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).”[1]
“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 11:19 that 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 repeatedly.
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.
“A repentant heart and good
works are the very conditions required to have grace restored to us. When
someone pleads fervently in prayer for an answer, the answer may be more
conditioned on repentance of personal sins than on any other factor.”[4]
“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).”[5]
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.”[6]
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.”[7]
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).”[8]
[1] “What
Meaneth the Words That Are Written?” Abinadi Interprets Isaiah, Ann Madsen,
Maxwell Institute.
[2] The
Book of Mosiah: Thoughts about Its Structure, Purposes, Themes, and Authorship,
Gary L. Sturgess, Maxwell Institute.
[4] Receiving
Divine Assistance through the Grace of the Lord, Elder Gene R. Cook, April
1993 General Conference.
[5] “What
Meaneth the Words That Are Written?” Abinadi Interprets Isaiah, Ann Madsen,
Maxwell Institute.
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