23 And now, is not this grievous to be borne? And is not this, our affliction, great? Now behold, how great reason we have to
mourn.
24 Yea, I say unto you, great are the reasons which we
have to mourn; for behold how many of our brethren have been slain, and their
blood has been spilt in vain, and all because of iniquity.
25 For if this people had not fallen into
transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come
upon them. But behold, they would not
hearken unto his words; but there arose contentions among them, even so much
that they did shed blood among themselves.
26 And a prophet of the Lord have they slain; yea, a
chosen man of God, who told them of their wickedness and abominations, and
prophesied of many things which are to come, yea, even the coming of Christ.
27 And because he said unto them that Christ was the
God, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the image
of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning;
or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and
that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh
and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth—
28 And now, because he said this, they did put him to
death; and many more things did they do which brought down the wrath of God
upon them. Therefore, who wondereth that
they are in bondage, and that they are smitten with sore afflictions?
29 For behold, the Lord hath
said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will
hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a
stumbling block before them.
30 And again, he saith: If
my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the
whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.
31 And again he saith: If my
people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth
immediate destruction.
32 And now, behold, the
promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted.
33 But if ye will turn to
the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him
with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will
and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.
Mosiah 7:23-33
The people of Limhi are under
Lamanite bondage. This is because of
their wickedness. Limhi reminds them
their captivity is painful to bear.
Their suffering is great and they have reason to mourn. “When the righteous are in authority, the
people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs
29:2).
They have reasons to
mourn. They have lost many of their
people in battles with the Lamanites.
This is “all because of iniquity.”
Nephi2 told the people at the time of the murder of the chief
judge, “O ye ought to begin to howl and mourn, because of the great destruction
which at this time doth await you, except ye shall repent” (Helaman 9:22).
The people are suffering
because of their sins. Instead of
listening to the words of the Lord, they were a contentious people fighting and
killing each other.
“Limhi clearly saw the
parallels between the difficulties that the people of his colony faced in their
bondage and those that the earlier Israelites and the family of Lehi faced. Of
course Limhi knew the reason for the suffering of his people. He laid it
squarely at the feet of his father and the earlier generation’s rejection of
the word of the Lord brought by the prophet Abinadi (Mosiah 7:25-28).”[1]
They had killed the prophet Abinadi
for telling them about their wickedness and prophesied about the coming of
Christ.
Abinadi taught Noah and his
priests “Christ was the God, the Father of all things.” Abinadi could very well have been referring
to the words of Isaiah, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) as well as the words of Nephi. “And as I spake concerning the convincing of
the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be
convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God” (2 Nephi 26:12). After Alma2 revived from his
vision, he told the gathered group, Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue
confess before him. Yea, even at the
last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess
that he is God; then shall they confess, who live without God in the world,
that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they
shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his all–searching
eye” (Mosiah 27:31).
Christ would take upon
Himself the image of man. “And never
have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed
in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye
are created after mine own image? Yea,
even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image” (Ether 3:15).
“The significance of this
mortal birth was more critical than we often realize. It was not an experimental
thing, nor an event that was optional in the plan of salvation. The coming of a
part-divine part-mortal Jesus into the world, Son of Mary and Only Begotten of
the Father, was an absolute necessity. The human family could be saved in no
other way. Only the Lord himself, by coming into mortality, partaking of the
nature of man, living a sinless life, atoning with his blood for the sins of
men, dying, and rising from the dead with his physical body could bring about
redemption. (See Al. 34:8—16; Mosiah 7:27.) Eternal justice would admit no
other way.”[2]
God would come down among the
people and take upon himself flesh and blood.
Abinadi said, “Have they not said that God himself should come down
among the children of men, and take upon him the form of man, and go forth in
mighty power upon the face of the earth” (Mosiah 13:34).
Because Abinadi taught this,
he was put to death. “And it came to
pass that they took him and bound him, and scourged his skin with faggots, yea,
even unto death” (Mosiah 17:13). Is it
any surprise they are in bondage because of their wickedness?
Continuing
his chastisement of his people, Limhi explained the Lord will not assist them
in their sin. This was a common warning
given Israel in the Old Testament.
Joshua warned, “If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he
will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good”
(Joshua 24:20). Samuel told Israel, “But
if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of
the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against
your fathers” (1 Samuel 12:15).
Zechariah forewarned, “And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son
of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus
saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot
prosper? because ye have forsaken the
LORD, he hath also forsaken you” (2 Chronicles 24:20).
They
will not prosper. In fact, the Lord will
place stumbling blocks before the people.
“Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks
before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them;
the neighbour and his friend shall perish” (Jeremiah 6:21).
“It
is one thing to look back upon the events of history. It is another to regard
our own time. We have the Lord’s assurance that he will bless and prosper his
people if they will keep his commandments and remember to look to him as the
source of their blessings.
“On
the other hand, we must not forget that these blessings are conditional. As
King Limhi warned his people, ‘For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not
succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their
ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block
before them’ (Mosiah 7:29).”[3]
The
people have sown sin; therefore, they will reap chaff. Hosea taught, “For they have sown the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no
meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up” (Hosea 8:7). Paul told the Galatians:
“Be
not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap.
“For
he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians
6:7-8).
John
the Baptist told the people, “Whose fan [OR winnowing fork] is in his hand, and
he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner
[GR storehouse, granary]; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable”
(Luke 3:17).
If
the people sow filthiness, they will “reap the east wind, which bringeth
immediate destruction.”
The
Lord promised what would happen if the people were wicked, and they are now “smitten
and afflicted.”
In
spite of their sin and bondage, it they “turn to the Lord … and put your trust
in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind … he will … deliver you out of
bondage.” Moroni writing what he may
well have thought was his farewell at the end of his father’s book wrote, “O
then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the
name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white,
having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day” (Mormon
9:6).
“Limhi
reminds his people that the Lord can redeem them as well, if they bring
themselves into the necessary relationship with him. He explains that through
their wickedness under King Noah they separated themselves from this
relationship with the Lord, but Limhi tells them to ‘turn to the Lord with full
purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence
of mind’ and that ‘if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and
pleasure, deliver you
out of bondage’ (Mosiah 7:33).”[4]
“Spiritual security provides
interesting advantages: you do not have to pay taxes on it, it does not change,
it does not take away your liberty or free agency, and it brings positive,
comforting, spiritual, and eternal results.
“Security cannot be
guaranteed because free agency also brings insecurity, and spiritual security
does not automatically suppress or eliminate danger, oppression, or opposition.
“Then how can we gain
spiritual security? The very simple answer is perhaps too simple for too many:
first, turn to the Lord.”[5]
[2] Mary
and Joseph: Heirs of David, Highly Favored, Guardians of Our Lord, Robert
J. Matthews, Maxwell Institute.
[3] The
Lord Will Prosper the Righteous, Dean L. Larsen, October 1992 General
Conference.
[4] The
Lord Will Redeem His People: Adoptive Covenant and Redemption in the Old
Testament and Book of Mormon, Jennifer Clark Lane, Maxwell Institute.
[5] Spiritual
Security, Elder Charles Didier, April 1987 General Conference.
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