Moses, The Old Testament

The record of Moses' life is a lengthy one in Exodus. He is one of the few individuals whose lives are recorded literally from his birth to his passing. In the course of his lifetime, Israel sees both great misfortune and great blessings.
Moses' early life takes place among the Egyptian royalty, to whom his people, the Israelites, are slaves. They were not involved, so far as we know, in the construction of the pyramids of ancient Egypt, the products of an even earlier age, but hard work under the hot Egyptian sun was their daily lot, toiling on behalf of a different dynasty from the benevolent one that welcomed Israel as guests during the famine recorded in Genesis.
Moses, the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, had no part in this, but he came to know his real heritage, probably from his mother, who had the good fortune to obtain employment as the young Moses' nurse maid. This phase of his life seems to have lasted about 40 years, ending abruptly when Moses flees the justice which might have ended his life as a result of his slaying of an abusive Egyptian slave master.
The second phase of his life could be described as "obscurity", serving as a herdsman under his future father-in-law. This life could not have been anything but spartan and unadorned, but there is no record of his missing "the good life" he had fled from back in Egypt. He was, as far as we know, reconciled to the simple life.
This phase of Moses' life also ended without warning through the message delivered through the burning bush, calling Moses as Jehovah's instrument in freeing the Israelites from bondage. The call leaves Moses intimidated by the skills he felt he would need to succeed, but is assured that he was called by God, and that his brother Aaron would serve as his mouthpiece.
The final phase of Moses life could be described simply as prophet/leader. The skills needed for this huge assignment sometimes proved elusive, but Moses was both divinely instructed and aided by faithful associates like Joshua and Jethro. No doubt Moses was surprised to find that delivering the people from Pharaoh was no guarantee that the Israelites would be willing followers from then on.
In fact, God became so exasperated with the Chosen People that he denied entrance for most of them into the Promised Land, including, at last, Moses himself. These condemned people simply kept crisscrossing the desert, following the direction which marked the sky both day and night until they simply wore out, fed by manna, but unfulfilled in reaching the final destination.
Moses left things that both Christians and Jews today find very important, particularly the record of Genesis through Numbers - to Jews "The Law" and to Christians the origins of humanity along with the Jewish roots of today's beliefs.
       

John the Baptist, New Testament

Often a prophet is called to reveal things that will not happen for a long time, sometimes hundreds of years. This is true of Isiah and others, whose words are recorded, but perhaps not understood until the events actually occur.
With John the Baptist, it's a bit different. He is a player in his own prophecies, preparing, as he said, the way for the mortal Messiah. In the process, we learn about John, as well as Jesus, whose ministry is just beginning.
John's mother, Elizabeth, and Jesus' mother Mary were cousins. Both were the object of miracles - Elizabeth for giving birth to a son at an advanced age, and Mary, giving birth even though she had not "know a man". They knew one another, and celebrated their connection in these great coming events.
It is unclear whether John and Jesus had much acquaintance  growing up. John's family lived in Jerusalem where his father served in the temple. Jesus' family lived some distance away, to the North in Nazareth of Galilee, though they also traveled to Jerusalem at least once.
John is often portrayed as a kind of  wild wilderness man whom others went to hear. He is like preceding prophets who fearlessly denounced those nominally in charge of teaching and holding people to the Law of Moses. Naturally, this placed him in danger, not so much from the Romans as the Jewish power grabbers.
This didn't faze John, who practiced baptism for all those willing to make the requisite changes in their lives. At the same time, he foretold of  One to come who would change everything about the practice of true religion.
That day came, when Jesus joined in the line of those seeking baptism. John was humbled to have a role in this ordinance, and questioned whether he should be the one to perform it. Jesus gave his consent, the baptism took place and evidence of a great event took the form of the voice of God the Father,, and the appearance of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove.
Later, when John was imprisoned, his faith was tested. He sent a follower to Jesus to ask if, in fact, he was the Messiah. The answer (positive, though a bit vague) was sent back. John was put to death shortly thereafter, but we have reason to think that he perished knowing he had done right, and, even more importantly, that his prophecies were true.   

Simon, The New Testament

The New Testament narrative contains several men with this name, including two of Jesus first disciples. The Simon referred to here was from Samaria, and his story is told in the Book of Acts, Chapter 8. He is sometimes referred to as Simon the Sorcerer.
Simon enjoyed great popularity among the Samaritans for his use of spells and sorcery. The Latter Day Saints would identify his type as using priestcraft - applying religious principles to pursue personal gain. It's hard to know just how this worked on a day to day basis, but he evidently had plenty of paying customers.
The first Christian teaching among these people was by Phillip, who baptized large numbers of people, including Simon. Later, Peter and John came to confer the Holy Ghost on this new converts. Simon witnessed the proceedings, and approached the two Apostles with a proposal. He offered to buy the right to confer the Holy Ghost, much as one magician might make an offer to another to  acquire the equipment or a working knowledge for a dazzling new illusion of some kind.
Given the seriousness of Simon's sin, treating the power of the Gift of the Holy Ghost as a commodity to be traded in the marketplace like fruit or furniture, Peter's rebuke to Simon is fairly mild. Perhaps he realized that mass conversions are something of a hit-and-miss process, and that the level of understanding might vary wildly from one convert to another. Surely, there was error here, but there was no attempt to deceive or set up some kind of competing church. This fellow simply wanted some new moneymaker for his professional bag of tricks.
To be sure, Peter spoke sharply to Simon, but not to the point of expelling him from the church or revoking the baptism he had already received. For his part, Simon did not argue the point or try to justify himself, only asking forgiveness. We don't know what the remainder of his life was like, but we can hope he found a new way to earn a living, and that his repentance was successful.       

Amalickiah, The Book of Mormon

The desire of some people (historically more men than women) to want to dominate the lives of others is evident in all scripture, and has not gone away in the centuries which have followed. We could cal it the practice of politics, the ambition described in Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar and Macbeth, or the power struggles documented by the records of the old Soviet Union or of the families of organized crime. The story of Amalickiah is one of these.
The Book of Mormon is shorter than the Bible, and so people come and go in it without our knowing anything about their background, The first we know of Amalickiah is his campaign to be elected ruler of the Nephites. He is described as an articulate person, adept at flattery and manipulation, but his campaign does not succeed.
He then does something which has little or no precedent. Having been rejected as a candidate for Nephite "king", he flees to the Lamanites with a small group of followers and, using strictly the power of the spoken word, persuades the Lamanite king to prepare to attack the Nephites, something they have undertaken before, but without success. Amalickiah gains for himself a position of leadership in the Lamanite army.
Through stratagem, including assassination of the Lamanite king and the marrying of his widow, Amalickiah eventually becomes king of the Lamanites and leads an army against the very people he once sought to govern. A long conflict follows, described in some detail for fifteen chapters. Amalickiah's military skills do not match his political skills, and he does not survive to the end of the war, which nevertheless continues with others taking his place.
 One notable characteristic of his leadership is his lack of regard for the people depending on him. In this respect he seems quite similar to Adolf Hitler, leader of W.W. II NAZI Germany, who would leave whole armies exposed to capture or destruction rather than grant their requests to withdraw from a battle in which they faced superior numbers..             

The Rich Young Man, New Testament

The fact that God chooses his personal representatives from all different kinds of men is evidence that having great wealth in itself is no sin, provided, of course, that the wealth was gained without exploiting others or taken by force.
The Gospel of Matthew records a short incident between Jesus and a nameless young man who is described as having great wealth. There is nothing to indicate that the young man wishes for anything more than what he mentions - to know the requirements for him to have eternal life with God. His background seems to have included religious instruction because he assures Jesus that he has been diligent in keeping the commandments (as delivered from Moses) since childhood.
At this point, it's easy to ask questions, the answers to which are not entirely clear. Why did the young man choose to approach Jesus? Did he make an active effort to find him, or did he just happen to be in the area? Was Jesus teaching a lesson to all, or simply taking questions from some possible new disciples? Was there anything of a mocking tone in the young man's question? Was he inspired enough to guess that he had missed something that went beyond the simple framing of the Ten Commandments? 
Regardless, Jesus answers the questions put to him respectfully, though not with any pretend humility that people often used in the presence of prominent persons. A conclusion is reached very quickly. In so many words, Jesus says, "Take your possessions, sell them and donate the proceeds to the poor. Then follow me, and you will have all you need in this life and the next."
This is not the answer the young man expected, nor was it the one he was prepared to back up with action. The scripture says he "went away sorrowing" no doubt thinking "This man doesn't know anything about my responsibilities and all that's expected of me. Follow him? My gosh, if I gave it all away it wouldn't put a dent in the number of poor, and then I would be one of them.What would THAT solve?"
Jesus saw all this, and used it as a teaching moment. Riches don't completely keep us from advancing in spirit, but they can certainly cloud our vision and distort reality. Most of us would see a clearer path to eternal life by living the simple life, knowing that mortality is short and soon to end no matter what our balance sheet may show at this moment.

Isaiah, Old Testament

Looking into the backgrounds of individuals called to serve as prophets, what seems surprising is that they don't seem to follow a pattern. They include farmers, herdsmen and others with more high profile assignments. At least one, Moses, started life as a foundling, then became a part of Pharaoh's Court, then served under his father-in-law as a herdsman.
Isaiah had the important job advising King Hezekiah on how to avoid conquest and capture by the Assyrians and other ambitious neighbors. In that capacity, one would assume his advice had to be quick, easy to follow and understand and given with confidence and conviction. Anything less would make for a short career as a royal adviser.
But the world of prophets can be far removed from advising kings. A prophet's view, we are told, may take in the past, present and future - all at the same time. This, in turn, may make it more difficult for the listener/reader to see things as the prophet might, especially if the message dates back centuries. Hence the proliferation of churches, all with different convictions.
Isaiah's prophetic writings would have had to be very different from anything he wrote for the King, and his references do take in all of time, not just his own. His use of figures of speech is extensive. Christians and Jews cannot even agree when or even if he prophesied regarding the future Messiah. His prophecies are concerned with big events, some so far in the future as to make one wonder how his contemporaries would have made use of them.    
But we retain his words today. Some have even been set to music. It's sometimes laborious to know with clarity the subject of short passages, even different parts of the same sentence. Nevertheless, we see him as the most important of all the Old Testament prophets.

Alma the Younger, The Book of Mormon

As with the Bible, some people in the Book of Mormon are primarily remembered as doers (think Joshua), while others are better remembered for the counsel they gave which survives for our own use (Paul). Alma the Younger was a doer in life, but is better remembered for his explanations of Christian doctrines to both large congregations and to his own sons. In terms of expounding doctrine, his is one of the best known voices of the Book of Mormon, along with Nephi, Lehi, Jacob and, of course, the resurrected Jesus himself.
His life compares most closely to that of Paul. He was not on God's side of things early in life, but lived more of a sectarian lifestyle along with the sons of King Mosiah. He was a strong critic of the Church, opposing his father, but unknowingly benefiting from his father's prayers made on his behalf. Like Paul, it took direct intervention by a heavenly messenger to convince Alma and the brothers  that their lives needed large and immediate change. The brothers dramatically altered their own lives, as they renounced all claims to royal status or privilege in order to take the missionary message to the Lamanites. Alma was at first named as the head of the new government proposed by Mosiah, with the title of Chief Judge, but he later gave up the office in order to concentrate on leading the church among  the Nephites, succeeding his father, whose life is described in an earlier entry.    
This choice took led him to proclaim the coming of Jesus approximately 150 years and thousands of miles removed from Jesus' actual birth. The message, therefore, was not always gladly received. As with Paul, Alma sometimes suffered from persecution from the people he was attempting to serve. His wish, on at least one occasion, was simply to be able to leave a greater impression of his message ("Oh, that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart.").
Alma's teachings regarding eternal judgement, the resurrection, and the need to serve others are well known to Book of Mormon students. The clarity of his message is a comfort to those who have struggled to understand the teachings of other ancient prophets. HIs teachings given, in particular, to one rebellious son reveal Alma as one who was not afraid to remind someone of lack of an excuse for sin, but that even great evils could be atoned for with sincere repentance. His teachings to poor Zoramite laborers banned from the very temple they had built because of their poverty reminds us of God's scant regard for such things as worldly wealth, and that our devotion should not be confined to a single place.