To say that things were bad in Ammonihah would be an understatement. Spiritually speaking, they were disastrous beyond belief. I saw a cartoon the other day that showed a young man in ancient clothing wearing a sandwich board that said: "Doom Looms" and his mother saying to him, "If you can't prophecy something nice, don't prophecy at all!"
Many of the more open-hearted people listened to Alma's message and sought out the prophet for instruction. But the powers-that-be did not. Most, including the main judge in Ammonihah, were members of the cult of Nehor (remember him?) and did not believe in the coming of Messiah/Christ nor in repentance - even in the need for repentance. There is no one more hateful and vicious to a Believer than an apostate who had once been a believer.
Those of the Nehor cult brought Alma and Amulek before the judge and twisted their words; many apostates bore false witness against the prophets, saying that they had spoken out against the judges and against the law. The two men were beaten and spit upon, and then beaten again. They were stripped of their clothing and thrown naked and bound into prison. They were questioned again and again by many lawyers and judges and each time a "smiting" occurred as well. Food and water were withheld.
While the prophets were in prison, the people rounded up all of the believers who had listened to their message. They took the women and the children and burned them alive along with any documents they had. (According to Sorensen, book burning was a common practice in Mesoamerica, with the "winners" destroying all records and documents of the "losers.") Alma and Amulek were brought from the prison and forced to watch this brutal deed, along with the husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers of the victims.
Those refugees who survived fled for safety to Sidom. Among them was Zeezrom, who had spoken up for the prophets at their trials saying that he was wrong and the Alma and Amulek were good men and servants of God. Alma and Amulek were thrown back in prison and tortured because they would not recant their testimonies and because they continued to preach against the wickedness of the people; that they would be destroyed if they did not repent.
On one such night the group were taunting them saying, in essence, "We are doomed? Who is doomed. Who will be destroyed? It is we who have the power to destroy! You saw that for yourselves!" Then they began to cry out, "If your God is so powerful, let Him free you." Alma and Amulek stood and the bonds fell away from their hands and feet. The guards began to run, for they felt their doom was upon them. As the prophets left the prison, there was a great earthquake and the walls of the prison were split in two and many of the lawyers and judges who had been there to ridicule the two men were crushed in the earthquake.
Alma and Amulek then departed from the city and went to Sidom where they found Zeezrom and the refugees who believed.
The guards felt that their doom had come when the earth shook. Little did they know that their doom was yet to come. "Doom Looms!"
Text copyright September 2013, Gebara Education
Pictures from www.lds.org
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