Mosiah 13

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 6/20 Green 3/31 Brown2023.)

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 will 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 ^amad. The guilty and proud cannot stay in conversation with truth. Notice they don't have any way to refute what he said, so they dismiss the whole conversation by calling him crazy.
  2 And they stood forth and attempted to lay their hands on him; but he withstood them, and said unto them:
  3 ^aTouch 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 ^brequested that I should tell; He's tracking what he's said! therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time. No, “but if not...” in Abinadi’s words. He KNEW God would protect him...for now. I would think Nephi's experience with his brothers was a witness God had done this before. 
  4 But I must fulfil the commandments wherewith God has commanded me; He had a testimony like Nephi - I will go and do what the Lord commands; He’ll prepare a way. No doubt. Pure faith! 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. He probably knew they would react that way, but he knew he had to keep the commandment to testify, no matter what happened.
  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 ^ashone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord. What a cool witness for these men to have that God is truly with Abinadi! This is their chance to confess. Considering they just called him crazy, God knew they would not take his words seriously not to touch him unless he added a physical witness of his words. So cool.
  6 And he spake with ^apower and authority from God; and he continued his words, saying: There is a difference between speaking about God and speaking with the "power of God". I think the listeners cannot deny the latter. I don't know that I've ever really heard someone speak with that kind of power.
  7 Ye see that ye have not power to slay me, therefore I finish my ^amessage. Yea, and I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities. I wonder what Abinadi experiences because his countenance shines. And how that must have emboldened him! Interesting that he receives a witness that his words have penetrated their hearts. All but Alma rebel against this witness.
 8 Yea, and my words fill you with wonder and amazement, and with anger. Interesting that they can be filled with wonder and amazement but not let it humble them.
 9 But I finish my message; and then it ^amatters not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved. Here is his “but if not...” faith statement. It’s not “but if I am not able to deliver my message”; just “but if I am not preserved after I fulfill God’s commands”. We all have to be willing to give our very lives in following the directions God gives to us.
 10 But this much I tell you, what you ^ado with me, after this, shall be as a ^btype and a shadow of things which are to come. warning! I think he already made a prophecy that King Noah would die by fire...so does Abinadi already know that he himself will die by fire? Sounds terrifying, unless you have the “peace of God which passeth all understanding.” "The Son of Man hath descended below them all..."
 11 And now I read unto you the remainder of the ^acommandments of God, for I perceive that they are not written in your hearts; I perceive that ye have studied and taught ^biniquity the most part of your lives. how does one intentionally study iniquity? What is he reading from? Does he have a manuscript of the brass plates? Do they have one and he’s reading from their text? 
 12 And now, ye remember that I ^asaid 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 ^abow 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; In the context of this statement it sounds like we “hate” God when we worship anything or anyone but Him. You truly cannot serve two masters (“Love the one and hate the other”) How are these iniquities experienced by the children? Wars? Famine?
 14 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. We all need mercy. This is "good news" for us then that God will show mercy to those who love him and show that love to Him by keeping His commandments. It seems significant that he says "unto thousands"...using a number to teach that God numbers, counts, knows individually those who love Him and keep His commandments.
 15 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him ^aguiltless that taketh his name in vain.
 16 Remember the ^asabbath day, to keep it holy.
 17 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;
 18 But the seventh day, the sabbath of the Lord thy God, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; Interesting that even the “stranger” within our homes are commanded not to do any work on the Sabbath. It sounds like it’s okay to not give them that choice. “Sorry...it’s my home and we don’t work on the Sabbath. If you stay here, you have to follow this command, or you perhaps will cause me to sin.” It kind of goes against the prevailing cultural belief that we are “not to judge” and to let everyone choose. If someone is with us, I suppose we are to teach them like Abinadi “why” we are to keep it holy and bear witness of God. 
 19 For in ^asix days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
 20 ^aHonor thy ^bfather and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. This is the only one of the Ten Commandments that comes with a promise. My brother-in-law, Travis Baer, was hit by lightning years ago and had the distinct impression that his life was spared because he honored his mother and father (which was a challenge with his father because he was very active in anti-Mormon stuff).
 21 Thou shalt not ^akill.
 22 Thou shalt not commit ^aadultery. Thou shalt not ^bsteal.
 23 Thou shalt not bear ^afalse witness against thy neighbor.
 24 Thou shalt not ^acovet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s. This is a big one for the Lamanites and also this King Noah that taxes his people to death and covets their labor
 25 And it came to pass that after Abinadi had made an end of these sayings  He repeated all the Ten Commandments (Law of Moses they professed to live by) that he said unto them: Have ye ^ataught this people that they should observe to do all these things for to keep these commandments?
 26 I say unto you, Nay; for if ye had, the Lord would not have caused me to come forth and to prophesy evil concerning this people. When will our prophet “prophesy evil concerning this people?” Are we protected by honoring even just these ten? I believe the Law of Moses had hundreds of laws. All the activities in our country to remove the display of these Ten Commandments from public spaces is a direct affront to God and will bring about the curses promised for doing so!
 27 And now ye have said that salvation cometh by the law of Moses. I say unto you that it is expedient that ye should ^akeep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you, that the time shall come when it shall ^bno more be expedient to keep the law of Moses.
 28 And moreover, I say unto you, that ^asalvation doth not come by the ^blaw alone; and were it not for the ^catonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses. He is plainly teaching that “church” doesn’t save you. There is something more than the law...it’s the atonement. And it’s the atonement of Jesus Christ that offers a remission of sins when we are “born again”. Then we are offered salvation. The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ for that very purpose.
 29 And now I say unto you that it was expedient that there should be a law given to the children of Israel, yea, even a very ^astrict law; for they were a stiffnecked people, ^bquick to do iniquity, and slow to remember the Lord their God; In our mortal world, the more laws you need, the less righteous you are. Our original constitution was about limiting government and one of it’s founders said this form of government was only doable for a moral and a religious people. They needed to have a higher power than the law that they were subject to so they wouldn’t need laws to dictate every nuance of interaction. One can easily see how far we have moved from that original concept with just one piece of legislation that can be thousands and thousands of pages long. In God’s world, we really only need two laws. Love God and Love your Neighbor. We can only fully do that when we receive and know His love through the baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost. Then we are given the gift of charity so we can truly love our neighbor.
 30 Therefore there was a ^alaw given them, yea, a law of performances and of ^bordinances, a law which they were to ^cobserve strictly from day to day, to keep them in remembrance of God and their duty towards him. This is one of the reasons we are told to pray daily, read scriptures daily, take the sacrament weekly... to keep us in remembrance of God and our duty towards him. When we let go of these daily things, we can lose our connection to God and our duty towards him and over time our necks can become stiffened towards those things.
 31 But behold, I say unto you, that all these things were ^atypes of things to come. Are the laws “these things” he’s referring to? What is/are the “thing/s to come”? Is it not redemption through the Atonement of Jesus Christ when our baptism is complete? He uses the plural of "things"...what else are the laws of Moses a type of things to come besides the atonement? Our daily performances are also meant to keep us in remembrance of God and our duty towards Him. How are things like prayer, scripture study, service, family history, etc types of something to come? 
 32 And now, did they ^aunderstand the law? I say unto you, Nay, they did not all seems to allow that "some" may have... understand the law; and this because of the hardness of their hearts; for they understood not that there could not any man be saved ^bexcept it were through the redemption of God. We are not saved through the law alone.
 33 For behold, did not Moses prophesy unto them concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his people? Yea, and even ^aall the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began—have they not spoken more or less concerning these things? This is one of the “restorations” that the Book of Mormon brings to the world. The Old Testament prophets DID preach about Jesus Christ. 
 34 Have they not said that ^aGod himself should come down among the children of men, and take upon him the form of man, and go forth in mighty power upon the face of the earth?
 35 Yea, and have they not said also that he should bring to pass the ^aresurrection of the dead, and that he, himself, should be oppressed and afflicted? The Jews still look for this Messiah...although many are coming to believe in Christ. Soon the gospel will be taken to the Jews and they will all know He has already come. But He will reclaim them who have been lost to the knowledge of Him because of the teaching is of their fathers.