Rhetoric: Alma here creates a series of phrases structured by “I trust”:
• I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were your brethren;
• I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your hearts; yea,
• I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world; yea,
• I trust that you do not worship idols,
These phrases must be seen in the context of his introductory sentence from the last verse: “I trust, according to the Spirit of God which is in me.… ” In modern standard English, “I trust” is a weak affirmative—for example, “I trust you are well.” “I trust you had a good night’s sleep.” It politely asks the question while assuming the response.
Alma uses it in a much stronger sense. His first “trust” comes “according to the Spirit of God.” He “trusts” that he will have joy in the inhabitants of Gideon—knowing that he will—because the Spirit has already confirmed it to him. It is in that context that he makes his catalog of parallel “trusts.” Alma is not just hoping; he knows through the Spirit that these things are true.
Culture: Alma’s list of activities the people of Gideon are not doing is fascinating since, obviously, they could have not been doing an endless number of things (preparing for war, creating new dances, etc.). Why does Alma focus on these particular items? The clue lies in the first item:
“I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were your brethren. . .” The Gideonites are not in the same state of unbelief as were those of Zarahemla. Alma’s list continues, filled with thanksgiving that they are not engaged in the most egregious aspects of the Zarahemlaite mini-apostasy.
“I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your hearts.… ” The accusation was not merely scolding parents who might be inordinately proud of their children or farmers abnormally proud of their crops. Such pride would not have brought a universal condemnation. For Nephites, the “pride of your hearts” is always related to their acceptance of elements of the larger culture. (See commentary accompanying Alma 1:6, 4:10, 5:28–30.) Rather than most valuing gospel principles, they exercised their own desires and valued other things more.
“I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world.” Here Alma defines the “pride of your hearts.” Modern readers might appropriately see in this accusation an invitation to search the value they place on modern consumerism. However, the particulars of Nephite “riches and the vain things of the world” were quite different.
Nephite society was based on agriculture and trade. Its economy was based on barter, not money. Surpluses could be exchanged for other goods. Being “rich” depended on accumulated goods that others lacked and desired. Nephites grew their own food, made their own clothes, and built their own homes. How, then, could they set their hearts upon “riches”? The key is not in either “riches” or “vain things,” but rather “of the world.” If a farmer raises a bumper crop of corn and has more than he needs, is he rich? Yes, but not just because of the surplus (particularly if everyone else has enough)—rather because of its trade possibilities. Trading it for a neighbor’s surplus of beans would not leave him “rich.” To achieve that status, he must trade his surplus corn for something that other people recognize as valuable but which they cannot obtain because they don’t have the surplus of corn. Such trade becomes possible only by exchange with another community and perhaps another culture. From that foreign, and therefore exotic, land he can obtain items that others might recognize as valuable but which are not easily available. In this way, bartering the corn makes the farmer “rich” by acquiring rare objects. (See commentary accompanying Jacob 2:12–13 for more information on Mesoamerica economies).
Alma is clearly telling the Gideonites that a desire for things of the world would be dangerous. The Book of Mormon allows for riches when everyone is prosperous. “Pride of the heart” comes in using possessions to create a separate status. In the Book of Mormon, wealth, the resulting pride, and the resulting status differentiation always carried the danger of adopting a foreign religion and politics.
“I trust that you do not worship idols.” Idol-worship is the logical conclusion of embracing the “things of the world.” “Things” invariably led to embracing the economic/political/religious system that generated the goods and therefore abandoning the true religion.
Alma 7:7
7 For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people.
Rhetoric: Alma carefully crafted the movement of his discourse from topic to topic. He praised (and simultaneously warned) the Gideonites. Then, he focused on the concept in the last line from the previous verse: “and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come.… ”
What is “to come”? “There be many things to come.… ” Probably some of the Gideonites had heard reports about the civil tensions, even of impending civil wars. Certainly Alma understood that such evils were approaching, and the book of Alma documents their arrival. But out of all the things that might come, Alma focuses on the most important—the Messiah. (See commentary accompanying Enos 1:19.) The assumption that “things to come” would be real strengthens his point that the Messiah’s coming will also be very real.