Chapter 4
King Benjamin continues his address—Salvation comes
because of the Atonement—Believe in God to be saved—Retain a remission of your
sins through faithfulness—Impart of your substance to the poor—Do all things in
wisdom and order. About 124 B.C.
1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had
made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the
angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and
behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon
them.
2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal
state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one
voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may
receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe
in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things;
who shall come down among the children of men.
3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these
words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy,
having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience,
because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come,
according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.
4 And king Benjamin again opened his mouth and began to
speak unto them, saying: My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people,
I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the
remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you.
5 For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at
this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless
and fallen state—
6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the
goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and
his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which
has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation
might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent
in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his
life, I mean the life of the mortal body—
7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation,
through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for
all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever
shall be, even unto the end of the world.
8 And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And
there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are
there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I
have told you. (Mosiah 4:1-8)
King Benjamin continued speaking the message which had been
delivered to him by an angel.
Hearing King Benjamin’s words, they people had fallen to the
earth. The fear of the Lord had come upon them.
As used in the scriptures, fear has different meanings. The
Bible Dictionary gives us the definition of fear as it is used in verse 1. “Care
should be taken to distinguish between two different uses of this word. The ‘fear
of the Lord’ is frequently spoken of as part of man’s duty (Ps. 111:10; Eccl.
12:13; Isa. 11:2–3; Luke 1:50); it is also described as ‘godly fear’ (Heb.
12:28). In such passages fear is equivalent to reverence, awe, worship, and is
therefore an essential part of the attitude of mind in which we ought to stand
toward the All-holy God.”
Why did they fall to the earth?
“Bowing down—or more
dramatically, full prostration—is not only an instinctive response when coming
into the presence of a superior being, but it is also a common element of
ritual. Collective group prostration, particularly in a temple context, was
more than simply a reaction of people being overcome. It had long been a
customary part of the Nephite covenant-making ceremony (see Mosiah 4:1).”[1]
So, we see the
falling to the earth was an important part of the ritual.
Benjamin’s words
made the people aware of their carnal state.
They were “less than the dust of the earth.” The people cried, saying, “have mercy, and
apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins,
and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the
children of men” (Mosiah 4:2).
Hugh Nibley explains
the people crying together.
“As in Mosiah, there were frequent exchanges between the
king and the people, the latter reciting in unison. This explains the odd
circumstance in which the people ‘all cried aloud with one voice’ (Mosiah 4:2)
and proceeded to recite in unison an ecstatic statement of some fifty words.
How could they do it spontaneously ‘with one voice’? Throughout the world such
acclamations were led by a special cheerleader, sometimes called a stasiarch, who stood before the
crowd and received notes from important people or shouts from the audience
requesting particular cheers. He would recite a sentence to the people and wave
a flag to lead them in a uniform chant (compare Deuteronomy 27:14–26).
Sometimes the king himself chose to lead the cheering, and some Roman emperors
enjoyed it. There was no limit to what could be shouted in unison, and it could
go on for hours.”[2]
Asking the Lord to
apply the “atoning blood of Christ” is important. Hugh Nibley explains we are given choice.
“If we would have
God ‘apply the atoning blood of Christ’ (Mosiah 4:2) to our case, we can also
reject it. We can take advantage of it or we can refuse it. The Atonement is
either dead to us or it is in full effect. It is the supreme sacrifice made for
us, and to receive it we must live up to every promise and covenant related to
it—the Day of Atonement was the day of covenants, and the place was the temple.”[3]
The Lord heard their
plea. The Spirit of the Lord came upon
the people. They rejoiced because they
had received a remission of their sins.
Their conscience was at peace.
This was all don through their faith in Christ and their acceptance of
what King Benjamin had told them.
King Benjamin
continues his sermon. The people
understand they are more than just subjects to him. He refers to them as his “friends and my
brethren, my kindred and my people.”
Through their
humbling themselves and accepting Benjamin’s words, “God as awakened you to a
sense of your nothingness, and you worthless and fallen state.” After seeing God’s creations, Moses realized
our nothingness. “And it came to pass
that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his
natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I
know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:10).
James Faulconer
explains salvation requires us to realize we are nothing.
“That we cannot reveal God, make an image of him, takes us
back to a point in Jacob's sermon: theology is not only a matter of going
beyond learning through testimony and covenant, though it is that. It is also a
matter of remaining a fool before God in knowledge. The fool is not
empty-headed merely because there is some fact he does not yet know. To be
a fool is to be silly in the old sense of that word; it is to be weak, to
be deficient in judgment and sense. It is to be nothing (and King Benjamin
reminds us that salvation requires that
we recognize our nothingness; Mosiah 4:5, 8–9, 11).”[4]
The people have
accepted God’s goodness and power; his wisdom, patience and long suffering.
Christ’s atonement
was “prepared from the foundation of the world.” The atonement was the essential part of the
plan of salvation. We all sin and fall
short during our lives. Justice must
have its demands met; only mercy can intervene between man, the sinner, and the
justice of God.
We are to put our
trust and faith in Christ to obtain salvation.
About the same time Benjamin was speaking, Abinadi was confronting Noah
and his priests. “For were it not for
the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the
foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must
have perished” (Mosiah 15:19).
When Alma1 began
baptizing his followers, he cried unto the Lord, “And when he had said these
words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee,
having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered
into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may
the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you
eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the
foundation of the world” (Mosiah 18:13).
Ultimately, we must
place our trust in Christ. David wrote,
“How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God!
therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy
wings. They shall be abundantly
satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the
river of thy pleasures.” (Psalms 36:7-8).
Nephi, quoting
Isaiah wrote, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid;
for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my
salvation” (2 Nephi 22:2). When
preaching to the wicked in Zarahemla, Nephi2 told them, “And thus we
can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children
of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless
and prosper those who put their trust in him” (Helaman 12:1). “Benjamin stressed
knowing God's attributes. Again, he touched firmly though subtly on a profound
point. As we come to know the attributes of God, this can awaken us, as King
Benjamin said, to our comparative fallen state (see Mosiah 4:5—6).”[5]
The person who
humbles himself before God, accepts his nothingness, is the person who received
salvation. We must remember, that this
was prepared for us before the foundation of the world. We are all subject to
sin through the fall of Adam. The
atonement is for us all.
Only Christ brings
salvation. It had to be Christ. No one else could save mankind. Before the foundation of our world, Christ
was the Chosen Son of God. The Nephites
knew and understood Christ’s role.
“Benjamin knew and
also referred to several concepts that were found on the small plates or were
traditional in Nephite culture … [An] example appears in Mosiah
4:8 (see also Mosiah 3:17), in which Benjamin says, ‘there is none other
salvation save this which hath been spoken of,’ which seems to quote 2 Nephi
31:21: ‘this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under
heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God.’”[6]
[1]
Toward
an Understanding of the Sermon as an Ancient Temple Text, John W. Welch,
Maxwell Institute.
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