25 And now Abinadi
said unto them: Are you priests, and pretend to teach this people, and to
understand the spirit of prophesying, and yet desire to know of me what these
things mean?
26 I say unto you, wo
be unto you for perverting the ways of the Lord! For if ye understand these things ye have not
taught them; therefore, ye have perverted the ways of the Lord.
27 Ye have not applied
your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise. Therefore, what teach ye this people?
28 And they said: We
teach the law of Moses.
29 And again he said
unto them: If ye teach the law of Moses why do ye not keep it? Why do ye set your hearts upon riches? Why do ye commit whoredoms and spend your
strength with harlots, yea, and cause this people to commit sin, that the Lord
has cause to send me to prophesy against this people, yea, even a great evil
against this people?
30 Know ye not that I
speak the truth? Yea, ye know that I
speak the truth; and you ought to tremble before God.
31 And it shall come to
pass that ye shall be smitten for your iniquities, for ye have said that ye
teach the law of Moses. And what know ye
concerning the law of Moses? Doth
salvation come by the law of Moses? What
say ye?
32 And they answered
and said that salvation did come by the law of Moses.
33 But now Abinadi
said unto them: I know if ye keep the commandments of God ye shall be saved;
yea, if ye keep the commandments which the Lord delivered unto Moses in the
mount of Sinai, saying:
34 I am the Lord thy
God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage.
35 Thou shalt have no
other God before me.
36 Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing in heaven above, or
things which are in the earth beneath.
37 Now Abinadi said
unto them, Have ye done all this? I say
unto you, Nay, ye have not. And have ye
taught this people that they should do all these things? I say unto you, Nay, ye have not.
Mosiah 12:25-37
Abinadi is standing before the priests of Noah. They have been given the authority to
question him. They decided they would
try to trip him up in his answers.
They’ve asked him the meaning of Isaiah 52:7-10. Abinadi responded to the priests.
You claim to be priests, you pretend to teach the people,
and you don’t know what this means?
Instead of teaching the people, they pervert the ways of the Lord. “For if ye understand these things ye have
not taught them; therefore, ye have perverted the ways of the Lord.”
Abinadi then asks the priests, “[W]hat teach ye this
people?” Why, the priests replied, we
teach them the Law of Moses!
“Although he had become lax in his commitment to follow the
law of Moses as the law was understood by Abinadi, as it had been taught by the
prophets Nephi and Jacob, and as dictated by any sensible understanding, Noah
and his priests still purported to teach and presumably abide by the law of
Moses (Mosiah 12:28), at least as they understood it. One must wonder, at the
outset, how much of the Torah Noah and his priests had in written form.”[1]
If that were true, Abinadi asks, why don’t you keep the
Law? You lust after riches and women and
cause the people to commit sin. In fact,
things are so bad, I was sent by the Lord to call you and this people to
repentance!
Then, Abinadi lets them know he knows what’s in their
hearts. “Yea, ye know that I speak the
truth.” They will suffer for their
sins.
The priests claim to have taught the Law of Moses, yet he
questions what they know about the Law of Moses. He asks, “Doth salvation come by the law of
Moses?” The priests answer it does.
Book of Mormon prophets made it clear to the people how
salvation came to the people. No doubt
Abinadi knew the answer, but they didn’t have access to the words of King
Benjamin. “And many signs, and wonders,
and types, and shadows showed he unto [His people], concerning his coming; and
also holy prophets spake unto them concerning his coming; and yet they hardened
their hearts, and understood not that the claw of Moses availeth
nothing except it were through the atonement of his blood” (Mosiah 3:15).
We also learn that the Lamanites converted by the sons of
Mosiah, understood the purpose of the Law of Moses. “Now they did not suppose
that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to
strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through
faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake
of those things to come” (Alma 25:16).
Abinadi responded if they keep the commandments of God, they
would be saved. He quoted the words the
Lord spoke to Moses.
“I am the Lord thy God, who hath brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt have no other God before me.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing in heaven above, or things which are in the earth beneath”
(Mosiah 12:34-36).
Then he challenges the priests. Have you done this? Have you taught the people all these
things? Abinadi answers for them, “Nay,
he have not.”
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