23 And now, is not this
grievous to be borne? And is not this,
our affliction, great? Now behold, how
great reason we have to mourn.
24 Yea, I say unto
you, great are the reasons which we have to mourn; for behold how many of our
brethren have been slain, and their blood has been spilt in vain, and all
because of iniquity.
25 For if this people
had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this
great evil should come upon them. But
behold, they would not hearken unto his words; but there arose contentions
among them, even so much that they did shed blood among themselves.
26 And a prophet of
the Lord have they slain; yea, a chosen man of God, who told them of their
wickedness and abominations, and prophesied of many things which are to come,
yea, even the coming of Christ.
27 And because he said
unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things, and said that he
should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which
man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was
created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the
children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face
of the earth—
28 And now, because he
said this, they did put him to death; and many more things did they do which
brought down the wrath of God upon them.
Therefore, who wondereth that they are in bondage, and that they are
smitten with sore afflictions?
Mosiah 7:23-28
The people of Limhi are under Lamanite bondage. This is because of their wickedness. Limhi reminds them their captivity is painful
to bear. Their suffering is great and
they have reason to mourn. “When the righteous are in authority, the
people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs
29:2).
They have reasons to mourn.
They have lost many of their people in battles with the Lamanites. This is “all
because of iniquity.” Nephi2 told
the people at the time of the murder of the chief judge, “O ye ought to begin to howl and mourn, because of the great
destruction which at this time doth await you, except ye shall repent” (Helaman
9:22).
The people are suffering because of their sins. Instead of listening to the words of the
Lord, they were a contentious people fighting and killing each other.
Limhi clearly saw the parallels
between the difficulties that the people of his colony faced in their bondage
and those that the earlier Israelites and the family of Lehi faced. Of course
Limhi knew the reason for the suffering of his people. He laid it squarely at
the feet of his father and the earlier generation's rejection of the word of
the Lord brought by the prophet Abinadi (Mosiah 7:25—28).[1]
They had killed the prophet Abinadi for telling them about
their wickedness and prophesied about the coming of Christ.
Abinadi taught Noah and his priests “Christ was the God, the Father of all things.” Abinadi could very well have been
referring to the words of Isaiah, “For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) as well as
the words of Nephi. “And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is
the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that
Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God” (2 Nephi 26:12). After Alma2 revived from his
vision, he told the gathered group, Yea, every
knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall
stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; then shall
they confess, who live without God in the world, that the judgment of an
everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble,
and shrink beneath the glance of his all–searching eye” (Mosiah 27:31).
Christ would take upon Himself the image of man. “And
never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed
in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye
are created after mine own image? Yea,
even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image” (Ether 3:15).
The significance of this mortal
birth was more critical than we often realize. It was not an experimental
thing, nor an event that was optional in the plan of salvation. The coming of a
part-divine part-mortal Jesus into the world, Son of Mary and Only Begotten of
the Father, was an absolute necessity. The human family could be saved in no
other way. Only the Lord himself, by coming into mortality, partaking of the
nature of man, living a sinless life, atoning with his blood for the sins of
men, dying, and rising from the dead with his physical body could bring about
redemption. (See Al. 34:8—16; Mosiah 7:27.) Eternal justice would admit no
other way.[2]
God would come down among the people and take upon himself
flesh and blood. Abinadi said, “Have they not said that God himself should
come down among the children of men, and take upon him the form of man, and go
forth in mighty power upon the face of the earth” (Mosiah 13:34).
Because Abinadi taught this, he was put to death. “And it
came to pass that they took him and bound him, and scourged his skin with
faggots, yea, even unto death” (Mosiah 17:13). Is it any surprise they are in bondage
because of their wickedness?
[1] The
Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon, S. Kent Brown, Maxwell Institute,
accessed August 26, 2014.
[2] Mary
and Joseph: Heirs of David, Highly Favored, Guardians of Our Lord, Robert
J. Matthews, Maxwell Institute, accessed August 26, 2014.
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