In chapter 12 and on into chapter 13, Alma taught the people of Ammonihah about the Creation story and the Fall of Adam and Eve, and how they and all mankind can avert a second death by obeying God’s commandments (12:22). Since all people must die and come to judgment (12:24), messengers and angels were sent and God revealed the plan of mercy through the Son (12:29–30). Mankind was then given a second set of commandments (12:32), accompanied by an oath that whoever broke those commandments would die an ultimate spiritual death (12:35–36). After stating these fundamentals, Alma continues his teaching on into chapter 13. Actually, the break between chapters 12 and 13 is one of the least felicitous chapter breaks in the Book of Mormon. The text at the end of chapter 12 flows right into what follows in chapter 13, as Alma continued speaking about several very sacred and important doctrines. Alma was the High Priest, and accordingly addressed several temple themes in these two chapters. But in chapter 12, he sets the stage for the need for holy order of the priesthood, which he discusses in chapter 13.
Why did he relate the Creation story? One reason may be that when people are disobedient and have lived a long time without the influence of the Gospel, as had the people in Ammonihah, the most basic and compelling teachings are found in the the story of the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement. For example, later, Ammon asked King Lamoni if he would believe everything he said. Lamoni replied that he would believe, and so Ammon also began with Adam and Eve. The Creation account was foundational in most ancient religions.
The doctrine of Christ’s Atonement makes little sense without the doctrine of the Fall. People need to know why the world is in its present condition for them to appreciate what the Atonement of Christ offers. Alma told this story of Adam and Eve hoping that the people in Ammonihah would recognize their predicament without his having to accuse them more. He was not dwelling on their transgressions. He was saying that there is a problem for everyone. Of course, Nehorite doctrine did not accept that principle; they thought that everyone would be saved and there was no such thing as sin. Thus, Alma set this doctrine out in detail and clarified it.
It is well to remember that Alma was the High Priest with responsibility for temple matters. In current times, the temple endowment begins in the Creation room. It goes through the Creation account, then through the garden room, through the world room, and then to the terrestrial room. After the Creation, the Orders of the Priesthood are given. This is common knowledge described openly. These parts of the mysteries are told to all. In Alma chapters 12–13, he spoke of the creation, the fall, then the orders of the Priesthood, including the Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God. It is possible that Alma, as the high priest, was speaking in veiled terms to these people about what the Nephite temple ordinances were all about, and saying, "I am giving you as much as I can about all of the truth that we have."
In Alma 12:20, Antionah, a chief ruler, asked:
What is this that thou hast said, that men 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.
This was a great question, and it is interesting that this chief ruler among them had that much knowledge. Those people, of course, had not yet experienced the fulfillment of the promise of the coming of Christ. Those who did not believe that it was going to happen, nor understood how it was going to happen, were left hanging. All they knew was that they had been kicked out of the Garden and banned from partaking of the tree of eternal life, a sad situation.
The use of covenants pervades scriptural texts. In Alma 12:35, we read, "And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest." With these words, God Himself was making an oath. A covenant is a two-way oath, in which God swears certain things, and we reciprocate. Generally, there is a positive and a negative consequence for our diligence in keeping the oath.
Entering into my rest was their way of saying entering into the presence of God. At the end of a long journey, we can be in God’s presence and rest with him. The word rest occurs several times here (four in Alma 12:34–37, and five times throughout Alma 13.
This text tells us more than any other text in the Book of Mormon about how their understanding of the Plan of Salvation was taught by the Nephites, often in the form of ordinance and rituals, which helped the covenant people retain and expand that knowledge. Alma taught the people of Ammonihah what has been taught through the ages and is still taught today, the Plan of Salvation, the purpose for earth-life, and the means to progress beyond it.
John W. Welch, "The Temple in the Book of Mormon: The Temples at the Cities of Nephi, Zarahemla, and Bountiful," in Temples of the Ancient World, ed. Donald W. Parry (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1994), 297–387, esp. 363–367.
LeGrand L. Baker and Stephen D. Ricks, "Alma 12, The Universal Pattern of Apostasy," in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord?: The Psalms in Israel’s Temple Worship in the Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City, UT: Eborn Books, 2011), 538–540.