Mosiah 7-11

Zarahemla’s in the north, Shilom is in the land of Nephi farther south, and Shemlon is even farther south in the land Lehi. (Was Mosiah I the king of Shilom = Salem? It would push the New-World Melchizedek analogy even farther.) Back at the time of Mosiah I, Zeniff (probably nobility, a relative of Mosiah, being “over-zealous to inherit the land of [his] fathers”), and Amaleki’s brother (probably to be Zeniff’s high priest) went back south to Shilom and asked King Laman for permission to live there. He said OK, with the intent to enslave them.

When Mosiah II begins to reign, the people want to know what happened to their grandparents’ generation. So they send Ammon (a Mulekite and a descendant of Zarahemla) down south to find them. He has the misfortune of finding King Limhi, the grandson of King Zeniff, outside the city with his guards, who promptly throw Ammon in prison for a few days.

When Ammon is brought before Limhi, Limhi recites his genealogy, recounting how Zeniff came out of Zarahemla. (This is traditional so that you don’t make the mistake of fighting family–cf. Illiad & Oddyssey.) Ammon says, “Thanks for not killing me! I’m a descendant of Zarahemla and we came to find you.”

Limhi says, “We thought you were dead!” Limhi had sent a search party out looking for Zarahemla after Alma ran off and they found the remains of the Jaredite civilization and the plates of Ether. They had given up hope of rescue, or even escape to Zarahemla. After telling his people the good news, he reminds them of their wickedness but offers them the hope of deliverance:

29 For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them.
30 And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.
31 And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction.
32 And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted.
33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

Mosiah 7:29-33

Each of us can recall times when we have sown filthiness, poisoned our relationships with family, friends, or our Father in Heaven, and been left to reap the east wind. Deliverance from bondage is the epic story:

When Jacob was in the land of his inheritance, the promised land, there was a famine; he learned that his son Joseph was in Egypt, and there was food there. He was concerned, however, because he knew that his descendants would abandon their God, worship the idols of the Egyptians, and lose the promises that Jacob had wrestled from God. So on his way south, he stopped in Beth-El, the House of God, the place where he’d seen the angels descending and ascending. There he prayed for reassurance that this was the right thing to do.

Jehovah said, “I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt… I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again…” (Gen 46:3-4). So Jacob went, and they did fall into captivity to Pharaoh. God sent a savior prince, who did many miracles; but none were enough to free the people until the death of the firstborn and blood of the lamb.

The people left through the waters of the Red Sea, were led by the pillar of fire and cloud of smoke through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where they covenanted with God and received his law. Finally, they crossed westward over the river Jordan into the promised land, where they met the Lord of Armies, clad in his armor.

We, like Jacob, were in Heaven, the promised land, but could not stay. Christ, Jehovah, said, “I will go down with you and bring you up again.” We fell into sin and captivity to Pharaoh. God raised up a savior prince whose many miracles could not save us until the death of the Firstborn and blood of the Lamb. We leave through the waters of baptism and are led by the spirit through mortality, stopping at the temple to make covenants and receive the law, and then cross through the veil of death into the promised land.

How have you been delivered?

Returning to the land of Nephi: Ammon tells the people about everything that has happened over the past two generations. When the multitude leaves, Limhi asks Ammon if he knows of anyone who can translate the plates of Ether. Ammon says,

13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.
14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.
15 And the king said that a seer is greater than a prophet.
16 And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.
17 But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.
18 Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.

Mosiah 8:13-18

It’s possible that Mosiah I obtained the brother of Jared’s interpreters when he translated the the large stone with engravings on it for the Mulekites (Omni 1:20). The Urim and Thummim is a Hebrew phrase. It literally means “lights and perfections”. The box in the Hill Cumorah contained the plates, the sword of Laban, the Liahona, the breastplate, and the interpreters—two stones fastened in a silver bow. Joseph obtained at least the breastplate, interpreters, and the plates.

The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve are sustained as “prophets, seers, and revelators”. Do they use seer stones? What happened to Joseph’s interpreters?

When Martin Harris lost the 116 pages, the plates, breastplate, and interpreters were taken from Joseph. Once Joseph’s repentance was complete, Moroni gave him a chocolate-colored, egg-shaped stone. BYU’s Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies has several articles about Joseph’s use of the seer stones. Some other good resources are here and here.

Joseph Fielding Smith said,

The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church.

Doctrines of Salvation 3: 225.

Joseph apparently could use any stone for the purpose of translation, rather like using anyone’s computer to get at your email. Apparently the stones had a glowing display, and it needed to be dark to see it. During the day, when they would translate, Joseph would make a dark space in his hat in order to see it, and “the stone would shine forth in darkness”:

23 And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.
24 And now, my son, these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying:
25 I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.

Alma 37:23-25

David Whitmer reported,

I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph would put the seer stone into a hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.

(David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ (Richmond, MO: n.p., 1887), 12.)

Elder Orson Pratt reported that Joseph Smith told him that the Lord gave him the Urim and Thummim when he was inexperienced as a translator but that he later progressed to the point that he no longer needed the instrument. (“Two Days’ Meeting at Brigham City,” Millennial Star 36 [1874]:498-99) Zebedee Coltrin, an early acquaintance of Joseph Smith, related in 1880 that he had once asked Joseph what he had done with the Urim and Thummim and that “Joseph said that he had no further need of it and he had given it to the angel Moroni. He had the Melchizedek Priesthood and with that Priesthood he had the key to all knowledge and intelligence.” (High Priests Record, Spanish Fork, Utah, September 1880, p. 128, LDS Archives, cited in van Wagoner and Walker, p. 59.)

While there are no known photographs of the chocolate colored stone, other of Joseph’s stones as well as two used by the Whitmer family are in the possession of private collectors:

Brigham Young said,

Dec. 27, 1841: I met with the Twelve at Brother Joseph’s. He conversed with us in a familiar manner on a variety of subjects, and explained to us the Urim and Thummim which he found with the plates, called in the Book of Mormon the Interpreters. He said that every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who do find one make an evil use of it; he showed us his seer stone.

(Mill. Star 26:118)

We know that each of the heirs of celestial glory will receive a seerstone, and that the earth will become a sea of glass, a giant seerstone (D&C 130:5-11). Far more relevant to us today is Elder Oaks’ statement:

We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a Urim and Thummim to assist each of us to receive personal revelation.

(Jan 1995 Ensign, p.8)

Interestingly, in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament done around 200 BC, the phrase used for Urim and Thummim is “doctrine and truth”.

How have you found the scriptures to be a source of inspiration and revelation?

In chapter 9, we learn that Zeniff was a good king, one that called on his people to trust in the Lord and repeatedly went to battle to defend them, even in his old age.

His son Noah, however, was not. He violated every commandment given in the law to the kings of Israel:

16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Deut 17:16-20

1 And now it came to pass that Zeniff conferred the kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons; therefore Noah began to reign in his stead; and he did not walk in the ways of his father.
2 For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. And he had many wives and concubines. And he did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness.
3 And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron; and a fifth part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain.
4 And all this did he take to support himself, and his wives and his concubines; and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines; thus he had changed the affairs of the kingdom.
5 For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.

Mosiah 11:1-5

God sent a prophet to the people, named Abinadi. If we assume that his name is of Hebrew origin, we can pick out various parts: eben-ed-i. Eben is “stone” (or, if you’re a Christian, Ab-ben, “Father-Son”, the cornerstone). Ed is “witness”, and -i is a possessive suffix. So, loosely, “my witness is of the Father and the Son.” And as we’ll see next week, Abinadi explains how the Father and Son are one, the son bending to the will of the Father, even as Abinadi went knowing he would die in order to save the soul of one young Alma.

Aleph-Vav-Tav, or the Urim and Thummim

This is something I wrote up a long time ago, but would like to reference here.

Marks, signs, and tokens

When the Nephites separated from the Lamanites, they chose Nephi to be their ruler. Nephi chose his brother Jacob to take over the duties of the Church while he dealt with the affairs of state, similar to Moses and Aaron.

In chapter 4, Jacob preached about the coming of the Messiah to his people. He testified that prophets of old had received a witness of Christ, but that they were rejected by the Jews. Now, Jacob was near the end of his life; most of the Nephites had never had any dealings with the Jews. Jacob himself and Joseph were both born in the wilderness, and many more were born in the promised land. Jacob needed to tell them somewhat about the Jews, and why the Lehites left Jerusalem in the first place.

In Jacob 4:14, Jacob taught his people that “the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from among them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.”

What is the mark of which Jacob speaks? Well, we know that they stumbled when they looked past it. Around six hundred years later, the apostle Peter quoted Isaiah: “Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.” He then went on, “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient…” (1 Pet 2:6,8) Christ, of course, is the stone. The Jews did not recognize Christ as the Messiah. It’s not a stretch to assume that the mark on the cornerstone is the origin, from which all things are measured. By looking beyond the mark, they stumbled on the stone.

The Hebrew word for mark is tav. It’s also the name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In Hebrew, the name of each letter is a word starting with that letter. Children’s books often introduce the English alphabet in a similar way: apple, ball, cat, dog, elephant, etc. It’s thought that the Hebrew alphabet derives from the Phoenecian alphabet; you can compare them by checking out omniglot.com, a collection of every writing system they’ve been able to document. Specifically, see here and here.

Here’s Strong’s definition for the word tav. If you aren’t familiar with Strong’s Concordance, you ought to be. It lists every occurrence of each word in the King James version of the Bible, and gives the Hebrew or Greek word that was used in that verse. The website above is even better, in that it also shows you every time a given Hebrew or Greek word occurs. This allows you to get a much better idea of the original meaning of a word by seeing the different ways it’s been translated into English.

Modern tav looks nothing like the English letter ‘t’, but it did anciently: it was a cross, or an X (see omniglot again). X marks the spot, the right angles of the axes at the origin. It’s the mark that a person puts on a legal document, a covenant.

Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, means “bull“. You can still see the remnant of that meaning in our alphabet today. Our capital A is a bull’s head drawn upside-down. The “legs” of the A are really horns.

Vav, the sixth letter, means “hook“. It’s also used as a prefix that means “and”; it “hooks” concepts together.

One of Christ’s names is Alpha and Omega, meaning “first-and-last.” These letters are Greek. In Hebrew, “first-and-last” is “aleph-vav-tav”. It turns out that this is a Hebrew word, usually transliterated `owt, and is used in many significant places in the Old Testament. `owt means “sign, mark, token”.

On that webpage you can find each occurrence of the Hebrew word `owt in the bible. The following examples are (almost) all taken from there.

It occurs first in Genesis 1:14, where it describes the sun, moon, and stars. They are given “for signs (`owt) and for seasons”. They mark the passage of time, and in a Temple context, they mark of sacred time. Abraham 3 talks about the stars as spirits; when the plan of salvation was revealed, the stars shouted for joy. The pointer stars in the constellation on the Salt Lake Temple, Ursa Major, point at Polaris, the unmoving star. They are symbolic of the Priesthood, pointing at Christ.

`Owt occurs next as mark on Cain (4:15). Everyone will receive a mark, whether to their salvation or damnation. Cain (Gen 4:15), the Lamanites and the Amlicites (Alma 3), the mark of the Beast, and other examples identify one as following Satan. But the righteous are also marked as following Christ.

The clearest example of this is in Ezekiel, chapter 9. In this chapter, Ezekiel sees the cleansing of Israel. God calls six soldiers and a priest with an inkhorn; he commands the priest to go forth and set “a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst [of Jerusalem]. And to the [soldiers] he said in [Ezekiel's] hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.”

Where is the mark? It’s written on your forehead, your countenance. It can be for good, as Alma asked, “Have ye received [Christ's] image in your countenance?” (Alma 5:14) Likewise, it can be for ill, as Isaiah described the wicked: “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” (Isa 3:9).

The next occurrences of `owt are in chapters 9 and 17, where the word is translated as “token” in the phrase “token of the covenant”. The rainbow is the token of the covenant between God and Noah, and circumcision is the token of the Abrahamic covenant.

Another occurrance of `owt is in Exodus 3:12-14, when God gives Moses a token to convince the Israelites of his divine mission. The token is God’s name, I AM THAT I AM. Later occurrences of `owt in Exodus are the miraculous signs given to Pharaoh (4:8, etc.). Finally, the blood of the Paschal Lamb on the lintel is called `owt. In Exodus 12:13, God says, “And the blood shall be to you for a token (`owt) upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

In the Law of Moses, God commanded the Israelites to keep Passover. Part of the ceremony is described in Exodus 13:8-9. “And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign (`owt) unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.” The frontlets are called phylacteries. The footnotes to Deuteronomy 6:8b and 9a explain: “Phylacteries: passages of the law written on scrolls of parchment enclosed in tiny boxes, bound on the left arm and on the forehead, as an ordinance of remembrance of the Mosaic law, and worn by Jews during the morning prayers. Mezuzot: passages of the law written on tiny scrolls, enclosed in a small container and nailed to the right door post or gate, as an ordinance of remembrance.” So the word of God is written on their forehead, and stands in place of the blood of the Lamb at the entrance to their houses.

`Owt is used again when God commands the people to keep the sabbath day holy: “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign (`owt) between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.”

In Numbers chpater 16, some of the people accuse Moses of nepotism because he chose his own brother to become the high priest, and his own tribe to be the priestly class. Moses commanded each man to offer incense in his own censer, and said, “If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them… And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.” (Num 16:29-31,35)

In order to remind the people of that event and prevent any future disputes about the subject, God commanded Moses to take one rod form each of the twelve princes of the tribes of Israel, and leave them overnight in the tabernacle. Aaron’s rod was taken for the tribe of Levi. “And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.” (Num 17:8) The almond tree, then, is a symbol of the true priesthood.

During the time of Christ, the Jews celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. The Bible Dictionary has a nice description of this under the entry “Feasts.” Everyone would make little shelters outdoors, and sleep outside. The shelters had space left in the roof so that you could see the stars. Also, the courts of the temple were illuminated by four huge golden candelabra, the menorahs. These were carved to look like almond trees, and the cups for holding the lamps were carved as almond blossoms (see Ex 25:31-40). It is likely that Christ was referring to these when he said to his disciples, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

In Isaiah 8:18, Isaiah says, “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs (`owt) and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.” The footnote explains: The names of Isaiah and his sons mean respectively: ‘Jehovah saves’; ‘He hastens the prey’; and ‘A remnant shall return.’ Isaiah and his sons were types of Christ through the priesthood. Their names were signs that Isaiah’s prophecies would be fulfilled–just as they would be taken captive, and just as a remnant would return, Jehovah will save his people.

In Revelation chapters 2-3, John describes part of the temple ceremony through which the righteous will pass to inherit the Father’s kingdom: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” (Rev 3:12) This scripture doesn’t explicitly mention the word `owt, but in D&C 130:8-11 talk about the new name mentioned in these passages. Specifically, “Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17 will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one… and a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, wheron is a new name written…” The first letters of “`urim va-thummim” are “`aleph-vav-tav”. Stayc DuBravac observed that Light (Ur) is where Abraham began, and Perfection is where he ended.

New names are commonplace. Michael received the new name Adam when he came to earth. He received signs and tokens involving names in the garden of Eden; he received Christ’s name, through adoption, at baptism. He received a new name when entering the Celestial Kingdom. Abram and Sarai received new names when God covenanted with them. The names are important because they describe a person. If we receive the name of Christ, we should be like Christ. And it’s “written all over our face” if we’re keeping the covenant or not.

Perhaps the most famous scriptures in which `owt appears is Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign (`owt); Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” We’ve come full circle. Christ is the ensign to the nations, the sign that was lifted up on the cross. It’s his countenance we hope to have, that we can see as we are seen, that we can be pure as he is pure. We accomplish this through keeping priesthood and temple covenants.

Mosiah 1-3 (more or less)

I started off with a genealogy chart. Like Moses and Aaron, Nephi was the King and Jacob was the High Priest. Jacob’s descendants, the priests, kept the small plates, while Nephi’s descendants, the kings, kept the large and brass plates. (Some think the phrase “descendant of Nephi” effectively means “nobility.”)

Nephi left the land of their first inheritance (the land “Lehi”), moved north (to the land “Nephi”), and built a temple after the manner of Solomon’s temple. King Mosiah I was warned in a dream to flee the land of Nephi and led his people north. They found the Mulekites in the land of Zarahemla.

King Mosiah I was an incredible guy. He was a seer and a “great king” (Omni 1:12,19-20). He united two nations against the Lamanites and translated carvings from a stone left by the Jaredites. Amaleki, Jacob’s last known descendant, had the small plates, and Mosiah I had the large plates and the brass plates.

Not everyone was happy, though: Zeniff wanted to go back to the land of Nephi to be king, and took Amaleki’s brother, I believe, to be High Priest. I think this is where Alma the Elder got the priesthood, and that Alma was either King Noah’s younger brother or a descendant of Amaleki’s brother—this would make Noah’s claims that Alma was raising an insurrection against him more plausible, as well as Alma’s descendants becoming the rulers of the Nephites (the chief judges) after Mosiah II’s reign.

Words of Mormon ends by saying that Benjamin, by “laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul… did once more establish peace in the land,” becoming a Prince of Peace, a New-World Melchizedek figure. Mosiah chapter 1 begins by saying that Benjamin had three sons, Mosiah, Helorum, and Helaman (I think that Alma the Younger had a particularly close relationship with his friends’ uncle Helaman, since he named his son after him), and that Mosiah was to become the new king.

The Law of Moses contains the duties of a King:

14 When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;

15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.

16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

(Deut. 17:14-20)

Nearly half of the verses talk about the King’s duty to make his own copy of the law and read it. Benjamin emphasizes this:

3 … I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby, and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers.

(Mosiah 1:3)

Just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are “the fathers” in the old testament, Lehi, Nephi and his descendants are “our fathers” in the Book of Mormon. Benjamin is citing the very first covenant in the Book of Mormon:

20 And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.

21 And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

22 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren.

23 For behold, in that day that they shall rebel against me, I will curse them even with a sore curse, and they shall have no power over thy seed except they shall rebel against me also.

24 And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.

(1 Nephi 2:20-24)

He emphasizes to Mosiah that if you don’t have the commandments, then you can’t prosper.

Benjamin told Mosiah to gather the people together to the temple in Zarahemla, not the temple in the land of Nephi. It’s not explicitly stated, but many things point toward this speech being the temple dedication. First, Benjamin was establishing a Zion society. He was going to give the people a name; they would not be Nephites and Mulekites, but would be united, “of one heart and of one mind”, “dwell in righteousness”, and (as he makes clear in chapter 4) “there [would be] no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). Second, it’s very similar in form and style to 1 Kings 8 where Solomon renews the covenant between God and the people and the people say the words of the covenant with one voice. Third, Mosiah was to become their new King. Fourth, Benjamin received the euangelio, the good tidings of great joy, the vision of Christ’s ministry, from an angel just prior to this address.

The people gathered according to their families (or tribes) around the temple. The tribes of Israel always camped around the Tabernacle in a particular order (Num. 2); the Nephites may have preserved this practice.

Benjamin begins his discourse by addressing the duties of the King from Deuteronomy, and shows that he has fulfilled them. He, like Christ, made himself like the other men, working with his own hands for his support. (Was he a carpenter, too?)

The Ten Commandments begin

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

(Ex. 20:1-5)

So we’re commanded not to serve graven images, but rather the image of God: man! “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.”

Benjamin talks about how when we rebel against God, we withdraw ourselves from the Spirit of the Lord. Christ, on the Salt Lake Temple, is represented by Polaris, the North Star. It’s always in the same place–we’re the ones who wander and get lost. We become unholy temples in which the Spirit cannot dwell. A man who dies without making the temple covenant is naked, whereas one who does not keep it has filthy garments; such are pained when they enter God’s presence:

38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.

(Mosiah 2:38)

In contrast, the righteous are in a “blessed and happy state;” their garments are clean; they will abide the day of the Lord’s coming, and like Job will come forth as gold when the Lord sits as a refiner’s fire, a purifier of gold and silver. (Malachi 3:1-6) They will pass through the gates of heaven, “like circling flames of fire” and sit down on the “blazing throne” (D&C 137) with Christ. Christ is the sun god, who rides his flaming chariot from the east (the outer court) to the west (the Holy of Holies). The chariot (R-K-B in Hebrew) has cherubim on it (K-R-B). Read more here.

In chapter 3, Benjamin relates the story of the Great High Priest and King who comes out of the temple, offers sacrifice, takes the blood to the Holy of Holies where he mounts his chariot and then rides forth in his beautiful garments in power to conquer.

He says next that men must become like little children and believe: naturally, men become too jaded (by others exploiting their gullibility) or too proud (convinced by their own learning) to believe in these ridiculous stories. The natural man is an enemy to God; as Paul said,

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

(1 Cor. 2:14)

Now even though the lesson didn’t strictly include chapter 4, I talked about some of it anyway. The people speak with one voice and say the ritual phrases that Benjamin had instructed, culminating in a covenant in chapter 5 to enter into a Zion society and take care of the poor. Benjamin makes it clear that this is the way to have spotless garments:

26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

(Mosiah 4:26)

James also said it well:

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

(James 1:27)