Latest / Scripture Central / Mosiah 1–3 | April 22-28 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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Mosiah 1–3 | April 22-28 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

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Hello, welcome back to Scripture Central. I'm
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Lynn Hilton Wilson and this is John W. Welch
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or Jack, and we are thrilled to be talking
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about Mosiah. In fact, we're in the
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beginning of Mosiah, King Benjamin Sermon, and this
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is not only a manual discipleship, but this is
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probably the best text or big sermon on the atonement
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that has ever been written. Or
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maybe on any subject. Oh, King Benjamin's speech is a
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classic in so many ways, and I'm so excited to be
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able to just explore a little bit and introduce to
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people so many ways in which you can really see
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this with new lenses, with new eyes, with new
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purposes. Every time you read this book,
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it rewards richly with new insights. Let's
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just start talking about the man, shall we? Who
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is King Benjamin? For one thing, he's a king. We
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know that. And he's a father. He's
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a good father. Absolutely. He has three sons and he
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has taught them. He's a prophet. He's
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a general. He not only was a general, he
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also fought. It says he used the sword of
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Laban. So he's out there on the
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front lines with his people. He's
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not standing in the back like Napoleon did. Okay.
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And he is a very successful king. He's
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been able to unite both Nephites and Mulekites. And
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Benjamin is also very successful because he's
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humble. He doesn't try to exert
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himself, to put himself above other people. No,
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very meek. And in doing that, he's
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actually following Deuteronomy chapter 17,
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where the law of the king says that the king should
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not exalt himself above ordinary people. He
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understands the daily problems of family life,
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the plight of the poor. And
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he talks about how he has been working. He
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is doing manual labor. But he also has time to be a
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linguist. He says he knows Egyptian
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because he's reading the brass plates that were
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written in Egyptian. He knows Reformed Egyptian
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because he's adding to the text. And
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he knows Hebrew. And then he teaches these
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languages to his children as well. And
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he knows the scriptures. Oh,
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he is a real scriptorian. And
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what do you make of the fact that he's gone to the
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trouble of having this speech written out? He
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says it's because there were so many who came. It
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says there's so many that you can't even count them.
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And so he had to write a lot
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of copies. And it must have taken some
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time. They must have planned that in
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advance. Oh, this is weeks and weeks in
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planning, especially when you look at the text.
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There's so many careful parallels
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and beautiful poetry that help you understand the
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text that I'm convinced this was very carefully
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worked through. And because of that, and for
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many other reasons, I think when we get to read these
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words, we're not seeing them or hearing them
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filtered through an editor or an abridger. So
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we can hear him in so many ways. We
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also see that this is a setting where they are at
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the temple. They've brought their tents. They're
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going to stay for a while. They
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brought their little booths for the family. To
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me, it sounds like a feast of the tabernacles in the
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old law because they offer sacrifices. I
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mean, you look back in the Torah at what was needed
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for the feast of the tabernacles, and you see
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consistent themes all over Mosiah chapter one through
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six. Exactly. And the building of the
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booths and the tents with their doors open towards
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the temple. So I think those kind of
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insights help us to see that there's more going on
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here than you might say, just a general conference
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talk. But the fact that he's building
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a tower in order for more people to hear, there has
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been a lot of preparation for this. And
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what about the insignia? Oh,
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yes, that's chapter one, isn't it? Let's
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look at that. So he's giving charge to
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Mosiah of everything that's going to be needed to be
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a king. And I'm fascinated that part of
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that kingship included, he gave him charge concerning
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the records, which were engraving on the plates of
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brass and also the plates of Nephi. And
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then he continues on the sword of Laban and the
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ball or director, which we refer to as the Leohona
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that led Lehi through the wilderness. And
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when we think of the context of this speech,
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there have been some really interesting studies of this
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looking at when were kings crowned? And
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of course, Benjamin will be crowning his son Mosiah to
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be the king. Isn't it interesting that in
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European and in other nations, when you have a
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king crowned, they will pass symbols. One
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is the book, which represents the law. Okay.
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Another will be a sword, which represents power. And
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then there's always an orb or a sphere. And
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that can symbolize a lot of things. Some
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people think that when an orb is used in a
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coronation, it represents the plenary power of the
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king, all around the kingdom. But
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it may have other meanings as well. And
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with the Leohona, of course, it's a source of
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guidance. All these implements are not
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just there for their uses, but for their symbols as
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well. But before we get into the
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sermon, I have one more favorite thing about chapter
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one, when he's talking to his sons and giving them
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counsel, he's asking them to search the scriptures
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and to learn that they're true. He's
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really asking them to find their own testimonies of
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them. And he describes that they are
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going to be taught the mysteries. Yet
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that word mysteries is a mysterious word. But
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then what do you think those people would have
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understood by this expectation that Benjamin
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leads them to believe they will receive mysteries?
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Yeah. And he mentions it a
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couple of times. It's not only in the narration,
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but also in his sermon. I think usually the word
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mystery in the biblical text is this idea that
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there are things of God that are sacred, that need
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to be passed on, and that they are divine messages. I
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assume we can take that biblical definition and put
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it here. I think so. And
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here they are at the temple. It's
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a temple text. And many people, of course,
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would expect something very unusual. This
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is not a normal everyday experience for them. And
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I think they've come prepared, and their hearts
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and their minds are open. I
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think they love King Benjamin too. And
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I think when we go to the temple, we go with our
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hearts filled with love for the Savior. And
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you're more receptive to hear and and accept
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whatever you're inspired to change or to do or to
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hear. And things that you hadn't
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noticed before will come to your attention. And
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Benjamin promises his people here that their minds will
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be enlightened and they will be inspired. And
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they will then become not just better followers of
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his son King Mosiah, the new king, but also of
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their God. I think he's trying to
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establish a Zion society, Jack. I
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think he is really trying hard to have no poor among
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them. He wants to make a people
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like the people of Enoch. He
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wants it to begin with families. Yes.
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And teaching children these principles. A
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Zion community is founded in righteous homes,
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righteous parents, and then righteous neighborhoods. And
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you, if you know that your neighbor has a need, you
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don't turn them away. You, and chapter four, we'll get
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to that, but that long, wonderful chapter about what
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it really means not just to serve your heavenly
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father, but your, your fellow man as well. And
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even though there are lots on the family, I feel like
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this is a time of war. There's
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probably a lot of widows. There's
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probably a lot of single women or single parents.
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And I feel like because they
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were in their tents, it's the extended family or the
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adopted family. It doesn't necessarily mean
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that everyone had a happy life with children and a
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married couple. You know, no, this is a, this
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is a time of people who have been humbled because
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of the wars that they've been going through. The
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time of peace is in contrast to what we learn
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in chapter one of the wars. I
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think that's right. And well said, the Zion, the
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nature of the Zion community is, is one where
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everyone is one, where you have one purpose, one
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heart, one mind. And King Benjamin's speech is
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circling around through that process, and we can learn
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so much. How do you get into a Zion
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mentality? And one of the things we
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encounter right off the bat is not only does Benjamin
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want them to be humble and to serve, but the main
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point in the first section of this speech is talking
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about serving. Well, you mentioned this is the
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first section. As we step out and look at
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this sermon as a whole, how do you divide up the
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sermon, Jack? Well, I see seven sections. So
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let me mention this book called King Benjamin's
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Speech, The E -May Learn Wisdom. It
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was published in 1998. It's over 600 pages long. Is
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it available on our archive? It
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is on the archive, but many people don't know that
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there's another one called King Benjamin's Speech Made
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Simple. Is this also on our archive?
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It is. Yay!
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It just takes out of this book the highlights, and
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it's in paperback, a friendly, nice use, a
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useful book. In both of these books, you'll
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see how we divide the speech of King Benjamin
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naturally into seven segments. For
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example, chapter two begins the speech where he calls
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the people to attention, and we goes to a high
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point there, and then he summarizes and comes to a
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conclusion, and then he pauses and he makes an
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announcement that his son will now be the king.
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Okay, that's a natural section.
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Yes. And then you go from that
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point to the end of chapter two, so that's
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section two, and you get to the end, and there's
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clearly a blessing and a promise that comes at the
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end of chapter two, verse 41. So
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there's that conclusion, and then he shifts in chapter
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three, where he switches and now says, I have been
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visited by an angel, and in this setting, Benjamin
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is actually functioning as the high priest. Well,
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chapter three is all about the atonement. Yes,
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it is. And it begins with information
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that this angel has given King Benjamin, and so we
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have that section and a wonderful conclusion of that
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section, and then we go on and so on. It
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breaks naturally, and then section four is the last
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half of chapter three, and it focuses on the central
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point that the natural man is an enemy to God and
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must put off the natural man and become a saint.
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And then there's a natural
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break where the people then ask the beginning of
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chapter four to apply the atoning blood to them, and
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they fall down in a prostration showing their
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willingness and their humility. And
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section five then talks about how we believe in
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God, believe that he knows all things, believe that he
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exists, and what you must do to be able to believe
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that way. And then section six talks
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about how you must not turn away the beggar and
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how we help each other. So it switches then to care
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of those who are in need. I
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think that's the law of consecration right there. I
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do too. And that's why it comes after
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you believe in God. You then, if you really
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believe, you'll do what he says. That's
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all the second half of chapter four. That's
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right. And then finally in chapter
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five, that begins by them expressing that we have had
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this mighty change of heart. They
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want to make a covenant. They
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feel the spirit. Please let us make a covenant at
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this point. I think they've obviously this
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has been prepared in advance, and they may even
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know the words of the covenant as we do in the
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temple, that you know the words that you should give
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in response. And hence they respond in
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unison. That's right. And
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then the final seventh section is when he then
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will confer upon them the new name that they are
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given. And let's remind everyone and
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remind ourselves, Benjamin's speech is not to be broken
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up into sections any more than our population should
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be broken up. He wants the unity to come
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through all of these gospel principles, a unity of the
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faith, a unity of life and discipleship. I
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love what Elder Maxwell calls King Benjamin's
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speech. And we have a whole chapter in
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the beginning of the King Benjamin's speech book. He
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calls it a manual of discipleship. You've
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mentioned this already. But this manual of discipleship
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for me is so important as a Latter -day Saint. I'm
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living the gospel the best I can. How
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do I become more holy? How do I be able to retain
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and remembrance the blessings from the Lord? He
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tells you how to do it right here in the text.
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Let's dive in. So
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section one is really to tell everyone that we are
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all indebted to God. And I'm really touched by this
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emphasis on service. As he says, I've spent all my
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days serving you and I want you to serve each
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other and you're only serving God. He
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is a type of Christ. That's
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exactly what Jesus did. And the prophets are to be
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types of Christ. But the idea that we're
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emphasizing service is exactly what Jesus' ministry
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was circled around as well. In
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this section, Benjamin will refer to God as the
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heavenly King. He also refers to the Lord as
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the Lord Omnipotent. That's exactly right. And
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he actually uses that word several times in his
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speech. So watch for that as you're
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reading along. The Lord God Omnipotent. Those
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words are used by King Benjamin and only King
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Benjamin in the entire Book of Mormon. Another
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example that we are authors are separate and our
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authors are uniquely carefully recorded. And
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I think that he is using this word omnipotent to
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mean God does truly have all power. And
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just as we are always in his debt, any power that
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we have is dependent upon God's power and God's
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resources and what God has given us. And
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Benjamin starts, I wouldn't say it's theological, but
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the argument that he's making here is so
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personally persuasive. It rings so true that if we
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try to somehow really count our own talents or
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achievements or accomplishments or property
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and say, that's who I am, we're forgetting who we
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really are. We are sons and daughters of
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God and we need to return to him all of our
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obedience, all of our devotion. He
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is asking us to serve others and then we will be
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in the service of God as he says. Then
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what do you think about that word service? That's
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related to the word servant. Oh,
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of course. Yes. And in ancient languages,
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they only had one word. Servant
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and slave. Same word. Right.
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And what is it about a slave? A
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slave belongs to someone and we belong to our Lord
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and our master. If we want to belong, we need
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to make a covenant. And this whole text is in
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preparation to covenant that we will obey him as our
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master. I feel like even in my
17:14
morning prayers, we've got to, I like to remind
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myself, what can I do for you today rather than,
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could you help me? I don't want to ever forget
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who's the master and who's the servant here in my
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prayers. Why don't we look at verse 21
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halfway down? It says, I say, if you should
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serve him with all your whole souls, yet he would
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be an unprofitable servant and behold, all that he
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requires of you is to keep his commandments. And
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he has promised you that if you would keep his
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commandments, you should prosper in the land. He's
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quoting Lehi, isn't he? He knows his script. We
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didn't say he was a scriptorian, but he's a
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scriptorian. You should prosper in the land
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and he doth never vary from that which he hath
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said. Therefore, if you keep his
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commandments, he doth bless you and prosper you. And
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going on, he's even created you and granted you lives
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for which you're indebted to him. And
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then this is the point where he says, if you do
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as he commands, he will immediately bless you and
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therefore he hath paid you and you're still in his
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debt. And we can never really get
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out of the debt that we owe our Heavenly Father.
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And he's written this just in
18:29
beautiful parallel structures. He's
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trying so carefully to say, man, I need you to behave
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like a servant of God. This
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section ends by him saying, And I, even I whom ye
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call your king, am no better than ye yourselves
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are, for I am also of the dust. And
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he says, I want you now to be able to be found
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blameless. We're going to remove any blame.
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I brought you together that I
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might rid my garments of your blood at this period
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of time so that I can go down having perfectly
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settled any disputes or any problems and say, I have
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now told you everything I should. And
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we saw that in previous prophets as well in their
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last will and testaments. And
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then we start the second section. And
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it's still in the end of chapter two. I'm
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fascinated with the way he defines sin and he teaches
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us how as parents and as community and as disciples
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of Christ, we should stop contentions in our,
19:37
everywhere in our environment. And
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how do we do that? So in chapter two, verse 32,
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oh, my people, beware, lest there shall arise any
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contentions among you. And he lists to obey the evil
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spirit. Now let's pause for a minute.
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What do you think that means?
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And he lists to obey the evil
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spirit. Not obey? Well,
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what does that mean? What does the word list mean? I
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don't know. What does list to obey mean?
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Well, a ship lists when it
20:07
leans. Oh, it leans to the wrong
20:10
side. And you want the ship to be
20:12
evenly loaded. So it doesn't list. Okay.
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It doesn't mean to listen. But
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when you list to obey, you are beginning to lean
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gradually toward the evil spirit. So
20:26
don't lean toward the evil or temptation or wickedness
20:30
or natural man. So I think he's wise enough
20:33
to know you don't want to go down that way. Even
20:38
the first leaning toward that will have consequences,
20:43
because it will lead to other things. That's
20:46
a powerful little instruction, I think. Oh,
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yeah. I say unto you that if you
20:52
have been taught and you know these things, if you
20:56
transgress and go contrary to that which has been
20:59
spoken, you do withdraw yourselves from the spirit
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of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to
21:05
guide you in wisdom's path, that ye may be blessed and
21:08
prospered and preserved. I say unto you that the man
21:10
that doeth this, this is the same that come without
21:13
an open rebellion against God. Therefore,
21:17
he listeth to obey the evil spirit and become an
21:20
enemy to all righteousness. So
21:22
he is defining sin right here. If
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we have been taught and we lean into that which we
21:28
ought not, we are not just sinning. We
21:32
are in open rebellion against God, according to
21:35
verse 37. Well, and here a king is saying,
21:40
I don't want you to be in rebellion against your
21:44
heavenly king, because you know what happens when
21:48
you're rebellious on earth. Kings
21:50
don't like that, right? Yeah,
21:52
the whole thing is a type and shadow. What
21:54
he's talking about here is what we might call
21:56
conscious sin. But he wants us to be
21:59
accountable. This whole section of 34, 35,
22:01
36 is on accountability. Yeah,
22:04
that's right. And what he's trying to do is
22:07
explain that yes, there is in the law of Moses a
22:11
provision that says if you commit a sin unwittingly or
22:16
unknowingly or involuntarily or without planning it. We
22:21
talked about this a little when we encountered this
22:23
back with the slaying of Laban. But
22:25
that's a very narrow exception. If
22:28
you know what you're doing, even if you list to obey,
22:32
if you lean toward it, he's saying that's already
22:36
something that you need to be sure you repent of,
22:41
because it compromises your loyalty, your fidelity.
22:45
Because this whole text is taking
22:48
a good people who have made great strides in their
22:51
community of being unified and becoming a people of
22:54
peace and a people who love God. And
22:57
he's trying to motivate them to do better. That's
23:00
why Elder Maxwell's manual of discipleship is so
23:03
powerful. He's trying to get them to go
23:05
to the next level. And you can't even lean into
23:07
wickedness. You have to fully be embraced
23:10
in the things of God, in serving each other. And
23:13
as he says here, 100 % involved in no contention
23:19
and obeying every word out of the mouth of God. It's
23:23
kind of the preamble to this covenant, isn't it?
23:27
Yeah, I think so. I
23:28
think the way you've expressed that is really
23:30
clear. And I can see why he would
23:34
start with these basic fundamental principles, kind
23:37
of like the Constitution begins with the preambles.
23:40
You teach these basic
23:41
principles. And when you teach a child,
23:45
you teach these basic principles. And
23:48
if you teach them, they will not go astray. And
23:51
it's not just that they're basic, statements. So
23:58
let's look at this. He begins by saying, Oh, all
24:01
ye old men, and also ye young men, and ye little
24:05
children, who can understand my words, for I have
24:09
spoken plainly that you might understand. And
24:13
he has spoken very plainly and logically and, and
24:17
these words and phrases are memorable. They're
24:21
classic statements. And he's so clear. But
24:24
why have I spoken this? And
24:27
I pray, I bless you that you should awake to a
24:31
remembrance of the awful state of those who have
24:33
fallen into grant transgression. But
24:36
more than that, I want you to consider on the blessed
24:41
and happy state of those who keep the commandments
24:44
of God. And then he says it again. For
24:48
emphasis. And Benjamin likes to double
24:51
things up. For behold, they are blessed in
24:54
all things. In what? All
24:56
things. All things. Both
24:58
temporal and spiritual. And if they hold out faithful
25:01
to the end, they are received into heaven. And
25:05
thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never
25:08
ending happiness. Oh, remember, remember that
25:13
these things are true. For the Lord God hath spoken
25:17
it. It's not the king's words. These
25:20
are the words of God. And he gives that emphatically
25:23
and with a testimony. So I want you to obey and
25:26
serve and love God because of this happy state. And
25:30
God is trying to help you become more Christlike. I
25:34
really love this progression idea of the whole sermon.
25:38
As soon as we start serving,
25:40
then we can have charity. And
25:41
when we have charity, then we are blessed with more
25:44
power from God. Yeah. And I love though how
25:47
we're only part way into this speech. We
25:49
just finished the second section. But
25:51
he's already pointing us to the end. And
25:55
I think in life, we have to keep the end in mind.
26:00
That we, if we don't keep the
26:02
final objectives and purpose in mind, we lose our focus
26:07
and our orientation. So he's helping us to see and
26:10
encouraging us. Don't be weary and well doing
26:15
because we know what it will all end up with,
26:19
which is good. And I love how he says that
26:22
you should consider the blessed state both
26:26
temporally and spiritually. So
26:30
it's, it's all. And that's, he talks about
26:33
God's omnipotence, omnipotence, all power that
26:38
we might have, all blessings and all things.
26:46
There are not too many sermons
26:47
that begin. Oh, I had an angel tell me
26:50
about this last night. And in fact, he was so careful
26:53
about this. He writes this out in
26:55
beautiful parallels about this angel's visit. So
26:58
he's taken a lot of care to make sure people can
27:01
memorize it. I think one of the beauties
27:03
of parallelisms is easier for memorization. So
27:07
he says, I would call your attention somewhat more than
27:11
I have to speak into you for behold, I have things
27:13
to tell you concerning that which is to come. And
27:17
the things which I will tell you were made known
27:19
unto me by an angel from God. And
27:21
he said unto me, awake, and I awoke, and he stood
27:24
before me. That's the center of this chiasmus
27:27
here. And he said unto me, awake,
27:30
and hear the words which I shall tell thee, for
27:33
behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad
27:36
tidings of great joy. So in this third section of
27:39
King Benjamin's speech, he wants to bear his testimony
27:43
about Jesus Christ. Maybe this happened, I think,
27:47
because Benjamin had been working on the talk, and
27:51
he had done sections one and two, which we've talked
27:54
about in chapter two, where he is extolling the virtues
27:59
and the wonder of our heavenly King. And
28:05
I think, as he then ponders and asks the Lord,
28:12
so what's next? What else should I say? What
28:15
would you have me say? An angel tells him. And
28:18
a messenger comes and gives him this new information in
28:25
more detail about what the Savior will do for us.
28:29
Well, it's prophetic. He
28:30
talks about Christ's coming in his mortality and his
28:34
service and the miracles that he's performing. This
28:36
is chapter three, verse five, such as healing the
28:40
sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk,
28:43
the blind to receive their sight, the deaf to hear,
28:46
and curing all manner of diseases. And
28:49
then he goes on in verse seven to talk about how he
28:52
has to suffer and bleed. And
28:55
he even says, behold, blood cometh from every poor. You
29:00
know, Jack, I used to not appreciate this, but when I
29:02
started working in my graduate school with the
29:05
Jesuits and the Catholic universities, they took out
29:09
Luke's account that Christ bled from every poor
29:12
because there wasn't a second witness. They
29:14
said, this is just Luke's addition. It
29:16
probably never happened. Luke
29:18
wasn't there. This is just his exaggeration.
29:22
And yet, here we have a second
29:24
witness. This is what the angel told
29:26
Benjamin Wood happen. Yeah, that's right. And
29:30
the Book of Mormon is here to help restore plain and
29:34
precious things that have been lost. This
29:37
is very plain and very precious. And
29:40
the angel describes not only Christ's life and
29:43
death, but he introduces Christ in verse eight as
29:47
the Father of heaven and earth, and the creator of
29:52
all things. So if we look at Christ as
29:55
our Father because he created the earth and he
29:58
created Adam's body from the dust of the earth,
30:02
then it's easier to see Christ as both the Father
30:04
and the Son. Before the name, which is at the
30:07
center of this section, the angel had told Benjamin
30:11
that Jesus would cast out devils or evil spirits.
30:17
Right after the name is given,
30:19
it says that the people will then consider Jesus
30:24
just a man, and they will say that he has a devil.
30:30
So there's that interesting
30:31
bracketing of his holy name. And
30:34
then, just as at the beginning of this section,
30:39
the angel will tell Benjamin the works that he
30:43
will do among men, now we're going to learn what
30:47
men will do with Christ. And
30:50
that's when they talk about him being crucified and
30:53
scourged. The end of verse nine. That's
30:56
right. Notice that in verse five, in
31:01
introducing the coming of the Lord, how he will
31:03
descend and come down, we have him coming down. Now
31:08
after the crucifixion, he will rise and go back up.
31:13
So is this whole thing
31:14
chaiastic? It is, I think. Okay.
31:17
And this is the end. At the end of section three,
31:23
we have at the beginning, the Lord has heard your
31:27
prayers and he has judged thy righteousness. That's
31:32
in verse four. Oh, in verse 10 is he has to
31:36
go through all this to make a righteous judgment.
31:39
Exactly. And behold, he now stands
31:41
to judge the world. And behold, all these things
31:44
are done. That a righteous judgment might
31:47
come upon the children. Because
31:48
he is the only one who has power to restore that
31:52
which was lost. So what we're learning here,
31:56
and we mentioned last time how it's important to read
32:02
this whole speech from beginning to end. And
32:06
now we're seeing you have to read the sections
32:09
carefully from beginning to end. Because
32:11
they're so carefully woven. It's
32:13
like a tapestry. That's a great way to analyze it.
32:17
All these little pieces. And
32:19
when you step back, if you're too close to a
32:20
tapestry, what happens? You just see the threads. Yeah,
32:23
you don't see the whole picture. But
32:25
as you get back, you can begin to see the pattern
32:28
and you can then see finally the whole, what
32:30
it's really all about. Would
32:37
you want to move on now to the next section
32:39
starting in verse 11? For behold, and his blood
32:43
atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen in
32:46
transgression. So this beginning part is also
32:50
beautifully again, paralleled in a little chiasmus from
32:54
verses 11 to 16 in chapter 3 that begin our discussion
32:59
on the atonement. This new section on what does
33:03
it mean? Yeah, this is the center section
33:07
of King Benjamin's speech. This
33:08
is section four of seven. And
33:12
it is about the atonement. And
33:16
for one thing, if we do have the feast of
33:20
tabernacles going on here, which it appears we do, we
33:23
have a lot of evidence on this. The
33:24
feast of tabernacles comes right after the day of
33:28
atonement. And so the day of atonement
33:32
would clearly have been on their minds. They
33:34
do say that they do keep the law of Moses. So
33:38
they must have had the day of atonement where they
33:42
brought two animals, one on the left hand and one on
33:45
the right hand. Escape goat Leviticus 16. Tried
33:49
and they cast out the evil goat. Now
33:53
Benjamin is giving the essence of the meaning of
33:57
the atonement. The day of atonement is not
34:00
just a day of general reconciliation with people.
34:03
I mean, that's part of it.
34:04
But it is about the power of
34:06
the atoning blood of Christ and the Lamb that has been
34:11
sacrificed by the people so that they can have a
34:16
remission of their sins. And
34:18
we'll see this coming up in this section. I
34:21
know we've talked about this before, but I'd like
34:23
taking that word apart. When
34:25
Tyndale came up with what am I going to call kafar
34:27
in English, atonement, this ability for God and man to
34:33
become at one, that we have this beautiful atoning
34:38
sacrifice that covers our sins, that redeems us, that
34:42
saves us. We become at one through
34:45
Christ's gift. And that's the ultimate unity
34:49
of Azion community, which of course Benjamin is now
34:53
creating all under one name. Yeah.
34:56
And so you can see, can't you, how this is related
35:00
to what we've talked about in chapter two. If
35:04
you really want the spiritual power to create
35:07
this kind of obedience and service and recognition of
35:12
your heavenly King, it has to come in and through the
35:16
gift and power of the atonement. Which
35:18
means we have to repent. And
35:20
he talks about repentance as often as he mentions
35:23
atoning sacrifice of our Savior. So
35:26
now continuing on in through section four, we
35:30
encounter verse 11. And here, his blood atones, as
35:34
we've said, for the sins of those who have fallen.
35:38
So the first thing that the
35:39
atonement does is it atones for the sins of all who
35:42
have fallen. So the fall can be cured by
35:45
the atonement because it's something we cannot cure.
35:48
And Jesus knows that. And
35:50
he will help us in ways that we can't help
35:53
ourselves. But if we can help ourselves,
35:56
there we have to act. But he continues on. But
35:59
he goes on. And in addition, he says, it
36:02
also atones for those who have died, not knowing the
36:07
will of God concerning them, or who have
36:10
ignorantly sinned. So this is picking up a
36:13
thread that we encountered in chapter two at the end
36:15
of that where Benjamin is wanting people to know that
36:18
they are responsible for what they voluntarily do.
36:22
And we mentioned before that
36:24
under the law of Moses, if you do something
36:26
involuntarily, you're not punished for that. But
36:31
the atonement does cover that, even the involuntary
36:35
sin. And this is why we have to
36:37
always be in debt to our Savior. Exactly.
36:40
Yes. Covered everything that we do
36:42
involuntarily. But then in verse 12, we get
36:46
our woe. Yes. Woe unto him who knoweth
36:50
and he rebeleth against God, for his salvation
36:52
cometh to none such, except it be through repentance
36:56
and faith in the Lord. So he continues on with a few
37:00
verses about why God then has sent holy prophets. And
37:06
why is this that God has blessed us or now made us
37:14
responsible because he has sent prophets? How
37:17
do you understand this? Well,
37:19
in verse 13, he says that the prophets are also here
37:22
to teach us of Christ and to repent so that we may
37:25
receive our remission of sin. What
37:27
else do you see there? Well,
37:29
he's talking here about the prophets who are coming
37:31
because Jesus hasn't come yet. So
37:33
the prophets are just testifying of a Savior
37:35
who's coming. And this is 120 years, 124
37:38
years before the Messiah will even be born, right?
37:42
So, yeah. And
37:43
so he's speaking to his peoples, letting them know
37:46
that they can repent and rejoice with exceeding great
37:50
joy, even as though Jesus had already come. And
37:54
when you have no time in heaven, you talk as if
37:57
things happened when they haven't even happened.
37:58
Exactly. And that's why the prophets
38:02
come and give the law so that they have signs and
38:08
wonders and types and shadows. I'm
38:11
so glad you pointed this one out. Because
38:12
the law of Moses, both in Benjamin and Nephi and now
38:17
here by King Benjamin, they all say we're living it
38:19
because it's supposed to be a foreshadow of our Savior.
38:23
Everything is focused. You're
38:25
not saved by the law. Everything
38:26
is to point to our Savior. And
38:28
Benjamin wants his people to know that these types
38:32
and shadows are interesting, but they don't have the
38:38
power to exalt. They can help. But
38:42
as he says, the law of Moses availeth nothing
38:46
except it were through the atonement of Jesus' blood.
38:51
It's not saying that the law of
38:52
Moses doesn't avail anything, but combined with
38:57
the atoning blood of Christ, all the laws have
39:01
efficacy, their value and power. The
39:04
redemption power of our Savior is more important
39:06
than anything else. And then we get to talk about
39:15
his name. Now the name. That's
39:17
verse 17. So he tells his son I want
39:20
to give them a new name. He
39:21
tells them when they first start out in the sermon in
39:23
chapter two, I want to give you a new name. And
39:25
now in chapter three, verse 17. And
39:28
moreover, I say unto you that there shall be no
39:31
other name given nor any other way nor means. Well,
39:35
by salvation can come unto the children of men only
39:37
in and through the name of Christ, the Lord omnipotent.
39:43
Here what he's saying is not
39:44
only Jesus going to have this name, which has been
39:48
revealed by the angel and he's now explaining, but
39:52
this name is the exclusive way in which salvation can
39:56
come. Right here at the center part of
40:00
all of his speech, he wants people to know that
40:03
Jesus is different than the others. And
40:07
his name is the exclusive name through which salvation
40:12
can come. Having given us the full
40:16
understanding of the name of Christ, Benjamin then
40:20
enables us to respond. How do we respond? And
40:26
it begins by saying we will drink damnation to our
40:28
own souls except. And here is the center turning
40:34
point of all of King Benjamin's speech. Except
40:37
they, number one, humble themselves. Two,
40:41
become as little children. Three,
40:44
believe that salvation is only going to be available
40:48
through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord
40:50
omnipotent. For the natural man is an
40:55
enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam. And
41:00
now we turn and will be forever and ever unless he
41:05
yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit. This
41:08
parallelism is now coming out as a beautiful little
41:10
chiasmus and we're going to repeat as we come out that
41:14
he put off the natural man. He
41:16
becomeeth a saint through the atonement of Christ,
41:19
the Lord and becomeeth as a child. That's
41:23
repeated. Submissive, meek and humble. Right,
41:27
like you said in the beginning. And
41:29
here at the end we get a little more embellishment.
41:31
It's not just humble. He
41:33
wants to be sure he gives us every synonym. Helped
41:39
to elaborate. What does it really mean to be
41:41
humble? When I say humble, I mean
41:43
patient. Yes. I mean. And
41:45
submissive and meek and full of love and willing
41:50
to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit
41:53
to inflict upon him, even as a child, does submit to
41:59
his Father. So you just read three units
42:02
of submission. And I love the fact that
42:06
submit does not mean you're controlled, you're forced to
42:10
obey. It is, has two meanings in
42:14
the ancient languages and it can mean a voluntarily
42:16
willingness to cooperate. And
42:18
we see here this call. If you want to take upon the
42:23
name of Christ, if you want to have this name to
42:26
receive all these great blessings, you will have to
42:29
voluntarily cooperate to be humble and become as a
42:33
child and submit to all things the Father gives us.
42:38
Yes. So when Jesus says, suffer
42:40
the children to come unto me, do you think he's
42:43
talking to all of us? If we're humble and meek, I
42:47
hope so. Well, and we are all the sons
42:49
and daughters of God. If we come unto him, we even
42:52
become the children of Christ. And
42:54
they receive that name there. Benjamin's
42:58
people are already on the edge of making a covenant.
43:04
And I can just feel their
43:06
yearnings and their desires to say, yes, this is what
43:10
I want to do. This is what I want to enjoy.
43:14
Why do you think this stands
43:15
at the center of Benjamin's speech? It
43:20
is. And how central is it? It's
43:23
the center of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's
43:25
the center of everything on the whole earth. And
43:27
you know, if you count up the number of words, you
43:31
can do this in King Benjamin's speech. Okay.
43:33
And divide by two. And then find the center word.
43:40
It's right here in these verses.
43:41
But it's just the center,
43:43
center, center. The most important part of the
43:45
ancient languages. We haven't talked about
43:48
chiasmus yet, but the most important part of a lot of
43:50
these parallelisms is the center point. Yeah,
43:52
we are beginning to see how well Benjamin uses and
43:56
purposefully employs the chiasmic structures here.
44:00
Rhetorically, it's a good way to tell
44:03
people what you want them to hear and then tell them
44:07
what they heard. But if you just go one, two,
44:10
three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five,
44:12
they kind of, you know, you don't follow it. But
44:14
if you go... Well, I also feel like you can
44:15
memorize it easier. Yeah. And if you go like you're
44:17
climbing up a mountain and you get to the top and
44:21
then you come back down. It,
44:23
I think, psychologically and in terms of learning, like
44:27
you say, memorizing. But if you're just reading King
44:30
Benjamin's sermon and the whole Book of Mormon
44:32
beginning to end chapter a day, sometimes you think,
44:36
oh, there's a lot of repetition. Oh,
44:37
this is really redundant. No,
44:39
no, no, there's purpose. There's
44:41
method to the madness, as Shakespeare would say.
44:43
That's right. And
44:44
just as the angel had talked previously in chapter
44:48
three about Jesus coming, now he's going to talk
44:52
about how all people shall come to a knowledge of
44:56
Christ and of the Savior and how it will not just
45:00
go to the people that he will know in the flesh,
45:06
but that it will go throughout every nation,
45:10
kindred, tongue, and people. And
45:13
thus no one will be found blameless. So
45:16
he's now echoing what he's already said. The
45:20
atonement satisfies what we call an efficient condition.
45:24
It will save us if we do
45:25
these things. And it also satisfies what we
45:28
call a necessary condition, only if. So
45:32
it's an if and only if proposition. And
45:36
we have it here with an echo again of the name of
45:40
the Lord God omnipotent at the end of verse 21. So
45:43
you can see how Benjamin is now working his way
45:46
back through concepts that he's introduced in the
45:50
early part of the chapter. And
45:52
he will even in the next in verse 23 he says, And
45:56
now I have spoken the words which the Lord God
45:58
hath commanded me. Well, when was he commanded to
46:01
do this? I think this is what the
46:02
angel told him to do the night before. So
46:04
what he's doing now is kind of framing this
46:07
central message about the necessity of putting off
46:11
the natural man. And we aren't even to making
46:13
the covenant yet. That's next week. Well,
46:15
you're certainly right, Lynn, that we're not
46:17
through with Benjamin's speech yet. We're
46:19
at the turning point and it's at a very important
46:21
place. And this idea that it will be
46:24
universal. I think that might have been
46:27
one of the more unusual and informative new novel
46:34
ideas that Benjamin is giving his people here. And
46:39
so here we learn that it will be done once for all.
46:43
So he's had to teach them the
46:45
Gospel and they're learning and they're growing. And
46:47
now they're to the point where he wants them to
46:49
enter into the presence of the Lord. They're
46:51
about to make a covenant with God. And
46:53
may we apply these messages and teachings of King
46:56
Benjamin. They are words that our prophet
47:00
repeats. They are words that the Spirit
47:02
repeats. And they are here in this
47:04
precious book of Scripture for us to become closer to
47:08
Christ. And may your Scripture study be
47:11
augmented by these wonderful words of King Benjamin. In
47:15
the name of Jesus Christ, amen.