“They Are Preserved for a Wise Purpose”

Brant Gardner

The subject here is still the records. Why does Alma say “suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose….”? Alma’s desires are that the records may do for his own people what they did for the Lamanites now known as the people of Ammon. He desires that his own people be pulled from the world and that they powerfully return to the teachings of the Lord. This is understandable. This is his people, and he is watching the beginnings of a major apostasy.

He doesn’t know the end, but he knows the path, and he fervently desires that these records be able to assist in the reclamation of this people that he loves. Unfortunately, he does not know if that will happen. He knows that the records are to be preserved, but he does not understand for whom, nor how they will fulfill God’s purpose. In spite of the uncertainty of his hopes, Alma reaffirms his faith in the judgments of God.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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