Mosiah 13:1-6

Chapter 13

Abinadi is protected by divine power—He teaches the Ten Commandments—Salvation does not come by the law of Moses alone—God himself shall make an atonement and redeem his people. About 148 B.C.

1 AND now when the king had heard these words, he said unto his priests: Away with this fellow, and slay him; for what have we to do with him, for he is mad.

2 And they stood forth and attempted to lay their hands on him; but he withstood them, and said unto them:

3 Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time.

4 But I must fulfil the commandments wherewith God has commanded me; and because I have told you the truth ye are angry with me.  And again, because I have spoken the word of God ye have judged me that I am mad.

5 Now it came to pass after Abinadi had spoken these words that the people of king Noah durst not lay their hands on him, for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him; and his face shone with exceeding luster, even as Moses' did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord.

6 And he spake with power and authority from God; and he continued his words, saying:

Mosiah 13:1-6

Not surprisingly, the king and his priests were not pleased with Abinadi’s response.  Noah was so angry he told his priests to kill Abinadi as he is crazy.  They priests attempted to seize Abinadi, but they were unsuccessful.

It is not surprising the wicked king and priests were angered by Abinadi’s words.  The Jews became angered with the Savior over His words.  “There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?” (John 10:19-20).

Noah and his priests would have fit in well with Laman and Lemuel.

“And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.

“And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

“And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us” (1 Nephi 16:1-3).

God was protecting Abinadi.  He would not allow Noah and his priests to touch Abinadi until he had finished his message.  There was no way they could kill Abinadi at that time.  This was similar to protection the Lord gave Nephi.

“And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words they were angry with me, and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea; and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying: In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him” (1 Nephi 17:48).

Abinadi’s command from the Lord was to call these people to repentance.  It is because Abinadi fulfilled the commandments of the Lord they are upset with him and think he’s crazy.

Noah and the priests realized they could do nothing to Abinadi as the Spirit was upon him.  The sign he was full of the Spirit was the fact “his face shone with exceeding luster even as Moses did…”

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist [OR knew] not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him…

And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him” (Exodus 34:29-30, 35).

“An additional irony in the story of Abinadi, and one that seems to me to be intentional, is that as a reluctant spokesman for God, at times seemingly limited in judgment, Abinadi's preaching, as far as the record tells us, converts only one person to the gospel. Yet that one person, Alma, turns out to be a man of great intellect and wisdom who is instrumental in turning the tide of Nephite history. Thus, in the hands of God, Abinadi fulfills his divinely appointed mission and at the apex of his prophetic calling is transformed: ‘his face [shines] with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai’ (Mosiah 13:5), and he preaches the gospel with power and clarity, revealing that even in chains he is more powerful than the king and all of his priests.”[1]

Abinadi continues to speak with power and authority.

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[1] Irony in the Book of Mormon, Robert A. Rees, Maxwell Institute.