Alma 8:11 - 8:15

Alma 8:11 Nevertheless, they hardened their hearts, saying unto him: Behold, we know that thou art Alma; and we know that thou art high priest over the church which thou hast established in many parts of the land, according to your tradition; and we are not of thy church, and we do not believe in such foolish traditions.

The people of Ammonihah are rejecting Alma and his preaching’s. They know who he is and that he is the head of the church in other parts of land, but since they do not believe in the teachings of the church, they will not allow him to have any power or influence over them. They are calling the teachings of the church "foolish traditions."

Alma 8:12 And now we know that because we are not of thy church we know that thou hast no power over us; and thou hast delivered up the judgment-seat unto Nephihah; therefore thou art not the chief judge over us.

The people have also heard that he is no long chief judge over the Nephites and therefore has no governmental power over them either. They know he replaced himself with a man named Nephihah.

Alma 8:13 Now when the people had said this, and withstood all his words, and reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city, he departed thence and took his journey towards the city which was called Aaron.

So the reception by the people of Ammonihah was hostile to say the least. He was called many undeserving names, his words were rejected completely and he was spit upon as well. When he was thrown out of the town, he gave up trying to work with the people and started towards his next destination being the city of Aaron.

Alma 8:14 And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:

This rejection by the people of Ammonihah troubled Alma deeply. It literally made him sick. He was so sadden of soul for the people that it caused a deep sadness that was almost inconsolable. He knew what would be the fate of these people if they did not listen to him. While in this depression, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said the following.

Alma 8:15 Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.

The angel gave him reassurance that his efforts were recognized by the Lord and that he would be blessed on account of his faithfulness towards his mission to help the Nephites repent and revive their commitment towards gospel living. He was especially blessed because he has been faithful from the time he was first called to repentance by an angel. And in fact this angel was one that appeared to him and his friends and shook up his world.

Can we call this angel, Alma’s guardian angel? I wonder who he was and what might have been his relation to him. He was not a resurrection angel so he was a spirit. Anyway, it will be interesting to find out someday. I am just plain curious.