Mosiah 11:17-29

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.

[3] Abinadi: The Man and the Message (Part 1), Todd Parker, 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.

[6] GotQuestions.org.

[7] Abinadi: The Man and the Message (Part 1), Todd Parker, Maxwell Institute.

[8] Insights 20/12 (2000), Abinadi’s Disguise and the Fate of King Noah, Maxwell Institute.