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.
10 And he also prophesieth evil concerning thy life,
and saith that thy life shall be as a garment in a furnace of fire.
11 And again, he saith that thou shalt be as a stalk,
even as a dry stalk of the field, which is run over by the beasts and trodden
under foot.
12 And again, he saith thou shalt be as the blossoms
of a thistle, which, when it is fully ripe, if the wind bloweth, it is driven
forth upon the face of the land. And he
pretendeth the Lord hath spoken it. And
he saith all this shall come upon thee except thou repent, and this because of
thine iniquities.
13 And now, O king, what great evil hast thou done, or
what great sins have thy people committed, that we should be condemned of God
or judged of this man?
14 And now, O king, behold, we are guiltless, and
thou, O king, hast not sinned; therefore, this man has lied concerning you, and
he has prophesied in vain.
15 And behold, we are strong, we shall not come into
bondage, or be taken captive by our enemies; yea, and thou hast prospered in the
land, and thou shalt also prosper.
16 Behold, here is the man, we deliver him into thy
hands; thou mayest do with him as seemeth thee good.
17 And it came to pass that king Noah caused that
Abinadi should be cast into prison; and he commanded that the priests should
gather themselves together that he might hold a council with them what he
should do with him.
18 And it came to pass that they said unto the king:
Bring him hither that we may question him; and the king commanded that he
should be brought before them.
19 And they began to question him, that they might
cross him, that thereby they might have wherewith to accuse him; but he
answered them boldly, and withstood all their questions, yea, to their
astonishment; for he did withstand them in all their questions, and did
confound them in all their words.
20 And it came to pass that one of them said unto him:
What meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our
fathers, saying:
21 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good
tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth;
22 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the
voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord
shall bring again Zion;
23 Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places
of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed
Jerusalem;
24 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of
all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God?
Mosiah 12:9-24
It’s not surprising to find
after Abinadi finished presenting his message to the Nephites, they were not
very happy with him. In fact, they were
quite angry over the words he spoke. He
was bound and, “[r]eflecting … typical Israelite practice, groups of people in
the Book of Mormon were frequently the initiators of legal actions. The people
seized Abinadi and took him to King Noah (Mosiah 12:9).”[1]
Not only had he said evil
things about the people, he said the kings life would eventually “be as a
garment in a furnace of fire.” If that
wasn’t bad enough, the people told the king Abinadi said, “thou shalt be as a
stalk … which is run over by the beasts and trodden under foot.”
“As explained in Mosiah 12,
King Noah’s subjects charged Abinadi with two counts of false prophecy-one
against the people, and the other against the king (Mosiah 12:9-10). Although
King Noah coordinated most of the trial and pronounced the final verdict
against Abinadi, Noah’s priests also exercised much power over the proceedings.”[2]
But, it doesn’t stop
there. He would be like the blossoms on
a thistle. He would be blown wherever
the wind blew the thistle.
“Had Abinadi declared, ‘The
life of King Noah shall become of little value,’ his message would have lacked
force and vitality. With imagery, his message is effective and stirring: the
life of King Noah shall be ‘as a garment in a furnace of fire … as a stalk,
even as a dry stalk of the field, which is run over by the beasts and trodden
under foot … as the blossoms of a thistle, which, when it is fully ripe, if the
wind bloweth, it is driven forth upon the face of the land’ (Mosiah 12:10–12).”[3]
The people told the king that
they knew he had done no evil. He has
not committed any sin nor have the people.
Who does he think he is to claim God is judging the people and the king?
The people proclaimed
themselves “guiltless.” They hadn’t
sinned nor had the king. Abinadi was a
liar. Not only that, “he has prophesied
in vain.” They rejected his claim they
would end up in bondage. They were
strong and prosperous. This was all
because of the king.
With these charges, Abinadi
was delivered to king Noah. They told
him to “do with him as seemeth thee good.”
The people had brought
Abinadi to the king. Noah cast him into
prison. The next action he took was to
call his priests together so decisions could be made about what to do with
Abinadi.
“Noah put Abinadi in prison
pending trial (Mosiah 12:17). Prisons had limited use in the administration of
justice in ancient Israel and in the ancient Near East … Their main function in
Israel seems to have been the holding of accused persons pending trial or
judgment, particularly when the laws or procedural rules were uncertain … While
Abinadi was being held, Noah met with his priests to discuss what should be
done (Mosiah 12:17-18). In light of the fact that Alma was soon able to
attract a sizable group of converts to follow him and the teachings of Abinadi,
Noah and his priests must have had reason to worry about the threat of Abinadi’s
growing popularity.”[4]
It was decided to bring
Abinadi before the priests. They would
question him. Their ultimate goas was to
confuse him and get him to give them evidence with which they could accuse
him. Ah, the best laid schemes of mice
and men.
“King Noah cast Abinadi into
prison and called his priests to a council to decide his fate. At a certain
point in the proceeding, agents brought Abinadi before the priests, who began
to question Abinadi, trying to ‘cross him’ so they could find evidence with
which to accuse him. But he ‘answered them boldly and withstood all their
questions’ and ‘did confound them in all their words’ (Mosiah 12:19).”[5]
Having brought Abinadi before
them, a priest asks Abinadi what is meant by the words spoken in Isaiah. He then quotes Isaiah 52:7-10 (see also vs.
21-24).
“How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that
saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
“Thy watchmen shall lift up
the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to
eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion [HEB returns to Zion, or restores
Zion].
“Break forth into joy, sing
together, ye waste places [or ruins] of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted
his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
“The Lord hath made bare his
holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:7-10).
“As we live righteous and
unselfish lives, the Spirit of the Lord enters our souls and then radiates from
us. We become beautiful, even as a holy temple is beautiful. And as
missionaries we can help others to become beautiful. “How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.” (Isa. 52:7, Mosiah
12:21, 3 Ne. 20:40.)”[6]
Why might they have asked
Abinadi about these particular scriptures from Isaiah?
“Now, why do they ask this
question? Well, it’s obvious why they ask it … What he is asking is this: If
you are a true prophet, why don’t you bring us this good news. Why don’t you
teach us to rejoice; that’s what prophets teach. This is the kind of message
you should deliver-good tidings that publisheth good and salvation, that bring
joy and comfort to the people. Why aren’t you bringing comfort and joy if you
are a real prophet? That was a logical thing to ask because they believed that
we should enjoy ourselves and teach people what they want to hear. If you were
a prophet like this, you would bring us good news.”[7]
[5] “What
Meaneth the Words That Are Written?” Abinadi Interprets Isaiah, Ann Madsen,
Maxwell Institute.
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