Rhetoric: Alma reinforces the temporal aspect by another appeal to the ultimate “father,” Lehi, who prophesied that his descendants would prosper if they kept the commandments. Mormon is citing 2 Nephi 1:19–20 (or its equivalent on the large plates):
O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his ways are righteousness forever.
And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.
Alma clearly expects the Ammonihahites to recognize this reference, which tells us that they were culturally steeped in these “traditions of the fathers.”