Ammon lists five attributes of God that were responsible for his being carried away “unto boasting” (v. 35). These five attributes were considered eternal by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and they brought desirable characteristics to the people of God.
The first attribute listed by Ammon is that God has all power. “Unless God had power over all things, and was able by this power to control all things, and thereby deliver his creatures, who put their trust in him from the power of all beings that may seek their destruction, whether in heaven, on earth, or in hell, men could not be saved.” This attribute enables man to have no fear (Lectures on Faith, 4:12). The second attribute given by Ammon is that God has all wisdom. Having all wisdom is to know the truth and believe “all that the Lord has said, shall be fulfilled in their time; and that all the cursings, denunciations, and judgments, promised on the heads of the unrighteous, will also be executed in the due time of the Lord.” This attribute enables man to follow God’s word for knowing that deliverance and salvation is certain (L on F, 4:16). The third attribute listed by Ammon is that God has all understanding. Having all understanding (knowledge) “of all things from the beginning to the end” enables men to have faith in God (L on F, 4:11). The fourth attribute of God given by Ammon is that God comprehends all things. This attribute enables God to make righteous judgments. The exercise of this attribute “gives power to the mind for the exercise of faith and confidence in God, and [the Saints] are enabled by faith to lay hold on the promises which are set before them, and wade through all the tribulations and afflictions to which they are subject” (L on F, 4:14). The fifth attribute listed by Ammon is mercy. The Saints “believing that the mercy of God will be poured out upon them in the midst of their afflictions … and secure them in the arms of his love, so that they will receive a full reward for all their suffering” have faith to endure suffering. Thus they see an end of their suffering and a purpose for enduring it (L on F, 4:15). A knowledge of these attributes of God will bring us faith unto joy and salvation in our lives, just as it had for Ammon (Alma 26:36).
Ammon adds another testimony, which was that his people were a branch of Israel. His statement indirectly suggests that his people are fulfilling the blessing given to father Jacob that the branches of Joseph, his son, which “would run over the wall … to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills” (Genesis 49:22, 26). Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh (see Alma 10:3), and Ishmael was of Ephraim (see JD, 23:184), thus the seed of Joseph’s two sons were “lost from its body in a strange land” (Alma 26:36). Ammon gives us a precept to bring us to God as he concludes his sacred preaching: God is mindful of all people in every land, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth (v. 37). This precept becomes more evident as we see the gospel expanding to more and more nations of the earth, and we realize that it will eventually spread to every nation, kindred, tongue and people (see Revelation 14:6–7).