“The first provocation” (v. 36) apparently refers to the fall of Adam and Eve that brought physical and spiritual death into the world (see 2 Nephi 9:10–12). “The last provocation” would thus refer to the second death (Alma 12:32) when the unrepentant soul is again cut off from the presence of the Lord (see Helaman 14:17–18). “His second commandments” (Alma 12:36) refers to the law of Moses, given after the children of Israel hardened their hearts in the wilderness and could not enter into the rest of the Lord. It was given a lesser law (see D&C 84:23–26). Although the Nephites were given the higher law of Christ, they still kept the law of Moses until it was fulfilled in Christ (see 2 Nephi 25:24–27), Thus the Nephites, unlike the children of Israel in Moses’ time, could still “enter into the rest of the Lord” (Alma 12:36).