Zeniff had more than one son, but the son upon whom he chose to bestow the kingdom, Noah, did not follow or build upon his father's righteous legacy. In fact, King Noah altered the affairs of the kingdom so drastically that tragedy ensued.
What did King Noah do to alter the affairs of the kingdom? In what way did he fail to follow in his father's footsteps? And why did Mormon include this abridgment of Zeniff's record.
If I'm not mistaken, we have moved from Zeniff's own writing to Mormon's abridgment of the record that was kept after Zeniff's death, or at least after Zeniff had conferred the kingdom upon his son Noah.
King Noah was a tyrant in the original sense of the word. This is the first example in the Book of Mormon that I can recall that explicitly shows the degeneration of good kingship into the corrupted form of the same government, namely tyranny. Nephi's successors, as far as I can recall, did their best to follow in Nephi's footsteps, and the Nephites enjoyed peace and prosperity under the reign of righteous kings such as King Benjamin and King Mosiah.
But King Noah went whole hog on the path of tyranny. This chapter presents us with a portrait of tyranny that stands in sharp contrast to the portrait of good kingship embodied by King Benjamin. I don't think that this contrast is accidental.
Why would Mormon devote so many pages of his precious abridgment to the story of the Nephites under the reign of these two diametrically opposed characters, namely King Benjamin and King Noah? The Book of Mormon contains a record of other kings after Nephi, but King Benjamin and King Noah stand out early on because of the sharp contrast between the two, and also because of the results of their respective reigns upon their people.
We recall that Mormon's abridgment of the large plates of Nephi is an abridgment of the more secular account of Nephite history, an record of political, military, and social affairs. The large plates also contained many spiritual matters, but they were different from the small plates of Nephi. However, with his perspective on both Nephite history and the future audiences that would receive the Book of Mormon, Mormon selected and abridged portions of the large plates of Nephi with a specific purpose in mind. Of the many records and the many stories in secular Nephite history, Mormon chose carefully. Mormon didn't simply keep an exhaustive record of everything that happened, whittling it all down to the main elements. Mormon used his abridgment of the large plates of Nephi with specific stories about specific people and places and events to teach specific lessons.
What lessons did Mormon have in mind when he recorded his abridgment of the story of King Noah? One thing that springs to mind immediately is how this oscillation from righteous kingship to wicked kingship, or from kingship to tyranny, is a common theme in the record of the Jaredites, namely the Book of Ether. Another thing that occurs to me is how similar the Book of Mormon is to the Bible in this way, specifically the Old Testament. Students of the Old Testament will remember that the ancient Israelites enjoyed periods of prosperity under the reign of righteous rulers and periods of depravation under the reign of wicked rulers. Mormon knew Israelite history as well as anyone, and he had access to the brass plates. His record for the seed of Joseph, therefore, may mirror in many ways the record for the seed of Judah.
If we keep in mind Mormon's main motivations for abridging and for inscribing his words upon the plates, we can see the story of King Noah and his people in the larger context of Mormon's main purposes: to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers, to make known the covenants of the Lord, and to convince Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations. The story of the rise and fall of King Noah is the context for the introduction of the great prophet Abinadi and also one of the most important figures in the Book of Mormon, Alma the Elder. If we can remember that Alma the Elder is already in the background of this story of King Noah, then we may better understand the overarching purposes of the Book of Mormon and especially how this other testament of Jesus Christ is such a powerful tool for conversion and for leading souls unto Jesus Christ.
King Noah was a typical tyrant in many ways, and a flagrant hedonist. Not only did he refuse to keep the commandments of God that his father had kept, but he also walked after the desires of his own heart. King Noah was the embodiment of King Benjamin's natural man. Wine, women, and song were his delights. In almost every way imaginable, King Noah was the opposite of King Benjamin.
King Noah had many wives and concubines. King Riplakish in the Book of Ether had the same problem:
"And it came to pass that Riplakish did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, for he did have many wives and concubines, and did lay that upon men’s shoulders which was grievous to be borne; yea, he did tax them with heavy taxes; and with the taxes he did build many spacious buildings." (Ether 10:5)
Moreover, and what is worse, King Noah caused his people to commit sin and to do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. In the Old Testament, King Jeroboam, King Manasseh, and others had similar problems. Later on in the Book of Mormon, as he proposed a new form of government through the reign of judges, King Mosiah summarized the lessons that can be learned from someone like King Noah:
"Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you.
For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction!
Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations of his people. Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of their iniquities they were brought into bondage." (Mosiah 29:16-18)
King Mosiah continued,
"For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings.
And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.
And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them.
And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part.
And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule over them;
Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated—telling them that these things ought not to be, that they were expressly repugnant to the commandments of God." (Mosiah 29:31-36)
King Noah caused wars, contentions, bloodshed, stealing, plundering, the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities that cannot be enumerated. Alma the Elder also later reminisced about all of the trouble that King Noah had caused:
"But remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance" (Mosiah 23:9)
Mormon helps us to see why the transition from kingship to the reign of the judges was a necessary development in Nephite history. We can think about how this transition, from monarchy to a new form of government may foreshadow and be a type of the government that Hamilton described in the first of the Federalist Papers, namely, a government established "from reflection and choice" rather than "accident and force."
One of the characteristics of a tyrannical regime is that the whims and wishes of the tyrant can only be supported by the labor and the taxation of the people. Unlike King Benjamin who labored diligently with his own hands to work and to serve his people, King Noah placed a heavy tax upon his people, a people who already labored under the burden of Lamanite oppression. King Noah exacted a tax of one fifth of everything that the Zenephites possessed, including all of their gold, silver, copper, brass, iron, and ziff. Wait... what? Ziff? Are you kidding me? Joseph Smith invented a new word to describe a kind of precious metal, another "Z" word? Ziff? Right. I don't think so. What on earth is ziff? At least we know that ziff is not gold, silver, copper, brass, or iron. Could it have been tin, lead, or platinum? Whatever it was, King Noah taxed it away from his people, and he also used it to ornament his buildings. This is another guess about what ziff might be:
https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Book_of_Mormon/Metals/Ziff
King Noah also exacted one fifth of the Zenephite fatlings and grain. Why did Noah need all of this stuff? What did he do with it all? He used this taxation method to support himself and his wives and his concubines, and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines. Zeniff had not done any of these things. Noah even put down the priests that his father Zeniff had consecrated in order to consecrate new priests in their stead. These new priests, among which was Alma, were lifted up in the pride of their hearts. These were all classic tyrannical strategies. Perhaps you have seen similar strategies in your business or place of work. Some modern American CEOs, for example, make King Noah look like Mother Theresa. Even some of our recent presidents, and sadly enough our current president, are definitely giving King Noah a run for his money in terms of a competition for the most tyrannical leader.
King Noah also used the unjust taxes to support his laziness, idolatry, and whoredoms, and the laziness, idolatry, and whoredoms of his wicked priests. Have you ever noticed in the workplace or in other institutions how a tyrannical leader dismisses anyone who might pose a threat to his or her tyranny while simultaneously hiring and promoting those who kowtow to his or her demands and supposed authority? That is how tyranny operates. One way to recognize tyranny is simply to follow the money to the top and to see who gets promoted to which positions and why. King Noah and his priests are the model for many an organization chart in modern American businesses, as well as in government, academia, and other institutions.
But this is not all. King Noah used the taxes that he had unjustly exacted from his people to build many elegant and spacious buildings, elaborately ornamented, a spacious palace with an elaborate throne in the midst of it, elaborate seats and structures for his priests, a high watch-tower, and many vineyards and wine-presses to supply his drinking habit. Tyrants love to build these kinds of buildings and to deck them out with all kinds of fancy things. In essence, tyrants like King Noah build themselves up and feed their boundless appetites at the expense of the people around them who do the real work. Or as Mormon put it, "thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity."
But even as they labored to support iniquity, the people also became idolatrous because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of King Noah and his priests. Unlike King Benjamin who spoke the word of God and truth, King Noah could only sustain his wicked regime by lying to and flattering the people. King Noah was a demagogue as well as a tyrant. He knew how to flatter the people and to deceive them. His priests also knew how do deceive and flatter the people. The contrast between King Benjamin and King Noah is even sharper here. King Noah told the people what they wanted to hear, whereas King Benjamin told the people what the Lord wanted them to hear.
Just as one righteous king, King Benjamin, had been instrumental in the conversion of his entire people to Christ and to righteousness, King Noah caused his people to degenerate into idolatry. King Benjamin's heart was drawn out toward God and toward the welfare of his people, whereas King Noah set his heart upon riches and riotous living with his wives and his concubines. While King Noah and his priests were busy with their drunken orgies, however, the Lamanites began to attack the Zenephites again. King Noah didn't really care what happened to his people, so he didn't send enough guards to help resist the Lamanites. Eventually King Noah sent his armies to drive the Lamanites back, and when King Noah's armies were victorious, King Noah and his people began to boast in their own strength. King Zeniff and his armies fought in the strength of the Lord, whereas King Noah and his armies boasted in their own strength.
Such were the conditions of the Zenephites under the reign of the wicked King Noah and his wicked priests. They were wicked, proud, boastful, idolatrous, drunkards, materialistic, lustful, and generally depraved. This was not the civilization that Lehi had initiated, that Nephi had built upon, and that the righteous kings such as Benjamin, Mosiah, and Zeniff had labored so hard to establish.
Enter Abinadi.
This is a turning point in the Book of Mormon. Abinadi was a man among these Zenephites whom the Lord sent to set things straight. Abinadi's message was clear and direct:
"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 visit 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 bondage; and they shall be afflicted by the hand of their enemies.
And it shall come to pass that they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and am a jealous 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 deliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God.
Yea, and it shall come to pass that when they shall cry unto me I will be slow to hear their cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.
And except they repent in sackcloth and ashes, and cry mightily to the Lord their God, I will not hear 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)
Unsurprisingly, the people were not pleased with Abinadi's message. They were angry and they even tried to kill Abinadi. But the Lord protected and delivered Abinadi. When King Noah caught wind of Abinadi's message, he was livid. How dare anyone stand up to his tyranny. How dare anyone point out the obvious to the tyrant Noah and his idolatrous people. Naturally, the tyrant Noah was displeased with any challenge to his own supposed authority, and he blamed Abinadi for causing contention. Again, the irony is palpable because the tyrant Noah had caused much contention and the Lord had sent Abinadi to put an end to such contention.
The tyrant Noah and his wicked people were blinded, and because of their blindness to the truth, their hearts were hardened against the words of Abinadi. King Noah, like Pharaoh of old, also hardened his heart against the word of the Lord and refused to repent of his evil doings.
Remember that Alma the Elder is in the background of this story. We know that Alma was caught in a snare and that he did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused him sore repentance. But I wonder what Alma's reaction to Abinadi's first bold message might have been. I imagine that the first stirrings of young Alma's conscience began when he first heard about Abinadi's message. Abinadi reminded these wicked Zenephites of one of the major themes of the Old Testament, namely, that Jehovah is a jealous God and that He will not tolerate idolatry.
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