Home » Scripture Discussion » The Book of Mormon » King Benjamin's Address (What was King Benjamin really saying and why is it so powerful?)
| King Benjamin's Address [message #474] |
Mon, 11 June 2012 01:02  |
Amonhi
Messages: 237
Registered: June 2010
Location: Las Vegas, NV.
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Senior Member |
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In his famous address, King Benjamin says, "The things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God." Mosiah 3:2
There is an incredible treasure trove of insight and information the ensuing chapters.
And in Chapter 5 we read that King Benjamin wanted to know how the message was received. The people respond unanimously 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." Mosiah 5:2
So, between Mosiah 3:2 and 5:2 we find the information required for all the people to experience a mighty change of heart. I do believe that if you do not also experience the mighty change in heart while reading Chapters 3-4 then you do not understand the great message being shared.
I also, from experience, believe that a great many have read these chapters using the filter of their own understanding and so have greatly misinterpreted the plain and simple truths found here.
Did you notice that they received a remission of sins at the time of their conversion, after praying for forgiveness without an ordinance being performed; and later they made a covenant to take upon them the name of Christ, (much like we do through baptism), and those who made this covenant had their names taken, (like we record the names of those who are baptized)?
"And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins..." Mosiah 4:3
"And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days..." - Mosiah 5:5
"And now, king Benjamin thought it was expedient, after having finished speaking to the people, that he should take the names of all those who had entered into a covenant with God to keep his commandments." Mosiah 6:1
There is a pattern in which we see King Benjamin teach and then the people respond to the teachings, then he teaches again and they respond again.
Let's match up King Benjamin's teachings with the peoples responses and see what non-obvious insights we can gain...
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| Re: King Benjamin's Address [message #479 is a reply to message #474] |
Mon, 11 June 2012 11:49  |
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Dragon
Messages: 499
Registered: June 2010
Location: Earth
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Senior Member |
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Amonhi,
King Benjamin's speech is fantastic. Nothing is written either way regarding their being baptized at age eight. As our Gospel Doctrine class plowed through Mosiah and into Alma, turning up nuggets of truth formerly buried, it was pointed out that the religion and the state were the same thing under King Benjamin. There was no separate church until Alma the Elder formed one. Was Alms the first Book of Mormon prophet to baptize? I don't believe there is evidence either way.
What did matter is the people all received the baptism of fire during or after King Benjamin's speech. You are correct the covenant they entered into is akin to the baptismal covenant. It is also akin to the sacramental covenant. I know they did not have the sacrament at that time, they had the law of Moses. Were these people committing to a new covenant, or reaffirming one they had already made?
The background here is important. King Benjamin's father, King Mosiah worked for years to teach the Mulekites the languages of their fathers (Hebrew and Egyptian) as well as the gospel of Christ. I find it interesting to note King Benjamin's speech did not include a listing of sins as Jacob was required to do. These people were ready to take the next step. Their experience was so powerful that all of them followed the gospel. They became a Zion society for a couple decades, until their children grew up and rejected the words of King Benjamin because they could not understand them when he spoke, given their age being 2 or 3 or so.
Also, on a side note, please be aware we do not take the name of Christ upon us at baptism. We covenant that we are willing to. There is an important distinction which I am finding others ignore. I mention it, because there is another ordinance where we actually DO take upon ourselves the name of Christ.
- Dragon
- Dragon
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| 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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| Re: King Benjamin's Address [message #482 is a reply to message #479] |
Tue, 12 June 2012 15:44 |
Seeker
Messages: 244
Registered: June 2010
Location: Las Vegas
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Senior Member |
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Dragon wrote on Mon, 11 June 2012 11:49Also, on a side note, please be aware we do not take the name of Christ upon us at baptism. We covenant that we are willing to. There is an important distinction which I am finding others ignore. I mention it, because there is another ordinance where we actually DO take upon ourselves the name of Christ. - Dragon
Du, du, dummmmm...Exciting end! You have us on the edge of our seats...What's next? start a new thread please!
~ Seeker
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| Re: King Benjamin's Address [message #483 is a reply to message #479] |
Tue, 12 June 2012 16:56 |
Seeker
Messages: 244
Registered: June 2010
Location: Las Vegas
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Senior Member |
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DragonWas Alma the first Book of Mormon prophet to baptize? I don't think so because Jewish tradition and the law of Moses include baptism, by they call it "Tvilah" and instead of a baptismal font, they use a "Mikvah".
"Wikipedia - Baptism"The "Tvilah" is the act of immersion in natural sourced water, called a "Mikvah". In the Jewish Bible and other Jewish texts, immersion in water for ritual purification was established for restoration to a condition of "ritual purity" in specific circumstances. For example, Jews who (according to the Law of Moses) became ritually defiled by contact with a corpse had to use the mikvah before being allowed to participate in the Holy Temple. Immersion is required for converts to Judaism as part of their conversion.
Some differences include:
- The water source has to be natural or "living Water".
- It is done naked.
Here is a picture of a modern Mikvah.
[img]index.php?t=getfile&id=17&private=0[/img]
John the Baptist was probably performing this type of baptism on Jesus which would make sense because Jesus was beginning his ministry which is and would have been a valid reason to do a full body immersion in Jewish culture.
We also see the Nephi knew about baptism from his vision of Christ being baptized. He also tells us that we should do the same,Quote:"And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!" - 2Ne. 31:5
Why would he make such a statement if they didn't have authority to perform this ordinance which is clearly part of the Law of Moses under the Aaronic Priesthood.
Quote:Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also;
And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;
Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of fcarnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb." - D&C 84:25-27
~ Seeker
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| Re: King Benjamin's Address [message #485 is a reply to message #483] |
Tue, 12 June 2012 18:40 |
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Dragon
Messages: 499
Registered: June 2010
Location: Earth
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Senior Member |
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Quote:Seeker
Why would he make such a statement if they didn't have authority to perform this ordinance which is clearly part of the Law of Moses under the Aaronic Priesthood.
I am left to conclude, then that baptism was common among King Benjamin's people. Probably, all the people were baptized at the age of eight as part of the culture. Why, then, did they need to enter into a new covenant? First they state they are willing to take the name of Christ upon them, then King Benjamin gives them the name of Christ as a people, and they become Christians. (As suggested, I will start a new post about Taking the Name of Christ)
- Dragon
- Dragon
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