nor smite them, nor cast them out of their ^asynagogues, nor scourge them; neither should they cast stones at them, but that they should have free access to their houses, and also their temples, and their ^bsanctuaries.

 ... for the king had been converted unto the Lord, and ^aall his ^bhousehold; 

The king and queen had been converted to the Lord

therefore he sent his proclamation throughout the land unto his people, that the word of God might have no obstruction, but that it might go forth throughout all the land, that his people might be convinced concerning the wicked ^ctraditions of their fathers, and that they might be convinced that they were all brethren, and that they ought not to murder, nor to plunder, nor to steal, nor to commit adultery, nor to commit any manner of wickedness.

 4 And now it came to pass that when the king had sent forth this proclamation, that Aaron and his brethren went forth from ^acity to city, and from one house of worship to another, establishing churches, and consecrating ^bpriests and teachers throughout the land among the Lamanites, to preach and to teach the word of God among them; and thus they began to have great success.

They were taught the records
and the prophecies of God

 5 And ^athousands were brought to the knowledge of the Lord, yea, thousands were brought to believe in the ^btraditions of the Nephites; and they were taught the ^crecords and prophecies which were handed down even to the present time. 

 6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working ^amiracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were ^bconverted unto the Lord, ^cnever did fall away.

The converted Lamanites never did fall away from the gospel



Many were converted in many cities



 7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren.

  16 ...The king and those who were converted were desirous that they might have a name, that thereby they might be distinguished from their brethren; therefore the king consulted with Aaron

The king consulted with Aaron and others to find a new name
to call themselves:  they chose "Anti-Nephi-Lehis"

and many of their priests, concerning the name that they should take upon them, that they might be distinguished.

 17 And it came to pass that they called their names ^aAnti-Nephi-Lehies; and they were called by this name and were no more called ^bLamanites.

 18 And they began to be a very ^aindustrious people...