Many us have been taught that money is the root of all evil. In reality, it is the love of money, and not the money itself, that leads us into sinning. When people start using people and valuing things rather than using things and valuing people, they have entered into the Mahanic principal, a covenant with Satan.
Why did Mormon add this section on Nephite monetary system in the middle of his discussion of Alma and Amulek preaching to the people? There could be several reasons, but one that comes to mind is that it places a comparative value on the bribe offered to Amulek to deny his testimony.
Under the rule of the judges, Nephites were brought before a judge for breaking a law, but they could also come before a judge in a civil suit. If the judge found in favor of the one who brought the suit, the other party would be forced to pay damages. Judges received their pay based on the number of cases they heard. This was the system set up by King Mosiah prior to his death. In an honest society, this makes perfect sense, but unfortunately not all judges were honest. This led to a practice of unethical judges purposely stirring up the people, one against another, encouraging law suits. Today we would call such attorneys ambulance chasers." The law passed in 1977 that allowed attorneys to advertise to solicit clients has created havoc in our legal system, making our society one of the most of litigiousness the history of the world.
Alma wrote of his day:
Now, it was for the sole purpose to get gain, because they received their wages according to their employ, therefore, they did stir up the people to riotings and all manner of disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ, that they might get money according to the suits which were brought before them; therefore they did stir up the people against Alma and Amulek. (Alma 11:20)
It sounds as current as this morning's headlines as anarchist take control of a large part of Seattle. People wanting to understand what is happening need to follow the money and the power to the source. They will find secret combinations on all levels of operation. Frankly, it break my heart for the blindness of the people of this nation. This is the race war Charles Manson sought to create by his murderous rampage in the 1969, what he called Helter Skelter.
A certain lawyer named Zeezrom*, challenged Alma and Amulek. The people of Ammonihah had already dismissed Alma as being someone they didn't need to pat heed, but Amulek was a respected and well know citizen of the city. His testimony hurt Zeezrom's "case." Zeezrom then tried to bribe Amulek to withdraw his testimony by offering him 6 ontes of silver, the equivalent of a day's wage for a judge or attorney. Amulek dismissed him. Zeezrom took Amulek's words out of context and tried to twist his testimony into something that it wasn't, but Amulek was wise. He saw clearly what Zeezrom was trying to do and was able to twart him. In fact, Zeezrom had an epiphany that left him shaken to the core and ill unto death. The good news is that Zeezrom was humbled by his illness. He left Ammonihah. When he heard that Alma and Amulek were nearby, he asked them for a blessing. After receiving the blessing, he praised God and become a faithful missionary himself
*Interesting note: in Hebrew, the prefix ze means man of and the suffix, ezerom referred to a measure of silver. So Zeezrom's name, literally, means man of silver or man of money. Amulek had it right when he told Zeezrom that he loved lucre more than God.
© June 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings
Buntin Danielson
No comments:
Post a Comment