His great heart attuned to heavenly things and his whole being filled to overflowing with a Christlike love for his fellow men, Alma, without further admonishing them was loath to pronounce upon the Ammonihahites, who were akin in their lineage to him, the awful consequences of rebellion against God and His laws. He hoped and prayed that they would repent of their sinful ways. Patiently and humbly he strove with all his might and strength to have them understand the eternal purposes of Heaven. He sought to lead them along the right way; he pleaded with them to leave the paths of iniquity which they trod and return to Him who had in times past protected their fathers when peril and disaster threatened them.
The people of Ammonihah were slow to believe the truth of Alma's words, but they remembered how Alma's father and his faithful followers had been delivered from Lamanitish servitude by a power and might beyond their own. They recalled that for many years the people of Zeniff had languished in sore bondage to their dark-skinned brethren, and that many of them had lost their lives in futile attempts to escape before the great and Omnipotent One who is His mercy rescued them.
But, notwithstanding the lessons experience had taught them, and in spite of the traditions of their fathers, the Ammonihahites gave little heed to Alma's righteous entreaties. In their ignorance and infatuation they reasoned that because of their prowess in arms and riches "it cannot happen here," and unmindful of Alma's high calling they again sought to take his life and also that of his faithful companion, Amulek.
With stiff necks that were held high in a false sense of pride, and blinded by the glare of self-conceit, the Ammonihahites denied the very existence of God. Deprived as they were of sound judgment because of their wicked intents, they claimed to have no need of Him! Their lives, beleaguered by foolish and wanton passions, were spent in seeking the things of the world which they preferred to the rewards of righteousness.
The two missionaries, Alma and Amulek, had been sent by Heaven's direct command to the people of Ammonihah, there to render unto them a service of love. That service was expressed by Alma, himself, wherein he recounted to them the many blessings which the Lord, their mighty King, had vouchsafed to their fathers even from the time the Patriarch Lehi had left Jerusalem. He assured them that these same gifts and God-given favors would follow obedience to the commandments of the Lord. However, Alma was deliberate in the words of the message he bore: he told them that if they persisted in evil-doing, not repenting of a sinful past, and also that if they did not cease putting the Word of the Lord to shame, "the Lamanites shall be sent upon you ... in a time when you know not," and in the fierce anger of the Lord "ye shall be visited with utter destruction."
Alma saw in the pitiable condition into which the people of Ammonihah had fallen an absolute surrender to Satan and his many wicked ways. To save them from the awful fate that therein awaited them was the paramount objective for which he labored.
We have noted that Alma rehearsed before the Ammonihahites many of the heavenly rewards their fathers had received through obedience to the commandments of the Lord their God. He spoke of how the prayers of the faithful had time and time again been answered in blessings upon their heads; how they had had revelations from Heaven to guide them; how angels had ministered unto them; how that they had prospered in material things, and how those among them who had diligently served the Lord had been benefited and blessed.
It comforts us to hear Alma recall to his listeners' minds the bounteous gifts the Lord had bestowed upon the Nephites over two thousand years ago because of their faithfulness in serving Him. They are the same blessings which He vouchsafes to the Saints in these Latter-days. Reading between the lines of Alma's recorded summation, we observe these facts: That treasures from Heaven enriched the Nephites already glowing heritage; that "Waters from the Wells of Salvation" flowed down upon them in rivers of happiness; that every generation of faithful Nephites were fed with knowledge and understanding from On High. Also, golden-colored harvests rewarded their plantings; flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle grazed the lush uplands. But above the things of the world the gifts of the Spirit had provided strength to the strong, and even to the weakest of Nephite Saints, and together as one in praising the Lord the Nephites had waxed greater and even greater in His favor. (We might ask here, "How can we praise the Lord unless we keep His commandments?")