Alma Chapter 30 in the Book of Mormon is an interesting chapter about believers living 76 to 74 years B.C., who “observed to keep the commandments of the Lord” and they lived in continual peace throughout the land for over a year. They had no disturbance and continual peace. (Wouldn’t that be a great place to live?!)

Along came Korihor, anti-Christ. There was no law against another’s belief, or non-belief as the case may be. This man came in and started preaching that there should be no Christ. He said they, the believers, were bound down by foolish and vain hope. He mocked their beliefs and knocked their prophecies as foolish traditions of their fathers rather than prophecies handed down by holy prophets.

He says in vs 15: He says “…ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.”

So, Korihor leads the hearts of some astray with his ramblings about there being no proof of a God, and that there are no prophecies that Christ was going to be there. He accused Alma and the people of glutting themselves upon the labors of their people. Which in vs. 32 Alma clearly rebuts.

Then Alma asks Korihor why he is gong about telling the people there is no God. He asked for what evidence Korihor had that there is no God or that Christ would not come. He said he thinks Korihor really is a believer but that the devil had power over him.

And there it is. Verse 43: Korihor says to Alma: “If thou wilt show me a sign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words.

Verses 44 and 45: Alma says Korihor has had signs enough and asked if he will temp God. He said he has the testimony of all his brethren and the holy prophets. He told him the scriptures denote there is a God. The earth and all things upon it, the motion of the earth and all the planets witness there is a Supreme Creator. Alma asked if he would deny all of the believers and their testimonies. Korihor said he would deny, unless Alma could show him a sign. (I would add here: Be careful what you ask for….)

Alma warned Korihor that if he denied God again, “…God shall smite thee, that thou shalt become dumb, that thou shalt never open thy mouth any more, that thou shalt not deceive this people any more.”

Korihor said he did not deny the existence of a God, but he did not believe that there is a God and that if he did not show him a sign, he would not believe.

So, Alma gave him a sign. Korihor was struck dumb, the he could not speak. He wrote a note to Alma saying he knew that nothing but the power of God could bring this upon him. He said he always knew there was a God, but the devil deceived him. Korihor asked that the curse be removed. Alma prayed, but the curse was not taken off.

Korihor had to go from house to house begging for his food. Soon, thereafter, he was trodden down and killed.

In vs 60, last verse of that chapter, Alma says about half way down the verse: “…and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doeth speedily drag them down to hell.”

So, what I get from this chapter is we already have signs, we don’t need to seek for more. And if one is “fortunate” enough to be given another sign, he might not like it. Faith comes before the signs for most. Here is an example of a guy who had prophets around him, believers and their experiences and testimonies, but he chose not to believe on their experiences, but he wanted his own sign.

Sometimes, it is better for us to learn from others, accept their testimonies, and utilize a particle of faith before we worry about signs. Also, we see that he was wrong about the prophecies. Christ did come.