“Book of Mormon (Mosiah 7; 12-13; 17): Why Did King Noah and His Priests Have Abinadi Killed?” by grego

Book of Mormon (Mosiah 7; 12-13; 17): Why Did King Noah and His Priests Have Abinadi Killed?

grego
(c)2012

The charge the priests bring against Abinadi is this:
Mosiah 17:7 And he said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death.
8 For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death…

That doesn’t seem like much of a crime, especially one that would merit the death penalty.

Today in Mosiah 7 when I came across this:
Mosiah 7:27 And because he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth—
28 And now, because he said this, they did put him to death…
a possibility clicked.

According to the first and second of the ten commandments (which Abinadi quoted for them during his trial):
Mosiah 12:35 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 13:1 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.
…
12 And now, ye remember that I said unto you: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of things which are in heaven above, or which are in the earth beneath, or which are in the water under the earth.
13 And again: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me;
14 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

Note that one of the charges Abinadi makes against he king and his priests is that they worship idols, and teach their people to do so, too–and that gets the king really riled up.

The priests probably charged that Abinadi was teaching that God had made an actual physical image of himself in His creating of man, and worse, would later become that image in living form–a blasphemous heresy of the first and second commandments. On top of that, Abinadi taught that man himself was in the image of God.

I don’t doubt that the priests were gloating over their ironic charge as payback for Abinadi’s retorts, especially to the question they had posed to him. Perhaps this is why God’s payback to them is also ironic (found at the end of Mosiah 17).

There is also some parallelism in the answer the king gives Abinadi:
Mosiah 17:8 …for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people.
King Noah could have said, “I am a jealous King, visiting the the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me;
14 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.”
But Abinadi didn’t accept king Noah’s “mercy”, nor keep his and his priests’ commandments, as the rest of the king’s people had been doing.

LDS/ Mormon: “Food Storage vs. the Passover in Egypt” by grego

LDS/ Mormon: Food Storage vs. the Passover in Egypt

grego
(c)2012

Some people think that food storage will never be much of a problem, especially if they can get it from their neighbor/ nearby family/ members/ etc. Think about these things, though…

The Passover was a night to remember with special food. It was a night that the faithful were to be delivered from a plague through obedience to doing something.

The Israelites were told to do a few things with food the night of the Passover, with the main thing being to put red around their door, as a sign to keep the destroying angel of God from entering:
Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
Hebrews 11:28 Through faith [Moses] kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

What if a purpose of food storage–at least for a few?–will be “a sign” of faith? What if the consequences of having food storage aren’t just that you might not be hungry, or starve, but the Lord will prevent the destroyer from entering your house and smiting it?

If not that, what if the consequences of not having food storage will be no opportunity to get any food, from anyone?

What if those that have their food storage will have special protection, destroying angels, who will cut down/ burn up any who “try to enter”?

Just (left-field) thoughts that came to mind… ;)

“Book of Mormon: Sherem and Jacob (Jacob 7)” by grego

Book of Mormon: Sherem and Jacob (Jacob 7)

grego
(c)2012

It’s interesting to note what Jacob writes about and then what really happens:
Jacob 7:5 And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.

Jacob says Sherem can’t shake him from the faith because of:
–having received revelations;
–having seen angels, and their ministering to him;
–having heard the voice of the Lord.

Then:
Jacob 7:7 …And now behold, I, Sherem, declare unto you that this is blasphemy; for no man knoweth of such things; for he cannot tell of things to come. And after this manner did Sherem contend against me.
Jacob 7:8 But behold, the Lord God poured in his Spirit into my soul, insomuch that I did confound him in all his words.
Jacob 7:11 … Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ.
Jacob 7:12 And this is not all–it has been made manifest unto me, for I have heard and seen; and it also has been made manifest unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if there should be no atonement made all mankind must be lost.

There it is! This is the crux of Jacob’s testimony–the Holy Ghost has testified of Jesus Christ, and supports him. This is the “real” reason why he cannot be shaken.

Sherem makes a fatal Book of Mormon bad guy error:
Jacob 7:13 …Show me a sign by this power of the Holy Ghost, in the which ye know so much.

And Jacob answers:
Jacob 7:14 …What am I that I should tempt God to show unto thee a sign in the thing which thou knowest to be true? Yet thou wilt deny it, because thou art of the devil. Nevertheless, not my will be done; but if God shall smite thee, let that be a sign unto thee that he has power, both in heaven and in earth; and also, that Christ shall come. And thy will, O Lord, be done, and not mine.

“WHAT am I?” instead of “Who am I?”–interesting.
Jacob knows that Sherem is a liar and will deny a sign from the Holy Ghost, right? Hmm… What is a sign he wouldn’t be able to deny? It would no doubt have to be something clear, open, physically manifest; a taking away of Sherem’s power–to be smitten by God. And by doing so, not only would Sherem lose his power, but it would be a testimony of God’s power. But Jacob adds one more part, the most important part–the sign would prove that Christ would come. And of course, it’s God’s will, not Jacob’s.

Jacob 7:15 And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these words, the power of the Lord came upon him, insomuch that he fell to the earth. And it came to pass that he was nourished for the space of many days.
Jacob 7:16 And it came to pass that he said unto the people: Gather together on the morrow, for I shall die; wherefore, I desire to speak unto the people before I shall die.
Jacob 7:17 And it came to pass that on the morrow the multitude were gathered together; and he spake plainly unto them and denied the things which he had taught them, and confessed the Christ, and the power of the Holy Ghost, and the ministering of angels.

Here Sherem confesses what Jacob told him: Christ, the power of the Holy Ghost (by which he was struck), and angels. Wait–angels? Jacob records nothing about having spoken about angels to Jacob. Sherem might have heard it around, or it might be from here:
2 Nephi 6:9 Nevertheless, the Lord has shown unto me that they should return again. And he also has shown unto me that the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, should manifest himself unto them in the flesh; and after he should manifest himself they should scourge him and crucify him, according to the words of the angel who spake it unto me.
2 Nephi 6:11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.
2 Nephi 10:3 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ–for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name–should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him–for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.

In other words, Sherem knows that Jacob has claimed to have had angels visit and minister to him.

Jacob 7:18 And he spake plainly unto them, that he had been deceived by the power of the devil. And he spake of hell, and of eternity, and of eternal punishment.
Jacob had preached a little about these things, from a long time ago:
2 Nephi 9:8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.
2 Nephi 9:9 And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
2 Nephi 9:10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
2 Nephi 9:12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
2 Nephi 9:19 O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
2 Nephi 9:26 For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.
Jacob 3:11 O my brethren, hearken unto my words; arouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of hell that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death.

However, this is the first time “eternity” and “eternal punishment” appear in the Book of Mormon.

It’s interesting that the really bad guys in the Book of Mormon are liars–special liars–they knowingly lie unto God. Sherem is no exception:
Jacob 7:19 …I fear lest I have committed the unpardonable sin, for I have lied unto God; for I denied the Christ, and said that I believed the scriptures; and they truly testify of him. And because I have thus lied unto God I greatly fear lest my case shall be awful; but I confess unto God.

Wow, that sounds like very legal talk, eh–commit sin, lie, deny, testify; my case; confess.

Jacob 7:20 And it came to pass that when he had said these words he could say no more, and he gave up the ghost.
Jacob 7:21 And when the multitude had witnessed that he spake these things as he was about to give up the ghost, they were astonished exceedingly; insomuch that the power of God came down upon them, and they were overcome that they fell to the earth.
Jacob 7:22 Now, this thing was pleasing unto me, Jacob, for I had requested it of my Father who was in heaven; for he had heard my cry and answered my prayer.
Jacob 7:23 And it came to pass that peace and the love of God was restored again among the people; and they searched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man.

Jacob didn’t will this to happen to Sherem; but he did pray that God would find a way to bring the people back from following and believing in Sherem, to the word of God. There is contention, and then there is special contention clearly manipulated by the devil. The lack of peace and love was due to the second type, and Jacob was glad to be rid of it. This return, due to the “power of God”, was … well, powerful!