Chapter 13
Abinadi is protected
by divine power—He teaches the Ten Commandments—Salvation does not come by the
law of Moses alone—God himself shall make an atonement and redeem his people.
About 148 B.C.
1 AND now when the
king had heard these words, he said unto his priests: Away with this fellow,
and slay him; for what have we to do with him, for he is mad.
2 And they stood forth
and attempted to lay their hands on him; but he withstood them, and said unto
them:
3 Touch me not, for
God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the
message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which
ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be
destroyed at this time.
4 But I must fulfil
the commandments wherewith God has commanded me; and because I have told you
the truth ye are angry with me. And
again, because I have spoken the word of God ye have judged me that I am mad.
5 Now it came to pass
after Abinadi had spoken these words that the people of king Noah durst not lay
their hands on him, for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him; and his face shone
with exceeding luster, even as Moses' did while in the mount of Sinai, while
speaking with the Lord.
6 And he spake with power
and authority from God; and he continued his words, saying:
Mosiah 13:1-6
Not surprisingly, the king and his priests were not pleased
with Abinadi’s response. Noah was so
angry he told his priests to kill Abinadi as he is crazy. They priests attempted to seize Abinadi, but
they were unsuccessful.
It is not surprising the wicked king and priests were
angered by Abinadi’s words. The Jews
became angered with the Savior over His words.
“There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath a devil,
and is mad; why hear ye him?” (John 10:19-20).
Noah and his priests would have fit in well with Laman and
Lemuel.
1
And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my
brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things,
more than we are able to bear.
2
And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard
things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I
justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day;
wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the
very center.
3
And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the
truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye
would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things
against us.
1 Nephi 16:1-3
God was protecting Abinadi.
He would not allow Noah and his priests to touch Abinadi until he had
finished his message. There was no way
they could kill Abinadi at that time.
This was similar to protection the Lord gave Nephi.
And
now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words they were angry with me,
and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea; and as they came
forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying: In the name of the
Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power
of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon
me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the
power of God, for God shall smite him.
1 Nephi 17:48
Abinadi’s command from the Lord was to call these people to
repentance. It is because Abinadi
fulfilled the commandments of the Lord they are upset with him and think he’s crazy.
Noah and the priests realized they could do nothing to
Abinadi as the Spirit was upon him. The
sign he was full of the Spirit was the fact “his
face shone with exceeding luster even as Moses did…”
29
And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables
of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist
[OR knew] not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
30
And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of
his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
35
And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face
shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak
with him.
Exodus 34:29-30, 35
An additional irony in the story of
Abinadi, and one that seems to me to be intentional, is that as a reluctant
spokesman for God, at times seemingly limited in judgment, Abinadi's preaching,
as far as the record tells us, converts only one person to the gospel. Yet that
one person, Alma, turns out to be a man of great intellect and wisdom who is
instrumental in turning the tide of Nephite history. Thus, in the hands of God,
Abinadi fulfills his divinely appointed mission and at the apex of his
prophetic calling is transformed: "his face [shines] with exceeding
luster, even as Moses' did while in the mount of Sinai" (Mosiah 13:5), and
he preaches the gospel with power and clarity, revealing that even in chains he
is more powerful than the king and all of his priests.[1]
Abinadi continues to speak with power and authority.
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