17 And king Noah sent
guards round about the land to keep them off; but he did not send a sufficient
number, and the Lamanites came upon them and killed them, and drove many of
their flocks out of the land; thus the Lamanites began to destroy them, and to exercise
their hatred upon them.
18 And it came to pass
that king Noah sent his armies against them, and they were driven back, or they
drove them back for a time; therefore, they returned rejoicing in their spoil.
19 And now, because of
this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did
boast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against
thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood,
and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the
wickedness of their king and priests.
20 And it came to pass
that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; *and he went
forth among them, and began to prophesy, saying: Behold, thus saith the Lord,
and thus hath he commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus
saith the Lord—Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and
their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them
in mine anger.
21 And except they repent
and turn to the Lord their God, behold, I will deliver them into the hands of
their enemies; yea, and they shall be brought into bondage; and they shall be
afflicted by the hand of their enemies.
22 And it shall come
to pass that they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquities of my people.
23 And it shall come
to pass that except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they
shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them, except it be the
Lord the Almighty God.
24 Yea, and it shall
come to pass that when they shall cry unto me I will be slow to hear their
cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.
25 And except they
repent in sackcloth and ashes, and cry mightily to the Lord their God, I will
not hear their prayers, neither will I deliver them out of their afflictions;
and thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me.
26 Now it came to pass
that when Abinadi had spoken these words unto them they were wroth with him,
and sought to take away his life; but the Lord delivered him out of their
hands.
27 Now when king Noah
had heard of the words which Abinadi had spoken unto the people, he was also
wroth; and he said: Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of
him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?
28 I command you to
bring Abinadi hither, that I may slay him, for he has said these things that he
might astir up my people to anger one with another, and to raise
contentions among my people; therefore I will slay him.
29 Now the eyes of the
people were blinded; therefore they hardened their hearts against the words of
Abinadi, and they sought from that time forward to take him. And king Noah hardened his heart against the
word of the Lord, and he did not repent of his evil doings.
Mosiah 11:17-29
Things in Noah’s kingdom seemed to be going well. Guards had been placed around the land to
protect the people. That wasn’t enough.
The Lamanites came upon people in parts of the land and
killed them. They stole their flocks as
well. Noah sent armies to fight the Lamanite
and achieved a victory. The returning
army celebrated their victory.
About 148 BC King Noah's
military forces drove back the Lamanites who had been attacking small groups of
Nephites as they tended their flocks. The Lamanite marauders had killed a few
men, stolen their animals, and driven many of their flocks out of the land.
King Noah finally sent enough of his army to force the Lamanites into retreat
for a time. The victorious Nephite forces returned from the battle
"rejoicing in their spoil" and swelling with pride. They boasted that
their "fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites"; but
worse, they had come to "delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood
of their [Lamanite] brethren, and this because of the
wickedness of their king and priests" (Mosiah 11:18, 19; emphasis added).[1]
Not only did they celebrate victory, they bragged, claiming
fifty of their army could defeat a Lamanite army consisting of thousands. They also delighted in the bloody part of the
battle, the killing and maiming.
Because of the cultic obligation to
give thanks to God for his deliverance after a victorious battle, the boastings
of King Noah and his people were offensive to the Lord. We are told in Mosiah
11:19that following a great military victory against the Lamanites, the people
of Noah "were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in
their own strength." After this deliberate act of rebellion against
Jehovah, a prophet was sent among them to warn that if they did not repent they
would be delivered into the hands of their enemies.[2]
Into this time of celebration comes a man named
Abinadi. We know nothing about him. Who was he?
From where did he come? Did he
have family? What was his position in
the church? It’s somewhat frustrating
knowing so little about this great man.
His influence on the Nephite church will be great, through a man named
Alma1.
Abinadi called the people to repentance. He reminded them of their sins (“I [the Lord] have seen [your] abominations
and … wickedness, and … whoredoms; and except they repent, I will visit them in
my anger.” As we will see, Abinadi
never minced words. No one could claim
they didn’t understand what he said and taught.
The Nephites must repent “and
turn to the Lord their God.” Failure
to do this will led them into bondage.
They will suffer at the hands of their enemies.
Abinadi tells them that the Lord is “a jealous God, visiting the inequities of my people.” We often read in scriptures that God is a
jealous God. What does this mean? If you look at footnote “b” to Exodus 20:5,
you find the word “jealous” is translated from Hebrew – qannah, "possessing sensitive and deep feelings." This is what the Lord had Abinadi tell the
Nephites.
Once again, Abinadi reminds the Nephites about the
consequences of not repenting and returning to the Lord. They will enter bondage and no one, other
than the Lord, will release them.
Now let's go to Mosiah 11:23;
Abinadi will introduce the theme that he is going to reiterate here: "And
it shall come to pass that except this people repent and turn unto the Lord
their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them,
except it be the Lord the Almighty God." Abinadi brings this up over and
over again. This is the theme. Actually, I think he is continuing the theme from
Nephi. Basically, he says, "If this people won't repent, they will be
brought into bondage." And then comes the lesson: Nobody can deliver them
except the Lord their God.[3]
When the day comes that the people begin to cry to the Lord
for their freedom, the Lord will be slow to hear the prayers. They will be beaten by their enemies well
before they are released from bondage.
As the Nephites were celebrating
the shedding of Lamanite blood, the prophet Abinadi arrived on the scene. His
message immediately dampened their celebratory mood. His message was simple:
God has seen your wickedness and whoredoms, and unless you repent, you will be
delivered into the hands of your enemies and brought into bondage. You have
been slow to heed God's words; therefore God will be slow to hear you (see Mosiah
11:20–24).[4]
Except the people repent, wearing sackcloth and ashes, and
crying unto the Lord, He will not hear their prayers and they will not be
delivered.
What is mean by the term, “sackcloth and ashes?”
Sackcloth and ashes were used in
Old Testament times as a symbol of debasement, mourning, and/or repentance. Someone
wanting to show his repentant heart would often wear sackcloth, sit in ashes,
and put ashes on top of his head. Sackcloth was a coarse material usually made
of black goat’s hair, making it quite uncomfortable to wear. The ashes
signified desolation and ruin.[5]
Noah and his people did not take kindly to the words of
Abinadi. They were angry and wanted to
kill him because of his words; however, he was protected by the Lord and
delivered out of their hands.
Oh, the “righteous” indignation of the wicked! Who is this Abinadi guy; he thinks he can judge
me, the king!? How dare he judge the
people as well? And, who is this Lord,
that He thinks he can afflict my people?
Do any of those words sound
familiar? "Who is Abinadi?" "Who is the Lord?" Have you
heard those words before? Who else said that, before the people of Israel got
out of bondage? Remember the movie with Charleton Heston and Yul Brenner?
"Let my people go!" What was Pharaoh's reply? It is in Exodus 5:2.
Pharaoh says: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel
go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." You can go back
even farther in time to Moses 5:16 and see where Cain said the same thing:
"Who is the Lord that I should know him?" King Noah's reply here is
the same as some of the devil's most distinguished servants of the past.[6]
Noah commanded Abinadi be brought to him. Noah wanted him dead. Abinadi was nothing but a rabble rouser,
attempting to cause division in his society.
Because of the wickedness of the king and his people, they
hearts were hardened against Abinadi.
From that time forward, Abinadi was a marked man. They did not repent of their sins. “King Noah did not know the Lord (Mosiah
11:27), and the people were blinded to God’s prophetic message (Mosiah 11:29).
Noah and his supporters may have sought to hide or disguise their sins, but the
Lord had seen their abominations (Mosiah 11:20) and would soon reveal them to
other nations (Mosiah 12:8).”[7]
[1] "What
Meaneth the Words That Are Written?" Abinadi Interprets Isaiah, Ann
Madsen, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 18, 2014.
[2] The
Book of Mosiah: Thoughts about Its Structure, Purposes, Themes, and Authorship,
Gary L. Sturgess, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 18, 2014.
[3] Abinadi:
The Man and the Message (Part 1), Todd Parker, Maxwell Institute, accessed September
18, 2014.
[4] "What
Meaneth the Words That Are Written?" Abinadi Interprets Isaiah, Ann
Madsen, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 18, 2014.
[5] GotQuestions.org,
accessed September 18, 2014.
[6] Abinadi:
The Man and the Message (Part 1), Todd Parker, Maxwell Institute, accessed September
18, 2014.
[7] Insights
20/12 (2000), Abinadi's Disguise and the Fate of King Noah, Maxwell
Institute, accessed September 18, 2014.
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