32 And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land. 33 And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them. 34 And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part.
Mosiah 29:32-34 (Emphasis mine)
Mosiah(2) told the people that there should be no inequality in the land. It was to be a land of liberty where people enjoy their rights and freedoms.
Equality was an important part of the law. When church members where being persecuted, King Mosiah(2) issued “was a strict command throughout all the churches that there should be no persecutions among them, that there should be an equality among all men” (Mosiah 27:3). But church members had an obligation placed upon them. We read that “there was a strict law among the people of the church, that there should not any man, belonging to the church, arise and persecute those that did not belong to the church, and that there should be no persecution among themselves” (Alma 1:21).
Liberty was important to Mosiah(2), but he added a qualification. That is that this is as long as the “Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land.” Lehi prophesied that this would be a land of liberty. He told us that “this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever” (2 Nephi 1:7).
35 And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule over them; 36 Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated—telling them that these things ought not to be, that they were expressly repugnant to the commandments of God. 37 And now it came to pass, after king Mosiah had sent these things forth among the people they were convinced of the truth of his words. 38 Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins.
Mosiah 29:35-38 (Emphasis mine)
He outlined problems of a wicked king. He told them that “all his iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated—telling them that these things ought not to be, that they were expressly repugnant to the commandments of God” (verse 36). This echoed the teachings of his father, King Benjamin.
“Early in Book of Mormon history, King Benjamin set forth a five-part legal series prohibiting (1) murder, (2) plunder, (3) theft, (4) adultery, and (5) any manner of wickedness. This five-part list, which first appears in Mosiah 2:13, uniformly reappears seven other times in the Book of Mormon (see Mosiah 29:36; Alma 23:3; 30:10; Helaman 3:14; 6:23; 7:21; and Ether 8:16). Apparently the Nephites viewed Benjamin's set of laws as setting a formulaic precedent.” [1] (Emphasis mine)
After hearing his words, the people accepted his recommendations. They gave up their desire to have a king.
“[T]he transition from kingship to democracy in Zarahemla was accomplished relatively easily. The ruling Nephites themselves engineered and favored the change in government (see Mosiah 29:4–37), and the change was accepted readily by a majority of all enfranchised people in the land (see Mosiah 29:37–41). While it is true that a civil uprising soon followed, led by the so-called kingmen under Amlici who opposed the new regime (see Alma 2–3), ideologically most of the people easily embraced the idea and the ideals of democratization.” [2] (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley adds:
“Acting on the recommendation of King Mosiah, who was anxious to avoid a throne controversy, the Nephites in the early first century B.C. substituted for the kingship a system of rule by priestly judges, ‘wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God’ (Mosiah 29:11). We are not told where Mosiah got the idea, but the eagerness and ease with which the people adopted the system imply that they were familiar with it (Mosiah 29:37—41).” [3] (Emphasis mine)
[1] Textual Consistency, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February 14, 2012.
[2] Democratizing Forces in King Benjamin's Speech, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February 14, 2012.
[3] The Troubled Orient, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February 14, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment