Posted on

Zeezrom is one of my Book of Mormon Heroes.

He’s not your typical prophet or military hero, he starts out as a bad guy.  An educated, prideful conniving lawyer in the cosmopolitan-apostate city of Ammonihah – wherein the scriptures tell us that, “Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people” (Alma 8:9).  He was described as “the most expert . . having much business to do among the people (Alma 10:31), and “expert in the devices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good.” 

He’s the poster child for the corruption and dishonesty that is so often ascribed to political arenas.  His society of professional lawyers made it their full-time business to stir up contention among the people for the purpose of perfecting their craft at great expense.   Wealthy people wrestled to get gain and advantage over one another, within laws specially suited for this purpose, and the ultimate winners were those employed to take their cases to court.  Judges were corrupt, eager to accept bribes to rule in favour of the highest bidder.  Those without means wouldn’t hope to stand a chance in such a corrupt system.  And those with means, could lose it all in the games played for the purpose of cheating them. In order to appreciate where he ended, one must understand from whence he came.

The missionary Alma, and his newly converted companion Amulek, found themselves arrested and brought before this pandemonium of legal contradiction.   Amulek was himself a wealthy and well-known citizen of Ammonihah, so he was no doubt aware of the legal games played in this political coliseum.  The missionaries were fresh material, and because they had already raised the anger of the people, who they chastened for their wickedness, they were the perfect victims to be thrown into the arena to be ripped apart by Ammonihah’s champions, and Zeezrom was their foremost gladiator.

Zeezrom was a leader among his peers, skilled in his craft, well known among the people for his sophistry and cunning.  He had good reason to be self assured in court, and with those offended by the missionaries, he had an eager audience to play to.  One can only imagine the eagerness with which his team approached the case.  Court and jury prejudiced against the defendants already, it was a slam dunk.  The only thing left to the imagination was the script; one can almost visualize the scene.  His questions were formulated to entrap, to twist words and have the missionaries unwittingly condemn themselves – thereby adding to his reputation among peers and fans. 

But that is where Zeezrom’s prowness ended.  He was accustomed to verbal combat with mortals, in his own arena, where he was the champion.   He was not accustomed to dealing with the spirit of God.  I think it is important to try to visualize the depravity to which Zeezrom had stooped, to fully appreciate his conversion.  We’ve seen it before in scripture. The proud and haughty Prince of Egypt – turning his back to the world he was raised in, to take his place among the people of God.  The Pharisitical single mindedness of the Saul in his persecution of Christians, who turned 180 degrees and spent the rest of his life converting people to the same religion he reviled against.  More recently, Alma the Elder who left King Noah’s court at his own peril, to follow and preach the words of the dying prophet Abinadi.  And his son Alma the Younger, who sought to destroy the very church his father dedicated his life to, but then spent the rest of his life serving God. 

But Zeezrom was unique.  Like many others, he was a product of his culture, who rose in the societal ranks by his own cunning and ambition.  When he was matched by the missionarys’ ability to see through his tactics however, and called out on his shameful attempt to pay them off with a veritable fortune, he lost his footing.  They didn’t cower under his state sanctioned ability to control their destinies.   And when they began testifying of basic gospel principles, he recognized that there was something different going on.  He was matched with an opponent unlike his previous conquests.  Herein lies his difference.  So many other persecutors of righteousness did not respond to the spirit the way he did.  *Laban was given repeated opportunity to respond appropriately before the Lord finally instructed Nephi to slay him.  *Sherem persisted in his proud mocking of Jacob’s teaching before finally receiving the sign that he asked for.  Though he acknowledged his fault, he did so with his dying breath.  *King Noah almost caved before he was bolstered by his wicked priests and stayed his course to finally be destroyed.  

But the proud Zeezrom was not beyond feeling the spirit, and he was visibly shaken to the core in front of his peers as the missionaries rebuked him.  “Now when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exceedingly, for he was convinced more and more of the power of God; and he was also convinced that Alma and Amulek had a knowledge of him, for he was convinced that they knew the thoughts and intents of his heart.”  (Alma 12:7)  People were astonished to see their mighty champion tremble.  Right before their eyes, a remarkable change began to take place.  Zeezrom not only felt the power of the spirit, but he began to genuinely seek truth from the missionaries – right in front of his audience.  He humbled himself, in a way that must have shocked even him.  He learned of another ‘courtroom’, where the “just and the unjust .. are brought to stand before God to be judged according to their works.” (Alma 12:8).  This was HIS language, and he understood it.  He learned from Amulek that those who have hardened their hearts against the word, will find themselves in an awful state – condemned by their own words, works and even thoughts, so much so that they should not even dare to look up to their God, and would “be glad if [they] could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon [them] to hide [them] from his presence.”  But it wouldn’t be possible to hide.  They’d have to stand before him in his glory and majesty and “acknowledge to [their] everlasting shame that all his judgements [were] just.”  (Alma 7:14,15)  He learned of a second death, which is a spiritual death, and for those who rejected the word, it would be “as though there had been no redemption made”. 

As one reads the account, remember it was Alma teaching, that same Alma whose former companion Ammon said “we (Alma included) went forth even in wrath, with mighty threatenings to destroy his Church”.  Alma knew of what he spoke.  He had been there. (Alma 26:19)  One can only imagine the tenderness with which Alma spoke, the spirit undoubtedly witnessing his message.  He was a living testimony of second chances, of repentance and of a life turned around.

And Zeezrom responded.  Zeezrom – Ammonihah’s intellectual Goliath – responded to the spirit testifying of the truth taught by Alma and Amulek.  Somewhere in him, had flickered a spark of the light of Christ – that even he might not have been aware of, and it was fanned in that courtroom, by the words of men of God, speaking under the direction of the Holy Ghost.   And all observed it and were surprised and probably more than a little perplexed at Zeezrom’s response.  The missionaries concluded their teachings with the tenderness of the words of God the Father “If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten son; Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins, and these shall enter into my rest.” (Alma 12:33,34)

Zeezrom witnessing the martyrdom of the believers

Zeezrom would never be the same, but though some others within hearing were similarly touched, the devil regained his previous footing and the wicked united into an angry mob. Zeezom recognized his accountability in being an instrument which caused the hearts of many to harden, and he pled for the lives of Alma and Amulek, “Behold, I am guilty, and these men are spotless before God” but Satan gnashed his teeth and unleashed his fury upon all those who believed the words of the missionaries.  And the wicked who took his cues reviled Zeezrom, and they spit upon him, and cast him and others who believed, out from among them. ((Alma 14:6-7)   Then they did the unthinkable.  They gathered together the wives and the children of the believers, and they cast them into a fire, forcing Alma and Amulek to witness the horrifying scene.   As horrible as this would have been for Alma, I am reminded that these were Amulek’s people.   His friends and neighbours, colleagues, kin, his own wife and children, and all those who had trusted him.  It is difficult to imagine the anguish and the heart wrenching agony of Amulek, who loved many of them.  “How can we witness this this awful scene?” he pled, but Alma said “The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand”.    

Ammonihah’s is not a happy story.  It didn’t start out happy, and it didn’t end happy.   But the rest of its story is for another time. It is Zeezrom that I am focused on for now. He had relocated with other believers to the nearby land of Sidom, laid low with a burning fever, convinced that he had caused the destruction of the missionaries.  He was brought to a recognition of his sins, and was acutely aware that his influence had caused many to harden their hearts against hearing the truth. 

Alma and Amulek, made their way to Sidom after being delivered from prison, and brought the sad news with them, of the martyrdom of the exiled believers’ families and loved ones.  The attendant sorrow that must have accompanied this report, is impossible to imagine.  The sounds of it almost ring in my ears.   Zeezrom sought forgiveness for the damage he’d caused, not only from the missionaries, but also from the Lord, and he sought healing.  Alma, the Lord’s servant “said unto him, taking him by the hand: Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation? And he answered and said: Yea, I believe all the words that thou has taught . . . And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ.” (Alma 15:6,7,10)

Zeezrom was healed physically and spiritually, and the good news spread throughout the city.  His repentance and conversion dramatically altered the course of his life, and apparently resonated with the people, as many “did flock in from all the region round about Sidom, and were baptized.” (Alma 15:14).  Zeezrom had been well known for his former wealth and power, so his conversion was of note, and his healing would have affected many.

With renewed fervor, and a profoundly repentant spirit, Zeezrom became a faithful servant, dedicating his life and talents to helping others experience the same redemptive conversion he did.  Like King Lamoni’s father who gave away all his sins to know God, so did Zeezrom give away all his sins.  The scriptures mention his name later in connection with Alma and other notable missionaries like Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Amulek. (Alma 31:6)

Zeezrom is a heroic example of dramatic, courageous REVERSAL.  It is not easy to be dedicated to a course and then admit you were wrong.  It is not easy to walk away from everything you’ve worked your entire career to establish, including reputation and good standing among your peers.  It is not easy to acknowledge that your actions caused others harm, and then to work tirelessly the rest of your life trying to repair the damage.  In the story of Zeerom we see encouragement that one cannot stoop so low that the atonement of Jesus Christ cannot redeem.  In the story of Zeezrom, we see yet another testimony that we should never give up on another’s potential to be influenced by the spirit.   He was not the first.  He followed a path that others, like Alma had walked.  But he walked it.  And he lived it.   

Not everyone can be a Moses, or a Nephi, or an Alma.  Or even a Ghandi or a Martin Luther King.  But we can be “Aarons” or “Sams”, or “Amuleks”, or “Zeezroms”.  The Lord needs servants willing to serve in supportive roles.  And the world needs them too. 

Thank you Zeezrom for reserving a spot in your heart for that tiny flicker of light.  Thank you for not being unteachable, and therefore unreachable.  Thank you for being courageous enough to acknowledge the feelings that awakened in your heart, and then to act on them.  Thank you for staying the course, and being faithful to the end. 

And thank you Mormon, for including his story.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

Posted on

Caution: objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear

Looking in the rear view Mirror with 2020 vision

Let me paint a picture for you.   (cc 20-5 years BC – Helaman 11)

A people abound in wickedness, former enemies, but by now both are enemies of truth and right.   They are called Nephites and Lamanites, and though they consist of many tribes, those nations are how they are identified to history.   Their contention and disputations one with another erupt into full out war, nurtured by the deception of a power hungry group of evil men known by their founder’s name – Gadianton.     

A prophet – Nephi is his name, is given – the power to bind and loose on earth and in heaven – (Helaman 10:7).   He persuades the Lord to replace the war with a famine that the people might be brought to humility and repentance.  The rains stop, and the earth does not yield forth grain in the season, slaughter from war ceases.   A year without rain and a great famine covers the land.   Destruction from the sword is replaced by destruction from famine.   Two years without rain.   The effects of the famine are felt among all peoples: Nephite and Lamanite alike, both wicked and righteous.   Another year passes with no rain.   The people perish by the thousands, especially (it is noted), in the more wicked parts of the land.   Finally, the people begin to remember the words of the prophet Nephi – and they remember that there is a God.   Funny how it sometimes takes so long to get back to the basics.   I’ve heard it said that there are no atheists in foxholes.   It appears there may be fewer atheists during famine as well.   The people return to their God, who they had forgotten. At the point of their utter despair and almost sure destruction they acknowledge their former wickedness, repenting of it and plead to the prophet to intercede on their behalf and to send rain.   

Moved by their plight, Nephi goes to the Lord in prayer for the people.   Almost FOUR years without rain!   “And now O Lord,” he pleas “wilt thou turn away thine anger, and try again IF they will serve thee?   And IF so, O Lord thou canst bless them according to thy words which thou hast said.” (Helaman 11:16)

These are Big IF’s.  

The people still have some proving to do.   The Lord sends rain.   So much so, that the earth begins to bring forth fruit in the proper season, and grain in its season.   And the people are happy and glorify God, and the whole face of the land is filled with rejoicing.   They rightly esteem Nephi to be a true prophet and a man of God, having great power and given authority from God.   The people begin again to prosper and to multiply and spread out.   They cover the land.  They live in peace, forgetting previous offences, and thus it goes for more than two years, three years, almost four years.   Then old grudges surface, conflicts begin to be rekindled, dissenters change sides and new strifes take hold.   People begin again to fraction off into ‘tribes’ being divided by differences that could not be resolved in the absence of love.   War commences.   Gadiantons resurface, feeding on the discontent and exaggerated flaws of one’s opponents.   In only a few short years the people have devolved from the terror of famine, to a return of the conditions that preceded it.   Natural consequence when ‘love’ is not present.

The land virtually erupts in havoc, as the Gadiantons increase in number and wax strong, defying laws and those commissioned to enforce them.   They plunder and murder for their own purposes, receiving daily additions to their numbers from the discontented.   Government forces attempting to put them down are driven back, they literally infest the land, killing at will and even stealing women and children.  

Can you imagine such a scenario?   Anarchy in the streets.   No regard for civil law.   Proud and stiff necked, conspiring men who flatter the people and manipulate them to do their bidding in the name of whatever appeals to the people.   This is no fairy tale, no work of fiction.   It is literally out of the evening news in the year 20 BC on the American continent, as found in the chapters of Helaman 11-16.    

This is the generation of Samuel, when believers among the Nephites are fewer in number than believers among the Lamanites.   All over the land the people (both Nephite and Lamanite) are being prepared for the coming birth of “the Messiah” about whom their men of God have been prophesying for six hundred years.   Believers await the signs they have trusted in all their lives.   Unbelievers ridicule and mock them and trample everything that is precious and sacred under their feet.  

Turmoil grips the Nephite capital city of Zarahemla, despite the not-to-distant humbling life changing destruction the famine.   Into this environment comes a prophet, another one, this one from among the people of their traditional enemies.   He preaches repentance to the people and they cast him out of their city, refusing to readmit him.    He finds himself a podium upon which to speak – so that he can be heard by the greatest amount of people possible.   He stands literally atop the city wall.   His name is Samuel.   He preaches as Nephi did, of impending destruction if they do not repent and trust in God, having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.   He claims an angel of the Lord declared it unto him.   He tells them that it is for the benefit of those few righteous among them, that their city is saved, and had it not been for them, the Lord would have caused fire to come out of heaven to destroy it.    He warns that if they ever cast out the righteous from among them, they would have no such safety net.   He condemns them for their pride and greed, which he says leads them to much grosser sins like persecution of the righteous and even murder.   He says that if a prophet told them what they wanted to hear, they would accept him and esteem him as a prophet, and even pay him well for being one, but if he testified against them, they would call him a false prophet and they’d get rid of him.  

Up till this part in the book, I find the story disturbingly, even hauntingly familiar.   It literally IS the news stories I read on line, the commentaries on every news radio station, and the speculative theory of talk show hosts and political podcasts.   Anarchy in the streets of America’s capital.   Those who meant harm, at the threshold of government offices.   Corruption and inefficiency widespread.    Gadiantons in public office.   Secret oaths of conspiracy and collusion.   And so here we are, the people – hung out to dry, wondering who is going to prevail, and which ‘side’ is right if either of them can be.   And in the middle of it, a world wide pandemic which frightens even the most seasoned front line worker, keeping people isolated from work and peer groups.   Unprecedented unemployment.   Hotly contested political issues.   Conspiracy theories abound.   Accusations of treason on the highest levels.   Freedom of speech, that sacred holy grail of democracies is being intimidated and altered.   Faction against faction.   Discord damaging communities, congregations and even families.   Neighbour against neighbour.   Brother against brother.   All forgetting the higher law about loving one’s neighbour as oneself. 

Ancient Samuel taught the people sound doctrine, and therein laid their hope.   Modern prophet Boyd K. Packer taught that true doctrine has a greater ability to change behaviour than any other course of action, and it proves itself out in story after story throughout the Book of Mormon.   After some stern chastisement, Samuel prophecies about specific signs to be given by which the people will know that the Messiah is born in the land of Jerusalem.   The people knew for decades that the time was nigh, but if was always something vaguely in the future.   Samuel gives specific details regarding a firm time within which to see these signs.   “FIVE years” he says.   Five years is a frighteningly short time, even if one has waited six centuries to get there  

In our day, Russel M. Nelson teaches sound and pertinent doctrine, and herein lies OUR hope.   He teaches about gratitude and of acknowledging the good that surrounds us.   He teaches tolerance and racial unity.   He teaches about the critical role we play in the Gathering of Israel, and admonishes us to focus on our responsibility to accomplish it.   He teaches us to love our neighbour and obey the laws of the land.    He uses social media posts to reach the people on our own level – wherever that may be.   He has found his wall. He teaches us about love at home, and the responsibility of the home in training and strengthening children.  

“I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not.  But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me”
Mormon 8:35

In Samuel’s day, many who believed went forth to be baptized.   Many more did not. The chasm that separated those who believed and those who did not believe grew to a wide fissure, a gorge.

I am not trying to sound like I think I know the answers to our problems today.   That is why we have prophets.   I am just overwhelmed by the similarity between the world I am reading about which unfolded over 2000 years ago (as they awaited the birth of the Messiah), and the world I live in in 2020 (as we await the return of that same Saviour).   The more things change the more things stay the same, I guess.   Mormon testified “I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not.  But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, …. For behold ye do love money and your substance and your fine apparel … more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. …” (Mormon 8: 35-41) I think he pegged us.   I think we can learn a lot from a book which was written by a people who’ve been where we are now. I’d hate to repeat ALL their mistakes.   Just sayin’.

I’d love to hear your feelings.

Warmly

Cindy Suelzle