Chapter 12
Abinadi is imprisoned
for prophesying the destruction of the people and the death of King Noah—The
false priests quote the scriptures and pretend to keep the law of Moses—Abinadi
begins to teach them the Ten Commandments. About 148 B.C.
1 AND it came to pass
that *after the space of two years that Abinadi came among them in
disguise, that they knew him not, and began to prophesy among them, saying:
Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my
people, for they have hardened their hearts against my words; they have
repented not of their evil doings; therefore, I will visit them in my anger,
yea, in my fierce anger will I visit them in their iniquities and abominations.
2 Yea, wo be unto this
generation! And the Lord said unto me:
Stretch forth thy hand and prophesy, saying: Thus saith the Lord, it shall come
to pass that this generation, because of their iniquities, shall be brought
into bondage, and shall be smitten on the cheek; yea, and shall be driven by
men, and shall be slain; and the vultures of the air, and the dogs, yea, and
the wild beasts, shall devour their flesh.
3 And it shall come to
pass that the life of king Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot
furnace; for he shall know that I am the Lord.
4 And it shall come to
pass that I will smite this my people with sore afflictions, yea, with famine
and with pestilence; and I will cause that they shall howl all the day long.
5 Yea, and I will
cause that they shall have burdens lashed upon their backs; and they shall be
driven before like a dumb ass.
6 And it shall come to
pass that I will send forth hail among them, and it shall smite them; and they
shall also be smitten with the east wind; and insects shall pester their land
also, and devour their grain.
7 And they shall be
smitten with a great pestilence—and all this will I do because of their
iniquities and abominations.
8 And it shall come to
pass that except they repent I will utterly destroy them from off the face of
the earth; yet they shall leave a record behind them, and I will preserve them
for other nations which shall possess the land; yea, even this will I do that I
may discover the abominations of this people to other nations. And many things did Abinadi prophesy against
this people.
9 And it came to pass
that they were angry with him; and they took him and carried him bound before
the king, and said unto the king: Behold, we have brought a man before thee who
has prophesied evil concerning thy people, and saith that God will destroy them.
Two years go by since Abinadi was fled for his safety. One day, a man shows up, wearing a
disguise. He promptly announces that he
was commanded of the Lord to return. “Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this, my
people…” Abinadi was disguised so as
to prevent people recognizing him. But,
then he promptly announces his name.
Why? It may be that, after two
years, the people had forgotten him. It
appears Abinadi didn’t spend a great amount of time among Noah’s subjects. But, why the disguise?
[Richard] Coggins notes that the
number and the distinctive character of the biblical disguise scenes suggest
that they work typologically to make a fundamental theological point: “Nothing
is hidden from God’s sight; he is presented as controlling the situation, often
... in unexpected ways.” Because the Book of Mormon has roots in the Old World,
Abinadi’s disguise may have conveyed a similar message. If so, the disguise may
have been a prop to allude to the blindness of the people. While Abinadi was
disguised, the people “knew him not” (Mosiah 12:1). 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).[1]
The people had not repented of their sins and still had
hardened hearts against the Lord. The
Lord told Abinadi, “I will visit them in
my anger.”
The Lord told Abinadi to tell the people, because of this
generation’s sin, they will be brought into bondage and “smitten on the cheek…” “The
slap on the cheek certainly had great significance to the descendants of Lehi.57 Abinadi
cursed the people of Noah that they would be ‘smitten on the cheek ... and
slain’" (Mosiah 12:2);58among
these people this was a symbol of humiliation, subjugation, and exercising of
authority (21:3).”[2]
Solomon, speaking for the Lord, told his people, “If they sin against thee, (for there is no
man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the
enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or
near” (1 Kings 8:46).
In this light, it isn’t hard to
guess what will happen to the wicked and unrepentant King Noah. Abinadi
predicts that Noah’s people will be brought into bondage and that the armies
“shall be slain; and the vultures of the air, and the dogs, yea, and the wild
beasts, shall devour their flesh” (Mosiah 12:2; 21:7–12). He also correctly
predicts King Noah’s violent death by fire (Mosiah 12:3).[3]
Abinadi then commits what could be considered a serious
crime against the king. “[T]he life of king Noah shall be valued
even as a garment in a hot furnace.”
If Abinadi indeed spoke at the
temple, his simile curse that Noah's life "shall be valued even as a
garment in a hot furnace" (Mosiah 12:3) can meaningfully be understood as
sacral imagery: in other words, he is essentially saying that Noah and his
priestly garments will be consumed before the face of the Lord should he
attempt to enter into the holy presence of the Lord in that temple, just as
God's consuming presence on Mount Sinai "ascended as the smoke of a
furnace" (Exodus 19:18) and threatened to consume any unworthy person who
set foot on that mount (see v. 12).[4]
The Lord will also smite the people with famine and disease. They will suffer from this scourge torment.
They will “have
burdens lashed upon their backs; and they shall be driven before like a dumb
ass.” The weather will work against
them. Winds and hail will hit their
crops and they will face swarms of insects.
The Nephite economy had a very
simple agricultural base. Modern people easily forget how exposed and vulnerable
ancient farmers were … Thus, when Abinadi issued the following curses in the
name of the Lord, he raised serious threats of constant concern: “I will send
forth hail . . . [and] the east wind; and insects shall pester their land” (Mosiah
12:6) … In small, simple agricultural villages, putting seed into the ground
each year was an act of faith, for the harvest was always an uncertainty.[5]
They will experience great plagues; they will experience all
these things because of their sins and turning away from God. In short, all they experience will be their
fault, because they choose whom to follow (the Lord or Satan) and chose poorly.
If they repent, they will be fine; if they don’t repent,
they will be destroyed and only a record of their actions will be left
behind. These will be preserved for
those who enjoy the blessings of the Promised Land. Abinadi could very well have been referring
to the words of Isaiah, “I have long time
holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a
travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. I will make waste mountains and hills, and
dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up
the pools” (Isaiah 42:14-15).
To Mormon, who witnessed the
decadence and destruction of the Nephites 500 years later, Abinadi was
remembered for prophesying that because of wickedness evil would come upon the
land and that the wicked would be utterly destroyed (Morm. 1:19; cf. Mosiah
12:7—8).[6]
[1] Abinadi's
Disguise and the Fate of King Noah, Maxwell Institute, accessed September
20, 2014.
[2] The
Trial of Alma and Amulek, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 20, 2014.
[4] The
Temple in the Book of Mormon: The Temples at the Cities of Nephi, Zarahemla,
and Bountiful, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 20,
2014.
[5] Rollercoaster
Economics, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 20, 2014.
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