The words of King Noah – posted by his son Lemhi
He’s back. He was gone for only two years and he has returned to spread more contention. This time he has taken the bold action to not only accuse my people of wickedness and evil doings but he has proclaimed that my life – the KING – will be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace!
We don’t know how he got back in among my people. We have kept a vigil in keeping him out. But through a disguise he managed to return. How long could he have thought to remain free? He has proclaimed so boldly there is no question he is the one we sought to kill. This time he has disclosed his own name – Abinadi – and is claiming to be a prophet and speaking for God Himself. Let me quote him to illustrate his madness!
“Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my people, for they have hardened their hearts against my words; they have repented not of their evil doings; therefore, I will visit them in my anger, yea, in my fierce anger will I visit them in their iniquities and abominations.”
How can we suffer such a madman to continue in his rantings and ravings? Two years ago when this mad Abinadi proclaimed these ‘so-called’ threats about me and my people, he claimed we would be forgiven and these maladies would not come upon us if we were to repent of our “sins and abominations.” Hah! This Abinadi simply ran when we tried to take him and bind him. And may I point out that NONE of his prophesies have come to pass. There has been NO war, NO bondage, NO afflictions. And I dare say it is because we are not a wicked people and he is NOT a prophet!
This time however, he is forcing my hand and though I am a benevolent king, I must protect my people from this fearmongering. He has stepped up his radical speech. This time he is prophesying these things will come to pass, no matter what we do because we didn’t harken to his previous rantings when he claims he was warning us before.
He says:
- We will be brought into bondage.
- We will be smitten on the cheek
- We will be driven by man
- We will be slain and the vultures of the air, and the dogs and the wild beasts will eat our flesh
- My life will be valued as a garment in a hot furnace to teach me a lesson that the Lord is God. – Hah!
- We will be smitten with sore afflictions, with famine and with pestilence and that we will howl all day
- We will have burdens lashed on our backs and be driven like a dumb ass. We’ll see who’s the dumb ass.
- God will send hail that will smite us and the east wind will smite us
- Insects will pester our land and will devour out grain
Who does this guy think he is? Well actually we know who he thinks he is, he thinks he’s a prophet speaking for the Lord Himself. Doesn’t he realize how foolish he sounds to us, an enlightened, progressive, tolerant people. That kind of in-comprehensive babbling may work with the uneducated but not with us. We know we are too strong to fail. He claims all this is because we didn’t “obey” a few years ago.
But then he adds to his daftness. He says that if we don’t repent this time around, we will be utterly destroyed from off the face of the earth. But, and this is even more inane, he says when we are destroyed, a record of our society and our destruction will be left behind so when other nations come to possess our land (remember we’ll have been destroyed by then) they can read this great record (that who knows who has kept) and they will discover our abominations and learn why we were destroyed.
That is not all that poor Abinadi prophesied – he went on and on. I have not met Abinadi yet but will soon. My servants have related all this to me and they have finally taken him and are bringing him to me to be judged. Just wait!
Mosiah 12:1-8 | Book of Mormon
