# Alma 12

*Paraphrase*

### Alma Speaks to Zeezrom

Alma saw that Amulek’s words had silenced Zeezrom. He watched as Zeezrom began to tremble, realizing he’d been caught in his own lies and deceptions. So Alma stood and began to speak—building on what Amulek had said and going deeper into the scriptures.

A large crowd had gathered, and they all heard what Alma said to Zeezrom. This is what he said:

“Zeezrom, you’ve been caught in your lies and tricks. You haven’t just lied to people—you’ve lied to God. He knows every thought in your head. And you can see that his Spirit has shown us your thoughts. We know your plan. It was a clever scheme, right out of the devil’s playbook. You wanted to lie and deceive these people so they’d turn against us, mock us, and drive us out. “This was your enemy’s plan, and he’s used you to carry it out. But I want all of you to understand—what I’m saying to Zeezrom applies to everyone here. This is a trap the enemy set to catch all of you. He wants to drag you into his control, wrap you in his chains, and pull you down to destruction forever. That’s the power of his grip.“

When Alma said this, Zeezrom began to tremble even more. He was becoming more and more convinced of God’s power. He could see that Alma and Amulek truly knew him—they knew his thoughts and motives. The Spirit of prophecy had given them that power.

### Zeezrom Asks About the Resurrection

So Zeezrom started asking them questions, wanting to know more about God’s kingdom. He said to Alma, “What did Amulek mean when he talked about the resurrection of the dead? That everyone—both the righteous and the wicked—will rise from the dead and stand before God to be judged for what they’ve done?”

Alma began to explain: “Many people are given the chance to know the mysteries of God. But they’re under a strict command—they can only share what God allows them to share, according to how much people are willing to listen and seek him. If someone hardens their heart, they get only a small portion of God’s word. But if someone refuses to harden their heart, they get more and more until they come to know the mysteries of God completely. “Those who harden their hearts keep getting less and less until they know nothing about God’s mysteries. Then the devil captures them and leads them wherever he wants, straight to destruction. That’s what we mean by the chains of hell.

“Amulek spoke clearly about death—how we’ll be raised from mortality to immortality and brought before God to be judged according to what we’ve done. So if our hearts have been hard—if we’ve shut out God’s word so completely that it never took root in us—then our situation will be terrible. We’ll stand condemned. “Our own words will condemn us. Our actions will condemn us. We won’t be spotless. Even our thoughts will condemn us. In that awful moment, we won’t dare look up at God. We’ll wish we could tell the mountains and rocks to fall on us and hide us from his presence. But that won’t be possible. We’ll have to stand before him in all his glory, power, might, majesty, and dominion. And in everlasting shame, we’ll have to admit that all his judgments are fair—that he is just in everything he does, that he is merciful to everyone, and that he has the power to save anyone who believes in his name and lives a changed life.“

### The Second Death

“Then there’s another kind of death—a second death, which is a spiritual death. When someone dies physically while still trapped in their sins, they also die spiritually. They die to everything that has to do with righteousness. That’s when their torment becomes like a lake of fire and burning sulfur, with flames rising forever. That’s when they’re chained down to everlasting destruction by Satan’s power, because he’s made them his subjects.“ For them, it’s as if there was no redemption at all. They can’t be saved—God’s justice won’t allow it. And they can’t die again, because there’s no more death.“

When Alma finished speaking, the people were amazed.

### Antionah Questions Alma

But one of their chief rulers, a man named Antionah, stepped forward and said, “What are you talking about? How can people rise from the dead and change from mortal to immortal, with souls that never die? What about the scripture that says God placed cherubim and a flaming sword at the east side of the Garden of Eden to keep our first parents from eating from the tree of life and living forever? Doesn’t that prove they had no chance of living forever?“

Alma answered, “That’s exactly what I was about to explain. Adam did fall by eating the forbidden fruit, just as God said he would. And because of his fall, all humanity became lost and fallen. If Adam had been able to eat from the tree of life after his sin, there would have been no death. God’s word would have been meaningless—it would have made him a liar. Because he said, ‘If you eat, you will surely die.’ “So death does come to everyone—the physical death Amulek talked about. But God gave humanity time to repent. This life became a testing ground, a time to prepare to meet God, a time to get ready for that endless state that comes after the resurrection of the dead. Without the plan of redemption—which was prepared from the very beginning—there could be no resurrection. But there is a plan of redemption, and it will bring about the resurrection of the dead.“ If our first parents had been able to go back and eat from the tree of life, they would have been miserable forever, with no chance to prepare themselves. The plan of redemption would have been ruined, and God’s word would have meant nothing. “But that’s not what happened. People were meant to die. And after death comes judgment—the same judgment we’ve been talking about, which is the final judgment.

### God Reveals His Plan

“After God set all this in motion, he saw that people needed to understand what he’d planned for them. So he sent angels to speak with them, and people saw his glory. “From that time on, people began to pray to him. God spoke with them and revealed the plan of redemption that had been prepared from the very beginning. He made it known to them according to their faith, their repentance, and their holy living. He gave them commandments after they had broken the first command about earthly things. By doing so, they had become like gods, knowing good from evil. They were now in a position to choose for themselves—able to decide whether to do evil or good. “So God gave them commandments after revealing the plan of redemption. He told them not to do evil, warning that the penalty would be a second death—an everlasting spiritual death. The plan of redemption can’t help people who face that, because justice can’t be overruled. God’s supreme goodness requires it. But God called out to people in the name of his Son—this is the plan of redemption—saying: ‘If you’ll repent and not harden your hearts, I’ll have mercy on you through my only Son.’ “’So whoever repents and doesn’t harden their heart can claim mercy through my only Son and have their sins forgiven. These people will enter my rest.’ ‘But whoever hardens their heart and keeps doing wrong—I swear in my anger that they will not enter my rest.’”

“My friends, if you harden your hearts, you won’t enter the Lord’s rest. Your sin provokes him to pour out his anger on you, just like the first time people rebelled, and just like the last time—leading to the destruction of your souls forever. Just as his word says, it leads to the final death, just like the first death. My friends, we know these things are true. So let’s repent. Let’s not harden our hearts and provoke the Lord our God to pour out his anger on us because of these second commandments he’s given us. Instead, let’s enter into God’s rest, which he’s prepared for us according to his word.”

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/alma/12)*
