My friend, Greg, had a stroke of inspiration concerning King Noah, and felt to write an essay. When he shared it with me and another common friend, I was impressed with its doctrinal soundness and relevance to our times. Although I have never had a guest author here on my Doctrinal Essay’s blog, I am glad for Greg’s willingness to allow me to post his essay here. Please feel free to comment below and let Greg know your thoughts.
-Eric Smith
When we read the story of King Noah and his priests, we tend to interpret from the viewpoint that it was plain to Noah and his people that they were indulging in a life of wickedness. The artwork which has been produced about this story gives us imagery to make it obvious in this tale who is wicked and who is not. Yet upon examining this account, it seems to me that it was not quite so obvious to the people of King Noah’s day.
In that day, the wickedness of Noah and his priests wore a cloak of righteousness. When challenged by Abinadi about their doctrine, they said, “We teach the law of Moses” (Mosiah 12:28). Although the account makes mention of whoredoms and harlots while identifying the sins of that generation of people, these harlots were technically “wives” and “concubines” (Mosiah 11:4), after the biblical precedent set by Abraham. Similarly, although they charged a heavy tax of one fifth of the people’s wealth, this taxing was also biblical, following the pattern established anciently by Joseph of Egypt (Genesis 47:24). Although King Noah used this wealth to build himself a spacious palace, and to support himself and his priests, he also “caused that his workmen should work all manner of fine work within the walls of the temple, of fine wood, and of copper, and of brass” (Mosiah 11:10). He also did much to develop the city, constructing “many buildings” and two great towers and a vineyard.
In other words, his efforts likely held the appearance of an industrious society that honored and revered God. It seems that both the people and King Noah felt pretty good about their society, because the idolatry of the people was a result of “the vain and flattering words of the king and priests” (Mosiah 11:7). They were not worshipping statues, but they were worshipping themselves, because of their prosperity. They were full of pride and self aggrandizement. Yet pride is a sin of the heart, and is not always openly apparent, especially among a society where praise is frequently and openly given, the people being routinely told by their leaders about how wonderful they are.
Considering again that the whoredoms of Noah and his priests were sanctioned as marriages, and the one fifth tax fit a biblical pattern, it should not be a surprise to hear the reaction of the priests concerning the condemning words of Abinadi. “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?” (Mosiah 12:13) Although the casual reader may often consider it a confession of ignorance when they bring Abinadi before them and ask him a doctrinal question, the reality is more likely that they were trying to doctrinally legitimize their cause against him, applying what was likely a traditional interpretation to a passage of Isaiah. They asked, “What meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our fathers, saying: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth…” (Mosiah 12:21)
Surely, they believed this scripture contradicted Abinadi’s behavior. It condoned the publishing of good tidings, rather than what Abinadi had busied himself doing, which was accusing the people of wickedness and being a doomsdayist, for lack of a better word. It is important here to recognize that they likely brought up that scriptural passage in order to make a doctrinal argument against Abinadi, which Abinadi seems to have recognized, as he afterward accused them of “perverting the ways of the Lord” (Mosiah 12:26). Essentially, they were using the scriptures in order to combat righteousness, although they might not have seen it that way. This seemed to fit a pattern, as they had “studied iniquity” most of their lives, perhaps seeking ways to scripturally justify sin to themselves and also to the people (Mosiah 13:11).
And although Abinadi perceived that their hearts were set on wickedness, they claimed to follow the law of Moses, and claimed that salvation came by the law of Moses, and were of the opinion that Abinadi was “mad,” having somewhat lost his mind. In other words, they did not necessarily perceive themselves as wicked, until Abinadi’s words began to cut into their hearts. This made them angry (Mosiah 13:1-8), and they likely hardened their hearts against the idea that they were guilty of any sin, and in their pride convinced themselves that they were justified by the law of Moses.
After all, they would claim to take the higher ground once again after Abinadi taught the truer meaning of Isaiah’s words, daring to undermine the importance of the law of Moses, saying, “the time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses” (Mosiah 13:27), as well as teaching about the coming of Christ. For these radical teachings, King Noah and his priests would find themselves justified in passing a death sentence upon him, though it required three days of deliberation amongst themselves. In the words of Noah, “Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death. For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men” (Mosiah 17:7-8). Yet all Abinadi had to do to escape this death sentence was to recall his words. In their minds, perhaps they were being very fair and just to give him a way out. Surely, they considered their society to be a place of justice and order, where men were given fair trials rather than being murdered in the dark.
Ultimately, there is one point that I wish to make from all of this. I wish to point out that although it is obvious to us upon reading this account that Abinadi is the good guy and that King Noah and his priests were full of wickedness, the people of King Noah did not have our same bird’s eye view given through the narrative of Mormon. Their king was a promoter of the law of Moses, a builder of the temple, and someone who had caused the people to be industrious. He was both their civic and religious leader, who spoke well of them, helping them to feel good about themselves.
To the contrary, Abinadi was a doomsdayist, who taught an obscure doctrine concerning the coming of Christ which undermined the importance of the law of Moses, and who criticized their beloved king and his priests—a king who was so revered that many of them would even abandon their families at his command, until they finally began to wake up to the awful condition that he had led them to.
– Greg Christiansen
Eric & Greg,
You two are certainly “cut from the same cloth”! It’s always a delight to be blessed by the insights you share. Once again, as I read I kept nodding and thinking, “Of course! Why didn’t I see that before?” Many continued thanks to both of you.
—RayDean
What this story shows is flattery will get you somewhere ( for King Noah and his Priests ) but how easily we can be ensnared. The world can be enticing but we need to keep our eye and hearts faithful to God. Some simple decisions can lead to the wrong roads. We all want to be secure in taking care of our families but in what work habits do we do it? Do we stand up and speak out when things are not right? Yes the people were led down the wrong path because they did not ponder it out and ask is this correct about the law of Moses? King Noah was using to hide their sins behind. We need to follow trusted leaders like the Prophet but God does not give power to others so we should always be on guard with anyone. If we are seeking the truth upon our knees in prayer, the spirit will testify of truth and then we can be assured. Life is precarious. Thanks for the lesson. I have been learning so, so much from you and others during the last past month or so. I pray daily in gratitude that there are teachers like you people. Julis, Eric, Mike Stroud and you all doing a great job teaching the plain and precious truths.
Your inspired viewpoint changes the entire story for me. I am starting to see the parallels in the world today… thank you Greg.
Thank you! Great insights and yes, many parallels!
I agree with all that you’ve said! I’ve often reflected on king Noah’s selfish character, being one who is more concerned with himself than his people as evidenced by his attempts to escape death at the hands of a righteous man (Gideon), to then order his men to abandon their wives and children to remain with him. When confronted by Abinadi he appears to at least have an inkling that he spoke with righteous authority for at one point he trembled in fear at his words and considered releasing him until his priests stirred up his pride. Your essay really fleshed it out for me and added a new dimension as well as tying into the modern mindset where the wicked of our day appear to feel justified and comfortable in their actions. Thank you for all that you and Eric have done. I own all three books shown below and have so far found everything to be doctrinally sound and most enlightening!
Perhaps this story along with every other one selected by Mormon to be included in the Book of Mormon should be a mirror for anyone who reads it. And then perhaps pointed questions like, “Am I being deceived by my leaders because of their appearance of ‘righteousness’ & ‘industry’?”
Sounds to me like the beehive was busy building but no nectar was ever collected to produce honey to feed the hive.
Just my observation.
Greg, thank you so much. So well thought through and expressed. I now see the whole story from a better perspective.
It’s very inspirational!! to see the writings and Heavenly insights coming from 2 very gifted men. I have been thinking about Abinadi and Samuel the Lamenite these past few months.
I was wondering, if we can stand as they did? In a day when these teachings are recieved much the same way, being unpopular, and met with vitriol. Like in the day’s of old. I don’t believe in coincidence! These essays are being written and inspired for a purpose. I really like the other comments!! It’s inspiring to see others understanding where we are, in these final days. Great essay!!
Thanks Greg. Wow, right there in front of me the whole time! Thank you for this wonderful viewpoint. So many parallels. So many insights! Your writings and Eric’s writings, both the individual and combined, are truly helping me find my way. Thank you Eric for sharing this!
Thank you Eric and Greg. Beautiful and detailed exposition of the topic of wickedness. It certainly offers a startup warning that we need to be more self aware of such things creeping into our own hearts and worship.
Wow! Great insights here. I’ll be reading this story with new eyes from now on! Thank you for sharing. Much to learn from that precious Book of Mormon!
I’ve been so puzzled by the authoritative response to the corona virus. It’s so clear to me knowing what little I know of immunology and pathogens that this should not be called a pandemic but a Scamdemic. I’m surprised at how many of my fellow family and church members are afraid and don’t understand that germ theory is a lie. We’ve been listening to the false priests in white coats for too long and we haven’t learned to be self reliant when it cones to our own health and maintaining our bodies. I’ve begun to see the medical establishment as the false Christ’s and Germ theory as the new state religion, with our government authorities and doctors as false prophets. I really hope our prophet, Pres Nelson, has a reason for being so willing to follow the false narrative? It concerns me. It’s something I’m praying over mightily.
Here’s another gifted person with insights on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation of John that this audience may find as helpful as I did. I felt to post it here. I hope that’s ok. If not feel free to remove! 🙂
https://youtu.be/V66H3BdJMoI
Thanks for all you do, Eric!
Wow! Great insights here. I’ll be reading this story with new eyes from now on! Thank you for sharing. Much to learn from that precious Book of Mormon!
I’m seeing parallels in current events for sure. I’ve been so puzzled by the authoritative response to the corona virus. It’s so clear to me knowing what little I know of immunology and pathogens that this should not be called a pandemic but a Scamdemic. I’m surprised at how many of my fellow family and church members are afraid and don’t understand that germ theory is a lie. We’ve been listening to the false priests in white coats for too long and we haven’t learned to be self reliant when it cones to our own health and maintaining our bodies. I’ve begun to see the medical establishment as the false Christ’s and Germ theory as the new state religion, with our government authorities and doctors as false prophets! There are many Abinadis coming forward. I really hope our prophet, Pres Nelson, has a reason for being so willing to follow the false narrative? It concerns me. It’s something I’m praying over mightily.
I’m alsoi dentifying with Abinadia little bit. The things I’ve shared on social media that go against the authoritative truth about the virus have been met with the same kind of hate and name calling. It’s unreal! I’ve had people in my own family accuse me of not following the prophet because I won’t wear a mask and don’t buy into the same narrative we are being pedaled on the news.
I’ve had friends on social media who know me outside of FB think I’m crazy and tell me so. There are many that agree however, and so I’m not worried about the possibility of being burned at the stake…, yet! 😉
Here’s another gifted person with insights on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation of John that this audience may find as helpful as I did. I felt to post it here. I hope that’s ok. If not feel free to remove! 🙂
https://youtu.be/V66H3BdJMoI
Thanks for all you do, Eric!
Suzanne, I was really feeling confused on why Pres. Nelson was going along with the narrative, as well. I listen to The Kate Dalley show (you can find her poscasts on the internet) a lot, I would call her an LDS constitutionalist. On one of her shows, someone called in asking that same question. She explained that if the church doesn’t go along with the shutdown, then instead of being the church that spreads the gospel message, they become the church that fights against government mandates. The church as a whole would lose their overall ability to spread the gospel, as I’m sure government would come down on us hard. And that’s the whole purpose of the church.
My husband also pointed out to me that we are a worldwide church, and trying to navigate what all the different governments of different countries are mandating for churches would be almost impossible. I can see where it would be necessary to just discontinue meetings together for awhile, instead of trying to make different rules for all the congregations in different countries.
I don’t have all the answers to this weird situation, it’s definitely complex. I hope my comments are helpful.
LOVE this essay, it’s definitely given me some things to ponder on. It’s always a good thing for me to have a reminder to keep my pride in check. 🙂
Thanks Greg, you and Eric are my heroes!!! I am a lover of truth, and for me it is necessary to expose it wherever possible!!!! I can truly see that in this story it is easy to miss the truth because we assume that they are wicked in ways we would never go to but in fact are very much like us in that they truly think they are living a righteous life. We so often end up on the end of trying to be politically correct and then by so doing give unrighteousness a free pass. For some unknown reason I have a very tender place in my heart for Abinadi, I can barely think of him without tearing up, I love this man more than most of the scripture heroes and I’m not quite sure why so I really appreciate seeing him more in the perspective of a todays world. I believe you have hit the nail on the head!!!
I have been pondering these same “types” in scriptures lately. The other thing that popped into my mind during my studies was this: after Alma left, he began preaching and baptizing those who were true followers. The first time he baptized Helam he went under the water with him, and I have been taught before that was because he was also baptizing himself. But it doesn’t appear he was also baptizing himself. And I would assume that is because he didn’t actually need to be baptized. He was already baptized and had previously been ordained with the authority through the church he just ran away from because of its wickedness.
I have also been spending a lot of time recently considering Abinadi. But this perspective was incredibly thoughtful and unique and so much appreciated. As I considered the author’s take it struck me that the strong language Mormon had used to elaborate was part of his effort to make it understood that they had fallen out of line with the truth and their responsibilities. It always smacked me that these were historically understood as unrighteous dudes, and that face value was enough.
Greg’s ability to read between those lines and paint what resonated with me as an accurate picture of what motivated Noah’s Court’s aggressive defense was awesome.
Abinadi had been on my mind when considering the nature of aggregate ascension. Now he’s occupying twice the space while considering so many other possibilities, especially unrighteous dominion and how we ought not set aside the spirit to narrowly interpret the day-to-day for individual pleasure-seeking (however that may manifest itself).