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 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. Abinadi cursed the people of Noah
that they would be ‘smitten on the cheek ... and slain’” (Mosiah 12:2); among
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]
[4] The
Temple in the Book of Mormon: The Temples at the Cities of Nephi, Zarahemla,
and Bountiful, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute.
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