3 Yea, and moreover I say unto you,
that if this highly favored people of the Lord should fall into transgression,
and become a wicked and an adulterous people, that the Lord will deliver them
up, that thereby they become weak like unto their brethren; and he will no more
preserve them by his matchless and marvelous power, as he has hitherto
preserved our fathers.
14 For I say unto you, that if he had
not extended his arm in the preservation of our fathers they must have fallen
into the hands of the Lamanites, and become victims to their hatred.
15 And it came to pass that after
king Benjamin had made an end of these sayings to his son, that he gave him
charge concerning all the affairs of the kingdom.
16 And moreover, he also gave him
charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and
also the plates of Nephi; and also, the sword of Laban, and the ball or
director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by
the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the
heed and diligence which they gave unto him.
17 Therefore, as they were unfaithful
they did not prosper nor progress in their journey, but were driven back, and
incurred the displeasure of God upon them; and therefore they were smitten with
famine and sore afflictions, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty.
18 And now, it came to pass that
Mosiah went and did as his father had commanded him, and proclaimed unto all
the people who were in the land of Zarahemla that thereby they might gather
themselves together, to go up to the temple to hear the words which his father
should speak unto them.
Mosiah 1:13-18
Benjamin reminded his sons of the promise made to Nephi that his people would be a chosen people, protected by the Lord, as long as they keep His commandments. Should they become a “wicked and an adulterous people,” they will become weak like the Lamanites. They will no longer be preserved by the power of God.
We see these promises in other scripture. In Hebrews we read:
“For it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
“And have
tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
“If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).
Around 40 B.C., the Nephites had become a wicked people. Mormon gave us a description of the state the people were in at that time.
“And they
saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and
that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn
from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples—
“Therefore
the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for
they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw
that the Lamanites were exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they
should cleave unto the Lord their God they must unavoidably perish.
“For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years” (Helaman 4:24-26).
In our time, the Lord revealed that we are under the same promise and warning made by the Lord to the Nephites. “But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them” (D&C 103:8).
Had the Lord
not “extended his arm in the
preservation of our fathers,” they
would have been defeated by the Lamanites.
The Lamanites were motivated by their hatred of the Nephites.
Duane Boyce looks at this hatred. “We know that Nephite dissenters who became Lamanites were more hardened in their hatred for the Nephites than were other Lamanites (see Alma 24:29–30; 43:6; 47:36). But this doesn’t mean that these other Lamanites didn’t also hate the Nephites. They did; and they had a long history of doing so.
“Jacob, for example, speaks in the earliest days of Lamanite ‘hatred’ for the Nephites—and he does so while praising them for their superiority to the Nephites (Jacob 3:7). He also reports that the Lamanites ‘delighted in wars and bloodshed’ and that they ‘had an eternal hatred against us,’ and sought ‘by the power of their arms to destroy us continually’ (Jacob 7:24). King Benjamin also speaks of the Lamanites’ early ‘hatred’ toward the Nephites (Mosiah 1:14).”[1]
After
reminding Mosiah of the promises of the Lord, Benjamin gave his son a charge
concerning the kingdom he was about to rule.
David did something similar with Solomon.
“GIVE the
king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
“He shall
judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
“The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
“He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor” (Psalms 72:1-4).
In addition
to his charges, Benjamin gave Mosiah the brass plates, the plates containing
Nephite history, and the sword of Laban.
This is the first time we read of these things being passed on to a new
king. It appears that Nephi began this
tradition of passing certain things on to the new king.
Benjamin gave special emphasis to the Liahona. As long as Lehi’s party was righteous, the Liahona worked and gave them direction for their travels. When they were unfaithful, the Liahona stopped working. They were forced to wander on their own. “Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy” (Lamentations 1:5).
Mormon reminds us,
“Yea, and we
may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase
of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and
in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives,
and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of
their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine,
doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the
time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do
trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and
their exceedingly great prosperity.
“And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him” (Helaman 12:2-3).
Benjamin gives us insight into Lehi’s party journey in the wilderness. We know little of what happened during their journey. S. Kent Brown looks at this and gives us come insight as to what might have occurred.
“It is important to add a few words about the kinds of vicissitudes that the party met along the way. Nephi said of their troubles that ‘we did . . . wade through much affliction,’ afterward characterizing the hardships less vividly as ‘afflictions and much difficulty’ (1 Nephi 17:1, 6). Later Book of Mormon authors who had consulted the full set of records added important details, speaking of the family’s suffering from both ‘famine’ and ‘all manner of diseases’ while crossing the desert (Mosiah 1:17; Alma 9:22).”[3]
“It is this
eastward stage of the journey that apparently took the most time. And it may
well have been in this segment that, in the recollection of King Benjamin, the
party ‘did not . . . progress in their journey, but were driven back, . . . and
. . . were smitten with famine and sore afflictions’ (Mosiah 1:17). While ‘famine
and sore afflictions’ occasionally characterized the family’s trip from the
first camp to Nahom, their eastward route along the south edge of Arabia’s
Empty Quarter would have brought more intense troubles since they were leaving
areas of population and cultivation.”[4]
Having
received his father’s instructions, he did what Benjamin had commanded
him. A proclamation was sent forth,
telling them people in the land of Zarahemla to gather at the temple. There, they would hear Benjamin’s great
sermon.
The temple was an important part of Nephite society. “A society’s most sacred spot is the location where the sacred act of coronation takes place … In the Nephite case, the temple at Zarahemla was the sacred site chosen for Benjamin’s address to the people and for Mosiah’s consecration as king (see Mosiah 1:18).”[5]
Stephen Ricks further explains the importance of the temple.
“Temples played a vitally important role among the peoples of the Book of Mormon. Following their arrival in the promised land, Nephi built a temple ‘after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things’ (2 Nephi 5:16), where Nephi’s brothers Jacob and Joseph later taught as priests (see Jacob 1:17–8). Subsequently, temples were built in Zarahemla (see Mosiah 1:18, 2:1, 5–7) and in Bountiful, where the risen Christ appeared to the people (see 3 Nephi 11:1; compare Mosiah 6:3).”[6]
[1]
Were the Ammonites Pacifists? Duane Boyce, Maxwell Institute.
[2]
Benjamin, the Man: His Place in Nephite History, John W. Welch, Maxwell
Institute.
[3]
New Light from Arabia on Lehi’s Trail, S. Kent Brown, Maxwell Institute.
[4]
A Case for Lehi’s Bondage in Arabia, S. Kent Brown, Maxwell Institute.
[5]
Converging Paths: Language and Cultural Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern
Background of the Book of Mormon, Stephen D. Ricks, Maxwell Institute.
[6]
The Book of Mormon and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Stephen D. Ricks, Maxwell
Institute.
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