Mosiah 2:23-27

 23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you.  And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves?  I answer you, Nay.  Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust.  And ye behold that I am old, and am about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.

27 Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking with a clear conscience before God, even so I at this time have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might be found blameless, and that your blood should not come upon me, when I shall stand to be judged of God of the things whereof he hath commanded me concerning you. (Mosiah 2:23-27)

Why are we indebted to God?  Because he crated us and gave us life.  “Benjamin strikes here a double blow: first he reshapes our thinking about service by redefining it as exclusively service to God, and second, he reduces all service to God as ultimately unprofitable (see Mosiah 2:23–24). Even royal service is not exempt from this sobering reduction: ‘I [your king] ... am [no] more than a mortal man ... like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; ... I ... am no better than ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust’ (Mosiah 2:10–11, 26).”[1]

“In October of 1998 Hurricane Mitch devastated many parts of Central America. President Gordon B. Hinckley was very concerned for the victims of this disaster, many of whom lost everything—food, clothing, and household goods. He visited the Saints in the cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Managua, Nicaragua. And like the words of the loving prophet Elijah to a starving widow, this modern prophet’s message in each city was similar-to sacrifice and be obedient to the law of tithing.

“But how can you ask someone so destitute to sacrifice? President Hinckley knew that the food and clothing shipments they received would help them survive the crisis, but his concern and love for them went far beyond that. As important as humanitarian aid is, he knew that the most important assistance comes from God, not from man. The prophet wanted to help them unlock the windows of heaven as promised by the Lord in the book of Malachi (see Mal. 3:10; Mosiah 2:24).”[2]

Again, Benjamin tells us we are required to keep the Lord’s commandments.  When we do, we are immediately blessed.  “By [reverence] of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the [perverse]: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.” (Proverbs 22:4-5).

“But, we become indebted to him and “will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?”

“[Benjamin] is setting the keynote, which is absolute equality. And that follows naturally from the proposition that we owe everything to God, to whom we are perpetually and inescapably in debt beyond our means of repayment: ‘In the first place ... ye are indebted unto him ... and will be forever and ever’” (Mosiah 2:23-24) (emphasis in original).[3]

“[C]an ye say [anything at all] of yourselves?”  We are made of the dust of the Earth.  Jacob reminded the Nephites they were dust of the Earth.

“And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?

“Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh?  And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other.  And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever” (Jacob 2:20-21).

Alma₂ taught Corianton, “Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee.  For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life” (Alma 42:2).

To whom does the dust belong?  It belongs to the Lord.  “It is his property, not yours! What is more, no one can even pay his own way in the world, let alone claim a surplus…”^[4]  The Lord simply asks “…only two things: first, to recognize his gifts for what they are, and not to take credit to ourselves and say, ‘This is mine’…”^[5]

“The Book of Mormon tells us that the essence of repentance is knowing exactly what we are. King Benjamin really rubs it in: ‘Therefore, of what have ye to boast? And now I ask, can ye say ought of yourselves? … Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth’ (Mosiah 2:24-25).”[6]

Benjamin reminds the people, “I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are.”  Can you imagine many of today’s politicians confessing this?  Why is he no better than the people?  “I am also of the dust.”  Benjamin is old, and is “about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.” 

“Benjamin taught powerfully that he as king was no better than any other person in the society (see Mosiah 2:10–11). He told his people that he too was of the dust, an extraordinary concession for any king to make (see Mosiah 2:26). Although his people may have understood this more as an expression of personal humility than as a plank in a political manifesto, the notion that all people in the land were of the dust and were therefore fundamentally equal to each other would have had a strong potential for leveling political attitudes and strengthening democratic tendencies within that society.”[7]

Benjamin served his people “walking with a clear conscience before God.”  He called the people together to give them his farewell message so he would be found blameless and their blood would not come upon him at the final judgment. “He also warns his people in a most solemn manner of the perils of transgressing the commandments of God. The king wanted to make sure that the blood of no person should come upon him for lack of proper instruction (Mosiah 2:27).”^[8]

This reason was similar to Jacob’s reason for preaching.  “And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day” (Jacob 1:19).

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[1] Benjamin’s Speech: A Masterful Oration, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute.

[2] Tithing-a Commandment Even for the Destitute, Elder Lynn G. Robbins, April 2005 General Conference.

[3] Work We Must, but the Lunch Is Free, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute.

[4] Work We Must, but the Lunch Is Free, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute.

[5] Gifts, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute.

[6] The Book of Mormon: Forty Years After, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute.

[7] Democratizing Forces in King Benjamin’s Speech, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute.

[8] Types of Literature in the Book of Mormon: Historical Narrative, Memoir, Prophetic Discourse, Oratory, Sidney B. Sperry, Maxwell Institute.