THE BOOK OF MOSIAH
CHAPTER 16
God redeems men from their lost and fallen state—Those who are carnal
remain as though there was no redemption—Christ brings to pass a
resurrection to endless life or to endless damnation. [About 148 B.C.]
[Vs. 1-15 Abinidi concludes his speech and summarizes it with the fact
that they are all condemned because of their sinful nature and the Law
of Moses points to Christ and without Christ they are damned. ]
1 AND now, it came to pass that after Abinadi had spoken these words he stretched forth his hand and said: The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; [ The final testimony from Abinidi begins. He begins with it is coming; the day is coming you will see - I so testify ] when every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgments are just.
[ How hard will that be to swallow? What will be required? 1) they will
need to come to the recollection that there is in deed a God 2) That he
is supreme to them 3) That he does indeed rule heaven and earth 4) That
he did have a plan which included agency and that they choose to follow
another path; but it does not matter what the path that they choose.
Because in the end God will still be God, and all will be subject to
him and all will eventually come to know that. ]
2 And then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have cause to howl, and weep, and wail, [ Why?
Because they can now see what they could have had; they have lost the
opportunity, hope is lost; destruction is ensured. They can throw all
of the temper tantrums that they want but it not change a thing. ] and gnash their teeth;
[ To have ones teeth set on edge or to bite down in pain, anguish, or
anger. All these references to weeping and gnashing of teeth have one
thing in common—the undeniable fact that those who have not subjected
themselves to the laws of God will suffer such a terrible fate.
Gnashing of teeth appears seven times in the New Testament as a
description of the torments of the damned in Hell. It is thought to
derive from a logion in the hypothetical Q source, which yielded
Matthew 8:12 and Luke 13:28] and this because they would not hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] unto the voice of the Lord; therefore the Lord redeemeth them not. [ Why? because he cannot; they have made no attempt to provide him with the power in their own lives to do so. ]
3 For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; [ What is the power that the Devil has over them?
Well it is no more than that fact that they will not submit to the fact
that God is God, and that salvation comes through him and him only. so
if they will not allow the power of God to take place in their life
then the power of God can do nothing to save them, and if they cannot
be saved then they are left to their master - Satan. ] yea,
even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the
cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming
carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting
themselves to the devil.
4 Thus
all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost
were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen
state.
5 But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, [ Or in other words those who will not repent. ] remaineth [
Much like Newton's laws. If you do not put some effort into change then
things will remain as they are, corrupt, fallen from the presence of
God, and hence broken. ] in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, [ Why is that true?
because of the principle of agency, if we do not choose to believe in
the Savior and to repent then he will not or cannot save us. ] being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God. [ Or in other words if you are following Satan who is the enemy of God, then as a result you are an enemy to God as well. ]
6 And
now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come
as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.
7 And if
Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death
that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no
sting, [ Some critics of the Book of Mormon suggest that this is a mistake of Joseph Smith as he is quoting from Paul (1 Cor. 15:55) which was traditionally thought to be written around 55 AD. However; we find text such as this "And thereafter, in like manner, Esaias said: Did not I when I was alive on earth foretell unto you: the dead shall arise ... And again I said: O death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory? When they heard that of Esaias(Isaiah), all the saints said unto Hell: Open thy gates." written in the Gospel of Nicodemus(5:1) declaring that it was actually Isaiah that recorded the phrase of "thy sting" and the "Victory over the grave". So it only stands then to reason that these words again were included in the plates of brass that Lehi obtained and were removed from the version of Isaiah that we have today in the old testament. ] there could have been no resurrection.
8 But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.
9 He
is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless,
that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that
there can be no more death.
10 Even
this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on
incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to
be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or
whether they be evil— [ He is making it very
clear that the resurrection will be applied to all mena and that it is
the resurrection that brings the spirit back to the presence of God to
be judged. This cannot be said much clearer than this - the BofM
provides such rich insight that is not found in the bible. ]
11 If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; [ notice the contrast between the rewards for those who choose righteousness verses those who do not. ] and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation—
[ Who has agency now? Who is miserable now? Who will be their master? ]
12 Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; [ Who needs to make the effort here? We do as the Savior is always reaching out to help us. ] for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; [ Why would they not stop; and change? Do you think they will wish that they would have? What is the lesson for us here? How do we make sure to stay on the proper path?
We must remain humble; we must continue to recognize that salvation
comes from God; we must become ever more submissive to Gods will. ] and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent.
[ Here is the key to it all; when we place ourselves above the laws of
God; and choose not to repent we are in very serious trouble. ]
13 And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins,
[ The whole purpose of his message - you need to repent; the very
reason why he was called to preach to them. He is summing it all up as
he is coming to The end of his remarks. ] and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved? [ The source of salvation ]
14 Therefore, if ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come—
[ If you are going to teach the law then you need to understand it, look at the law as a type for the future coming of Christ. What was Abinadi's challenge to the wicked priests?
to “safeguarded the doctrines”. He confronted a wicked king whose
priests claimed to “teach the law of Moses” (Mosiah 12:28) but did not
keep it (see Mosiah 12:29). They badly misunderstood the law of Moses
and were teaching it to get gain and to build themselves up—the same
mistake Israelite priests had made for hundreds of years.
Abinadi taught these wicked priests to “keep the law of Moses as yet”
but taught them also that “salvation doth not come by the law alone;
and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the
sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish,
notwithstanding the law of Moses” (Mosiah 13:27–28). Abinadi ends his
great sermon by pleading with the priests of King Noah, who had been
teaching the law of Moses but missing the whole point of the law, “If
ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those
things which are to come—teach them that redemption cometh through
Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father” (Mosiah 16:14–15). As
such Abinadi corrected their misguided teaching of the law and pointed
them to Christ. ]