Finally, Amulek’s teaching about the atonement in chapter 34 aligns beautifully with Alma’s bringing his sons together to teach them at the end of this block of chapters. They had been with Alma on the mission to Antionum. They had seen some amazing success. As a very conscientious father, he did not neglect his sons.
Typical of Alma’s public preaching but now in more detail, he spoke to his sons about his own conversion and then historically, how the Lord had surely delivered them from bondage and captivity. He testified that he knew that, through the Atonement, the Lord would deliver all who would cry to Him for salvation and redemption and would choose to repent and serve Him in wisdom, patience, justice, and mercy. He assured them that they would overcome death and be lifted up at the last day, a serious concern that that generation would have had as the engines of war were again revving up their weapons of destruction and death.
As we think about Christ’s Atonement, we too can take reassurance in the knowledge that the Lord has risen and overcome death. Where would we be without that knowledge? How blessed we are to have His influence, His eternal wisdom and infinite power to make us something completely better than we could ever possibly be by ourselves, and without which we would be, of all men, most miserable.
Alma gave each his sons a personal charge, “separately, concerning the things pertaining to righteousness.” In these patriarchal blessings and high priestly promises, he also gave to each of them personal “commandments,” which we are fortunate to have, coming up next in Alma 36–42, and particularly to know that they are the very words of Alma “according to his own record” (35:16).