One obvious reason for the literary use of “day” and “night” is to show contrast. One could argue that there are very few things in life that are starker in their most immediately noticeable properties being opposite to each other. The intense light and warmth of the day easily contrasts with the cool darkness of the night. The contrast is so obvious that Mormon uses the concepts of “day” and “night” to facilitate our understanding of how to distinguish between what is “good” and what is “bad.”
15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.
18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.
19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ. (Moroni 7)
Life and death, however, stand in pretty stark contrast as opposites themselves, and so, going back to Alma 34:32, there are a few questions that should come to mind. Why did Amulek say “the day of this life” in Alma 34:32? Why does he say that even after he has already said, “this life”—as if to provide some sort of additional insight and meaning? Is there another property of “day” and “night” that he intends for us consider?
One thing I find interesting about the concepts of “day” and “night” is the fact that they are iterative. Here on earth, cycles are a part of life, many times over. It’s built into the system. We are able to measure the passing of days, months, and years, using elements native to our external environment. Of these, each iteration of day and night takes up the smallest increment of time, and so we are able to observe that cycle repeat itself most frequently. Within the shortest time period, days and nights are defined by the most dramatic changes to our physical environment. Consequently, they are also the earliest and easiest cycle to be noticed of the three mentioned above. The iterative nature of days and nights should be something we factor into our consideration of analogies and parallels whenever they are used in the scriptures. Using the verses from Moroni 7 as an example, do our determinations of “good” and “evil” happen only once? Good heavens, no! We should be constantly searching within the light of Christ. We should be cognizant of changes in the information that, at one point, led us to believe something was good or evil. Any changes should invite us to reconsider our position in that regard so that we may ever have an accurate ranking of what is best.
If Amulek’s use of “day” and “night” is meant to lead our minds to the idea of iterative “days” and “nights,” then what is it about “this life” that makes it “this life?”
Mortality provides us with unique opportunities to take advantage of God’s mercy and grace as we learn to exercise faith in his word. Truly, it is a probationary time, and while we can easily see that increments of time are bounded, we can also see that there are greater increments of time which consist of iterations of lesser ones. “This life” is not just a singular life. It is a kind of life that is iterative. It exists within a larger framework of our existence, and it is designed to benefit us if will align ourselves with our honest, sincere, and increasing understanding of God’s purposes and of reality.