37 I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the
same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the
evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord
has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples.
38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth
and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal
soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from
the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and
anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever
and ever.
39 And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on
that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never–ending torment.
40 O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you
little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you
that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the
awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.
41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should
consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of
God. For behold, they are blessed in all
things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end
they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state
of never–ending happiness. O remember,
remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.
Mosiah 2:37-41
If a man voluntarily turns
away from God, he is in open rebellion against God. He has chosen to obey the devil, becoming an
enemy to righteousness. The Lord “has no
place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples.”
Nephi2 discussed
rebellion against God.
“And now, seeing ye know
these things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye
have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many
evidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received ball
things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a
witness that they are true.
“But behold, ye have rejected
the truth, and rebelled against your holy God; and even at this time, instead
of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt,
and where nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves
wrath against the day of judgment” (Helaman 8:24-25).
These people do not heed the
word of the Lord.
“And great was the multitude
that did enter into that strange building.
And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of
scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them
not.
“These are the words of my
father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away” (1 Nephi 8:33-34).
Solomon would advise, “Cease,
my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge”
(Proverbs 19:27).
Alma2 and Amulek
emphasized God will not dwell in unholy temples. Speaking to the people of
Gideon, Alma2 told them, “And he doth not dwell in unholy temples;
neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the
kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall
be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness” (Alma
7:21).
Amulek told the Zoramites, “And
this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but
in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that
the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their
garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb” (Alma 34:36).
John Welch gives us a summary
explaining King Benjamin’s perspective on sin. “Benjamin’s ultimate concept of
sinfulness is impressive. For Benjamin, sin is not merely the physical action
of transgressing a commandment of God; it is even more than the mental or
intentional commission of misconduct. The essence of sin, as Benjamin explained
it (and this comes in the middle of section 2 of the speech), is coming out ‘in
open rebellion against God’ (Mosiah 2:37). Indeed, at the core of every sin one
is saying to God, ‘I know you don’t want me to do this, but I don’t care. I don’t
care enough about you, or about what you want, for me to refrain. I’m going to
do it anyway.’ How can a person love God and keep the greatest commandment but
not care what God wants or feels? By recognizing that this state of rebellion
is the essence of all sin, Benjamin helps thoughtful listeners resist
temptation by affirming, ‘But I do care, I do love God, and I keep the great
commandment.’”
So, if we don’t repent, and
continue in sin, we die an enemy of God.
We will face the demands of justice.
As we face justice, our soul will awaken to our guilt. Our guilt will cause us “to shrink from the
presence of the Lord.” The sinner’s
heart is filled with pain and anguish, like an unquenchable fire.
“Young men, please believe me
when I tell you that this scenario [a few transgressions now are no big deal
because they can repent quickly, go on a mission, and then live happily ever
after] is a gross deception by Satan; it is a fairy tale. Sin will always,
always, result in suffering. It may come sooner, or it may come later, but it
will come. The scriptures state that you will ‘stand with shame and awful guilt
before the bar of God’ (Jacob 6:9) and that you will experience ‘a lively sense
of … guilt, and pain, and anguish’ (Mosiah 2:38).”
After Alma2
awakened, he realized his state and his guilt.
“And the Lord said unto me:
Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues
and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and
fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his
sons and daughters;
“And thus they become new
creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of
God.
“I say unto you, unless this
be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be
cast off.
“Nevertheless, after wading
through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath
seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God.
“My soul hath been redeemed
from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold
the marvelous light of God. My soul was cracked
with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more” (Mosiah
27:25-29).
John Welch explains that
Benjamin’s experiences helped him to understand what it meant to be an enemy of
God. “In his younger years, Benjamin was known as an impressive warrior, but he
eventually became known as a devoted spiritual leader as well. This combination
of strength and humility is precious and rare among men, and it allowed
Benjamin to speak from substantial personal knowledge and experience. The fact
that he had personally fought with the sword gives a flesh-and-blood sense of
potency to his forceful words about the severe punishment of those who come out
‘in open rebellion against
God’ and who remain and die ‘an enemy to God’ (Mosiah
2:37–38).”
(Emphasis in original)
Hugh Nibley commented on
Benjamin’s perspective. “The atonement requires a totally different state of
mind from that which men suppose leads them to success. Benjamin makes direct
appeal to the hearts of men. In case after case, he teaches what suggests ‘the
politics of shame’ … [S]hame has
suddenly come into general use by politicians against each other. It is a sense
of shame that keeps people from stepping over the line and doing mean and
ignoble things. Benjamin knew that when he said that every man’s immortal soul
should be awake ‘to a lively sense of his own guilt … his breast [filled] with
guilt, and pain, and anguish … like an unquenchable fire’ (Mosiah 2:38).”
Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt
observes, “In King Benjamin’s warning, submission to the Spirit for guidance on
wisdom’s paths is contrasted with submission to the evil spirit, which results
in psychological pain described in terms of hell: ‘guilt, and pain, and
anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever
and ever’ (Mosiah 2:38).”
Mercy can have no claim on
the sinner. The demands of justice is to
be met. After making poor choices and
turning away from God, the sinner’s “final doom is to endure a never-ending torment.”
King Benjamin calls on “all
ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand
my words” to pray “that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation
of those that have fallen into transgression.”
Alma2 told the
people of Zarahemla:
“Or do ye imagine to
yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works
have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?
“Or otherwise, can ye imagine
yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt
and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance
of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the
commandments of God” (Alma 5:17-18).
Hugh Nibley writes about the
effect of the King’s speech. “The effect of Benjamin’s speech was so plain that
even the little children could not misunderstand that they were subject to the
rules and principles of God’s justice and mercy (see Mosiah 2:40). Thus
Benjamin made his people aware of the inevitable judgments of God, their own
culpability before him, and the only way by which they might stand blameless at
the judgment day.”
After telling people of the
awful state awaiting the wicked, Benjamin asks his people to “consider on the
blessed and happy state” of those who keep God’s commandments. Mormon describes
the state of the Nephites after Christ’s ascension.
“And it came to pass that
there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell
in the hearts of the people.
“And there were no envyings,
nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any
manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among
all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
“There were no robbers, nor
murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of –ites; but they were
in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.
“And how blessed were
they! For the Lord did bless them in all
their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an *hundred
and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed
away, and there was no contention in all the land” (4 Nephi 1:15-18).
The righteous are blessed in
all things. “O love the LORD, all ye his
saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the
proud doer” (Psalms 31:23). These
blessings are both temporal and spiritual in nature. “[JST Matt. 6:38 Wherefore, seek not the
things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to
establish] his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”
(Matthew 6:33).
Those who are faithful to the
end will enter into heaven and “dwell in the presence of God in a state of never-ending
happiness.”
“Plainly, things among the
Nephites had reached a dangerous state. The people had wandered from the road
of keeping the commandments, ‘both temporal and spiritual’ (Mosiah 2:41). What
we should be after is not to gain advantage in this world but to ‘dwell with
God in a state of never-ending happiness’ (Mosiah 2:41). He knows that it will
sound unrealistic. If that suggests our worldly vantage point as some faraway
wishful thinking or fantasy, Benjamin brings us around: ‘O remember, remember
that these things are true’ (Mosiah
2:41). They are not imaginary; it is the everyday world, the light of common
day, that is a deception. Far from being expected to accept these things on
authority, the people presently are given to see it all for themselves.”
“We believe that through the
atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and the
ordinances of the gospel; and that because of his great love for man, the Lord
has granted each of us an opportunity to live in the flesh and through
obedience to the laws of the gospel and through service to our fellowmen, to
find happiness and peace and prepare to live hereafter in a state of ‘never-ending
happiness’ as the Book of Mormon describes it. (See Mosiah 2:41).”
