We have already noted that Alma, after setting the Church in Zarahemla in order, went eastward over the River Sidon to a place named after the martyr, Gideon.
Previously, only through the written word or by someone’s acting in his stead, had Alma been able to communicate with the Saints in Gideon. His duties as Chief Judge were so numerous and exacting that practically all his time was occupied in matters of state. As Chief Judge he was the ruler over all Nephite Lands, and as Presiding High Priest of the Church he was the vicegerent of God here upon earth. Finding that the duties of both callings were more than he could perform in an acceptable manner, he resigned the office of Chief Judge, and, thereafter, spent all his time in the work of the ministry. Now, relieved of the tasks of political guidance, Alma went from city to city proclaiming the glorious message he was ordained to deliver wherever the Nephites dwelt, or to whomsoever they might be. In his own beautiful but simple words—the language he used and not in the words of another—Alma went forth to testify “of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who should come to redeem His people from their sins.”
The first words Alma said after expressing joy because the Lord, in His mercy, had granted him the privilege of meeting with the Saints in Gideon were words of thanksgiving and praise to God.
Alma found that the Gideon Saints were strong in the faith; that they were imbued with and cherished a hope in the Messiah which hope had caused their fathers to struggle and endure that Salvation might be the heritage of their children. He also found that they were greatly endowed with humility, that they were resolute in keeping the commandments of the Lord, and that they continued steadfastly in prayer.
In these things, Alma had inexpressible joy; they were “not in the awful dilemma” that their brethren were in at Zarahemla. We note again that many of the Zarahemlaites had made idols of worldly riches, and had allowed pride to master them. Haughtiness and also scorn for their less fortunate brethren had dulled their desires for God’s blessings. In their hearts, arrogance and self-conceit replaced meekness and lowliness, and each sought for that which would please the fancy or satisfy his whims. Each had walked in his own path. But, now, all was changed!
Alma rejoiced before the Saints in Gideon that the Saints in Zarahemla had repented of their sinful ways, and that righteousness had again been established among them. “Blessed be the name of the Lord,” Alma cried, for, he said the Lord had made it known to him that the Saints there had turned from the paths of vanity and conceit along which they had walked, and were worshiping Him in truth and with gladness.
However, and notwithstanding the joy that was Alma’s in the triumph of right and righteousness over the powers of hell that had been leading many of the Saints in Zarahemla to destruction, he expressed an added joy in the faithfulness of these Saints who lived in the Land of Gideon. In Gideon Alma found none in distress whose needs were not being taken care of; there was no class distinction among these Saints. Unlike many Church members in Zarahemla, their unselfish labors to ameliorate the sufferings of those in need—to benefit and better their condition—was a sacrifice of which the Lord approved; then, too, it put to the highest use the gifts God had vouchsafed the Saints in Gideon.
The joy of which Alma spoke came to him not by “wading through much affliction and sorrow” as he was compelled so to do in Zarahemla, but was because of the righteousness he found among the Saints in Gideon.
When we consider the awful state into which the wayward Church members in Zarahemla had fallen, and the scorn they heaped upon their poorer brethren, we can conclude at least two things: 1. That when the faithful saw the overbearing homage which the wicked demanded, the gaudy display of their fine clothes, their jewelry and precious things, they also saw in it the chastening love of God which gave the poor and meek, strength and a will to bear their trials with courage and fortitude. 2. That Alma accepted the challenge laid down by the wicked when they refused to heed God’s holy promptings and the words of their appointed teachers. He weighed their defiance and called upon One mightier than he, to gird the humble and lowly with power to strengthen and purify their own resolves.
Filled with the spirit of his office and calling, and with the testimony of Jesus burning within his heart, Alma continued to wage, fiercely, the battle he was fighting against the forces of evil that in the past had so enfeebled the spirits of many Church members in Zarahemla, and, too, had hardened their hearts.