Lesson 18: "God Himself...Shall Redeem His People"

7/31/2019 Lesson 18: "God Himself...Shall Redeem His People"

1/11

#1 President Boyd K. Packer illustrates this mighty change: Perhapsthe greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment came when finally I had the confidence in God that I would loan yield my agency to Him without compulsion or pressure, without an

duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing ex-pected other than the privilege. In a sense, speaking figuratively, to take onesagency, that precious gift which the scriptures make plain is essential to life it-self, and say, I will do as thou directs, is afterward to learn that in so doing yopossess it all the more.(http://www.cometozarahemla.org/mosiah/i-want-to-obey-bkp.html)

#2 President Ezra Taft Benson said: When you choose to follow Chrisyou choose to be changed...The Lord works form the inside out. Theworld works from the outside in. The world would take people out of thslums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take them-

selves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The worldwould shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.(Born of GodEnsign, Nov. 1985)

#3 President Boyd K. Packer continues: Obedience that which God willnever take by forceHe will accept when freely given. And He will then returnto you freedom that you can hardly dream of the freedom to feel and toknow, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be, at least a thousand-fold morthan we offer Him. Strangely enough, the key to freedom is obedience.(samesource as #1 above)

#4He died seemingly without baptisms, but he did have one convert (Mosiah18:1

). That one converts baptism would lead to may generations of great lead-ers: AlmaAlmaIIHelaman Helaman IINephi Nephi II (chief disciple othe resurrected Savior). Also, for the first time in ancient Americas history,

thousands of Lamanites would be converted and led bytheir own prophets. The Savior was later greeted byworthy descendants of every branch of Lehis family, allas a result of Abinadis testimony!(D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C.Skinner, Verse by Verse The Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, 361)

To download past handouts, go to: highlandvalleysundayschoolnotes2012.blogspot.com


2/11

The Message of the Book of MosiahBy Richard G. Grant

www.cometozarahemla.org/mosiah/the-message-of-mosiah.pdf

The Outline of the Book of Mosiah is Chiastic

a) King Benjamin exhorts his sons (1:1-8)

b) Mosiah chosen king to succeed his father (1:10)c) Mosiah receives the records (1:16)d) Benjamins speech and the words of an angel of the Lord (2:9 -5; 15)

e) People enter into a covenant (6:1)f) Priests consecrated (6:3)

g) Ammon leaves Zarahemla for the land of Lehi-Nephi (7:1-6)h) People of Limhi in bondage, Ammon put in prison (7:15)i) The 24 gold plates (8:9)

j) The record of Zeniff begins as he leaves Zarahemla (9:1)

k) Zeniff prevails against the Lamanites (9:14-10:20)l) Noah and his priests (11:1-15)m) Abinadi persecuted and thrown in prison (11-12)

n) Abinadi reads Isaiahs prophecies of Christ (13-14)

n) Abinadi makes his own prophecies of Christ (15-16)m) Abinadi persecuted and killed (17:5-20)

l) Noah and his priests (18:32-20:5)k) Lamanites threaten the people of Limhi (20:6-26)

j) Record of Zeniff ends and Limhis people leave the land of Lehi-Niphii) The 24 god plates (21:27,22:14)

h) People of Alma in bondage (23)

g) Alma leaves the land of Lehi-Nephi for Zarahemla (24)f) The Church organized by Alma (24:14-24)

e) Unbelievers refuse to enter covenant (26:1-4)d) The words of Alma and the words of an angel of the Lord (26-27)

c) Alma the Younger receives the records (28:20)

b) Judges chosen instead of a king (29:5-32)a) Mosiah exhorts his people (29:5-32)

You may have wondered, Why all these flash-backs? Once we recognize this chiastic structure, the neefor the flash-backs becomes obvious. Note the precision of this chiasmus. Everything in Mosiah is recorde

n just exactly the place where it needs to be recorded in order to create this complex structure. Why didMormon do this?

The fullness of the message is in the structure. There is a powerful message that is emphasized by the

careful organization.

1. The beginning of Mosiah: King Benjamins people are born again A righteous people accept a mes-

sage delivered by an angel of God and are born again. Even the righteous need to be born again.2. The end of Mosiah: Alma is born again a wicked and rebellious man accepts a message delivered b


3/11

THE COMING FORTH of the BOOK of MORMON IS the TYPIFICATION of CHRIS

1. Coming forth declared by an angelnamed Moroni

2. Came forth in a time of apostasy, torestore truth

3. Was laid away in a stone receptacle

4. Taken from that receptacle by aman named Joseph

5. Came forth after the stone wasmoved away

6. An angel, Moroni, was there to seethe coming forth of the plates

7. The first to see the plates, Joseph

was forbidden to touch them atfirst

8. Was attested to by twelve witness-es

9. The Book of Mormon is the word ofGod

10. It teaches the fullness of the gos-pel

11. It is the keystone of our religion.

1. Coming forth declared by an angenamed Gabriel

2. Came forth in a time of apostateIsrael to restore truth

3. Was laid away in a stone receptac

4. Put into that receptacle by a mannamed Joseph

5. Came forth after the stone wasmoved away

6. An angel was there to overseeChrists coming forth from the tom

7. The first to see Jesus, Mary was

forbidden to touch him

8. Jesus Christ had twelve special winesses

9. In the beginning was the Word,and the word was with God, andthe Word was God. (John 1:1)

10.Christ taught the fullness of thegospel

11.Christ is the cornerstone of theChurch.

THE BOOK of MORMON JESUS CHRIST

ALL THINGS TESTIFY OF CHRIST(given of the Father)

an angel of God and is born again. Even the rebellious sinner can be born again.3. At the center of Mosiah: Abinadi identifies Christ as the father of this rebirth all who are born again

become His seed and he becomes their father. Thus, Christ is the Father and the Son. Those who areborn again, the children of Christ, these are they whose feet are beautiful upon the mountains.


4/11

Marion G. Romney: Repent or perish. There is, in my judgment, no more important message for the people of our day.

From the days of Adam repent or perish has been repeatedly and solemnly declareby the Father himself, his Son Jesus Christ, and their authorized representative, the proph

ets.The truth of the message has been demonstrated as regularly as it has been de-

clared

Although ...scriptures...clearly and forcefully emphasize the message repent or persh, they are not unkind, harsh, nor flippant. Neither are they arbitrary. They express the

ogical and inevitable consequences of the violation of natural lawthat law which wasdecreed in heaven before the foundations of the world, upon which all blessings are pred

cated (D&C 130:20).These warnings have been declared to the world now for more than 140 years. The

world is without excuse. (Repent or Perish,Ensign, Apr. 1975, 3-5)

I will never forget a talk that Cecil B. DeMille gave at BYU in 1957. The Ten Command-mentshad recently been released, and everyone was viewing this epic film. He mentioned

that the commandments of God could not be broken. As I sat there wondering, he thensaid, We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against

them. We are the ones who lose when separating ourselves from God. We lose His HolySpirit. There is only one hope in this life and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has re-deemed our souls if we but repent. Repenting of our sins is the greatest thing we will do f

our lives. Helping others repent will be of great worth to us. We will feel and find joy in so

doing. (Ed J. Pinegar, Teachings and Commentaries on the Book of Mormon, 212)

Gordon B. Hinckley: You dont know how much good you can do; you cant foresee the results of the effort you put in. Years ago, President Charles A. Callis, then a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve, but who previously was president of the Southern States Mission fotwenty-five years, told me this story. He said that he had a missionary in the southern

[United States] who came in to get his release at the conclusion of his mission. His missiopresident said to him, have you had a good mission?He said, No.

How is that? Well, I havent had any results from my work. I have wasted my time and my fathers

money. Its been a waste of time.Brother Callis said, Havent you baptized anyone?

He said, I baptized only one person during the two years that I have been here. That waa twelve-year-old boy up in the back hollows of Tennessee.He went home with a sense of failure. Brother Callis said, I decided to follow that boy wh

had been baptized. I wanted to know what became of him I followed him through the years. He became the Sunday School Superintendent, and

Other thoughts too great not to include:


5/11

he eventually became the branch president. He married. He moved off the little tenant faron which he and his parents before him had lived and got a piece of ground of his own an

made it fruitful. He became the district president. He sold that piece of ground in Tennessand moved to Idaho and bought a farm along the Snake River and prospered there. His

children grew. They went on missions. They came home. The had children of their own wwent on missions.

Brother Callis continued, Ive just spent a week up in Idaho looking up every member ofthat family that I could find and talking to them about their missionary service. I discoverethat, as the result of the baptism of that one little boy in the back hollows of Tennessee by

a missionary who thought he had failed, more than 1,100 people have come into theChurch.

You never can foretell the consequences of your work, my beloved brethren and sisters,when you serve as missionaries. (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 360-61)

Many church members in the latter days get the chance to be beautiful upon the moun-tains and preach the gospel of peace.

My father, Clair Wyatt, served a mission to England in the 1950s. While in Scarbo

ough, he taught the gospel to a lovely young couple, Mary and John Clark, whohad one small daughter. The Clarks joined the Church. After Dad returned home

from his mission, the Clarks moved to Australia and he lost touch with them.Thirty years later, my brother Scott was called on a mission to Sydney, Australia.The very first week of his mission, he and his companion were called by a memb

family to teach their nonmember son-in-law. When he met the family and they found outhis last name was Wyatt, they asked if he knew the Elder Wyatt who had taught them the

gospel back in England! They had had a large family, and had named one of their childrenafter him. By the time my brother met them, from that little family of three, 49 family mem

bers had been born into the gospel, all non-member in-laws had joined the Church, and atheir sons had served missions and taught the gospel to others. The son-in-law my brothetaught joined the Church as well.

After that, my father kept in touch with the Clarks until they died. Before their deaths thedid a great amount of family history work, bringing the opportunity of salvation to many

family members in past generations as well.My father was blessed to find out in some degree the extent of his success in sharing thegospel. Most missionaries do not, but that doesnt mean it isnt there.(http://gospeldoctrineplus.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-of-mormon-lesson-18.html)

Let me encourage you by telling you a story. It was told to me by my father. He told

with the intent to chuckle at himself. It was a story about his trying to do his duty, just theway you try to do your duty.

Now you have to know a little bit about my father. His name was Henry Eyring, likemine. He had done some of the things students of this university are preparing to be able

to do. His work in chemistry was substantial enough to bring the honors some of you willsomeday have, but he was still a member of a ward of the Church with his duty to do. To
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QdxjF9toJsg/T5r6YTveOqI/AAAAAAAABP0/LnKX8I6vlYk/s1600/1589632_1589632-r2-e027.jpg


6/11

appreciate this story, you have to realize that it occurred when he was nearly eighty andhad bone cancer. He had bone cancer so badly in his hips that he could hardly move. The

pain was great.

Dad was the senior high councilor in his stake with the responsibility for the welfarefarm. An assignment was given to weed a field of onions, so Dad assigned himself to gowork on the farm.

Dad never told me how hard it was, but I have met several people who were with hithat day. I talked to one of them on the phone the other night to check the story. The onetalked to said that he was weeding in the row next to Dad through much of the day. He tome the same thing that others who were there that day have told me. He said that the pa

was so great that Dad was pulling himself along on his stomach with his elbows. He couldn't kneel. The pain was too great for him to kneel. Everyone who has talked to me has re-

marked how Dad smiled, and laughed, and talked happily with them as they worked in thafield of onions.

Now, this is the joke Dad told me on himself, afterward. He said he was there at the

end of the day. After all the work was finished and the onions were all weeded, someoneasked him, "Henry, good heavens! You didn't pull thoseweeds, did you? Those weeds wesprayed two days ago, and they were going to die anyway."

Dad just roared. He thought that was the funniest thing. He thought it was a greatoke on himself. He had worked through the day in the wrong weeds. They had been

sprayed and would have died anyway.

When Dad told me this story, I knew how tough it was. So I said to him, "Dad, how

could you make a joke out of that? How could you take it so pleasantly?"

He said something to me that I will never forget, and I hope you won't. He said, "Ha

I wasn't there for the weeds."

Now, you'll be in an onion patch much of your life. So will I. It will be hard to see thepowers of heaven magnifying us or our efforts. It may even be hard to see our work beingof any value at all. And sometimes our work won't go well.

But you didn't come for the weeds. You came for the Savior. And if you pray, and if

you choose to be clean, and if you choose to follow God's servants, you will be able to woand wait long enough to bring down the powers of heaven.

Don't worry too much about the apparent conflict between your scholarly ambitions

and doing your duty to God as a humble Latter-day Saint. Both take diligence and enoughhumility to endure not having things go your way. But the rewards are far different, fargreater.

I was with Dad in the White House in Washington, D.C., the morning he got the Na-tional Medal of Science from the president of the United States. I missed the days when h

got all the other medals and prizes. But, oh, how I'd like to be with him on the morning hegets the prize he won for his days in the onion patches. He was there to wait on the Lord.And you and I can do that, too.(BYU Speeches, Henry B. Eyring, Waiting Upon the Lord, 1990, http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=7059)


7/11

ABINADI'S TEACHINGSExcerpts from Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon by Alan C. Miner with quotes byTodd Parker, "Abinadi: The Man and theMessage (Part 1)," F.A.R.M.S., pp. 4-5

According to Todd Parker, there might be a connection between Abinadi and King Benjamin. There are many things both Benjamin and A

nadi taught that are basically the same. Is this just coincidence? Although in the book of Mosiah, the teachings of King Benjamin (Mosiah

5) come before the teachings of Abinadi (Mosiah 11-17), the prophet Abinadi actually lived and died before King Benjamin ever climbed his tower to give his farewell sermon. In view of this fact, and the fact that so many similarities exist between the teachings of the two grea

prophets, one might question from where Benjamin got his material. In a fascinating statement, King Benjamin himself says that "the thin

which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God" (Mosiah 3:2). Is it possible that this angel is none other than our fri

Abinadi? Well, you can make your own decision there, but I think there's definitely a correlation between those two messages. The follow

chart lists twenty-five teachings of Benjamin and Abinadi that are basically the same:

Gospel Principles Upon Which Both Benjamin and Abinadi FocusMosiah 3 and Mosiah 13-16

1. God himself shall come down (Mosiah 3:5; 15:1).2. He will work mighty miracles (Mosiah 3:5; 15:6).

3. He will suffer temptation (Mosiah 3:7; 15:5).

4. He will be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mosiah 3:7,8; 15:2,21).5. He is the Father of heaven and earth (Mosiah 3:8; 15:4).

6. He will bring salvation (Mosiah 3:9; 15:1).

7. He will be scourged and crucified (Mosiah 3:9; 15:8).

8. He will overcome death (Mosiah 3:10; 15:8).

9. He will do these things that men can be judged (Mosiah 3:10; 15:9).

10. His atonement redeems those who have ignorantly sinned (Mosiah 3:11; 15:24).

11. Those who willfully rebel are not redeemed (Mosiah 3:12; 15:26).

12. All prophets declare this message (Mosiah 3:13; 16:6).

13. Prophets spoke as if he had already come (Mosiah 3:13; 16:6).

14. Because Israel was stiffnecked, a law was given them (Mosiah 3:14; 13:29).

15. The law included types of things to come (Mosiah 3:15; 15:11).

16. Prophets spake concerning his coming (Mosiah 3:15; 15:11).

17. Israel hardened their hearts against the prophets (Mosiah 3:15; 13:32).

18. Law of Moses is ineffectual without the atonement (Mosiah 3:15; 13:28).

19. The atonement provides eternal life for little children (Mosiah 3:16; 15:25).20. Salvation is in Christ. There is no other way (Mosiah 3:17; 16:13).

21. The natural man is an enemy to God (Mosiah 3:19; 16:5).

22. The knowledge of a Savior shall spread to every nation (Mosiah 3:20; 15:28).

23. Receiving this message makes one accountable (Mosiah 3:22; 16:12).

24. Every man will be judged according to his works (Mosiah 3:24; 16:10).

25. Prophets' words stand as a testimony (Mosiah 3:24; 17:10).

Copyright 1999-2002 Ancient America Foundation. This message may be forwarded with identifying information. For more informatio

to subscribe or unsubscribe to AAF Notes or utilize the AAF order form, visit http://www.ancientamerica.organd click Contact us. Refe

by e-mail, comments or questions to [email protected]
http://www.ancientamerica.org/http://www.ancientamerica.org/http://www.ancientamerica.org/


8/11

Do you remember last week, we reviewed all the confusing travels between Zara-hemla and the land of Nephi-Lehi? And remember my comment about Mormonreally having his work cut out for him to keep it all straight, especially since its not chronological order? Well, I had one of those aha moments this weekactually

more of a duh moment, since weve covered this a few times. When we wee, in ancient Hebrew writing, repetition, things out of order, flashbackswhats the firstthing we should think of? Chiasmus! And guess whatthe whole Book of Mosiah iwritten in chiastic structure.

~So what is the overarching, central message of Mosiah? (We must be bornagain through the Atonement of Christ, otherwise we will perish)

~And what does it mean to be born again? Is it just to be baptized? (This is thoutward manifestation, anyway) To believe in Christ? (Dont the devilsalso believe?)

Lets change directions for a bit, and then come back to Abinadi.

~Whats Nephi saying here? Does all mean ALL?I really like the way Todd Parker, a BYU professor and church correlation committeemember put it: Christ is the master teacher, the universe is his classroom, and theAtonement is the curriculum.

~So if all things Heavenly Father gives us typify Christ, should the Book ofMormon also typify Him?

Lets look at an example of typification in the Old Testament. Did you know that Israel leaving Egypt, going through the wilderness, and getting back into Canaan issymbolic of leaving a telestial world, going through a terrestrial millennium, and geting back to a celestial world? I hope you dont mind if I go through some questionin a rapid fire mannerwe have a lot to get through! So youll have to really pay attention and answer quickly!

~What is Egypt symbolic of? (telestial world) So the Israelites left Egypt and


9/11

went through the desert.~What is the wilderness symbolic of? (Millennium)~What state will the earth be in during the Millennium? (terrestrial)~Then they enter the promise land, which is symbolic of? (celestial kingdom)~Back to Egypt What did Heavenly father do to convince Pharoah to let th

Israelites leave? (plagues)~What was the first plague? (water to blood)~What was Christs first miracle? (water to wine)~What was the last plague? (death of firstborns)~What was Christs last miracle? (Resurrection of the Firstborn)

So what preceded Israel leaving Egypt, when they left the telestial world to get intothe terrestrial world, was some plagues.

~Whats going to happen before this world leaves its telestial status and goesinto the Millennial terrestrial world? (plagues)Notice as Israel left Egypt, they did so at the time of Passover.

~Pharoah finally allowed them to go because of the death of? (his firstbornson)

~But what had the Israelites done prior to that, with a lamb? (firstborn male,unblemished, no broken bones. They slew it and put the blood on the lintels of their doors so the Destroying Angel passed over them.)

~So the blood of the lamb saved Israel from physical death, just as it will save from? (spiritual death)

~Who is the Lamb of God? (Jesus)~When Jesus was born, to whom did the angels come? (shepherds)~Why shepherds? (these were not just any shepherds. They were the ones that

watched over the sacrificial lambs that would be sacrificed in the temple.So now it makes even more sense, doesnt it?!)

As Jesus, the Lamb of God, was on the cross, the Jews were killing lambs for the Pasover, unaware that all the lambs they were slaughtering were really a symbol for theLamb of God, who was then on the cross, Atoning for their sins!

~How did Israel get out of the telestial worldEgypt? Who led them? (Mose~Who does Moses symbolize? (Christ)~What does Pharoah and his army symbolize? (Satan & his hosts)~What sea does Moses take the Israelites to? (Red Sea)


10/11

~What leads them there, besides Moses? (a pillar of light)~What does this pillar of light symbolize? (Holy Ghost)~Where did the light lead them? (though the Red Sea)~What does the Red Sea symbolize? (baptism)

So they were saved by water and fire, just as we are if we want to go home. Next Isra

goes into the wilderness, a symbol of the Millennium.~What did they eat there? (manna)~What is manna? (bread from heaven, which is symbolic of Christ, the bread o

life)~Where was Christ born? (Bethlehem)~What does Bethlehem mean? (house of bread)~What did the Israelites drink in the wilderness? (water)

~Where did the water come from? (Moses hit the rock)~What does the rock symbolize? (Christ)~How long were they in the wilderness? (40 years)~What does the number 40 symbolize? (purification, a period of trial, testing

probation)~When they finally are allowed to enter the promised land, who leads them?

(Joshua)~What does the Hebrew name Joshua mean in Greek? (Jesus)~Did they have to pass through a river? (yes, the Jordan)~Why? (Because you have to be born again, baptized, to enter into the prom

ised land, or the celestial kingdom. And BECAUSE ALL THINGS TESTIFYOF CHRIST!!!)

Everything. Our temples, going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning, thesun, all the prophets, all things testify of Christ. We mentioned last week that Mosia

is full of bondage and deliverance stories, or, as Elder Marion G. Romney puts it,repent or perish stories.

~In all such stories, the people must do what, come unto whom? (Christ)~And without the enabling power of His Atonement, what would happen to

us? (perish)~What does the S-U-N symbolize? (the S-O-N)~What would happen to us if either the sun or the Son failed to rise? (all wou


11/11

perish)

Do you get the idea? Now...can you see how we can never run out of things to learas we study the scriptures? Our very lives follow this same pattern. Has not our Fathin Heaven given us our lives? Are we not in bondage? So what must we do to be de-

ivered and restored to the Fathers presence? (come unto Christ and repent) Allthings testify that this is true!!!

I challenge each of you to go home and read Mosiah 12-17, Abinadis prophetic mision, with these concepts in mind. We could never cover it sufficiently here, but yocan at home, and you will be blessed for so doing.

One final thing. Did Abinadi feel like a success or a failure as he was martyred for histestimony? Was he successful?

We, too, may not see the fruits of our labors in this life. But I believe if we do ourbest, our lives will have been important by heavenly standards.

Documents

Lesson 18: "God Himself...Shall Redeem His People"