Home » Scripture Discussion » The Book of Mormon » King Benjamin's Address (What was King Benjamin really saying and why is it so powerful?)
| Re: King Benjamin's Address [message #480 is a reply to message #479] |
Tue, 12 June 2012 14:21   |
Taliesin
Messages: 7
Registered: June 2012
Location: The Midwest
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Junior Member |
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Hi - I'm new here. This is a really fun forum, and more. I've enjoyed reading all the posts.
I hope I'm not derailing this thread too much, but here are some insights I've recently had into king Benjamin's speech.
Mosiah 5
1) AND now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them.
The question "do you believe . . ." is asked in a few other passages in the Book of Mormon. Let's take a look at the pattern of things that happen in connection with the question of "do you believe?"
1 Nephi 11:2-6
2. And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?
3. And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw.
4. And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?
5. And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.
6. And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired.
Alma 15:5-11
5. And it came to pass that they went immediately, obeying the message which he had sent unto them; and they went in unto the house unto Zeezrom; and they found him upon his bed, sick, being very low with a burning fever; and his mind also was exceedingly sore because of his iniquities; and when he saw them he stretched forth his hand, and besought them that they would heal him.
6. And it came to pass that Alma said unto him, taking him by the hand: Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?
7. And he answered and said: Yea, I believe all the words that thou hast taught.
8. And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed.
9. And he said: Yea, I believe according to thy words.
10. And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ.
11. And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk; and this was done to the great astonishment of all the people; and the knowledge of this went forth throughout all the land of Sidom.
Alma 45:2-9
2. And it came to pass in the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma came unto his son Helaman and said unto him: Believest thou the words which I spake unto thee concerning those records which have been kept?
3. And Helaman said unto him: Yea, I believe.
4. And Alma said again: Believest thou in Jesus Christ, who shall come?
5. And he said: Yea, I believe all the words which thou hast spoken.
6. And Alma said unto him again: Will ye keep my commandments?
7. And he said: Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart.
8. Then Alma said unto him: Blessed art thou; and the Lord shall prosper thee in this land.
9. But behold, I have somewhat to prophesy unto thee; but what I prophesy unto thee ye shall not make known; yea, what I prophesy unto thee shall not be made known, even until the prophecy is fulfilled; therefore write the words which I shall say.
Ether 3:9-13
9. And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?
10. And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.
11. And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?
12. And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.
13. And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.
These passages show that a greater blessing is bestowed after a declaration of belief. In the case of Nephi and the brother of Jared, the context was being asked a question before going through The Veil.
Back to Mosiah 5:
2) And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
3) And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things.
"Great views of that which is to come" could mean that they saw in vision themselves in the celestial kingdom, that they saw the mission of the Savior, or that they had the vision of all that the brother of Jared saw. Most likely they had a vision of everything which enabled them to prophesy of all things. They had the vision; they just had to be authorized to speak about what they saw in order to actually prophesy to other people. They had become prophets though.
4) And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy.
In verse two they spoke directly to king Benjamin saying "we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us". Here in verse four they are still speaking to king Benjamin, but for some reason they refer to him in the third person, saying "our king". Or, they are not referring to king Benjamin when they say "our king". Earlier in king Benjamin's speech, in Mosiah chapter 2, he refers to the Lord as their heavenly King "And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!" (Mosiah 2:19). In fact, he never calls himself their king. He only says that they call him their king or that he is a king (not The King). If you go to scriptures.lds.org and look up the exact phrase "our king" you will see that most of the time it refers to the Lord.
So these people are talking about "the things which our king [Christ the Lord] has spoken unto us". The word "things" is worth some thought. In Hebrew, the word for "thing" and "word" are the same the Hebrew word dabar. When God speaks, his words are promises or oaths. The Hebrew word dabar is, I believe, sometimes translated as "promise" in the Old Testament. The phrase "the things which our king has spoken unto us" could also read "the promises which Christ our King has spoken unto us". What are the promises? Or, what would be The Promise? 1 John 2:25 says "And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life." The promise of eternal life would be synonymous with "the more sure word of prophecy" or "calling and election made sure."
It is possible that king Benjamin's people saw Christ at this occasion and He promised them eternal life and showed them the vision of all (making them all prophets). They said that they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Seeing Christ, obtaining the promise of eternal life, and seeing the vision of all would certainly cause one to rejoice with exceedingly great joy.
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