24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and
yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny
the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I
give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.
25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain
guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye
covet that which ye have not received.
26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have
spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins
from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should
impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he
hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and
administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to
their wants.
27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom
and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has
strength. And again, it is expedient
that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all
things must be done in order.
28 And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever
among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he borroweth,
according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin; and perhaps thou
shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also.
29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things
whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many
that I cannot number them.
30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not
watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and
observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have
heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye
must perish. And now, O man, remember,
and perish not. (Mosiah 4:24-30)
Those who have the resources
have been commanded to share what they have with the poor. But, what about the poor? What should they do?
First, they should do all
they are capable of doing. “Every man
shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which
he hath given thee” (Deuteronomy 16:17).
The amount is not important; what it represents is what matters. The story of the widow’s mite demonstrates
what Benjamin was saying. “For all they
did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she
had, even all her living” (Mark 12:44).
The rich gave much; the widow gave little. Though she were poor, she did what she could.
This is all Benjamin asks. Do what you
can.
In verse 24 we have an
example of chiastic contrast (using an opposing statement or phrase in close
proximity to the original idea).
A I give not
B because
I have not,
B but if
I had
A I would give.
If you are poor, you should desire to do what
you can. “I give not because I have not,
but if I had I would give.” If the poor
have this attitude they will not be condemned by the Lord. If the poor covet what the rich have, they
will stand in condemnation before the Lord. “Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts
are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not
satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men’s
goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own
hands” (D&C 56:17).
“Once we are convinced that
we have an obligation to give, we must learn that to render service in the
proper spirit is of first importance. Mormon, speaking to those who give for
the wrong reasons, said, ‘For if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God,
except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.’”
“One of the many problems
with coveting is that it fundamentally denies that all things belong to God.
Just as the giver must accept God’s ultimate ownership in order to share his
wealth properly with the poor, the poor must receive it in the same spirit,
recognizing the same dependence of all people on God.”
Benjamin has given them these
commandments to obtain a remission of their sins. “Much emphasis is given by King Benjamin to
retaining a remission of our sins (see Mosiah 4:26). We don’t ponder that
concept very much in the Church. We ought to think of it a lot more.”[4] Help the poor, “every man according to that
which he hath.”
“To be called to serve is a
call to come to love the Master we serve. It is a call to have our natures
changed. To keep the blessing of that change in our hearts will require
determination, effort, and faith. King Benjamin taught at least some of what
that will require. He said that to retain a remission of our sins from day to
day we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and help people
spiritually and temporally.”
This takes us back to the
words of Jacob.
“Think of your brethren like
unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that
they may be rich like unto you.
“But before ye seek for
riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.
“And after ye have obtained a
hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them
for the intent to ado good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the
hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the
afflicted” (Jacob 2:17-19).
As we will see, King Limhi
had a problem with the poor. Many of his
men had died in battle. “Now there was a
great number of women, more than there was of men; therefore king Limhi
commanded that every man should impart to the support of the widows and their
children, that they might not perish with hunger; and this they did because of
the greatness of their number that had been slain” (Mosiah 21:17). The Lord told Zechariah, “And oppress not the
widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you
imagine evil against his brother in your heart” (Zechariah 7:10). At the beginning of the book of Alma, we
read, “And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that
which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and
they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely” (Alma 1:27).
We are to “[feed] the hungry,
[clothe] the naked, [visit] the sick, administering to their relief both
spiritually and temporally.” We read
where, at the beginning of Alma, the people took care of the poor. About three years later, it had changed.
“Yea, he saw great inequality
among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising
others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were
hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.
“Now this was a great cause
for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves,
succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their
substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all
manner of afflictions, for Christ’s sake, who should come according to the
spirit of prophecy” (Alma 4:12-13).
“In giving, the poor may keep
what is sufficient for their needs, and food, clothing, and shelter covers it
(Mosiah 4:26), for the rule is summed up simply, that every man ‘should impart
of [his] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath’-which
is also the wording of Deuteronomy, for all have a right to food, clothing,
shelter and medical care, ‘both according
to their wants’(Mosiah 4:26; 18:29).”
Benjamin counsels us to “see
that all these things are done in wisdom … it is no requisite that a man should
run faster than he has strength.” All
too often, people jump in to a project and try to do it all at once. We need to use wisdom when the apply gospel
teachings. You don’t have to be perfect in
a day.
In Ecclesiastes we read, “I
returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of
understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to
them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The Lord
told Joseph Smith, “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and
means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end”
(D&C 10:4).
“There may be times when we
may feel overwhelmed, hurt, or on the edge of discouragement as we are trying
so hard to be perfect members of the Church. Be assured, there is balm in
Gilead. Let us listen to the prophets of our days as they help us to focus on
the things that are central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of
His children. The Lord knows us, He loves us, He wants us to succeed, and He
encourages us by saying: ‘And see that all … things are done in wisdom and
order; for it is not requisite that [men or women] should run faster than [they
have] strength. … [But] it is expedient that [they] should be diligent’ (Mosiah
4:27).”
“A specific incident with [Mosiah
4:27] happened just a very little while ago. I was preparing to compete in a big
speech tournament and was facing college entrance exams. I’d just been called
to serve on our seminary council and was worried about responsibilities there.
I also have one brother and six sisters whom I really care about, and I wanted
to spend time with them. I read through that scripture and others like it which
said that all I needed to do was to set a pace for myself and keep up with it.
I felt that my Father in Heaven had answered my prayers in that scripture.”
We should never use King
Benjamin’s words to justify us if we aren’t doing our responsibilities. In our callings, in our families, in our
places of employment, we need to fulfill all responsibilities. This doesn’t excuse us from fulfilling our
duties. We are to fulfill our duties,
using wisdom as we do.
Return what you borrow. “It is interesting to note in passing that,
as if to show that there is no higher or lower duty for the just in the eyes of
God, Benjamin concludes his description of the just life with an admonition to
return whatever we borrow (see Mosiah 4:28).”[9] If you fail to return what you borrow, you
have committed a sin.
“Under Israelite law, failure
to return that which a person has borrowed was the equivalent of theft. See
Jackson, Theft in Early Jewish
Law, 1972, 17–18, 91. Jewish law placed no significance on the fact
that the person had received the possession of property lawfully … It was also
important for a person under ancient law to return exactly what he had
borrowed; otherwise a dispute could ensue over whether the value of the
returned object was equal to the value of the borrowed object.”[10]
Benjamin shares some
discouraging words with us. “I cannot
tell you all thing things whereby ye may commit sin.” “Instead of telling them what they should not
do, he has told them what they absolutely must do, the minimum if they would
expect God’s blessings.”[11] While
there is only one path to return to our Lord, there a many paths that lead us
to sin.
We will be judged by our
thoughts, words, and deeds. We must watch
what we do. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou
forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy
heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons”
(Deuteronomy 4:9). When Alma2
confronted Zeezrom, he told him, “For our words will condemn us, yea, all our
works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will
also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our
God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains
to fall upon us to chide us from his presence” (Alma 12:14).
The Savior taught that even
thinking about sin is sinful. “Ye have
heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But
I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). He further taught, “But those things which
proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the
man. For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, [slanderous
statements]: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen
hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:18-20).
“[A] Church News editorial in
1985 cited Mosiah 4:29–30 and added, ‘This counsel is so timely in today’s
world as we struggle with the proliferation of pornography, obscenity, and
indecency. These growing evils bombard us on every hand. At times it seems
almost impossible to escape them because they appear to be everywhere …
Individually, we must remember the admonition of King Benjamin and watch
ourselves, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. If we keep the commandments
and continue in the faith we will have power over the evils of pornography.
Otherwise, we may succumb to its enticements and ultimately perish.’”
We must keep the commandments
and continue in faith. King Benjamin has
given us all we need to defeat sin and return to our Father in Heaven.
Living Welfare Principles, President Marion G.
Romney, October 1981 General Conference.
The Global Church Blessed by the Voice of the
Prophets, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2002 General Conference.
The Holy Scriptures: Letters from Home, Sister Ardeth
G. Kapp, October 1985 General Conference.
