Having consecrated righteous men to be preachers and teachers, ministering to the people "with things pertaining to righteousness" (23:18), Alma’s group flourished in a land they called Helam. Helam was the name of the first person baptized at the Waters of Mormon (18:13).
The "land of Helam" is mentioned here eight times, and the "city of Helam," three times inside of twenty-one verses here. It must have been a place that had left a deep impression on Alma’s memory, just as the place of "Mormon" had left unforgettable memories, being mentioned six times in one verse alone (18:30).
Despite the great faith and industry of this people, Alma warns that the Lord desires to "chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith" (23:21). And then, Alma promises that "whoseover putteth his trust in him shall be lifted up at the last day" (23:22). And Alma promises to show that they were in "bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God, yea even the God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob" (23:23), and indeed "he did deliver them" (23:24).
Notice that very similar wordings were used a generation later by Alma the Younger in telling his son Helaman of his conversion: "whosoever shall put their trust in God … shall be lifted up at the last day" (Alma 36:3), and "I do put my trust in him" and "he will raise me up at the last day" (Alma 36:27–28). "For they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he surely did deliver them" (Alma 36:2). Indeed, Alma the Younger knew these words of his father spoken in the land of Helam just as he remembered, at the turning point of his conversion, the words of his father speaking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ (Alma 36:17). Here is yet another case of exact words being remembered and reused by exactly the one person who should have used those words, a hundred pages later in the book.
And indeed, Alma the Elder did go on to "show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God" (23:23). And once again it was the priests of Noah under the leadership of Amulon who inflicted the greatest suffering. Elder Maxwell has said that there are three reasons why we suffer.
One of the problems with these three divisions of suffering is that while we are actually suffering, we do not normally know which one it is. However, whatever challenges the Lord has provided us with, or allowed for us, we can turn to the Lord, trust him, and serve him. It will all work out the right way in his time and in his place. It is a gift. And so it was for the people of Alma.
Book of Mormon Central, "KnoWhy 351 (August 11, 2017).