16 And Ammon said that
a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no
man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a
man may have great power given him from God.
17 But a seer can know
of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them
shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest,
and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be
made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise
could not be known.
18 Thus God has
provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore
he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.
19 And now, when Ammon
had made an end of speaking these words the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave
thanks to God, saying: Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these
plates, and these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of
unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men.
20 O how marvelous are
the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people; yea, and
how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for
they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over
them!
21 Yea, they are as a
wild flock which fleeth from the shepherd, and scattereth, and are driven, and
are devoured by the beasts of the forest.
Mosiah 8:16-21
After telling Limhi King Mosiah2 was a seer who
could translate the records. He then goes
on to explain what a seer is. In
addition to being a seer, he is also a revelator and a prophet. These are gifts no one can have save it be
given him of God.
A seer knows both things of the past and things of the
future. They will be made known to him
through the power of God. Steven Olsen explains
how knowing the past affected those who wrote the Book of Mormon.
Just as the concept of history in
the Book of Mormon is singular, so is the set of personal qualifications needed
for the authors to produce such a work. In particular, priesthood keys and
highly refined spiritual gifts—including prophecy, revelation, and
"seeing"—were required to grasp the mind and will of God, as regards
the overall focus and particular contents of the narrative. In addition, its
principal authors needed well-developed analytical and literary skills to
reveal such exalted concepts within and through the stuff and substance of
everyday life and language. For Nephi and Mormon, the past, in this exalted
sense, was no more knowable than the future without such spiritual and
professional capacities (e.g., Mosiah 8:16–17 identifies one of the
qualities of a seer as being able "to know of things which are past,"
presumably in a way that was unattainable to record keepers who did not possess
this spiritual gift).[1]
Through this means, “God
as provided a means that man, through faith, might work might miracles;
therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.”
In connection with the powers of revelation,
as Ammon says, a righteous priesthood holder can work by faith to provide great
benefits to his fellow beings (see Mosiah 8:18). A priesthood holder can,
in fact, exercise great faith in behalf of others of lesser faith and can
"fill in" with faith for them; thus a prophet and a people together
can bring down blessings for even a whole community. The Lord seems to be
interested not only in individuals, but also in communities of individuals who
wish to establish holy cities and have the possibility of uniting with heavenly
communities. A priesthood holder's office is to sanctify himself and stand as
an advocate before God seeking blessings for his community in the manner of the
Lord Jesus Christ himself, whether the community be as small as a family or as
large as King Benjamin's. Like the ancients, one who holds the holy priesthood
is always "look[ing] for a city" (Hebrews 11:10, 16).[2]
Ammon ended his words at this point. Limhi rejoiced. He knew the plates contained a mystery and
the interpreters (Urim and Thummim) we prepared to translate the record and
discover the mysteries therein. “Behold,
I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared
saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were
made manifest unto the brother of Jared” (Ether 4:4).
The history of the interpreters
follows very much the same story line as that record, but the interpreters have
an additional history. While the sealed record was simply kept for a long
period of time, the interpreters were used for other purposes besides the
translation of the sealed record for which they were primarily created. They
were the means of several translations and revelations in various
dispensations. King Limhi, referring to the translation of the 24 plates, said
that "these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of
unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men" (Mosiah 8:19).[3]
The works of the Lord are marvelous and He is longsuffering
with his people. They are blind and do
not understand for “they will not seek
wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!” The people are a wild flock. They run form the shepherd and are driven and
scattered. They will be devoured by the
beasts in the wilderness.
[1] Prophecy
and History: Structuring the Abridgment of the Nephite Records, Steven L.
Olsen, Maxwell Institute, accessed September
1, 2014.
[2] King
Benjamin and the Mysteries of God, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 1,
2014.
[3] A
Third Jaredite Record: The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates, Valentin Arts,
Maxwell Institute, accessed September 1, 2014.
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