I finished reading the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago. Now I've decided to start a new project. I'm going through the index, and finding the names of people in the Book of Mormon and studying their lives. And then I write about them in my scripture journal.
I just finished Abinadi--so I'm not very far in. But I'm learning a lot, by just tapping on the brakes and trying to figure out what made each person tick, what turned each situation they were in, etc. Abinadi was fun. Well, unless you were Abinadi (his story is told in Mosiah 11 through 17). But this time, I discovered his prophecies he made, and how they were fulfilled.
Here's a few of them:
Prophecies: The life of King Noah shall be as valued as a garment in a hot fire (Mosiah 12:3); what they do with Abinadi will be a type of things to come; and how Noah killed Abinadi would be the way Noah died.
Result: Abinadi made the three prophecies at different times, but they were all fulfilled when King Noah got burned by his men.
Prophecy: People of King Noah would be brought into bondage. (Mosiah 11:23)
Result: They became subjects of the Lamanite king.
Prophecy: They would be burdened. (Mosiah 12:5)
Result: They had to pay 50 percent to the Lamanites.
Prophecy: They shall howl all the day long. (Mosiah 12:4)
Result: We are told that they have widows crying all the time because they are so afraid of the Lamanites.
Prophecy: The Lord would be slow to hear their cries. (Mosiah 11:24)
Result: In the passages describing this, it says, "The Lord was slow to hear their cries."
Prophecy: Only the Lord could deliver them. (Mosiah 11:23)
Results: In that same passage, it says they couldn't deliver themselves.
Prophecy: The Lord would only deliver them when they repented.
Results: The people escaped in two groups. One, was Alma's followers, who escaped the Lamanites, when the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the guards.
The other group were the ones who stayed in the town. Their escape started when the prophet-king Mosiah sent a band of men to locate them. After they arrived, the people made a covenant with God. After that, Gideon, an inspired man, devised a plan to get the Lamanite guards drunk and then escape. It worked.
Prophecy: Except the repent, they shall be destroyed (Mosiah 12:8)
Result: They repented.
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So every word Abinadi prophesied was fulfilled. And as the people of King Noah were suffering through these awful conditions, they probably remembered Abinadi's words and wished they had repented and kept the commandments and had been spared of the difficulties they experienced.
So if you look at why they didn't listen.
Take a look at some of their attitudes.
1. Dismissal of God and his servant
King Noah says: "Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great afflictions."
King Noah had, in his own warped mind, come to believe that he was above reproach--and even God himself couldn't control him. How wrong he was! Many today try to say God doesn't exist; saying so doesn't make it so, and believing there is no God, does not liberate you from his judgments. Dismissing his servants is not a good idea either, since the Lord has said, "Whether by my own voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same." One thing you should really never do, if you want to have a long life, is burn one of God's prophets. One thing you should really never do, if you want eternal life, is shut your ears to the messages of God's prophets. You should receive every message, even those that require you to make a change in your life.
2. The people of King Noah say, "He [Abinadi]pretendeth the Lord hath spoken it." - Mosiah 12:12
Another common rationalization is to say the prophets don't really speak for God. This is also always a mistake. And a pretty fateful made by this people.
3. Then they add, "And now, O king, what great evil hast thou done, or what great sins have thy people committed, that we should be condemned of God or judged of this man.
"And now, O king, behold, we are guiltless." - Mosiah 12:13-14.
These people did not honestly search their souls to find that which was ungodly and root it out. If they had been honest in their search--and Abinadi later tells them you know I'm right what I'm saying about you being evil--then maybe they would have seen the need to repent.
Their fate came, in part, because they were not honest about who they really were.
4. "We are strong, we shall not come into bondage." - Mosiah 12:15
This is the most common rationalization, and one with dire consequences. A drug addict might have started his habit by saying, "One hit won't affect me; I'm too strong to be addicted."
Other people say, "I'm strong enough; I can handle pornography/cigarettes/or whatever the vice without it leaving its stain on me." And they are proven wrong. And like these people, who thought they were strong enough, they are brought into bondage.
