Do We, Like Mormon, Remember the Prophesies of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite?
Book of Mormon Notes - Tuesday, April 9, 2024, Mormon 2
I would like to refer my readers once again to Noel Reynold’s excellent study “The Last Nephite Scribes,” because it summarizes so well the activities of Mormon and Moroni, their circumstances, and their indispensable work for making the Book of Mormon available to us in the last days. Reynold’s insights are helpful to us as we continue to delve deeper into Mormon’s writings.
When Mormon was only fifteen years old, he was visited of the Lord and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus Christ. During this same period, the Nephites had degenerated into such wickedness, evil, and willful rebellion against God that Mormon was forbidden to preach unto them. Consider how awfully wicked a society must be when the Lord forbids his prophet from preaching. While Mormon enjoyed personal communion with the Lord and His beloved disciples, Mormon’s people, as well as the Lamanites, were infested with Gadianton robbers, asorceries, witchcrafts, magics, and the power of the evil one.
Mormon lived during a time of terrible wickedness. It is alarming, therefore, when we consider that Mormon, a man who endured the horrors of war and atrocious evils in his own society, often engraved stinging rebukes to the latter-day Gentiles as if he were even more appalled and saddened by latter-day wickedness than he was by the wickedness in his own time and place. As we read about the horrendous evils of Mormon’s society - evils that include violent rape, murder, and even cannibalism - one might reasonably wonder how latter-day wickedness could be any worse. But Mormon knew that secret combinations, sorceries, witchcrafts, magics, and the power of the evil one would be rampant among the latter-day gentiles as well. The only difference, for now, is that Mormon’s warning voice that was denied to his people because their day of grace had passed still cries to us from the dust, offering us a chance for repentance.
After a brief interlude of peace for about four years, another terrible war between the Nephites and the Lamanites began. Mormon was like Nephi. (see 1 Nephi 2:16 and 1 Nephi 4:31) He was young, but large in stature. (see Mormon 2:1) Mormon was like Captain Moroni. (see Alma 43:16-17 and Alma 48:11-12). Keep these descriptions in mind when we learn about Mormon’s son Moroni and Moroni’s descriptions of the Brother of Jared. The people of Nephi appointed the young Mormon to be the leader of their armies when he was only fifteen years old. When Mormon was a mere sixteen years old, three hundred and twenty-six years after Christ’s birth, he led a Nephite army against the Lamanites.
Why would the Nephites appoint a sixteen year old boy to be their military leader? Mormon was not your average sixteen year old boy. He was the sober-minded formerly ten year old who was trained in the elite Nephite scribal schools, a pure descendant of Nephi, who had grown large in stature. He stood out, not only because of his imposing physical stature but also because of his noble and well-trained mind. I don’t think that Mormon was in a position to refuse the appointment to military command, even if his life was the most valuable asset for preserving and handing down the Nephite plates. The Lord protected Mormon and preserved his life for the great work that He had in store for him.
The fury of the Lamanites was so great that Mormon’s armies were frightened, refused to fight, and began to retreat toward the north countries. The Nephites retreated to Angola, the land of David, the land of Joshua, and finally to the land of Jashon, driven by the Lamanites from one place to another. The Nephites gathered as quickly as possible into one body, but Mormon laments that even though great destruction hung over his people, they refused to repent. Because everyone refused the Lord’s merciful invitation to repentance, the tumult and commotion was terrible:
But behold, the land was afilled with brobbers and with Lamanites; and notwithstanding the great destruction which hung over my people, they did not repent of their evil doings; therefore there was blood and carnage spread throughout all the face of the land, both on the part of the Nephites and also on the part of the Lamanites; and it was one complete revolution throughout all the face of the land. (Mormon 2:8)
The young and mighty Mormon stood like a mighty and rooted tree in the eye of a terrible societal storm. Mormon and his army of forty-two thousand withstood and drove away King Aaron’s Lamanite army of forty-four thousand. After this victory, it appeared for a moment, even to Mormon, that his people might repent:
And it came to pass that the Nephites began to repent of their iniquity, and began to cry even as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet; for behold no man could akeep that which was his own, for the thieves, and the robbers, and the murderers, and the magic art, and the witchcraft which was in the land.
Thus there began to be a amourning and a lamentation in all the land because of these things, and more especially among the people of Nephi.
And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their amourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would bagain become a righteous people. (Mormon 2:10-12)
Notice that when Mormon made this record of these events, he was already very familiar with the teachings of Samuel the prophet and Abinadi (see Mormon 1:19). When did Mormon begin to write? Whenever it was, we know that Mormon had already written many things before beginning his own record. He had written the full account of his people on the large plates of Nephi, and he had written and probably completed his abridged account of the large plates of Nephi, that included the teachings of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite.
In other words, when Mormon began to write his own book, the Book of Mormon within The Book of Mormon, he already knew what we now know (and much more) after reading to this point in The Book of Mormon. With his background, study, and diligent efforts to write and record his abridgment of the large plates of Nephi, Mormon knew exactly how the prophesies of all the preceding prophets were fulfilled, and he knew exactly how his own book fit into that development of Nephite history and prophecy.
Surely Mormon had the records of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite open before him as he wrote. Mormon saw how the prophesies of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite were fulfilled, but do we? What did Abinadi prophesy? What did Samuel the Lamanite prophesy? When we first read Abinadi’s prophesies, it is easy to assume that they applied only to King Noah and his contemporaries. But like Isaiah, Abinadi’s prophesies have multiple applications in multiple epochs. I would venture to suggest that they apply even more to us now than they did to the people of King Noah or even Mormon’s people:
And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was aAbinadi; and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, saying: Behold, thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus saith the Lord—Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will bvisit them in mine anger.
And except they repent and turn to the Lord their God, behold, I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies; yea, and they shall be brought into abondage; and they shall be afflicted by the hand of their enemies.
And it shall come to pass that they shall aknow that I am the Lord their God, and am a bjealous God, visiting the iniquities of my people.
And it shall come to pass that except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall adeliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God.
Yea, and it shall come to pass that when they shall acry unto me I will be bslow to hear their cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.
And except they repent in asackcloth and ashes, and cry mightily to the Lord their God, I will not bhear their prayers, neither will I deliver them out of their afflictions; and thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me. (Mosiah 11:20-25)
We know what happened to King Noah and his people, and we know what happened to Mormon and his people. But when Mormon wrote, these things had already passed. Why would Mormon bother to show the fulfillment of Abinadi’s prophesies in Abinadi’s time and in his own time unless those same prophesies pertained to his future audience? Therefore, as Mormon points us back to Abinadi’s prophesies and their fulfillments in the time of Abinadi and in his own time, he is also pointing us forward to their fulfillment in our own time.
We know that King Noah and his people were brought into bondage and smitten by their enemies, and we know that Mormon’s people were also brought into bondage and smitten by their enemies. Will we modern Gentiles suffer the same fate? Yes, unless we repent and turn unto the Lord our God, except we repent in sackcloth and ashes and cry mightily unto the Lord our God.
Abinadi prophesied about many other things. (See, e.g. Mosiah 12) Consider, for example, the following prophecy:
And it shall come to pass that except they repent I will utterly adestroy them from off the face of the earth; yet they shall leave a brecord behind them, and I will preserve them for other nations which shall possess the land; yea, even this will I do that I may discover the abominations of this people to other nations. And many things did Abinadi prophesy against this people. (Mosiah 12:8)
To whom does this prophesy apply? Noah and his people were destroyed, and they left a record behind them, and Mormon’s people were destroyed and left a record behind them. Why would we ever suppose that we who live in the last days are somehow exempt from the same prophesies? If it has been the Lord’s pattern from the beginning to sweep away the wicked and preserve a record of their abominations for other nations which shall possess the land, why would it be any different for us, unless we repent?
Mormon remembered Abinadi’s prophesies and he carefully recorded the fulfillment of Abinadi’s prophesies among his people for the benefit of future generations, namely us. When Noah and his priests rose up in anger against Abinadi and attempted to trap him in his words, Abinadi withstood them and rebuked them:
And again he said unto them: If ye teach the alaw of Moses why do ye not keep it? Why do ye set your hearts upon briches? Why do ye commit whoredoms and cspend your strength with harlots, yea, and cause this people to commit sin, that the Lord has cause to send me to prophesy against this people, yea, even a great evil against this people?
Know ye not that I speak the atruth? Yea, ye know that I speak the truth; and you ought to tremble before God.
And it shall come to pass that ye shall be smitten for your iniquities, for ye have said that ye teach the law of Moses. And what know ye concerning the law of Moses? aDoth salvation come by the law of Moses? What say ye? (Mosiah 12:29-31)
Abinadi then taught King Noah and his wicked priests the decalogue, for which truth speaking Abinadi was accused of being mad. When King Noah and his priests tried to apprehend Abinadi, Abinadi resisted them again and finished delivering his message which included a powerful testimony of the Messiah in a recitation of the words of Isaiah. Mormon understood Abinadi’s prophesies and their fulfillment. Mormon probably had access to even more of Abinadi’s prophesies which may have even more specifically applied to his people, and to us.
What about the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite? Mormon remembered them too. Do we remember them? Samuel the Lamanite’s prophesies were even more specific and detailed than those of Abinadi (at least those that we have in Joseph Smith’s translation of Mormon’s abridgment of the large plates of Nephi). Read Helaman 13 and notice how each of Samuel the Lamanite’s prophesies were fulfilled in specific ways for Mormon’s people.
Mormon knew that Samuel the Lamanite’s prophesies were fulfilled for his people, but why would he bother to record the fulfillment of such prophesies for a people who were past hope? The answer is that Mormon recorded the fulfillment of these prophecies for our benefit. I believe that Mormon didn’t merely wish to show us that the Lord fulfills the prophesies of his prophets, but also that these same prophesies apply in multiple times and places, and especially for us in the promised land today.
What were the prophesies of Samuel the Lamanite? How were they fulfilled for Mormon’s people? How do they apply to us today? We can read them in Helaman 13 to answer these questions. Furthermore, we ought to pay even closer attention to the prophesies of Samuel the Lamanite when we consider our Savior’s own emphasis on the words of Isaiah and Samuel the Lamanite in 3 Nephi 23.
One of the many things that Samuel the Lamanite prophesied - for his own generation, for Mormon’s generation, and for us - was that the asword of justice hung over the people. Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that in four hundred years the Lord’s sword of justice would fall upon the people, and Mormon acknowledges that the Lord’s sword of justice fell upon them precisely as had been prophesied. Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that heavy adestruction awaited the people, and that nothing could save them but repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Samuel the Lamanite preached the glad tidings of repentance, but the Nephites would not receive him in his time or in the time of Mormon. He prophesied that unless the Nephites would repent, the Lord would take away His word from them, awithdraw His Spirit from them, and turn the hearts of their brethren against them. He prophesied that within afour hundred years the Nephites would be smitten with the sword, famine, and pestilence, and that the Lord would visit them in His fierce anger, so that there would be enemies of the afourth generation who would live to behold the utter destruction of the Nephites if they did not repent, and this is exactly what happened.
Samuel the Lamanite also prophesied of a specific curse that would come upon the land because of the wickedness of the people, namely, that those who ahide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more. Only the righteous who hid up treasures unto the Lord would be able to find them again. The Lord cursed the land and the riches of the people because the people set their hearts upon their riches. He cursed their riches that they became aslippery.
Samuel the Lamanite even prophesied that the people would cry and lament, be surrounded by ademons, and bprocrastinate the day of their salvation until it was everlastingly too late, and their destruction was made sure. And what happened? Mormon informs us that his people began to cry even as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet (interesting that Mormon calls him Samuel the prophet and not Samuel the Lamanite), and that no man could akeep that which was his own, because of the thieves, robbers, murderers, magic art, and witchcraft in the land.
At first Mormon rejoiced because he thought that his people might repent, but he soon realized that their mourning was not unto repentance:
But behold this my joy was vain, for their asorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the bsorrowing of the cdamned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take dhappiness in sin.
And they did not come unto Jesus with broken ahearts and contrite spirits, but they did bcurse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.
And it came to pass that my sorrow did return unto me again, and I saw that the aday of bgrace cwas passed with them, both temporally and spiritually; for I saw thousands of them hewn down in open drebellion against their God, and heaped up as edung upon the face of the land. And thus three hundred and forty and four years had passed away. (Mormon 2:13-15)
Why would Mormon bother to inscribe these things? Was he simply fulfilling Ammaron’s commission to make a record of what he observed among his own people during his own lifetime? No. While Mormon certainly fulfilled Ammaron’s commission, he did so with an eye toward future generations, toward us in the last days, to whom the same prophesies also apply.
When Mormon and his people were driven into the land of Jashon, Mormon remembered Ammaron’s instructions. Therefore, Mormon went to the land Antum to the hill Shim, and he took the plates of Nephi and engraved on the plates of Nephi all the things that he had observed concerning his people. This full account, however, is not the account that we are reading. Mormon made the full account upon the plates of Nephi, but he also made an abridgment:
And upon the plates of Nephi I did make a full account of all the wickedness and abominations; but upon athese plates I did forbear to make a full account of their wickedness and abominations, for behold, a continual scene of wickedness and abominations has been before mine eyes ever since I have been sufficient to behold the ways of man. (Mormon 2:18)
Whenever we are tempted to complain because a continual scene of wickedness and abominations has been before our eyes, we can remember that we have a friend in Mormon who endured similar trials. We can listen to and gain strength from Mormon’s lament and testimony:
And wo is me because of their wickedness; for my heart has been filled with sorrow because of their wickedness, all my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be alifted up at the last day. (Mormon 2:19)
This sounds a lot like Nephi’s lament and testimony:
And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have atrusted. (2 Nephi 4:19)
The Lamanites hunted and drove the Nephites to the land and the city of Shem. Mormon delivered a rousing military speech, urging his people to do that which Captain Moroni had urged his soldiers to do, to stand boldly before the Lamanites, and to afight for their bwives, and their children, and their houses, and their homes. Captain Moroni’s speeches, however, included admonitions to fight for faith in God and freedom, admonitions that are noticeably absent from Mormon’s speech. Mormon’s speech worked, and his army of thirty thousand withstood an army of fifty thousand Lamanites. It was a miraculous victory, but Mormon laments that the strength of the Lord was not with them. His heart sorrowed because of the great calamity of his people, because of their wickedness and abominations.
The Nephites reclaimed some of the lands of their inheritance, but they were forced to make a treaty with the Lamanites and the Gadianton robbers, according to which the Lamanites occupied all the land southward, and the Nephites were given the land northward. How long would the treaty last?