Alma uses the term “soul” interchangeably with spirit (v. 7). Latter-day revelation clarifies that “the spirit and the body are the soul of man. And the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the dead” (D&C 88:15–16), but we must remember, as we read the words of Alma that his usage of the term soul means spirit. That all do not die at once (Alma 40:8) is good reasoning for all not being resurrected at once. Other principles of the resurrection that will follow affirm this reasoning. All that are resurrected being “as one day with God” (v. 8) refers to the Lord’s time. “A day unto the Lord … (is) one thousand years” and is “the reckoning of the Lord’s time” (Abraham 3:4; see also Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8). Alma appears to be generalizing the resurrection as an event not a time period. That time is measured to man and not God (Alma 40:8) is illustrated by the facsimile #2 Explanation, figure 1 in the book of Abraham: “celestial time signifies one day to a cubit” (p. 37, Pearl of Great Price). Apparently God has a different kind of measurement relevant to his environment. Time being measured only to man is affirmed in other scriptures that state: “time is no longer” as the earth finishes it’s temporal existence (see Revelation 10:6; D&C 84:100). When we are resurrected we will learn more about God’s measurements (Alma 40:10), but for now we will acknowledge with Alma that God knows these things (v. 4 above).
The resurrection will be universal. There is a time appointed for all to rise from the dead (v. 9). The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “As concerning the resurrection, I will merely say that all men will come from the grave as they lie down, whether old or young; there will not be ‘added unto their stature one cubit,’ neither taken from it; all will be raised by the power of God, having spirit in their bodies, and not blood” (TPJS, 199–200). We will now consider what Alma had inquired diligently to know and had learned.