Mosiah 3:2 I shall tell you (things) made
known unto me by an angel
Benjamin’s righteousness was
such that he was worthy of angelic ministration. The angel tells him, the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy
righteousness (v. 4). What we need to realize is that the content of
chapter 3, from verse 3 to 27, is the message delivered to Benjamin by the
angel. If the doctrine of this chapter seems like a pure message of divine
inspiration, it is because the message is coming directly from the throne of
the Almighty. The angel explains that his message is from the Lord, now I have spoken the words which the Lord God hath
commanded me (v. 22). These are the words of the angel to Benjamin which
Benjamin repeated to his people.
Mosiah 3:3 glad tidings of great joy
There is a parallel between
this angelic visit to Benjamin and the angelic visitation to the shepherds
outside Bethlehem. Both had angels appear to them to declare good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people (Lu
2:10). The Bethlehem angels go on to tell of a Savior; they give his name, show
them how to find the babe, and proclaim peace and goodwill. The message of the
angel to Benjamin is similar. He is told of the Savior (v. 9), the name is
given (v. 8), and the message is given for the joy and rejoicing of the people
(v. 4).
Mosiah 3:5 the time cometh, and is not far distant
The Lord’s timetable is
different than ours. In the many passages which speak of the Second Coming of
the Lord, similar language is used. The Lord has said, the
day soon cometh that ye shall see me, and know that I am (DC
38:8), and Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is
to come, for the Lord is nigh (DC 1:12). In spite of this
language, which describes his imminent return, the Lord has not yet come again.
This is because the Lord’s timetable is different than ours. It has been 169
years since the two prophecies above were given. The usefulness of this phrase,
as given to Benjamin, is that we are able to place a fairly exact time to the
phrase the time…is not far distant. In this
particular case it means about 124 years. One might wonder if Benjamin thought
this prophecy would be fulfilled in considerably less time than that. At any
rate, the Lord has been intentionally vague with the timing of his Second
Coming. He wants us to know the general time period but not the day nor the hour (Matt 25:13), for if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house
to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready (Matt 24:43-44).
Mosiah 3: 7 he shall suffer…even more than man can suffer, except it
be unto death
Christ’s suffering drew
blood from every pore of his body. This may seem impossible to us, but it is a
described medical condition:
“Although
this is a very rare phenomenon, bloody sweat (hematidrosis or hemohidrosis) may
occur in highly emotional states or in persons with bleeding disorders. As a
result of hemorrhage into the seat glands, the skin becomes fragile and
tender.” (Journal of the American Medical Association, “On the Physical
Death of Jesus Christ,” vol. 255, no. 11, pp. 1455-63)
James E. Talmage
“Christ's
agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity
and cause…He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who
has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain,
nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce
an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as
only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of
physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism
would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and
welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the
horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ (Jn
16:11) could inflict…
“In
some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the
Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end
of the world. Modern revelation assists us to a partial understanding of the
awful experience. In March 1830, the glorified Lord, Jesus Christ, thus spake: ‘For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all,
that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent,
they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the
greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to
suffer both body and spirit: and would that I might not drink the bitter cup
and shrink -- nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished
my preparations unto the children of men.’ (DC 19:16-19)…
“Note
6. The Bloody Sweat. -- Luke, the only Gospel-writer who mentions sweat and
blood in connection with our Lord's agony in Gethsemane, states that ‘his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down
to the ground’ (22:44). Many critical expositors deny that there was an
actual extrusion of blood, on the grounds that the evangelist does not
positively affirm it, and that the three apostles, who were the only human
witnesses, could not have distinguished blood from sweat falling in drops, as
they watched from a distance in the night, even if the moon, which at the
passover season was full, had been unobscured. Modern scripture removes all
doubt. See D&C 19:16-19, also 18:11. See further a specific prediction of
the bloody sweat, Mosiah 3:7.” (Jesus the Christ, pp. 613-4, 620)
Bruce R. McConkie
“This
sacrifice…took place in Gethsemane when he sweat great gouts of blood from
every pore…And it also took place as he hung on the cruel cross of Calvary. During
the last three hours of that agonizing ordeal, while darkness overspread the
land, all the pains and suffering of Gethsemane returned.” (A New Witness
for the Articles of Faith, p. 109 as taken from Latter-day Commentary
on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 206)
Mosiah 3:8 he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God
Some have criticized the Book of Mormon
because Book of Mormon prophets use the term “Christ” before the birth of the
Savior. The word “Christ” is the Greek form of the Hebrew word for Messiah and
means literally “the anointed one.” As the critics point out, this word was not
used in the Old Testament. Some of the Old Testament terms for Christ are
Shiloh (Gen 49:10), Prophet (Deut 18:15), Holy One of Israel (Ps 16:10), King
(Ps 24:10, Zech 9:9), Immanuel (Isa 7:14), Redeemer (Isa 59:20), Prince of
Peace (Isa 9:6), righteous Branch (Jer 23:5, Zech 3:8), and Messiah (Dan 9:26).
Jacob
helps us understand this apparent “anachronism.” He explains that the angel of
the Lord told him what his name should be, for in
the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name (2
Ne 10:3). So it was with Benjamin, also. An angel had appeared to him and given
him the name by which the Messiah should be known. Hence, we see why the Book
of Mormon prophets speak so plainly about the mission and ministry of Jesus
Christ. Their writings and prophecies were inspired by direct revelation and
the Spirit of God.
Mosiah
3:9 even after all this they shall consider him a
man
The
perspective of the Nephite prophets is that Jesus of Nazareth is the Holy One
of Israel, the creator of heaven and earth. The perspective of the Jews of his
day is that Jesus is the son of Joseph and Mary. The people of Nazareth asked, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Is not this the carpenter’s son? (Matt 13:54-5). That He would be
considered a man, or worse, one possessed with a devil, was an astonishing
thought to Benjamin.
This
passage raises the age-old question, ‘What think ye
of Christ?’ (Matt 22:42). Was he a man or was he the God of the Old
Testament?
Neal A. Maxwell
”My friends and neighbors, brothers and
sisters all, the most important question in human history is one which will not
go away. It echos down through the corridors of time. And ‘Jesus asked them,…What think ye of Christ?’ (Matt
22:42) sooner or later, this is the vital question for all mortals including
you, my friends. And a failure to answer this question is an answer.”
(Investigator Fireside, Jan. 5, 1984)
Harold B. Lee
“What think ye of Christ? Today we
should ask ourselves the question, in answer to what the Master asked of those
in His day, ‘What think ye of Christ?’
(Matthew 22:42.) We ought to ask as we would say it today, "What think we
of Christ?" and then make it a little more personal and ask, "What
think I of Christ?" Do I think of Him as the Redeemer of my soul? Do I
think of Him with no doubt in my mind as the one who appeared to the Prophet
Joseph Smith? Do I believe that He established this church upon the earth? Do I
accept Him as the Savior of this world? Am I true to my covenants, which in the
waters of baptism, if I understood, meant that I would stand as a witness of
Him at all times, and in all things, and in all places, wherever I would be,
even until death? (See Mosiah 18:9.)” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee,
p. 8)
Mosiah 3:10 he shall rise the third day
“Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said,
‘He rose again the third day according to the
scriptures’ (1 Corinthians 15:4; italics added). Paul is quoting a text that is nowhere to be
found in the Old Testament of our day.
Significantly, the Book of
Mormon attributes this knowledge to Zenos, an Old Testament prophet (1
Nephi 19:10). This understanding was
common among the Nephite people (see 2 Nephi 25:13).” (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal
Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 2, p. 149)
Mosiah
3:11 his blood atoneth for the sins of those…who
have ignorantly sinned
The atonement has power to save those
in a state of innocence. In particular, this applies to two main groups, little
children (v. 16) and those who have not the law
given to them (2 Ne 9:26). This principle is taught in the law of
sacrifice as found in the law of Moses, If a soul
shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord….[the
priest] shall do with the bullock as he did with the
bullock for a sin offering…the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it
shall be forgiven them (Lev 4:2,20).
The Book of Mormon teaches this
principle in several different locations. King Benjamin’s sermon includes the
following, his blood atoneth for the sins of those
who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will
of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. Mormon teaches
that both children and those without the law will be saved, For behold that all little children are alive in Christ,
and also all they that are without the law, for the power of redemption cometh
on all them that have no law (Moroni 8:22).
The
scriptures go so far as to say that those without the law will come forth in
the first resurrection, And then shall the heathen
nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first
resurrection; and it shall be tolerable for them (DC 45:54). They will
come forth in the first resurrection after those who are “the first fruits” (or those who come forth in the
morning of the first resurrection). For the most part, they will inherit the
terrestial kingdom and will be resurrected as “those
who are Christ’s at his coming’ (DC 88:98-9) (or those who come forth in
the afternoon of the first resurrection). This conclusion can be made by
studying the following scriptures, DC 88:98-9, DC 76:71-73, Mosiah 15:24-25,
Heb 5:2, DC 137:7, and Mormon Doctrine, p. 640.
Mosiah
3:14-15 The Lord God saw that his people were a
stiffnecked people
The
Lord would have been happy to bless the children of Israel with all the
blessings of the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through
their wickedness, the Lord decided to take away the higher law and the
Melchizedek Priesthood. Paul records, Wherefore then
serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed
should come to whom the promise was made (Gal 3:19). It is through the
Joseph Smith Translation that we come to understand the meaning of Paul’s
words. After Moses returned from Mount Sinai, he found the children of Israel
worshipping a golden calf. Filled with anger, he threw down the first set of
tablets containing the higher law (Ex 32:19-20). Later the Lord instructs
Moses:
‘Hew thee two other tables of stone,
like unto the first, and I will write upon them also, the words of
the law, according as they were written at the first on the tables which
thou brakest; but it shall not be according to the first, for I will take
away the priesthood out of their midst; therefore my holy order, and the
ordinances thereof, shall not go before them; for my presence shall not go up
in their midst, lest I destroy them.
But I will give unto them the law as at the first, but it shall
be after the law of the carnal commandment.’ (JST Ex
34:1-2)
The
law of the carnal commandment is one which contains many
signs, and wonders, and types, and shadows, but it availeth nothing except it were through the atonement of
his blood.
Mosiah 3:16 even if it were possible that little children could sin
they could not be saved
Without the atonement of Jesus
Christ, little children, through the fall of Adam, would have been doomed to
suffer eternally. They would have become devils,
angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God (2 Ne
9:9). That the curse of Adam can only be overcome through the atonement, is
verified in the words of Christ, little children are
whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam
is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them (Moroni 8:8).
Mosiah 3:17 no other name given
As a missionary, I once had a
long conversation with a Buddhist about the process of salvation. He contended
that as many roads lead to Rome, there are just as many ways that one can reach
heaven. He had asked me if it was possible for a Buddhist, who never converted
to Christianity, to be saved. I responded that he could, but there were
qualifications. In discussing these qualifications, the doctrine that there is
no other name whereby man can be saved was discussed. This is not what the
Buddhist man wanted to hear. He thought that this Christian doctrine was
narrow-minded and ethno-centric. It would be both of those things if it weren’t
the truth.
We
understand from the scriptures that salvation comes only in and through the name
of Jesus Christ. This applies to the Buddhist as well as to the Muslim. It
applies to the Jew as well as to the Hindu. It applies to the atheist as well
as the agnostic. There is no way around this doctrine, for every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God
(Mosiah 27:31).
Mosiah
3:18-19 The Hebrew poetic form of chiasmus
In
the book, King Benjamin’s Speech: Made Simple, John W. Welch
demonstrates that all of King Benjamin’s speech is structured in some form of
parallelism or chiasmus. He states:
“A stunning array of literary structures appears in Benjamin’s
speech, purposefully and skillfully organized. Benjamin’s use of chiasmus, all
types of parallelisms, and many other forms of repeating patterns adds focus
and emphasis to the main messages and the persuasive qualities of this text…
“Chiasmus it’s the literary technique
of creating double structures in which the second half of a composition mirrors
and balances the first half, but in reverse order. In general, the device is
useful for several literary purposes, especially for concentrating attention on
the main point of the passage by placing it at the central turning point rather
than in a topic sentence at the beginning of a paragraph, as is the trend with
modern writers…
“The central chiasm found in 3:18-19
can be summarized and displayed as follows:
a) humble themselves
b) become as little children
c) salvation through the atoning blood of Christ the Lord
d) natural man
e) enemy to God
f) has been from the fall of Adam
f) will be forever and ever
e) yieldeth to the Holy Spirit
d) natural man
c) become a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord
b) become as a child
a) submissive, meek, humble”
(John
W. Welch, and Stephen D. Ricks, King Benjamin’s Speech: Made Simple, pp.
225, 229, 259)
Mosiah
3:19 the natural man is an enemy to God
Our
relationship with God is described by several terms, and there is a spiritual progression—from
enemy, to servant, to son or daughter, to friend. We begin with the natural, or
carnal man, who is far from God and cares only for the things of the flesh (Rom 8:5). He receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him (1 Cor 2:14). As we turn to the Lord and become
baptized, we become his servants. The baptismal applicant must be willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having
a determination to serve him to the end (DC 20:37). Next comes the
process of spiritual rebirth which makes us a son or daughter of Christ, ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and
his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you
(Mosiah 5:7). The last stage is that of friendship with God. It is to be paid
the great compliment that few have received, to be referred to as the Lord’s
friend, I say unto you, for you are mine apostles…ye
are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends (DC 84:63). The
Lord explained further, Ye are my friends, if ye do
whatsoever I command you (Jn 15:14). Therefore, our journey is to make
that great transition, from the natural man to the spiritual man—from the enemy
of God to the friend of God.
“One of the most disputed issues among
so-called Christian theologians has been the question of the basic nature of
man. Some of these theologians have argued that man is born evil into this
world as an infant; thus the only way this evil can be removed is by receiving
the sacrament of baptism. Still other theologians have argued that man is born
innocent and remains basically good; some of them thus conclude that inasmuch
as man is basically good he has no need for a redeemer to atone for his sins.
“It should be clear to students of the
Book of Mormon that the prophets definitely reject both the doctrine of the
natural depravity of man and the doctrine that man is so good by nature he has
no need for a redeemer. Benjamin, the prophet and king of the Nephites, said
that ‘an angel from God’ taught him that
although infants are born in a state of innocence, after they become
accountable they can become enemies to God if they do not accept the saving
principles and ordinances of the gospel.” (Daniel Ludlow, A Companion to
Your Study of the Book of Mormon, pp. 177-8)
Brigham
Young
“How difficult it is to teach the
natural man, who comprehends nothing more than that which he sees with the
natural eye!…Talk to him about angels, heavens, God, immortality, and eternal
lives, and it is like sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal to his ears; it has
no music to him; there is nothing in it that charms his senses, soothes his
feelings, attracts his attention, or engages his affections, in the least.” (JD
1:2 as taken from King Benjamin’s
Speech: Made Simple, by John W.
Welch, and Stephen D. Ricks, p. 17)
Hartman Rector Jr.
“(Speaking of Mosiah 3:19) This is
strong testimony borne against man, but a perusal of the pages of history
leaves little doubt as to its truthfulness. Man's inhumanity to man has always
been and is now everywhere in evidence.
“How can fallen human nature be changed
from evil to good? Basically, this must be the most important question
confronting mankind. All other questions seem to pale into insignificance when
compared to this one, because man cannot be saved in his sins. And yet there are
those who say, ‘You can't change human nature.’ This claim is very frequently
and flippantly made. Of course it is false. President David O. McKay
taught something completely different from this in 1945 when he said: ‘Human
nature will have to be changed on an enormous scale in the future or the world
will be drowned in its own blood.’” (Conference Report, Apr. 1970, p.
102)
Mosiah
3:19 yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit
The
angel gives Benjamin four steps of the process of spiritual rebirth. They are:
1) yield to the enticings of the Holy
Spirit
2) put off the natural man
3) become a saint through the atonement
of Christ the Lord
4) become as a child.
“The transformation from the natural
state to the spiritual state…is accomplished only through the mediation and
atonement of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost. No one goes from death to life without that
enabling power we call the grace of God.
Programs to develop self-control, plans to modify human behavior, and
schemes directed toward the shaping of more appropriate actions have fallen and
will forever fall far short of the mark which Christ has set. These programs are at best deficient and at
worst perverse. In the language of
President Ezra Taft Benson:
‘The Lord works from the inside
out. The world works from the outside
in. The world would take people out of
the slums. Christ takes the slums out
of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their
environment. Christ changes men, who
then change their environment. The
world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.’
("Born of God" 6)
“Those who are born again or born from above-who
die as to the things of unrighteousness and begin to live again as pertaining
to the things of the Spirit-are like little children. First and foremost, these people are, like children, clean and
pure. Through the atoning blood of
Christ they have had their sins remitted and have entered the realm of divine
experience. Putting off the natural man
involves putting on Christ. As Paul
counseled the Saints in his day, those who put off the ‘old man’ are ‘renewed in the spirit
of [their] mind.’ They ‘put on the
new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness’
(Ephesians 4:22-24), and ‘which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him’ (Colossians 3:10).” (Book
of Mormon Symposium Series, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate,
Jr., 1988, p. 155)
Bruce R. McConkie
“If a man ‘yields
to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and
becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord’ (Mosiah
3:19), then he is born again. His spiritual death ceases. He becomes alive to
the things of the Spirit; he returns to the presence of God because he receives
the gift of the Holy Ghost; and he is alive to the things of righteousness. He
crucifies the old man of sin, becomes a new creature of the Holy Ghost, and
walks in a newness of life. This is what is meant by being born again.” (The
Promised Messiah, p. 350)
Mosiah
3:20-21 knowledge of a Savior shall spread…none
shall be found blameless
The
angel instructed Benjamin that those who sinned in ignorance would be saved by
the atonement. He now prophesies of a day when very few will fall into that
category, for the knowledge of the Savior shall spread until the inhabitants of
the earth are left without excuse. One could argue that he is speaking of our
day, when the world knows of Jesus Christ yet chooses to ignore his holy
sacrifice. And so the missionary work continues until the day when the world
has been sufficiently warned, this Gospel of the
Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and
then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked (JS Matt
1:31).
Mosiah
3:27 as a lake of fire and brimstone
Certain phrases in the
scriptures are to be taken literally, and some are to be taken figuratively.
The doctrine of ‘a lake of fire and brimstone’
is a figurative representation of the pangs of guilt suffered by the wicked as
they suffer endless torment. There will not be a literal, physical lake into
which they are cast.
Joseph
Smith
“A man is his own tormenter and his own
condemner. Hence the saying, They shall
go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite
as a lake burning with fire and brimstone.
I say, so is the torment of man.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, p.357)