It was a custom of the Nephites to gather themselves together upon hills, or otherwise prominent places to preach and to teach any doctrines that were excluded from being taught in their houses of worship. Ammon and his brethren when on their famous mission to the Lamanites often resorted to this practise:
And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.
And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again. (Alma 26: 28-29)
It was on an occasion such as we have noted that as Alma was declaring God’s Holy Word to a multitude of the apostate Zoramites that another multitude of the poorer class came unto him. “Because of their poverty as to the things of the world” they had been cast out of the synagogues which they themselves had greatly helped to build, but nevertheless they evinced a desire to know the truth. They sought not to harass the missionaries, but with hearts bowed down with humility, they hoped to get from Alma answers to many questions that had pained their hearts and perplexed their minds.
The leader of this great throng, he who was appointed by them to be their mouthpiece, approached Alma and inquired of him, “Behold, what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised of all men because of their poverty, and more especially by our priests; … ” We have here an insight to what is a self-evident fact; that is when preaching the Gospel is made a craft, when ministering its precepts becomes a business, or when its blessings are known only to the rich, its mercies and its comforts flee and what is left is merely a sham, a make-believe in which there is no soul, no holy promptings.
This state of religion practised among the Zoramites recalls the words of the Prophet Nephi:
Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of His goodness? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.
2 Ne. 26:28-29)
2 Ne. 26:31)
2 Ne. 9:50)
Let us refer the reader to the following passages of Nephite Scripture which show the constancy and faithfulness with which the Nephites regarded the preaching of the Gospel without price, and the abhorence they felt at its opposite.
Morm. 8:32 For your money you shall be forgiven of your sins
8:37 Ye do love money, and your substances
Now, what pained the multitude of the poorer class most was that notwithstanding the labors they had spent in building their places of worship, they were deprived of its comforts and blessings by those who had arrogated to themselves, because of their riches, a superiority over them, or a plane more elevated in place or position than they. They therefore were not permitted to enter the synagogues, and “we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do?” asked their leader.