Rhetorical: Amulek returns to the expected after the unexpected. He has disrupted their expectations. He has told them that they knew him, then told them that they did not (because of his unexpected belief). Now he must show how the transformation occurred. He begins by accepting responsibility for his unbelief. Notice that the blame falls squarely on his own shoulders: “I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know…”
The difference between this Amulek and the one that they had known is that now he will hear. He declared that the evidence was all around him, and even that he “was called many times.” Indirectly, he is also telling his audience that they, too, have been called many times, that the evidence is all around them, and that they are the ones who are at fault for their disbelief.
Calendrical: We have already noted that the tenth year of the reign of the judges was around 83 BC. What might we know of the seventh month? The Book of Mormon is not precise in its correlation of its months to ours, but we should not expect that the seventh month of the Nephite Calendar corresponds to the seventh month of the calendar we use. Indeed, Randall Spackman suggests that the 26th year of the judges began with the new moon of February 25 (Spackman, Randall. “Introduction to Book of Mormon Chronology.” FARMS reprint, 1993, p. 30.).
With a Nephite new year falling near the end of February, our understanding of the Nephites months are pushed back two months from the system with which we are familiar. This gives us the seventh month in our September.
Part of the analysis that leads to a concern over the placement of the months is the correlation between the military actions and the rainy seasons in Mesoamerica. Book of Mormon military actions tend to take place in the winter dry months rather in the spring, which is both the wet time and the time for planting. Alma’s missionary journey appears to fall into that same pattern. Even though Alma is traveling alone, and there is no reason to believe that he is tied to the timing of crops, it is quite likely that he timed his journey to coincide with the dry season for one of the same reasons the military did ; ease of travel.