As we study the Scriptures, I'm repeatedly reminded of how we've been told that it was "written for our day." All of our scriptures were recorded then to benefit us now. It's through this lens that I try to understand how what is written might be relevant or beneficial to us now. The reading this week had one phrase that stood out to me the very most.
We enter the story in a time when the leaders of the people were lazy and lived off the work of others, allowing the common men to labor exceedingly to support their immoral behaviors. Abinadi was accused of causing contention because he would teach the people God's commandments. The people preferred he remain silent. They wanted him to be quiet to get along. The leaders would quote scriptures and pretend to keep the Law of Moses, but their actions couldn't have been farther from righteousness behavior.
When Abinadi speaks out against the society's immorality and the leaders, the response is extremely telling. Not only is the king mad at what Abinadi has preached, he's mad at God. In fact, he's so arrogant that he says, "Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?"
In essence the king asks, what right or authority does Abinadi have to criticize anything that I do? In fact, what right does the Lord have to judge me? Who is the Lord, and what right does he have to punish my people? How come God gets to make the rules? Doctrine and Covenants tells us that "21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments." In other words, one of the most offensive things we can do is to refuse to acknowledge that God not only exists, but acknowledge that he had created and directs all things. The second most offensive thing we can do is to refuse to obey the guidelines our creator has outlined for us.
I hope that we can recognize this tendency if it creeps into our attitudes or actions. Do we behave like King Noah? Do we ask what right the Lord has to tell us how to behave? Do we ask what right he has to influence our lives, decisions, or behaviors? Do we acknowledge his existence and acknowledge that he's created all things, but doubt his authority to give us guidelines on how to behave as individuals or societies? Abinadi said that, "because I have told you the truth ye are angry with me. And again, because I have spoken the word of God ye have judged me that I am mad." Do we view the leaders of the church or followers of Christ as mad? Are we angry when people speak the truth?
The scriptures teach us that our safety lies in keeping the commandments. Interestingly enough, this scriptural account is one where that safety doesn't equate to temporal safety. Unlike the story of Daniel and the Lions Den, or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Abinadi wasn't given temporal deliverance and safety. What can we learn from a story like this, when the righteous hero is killed, and the wicked villains go on to live another day?
I think that the lesson here is this. 1 Peter 2 talks about us being "strangers and pilgrims." We are not meant to be at home here. This earth and this life are not our final destination. We are supposed to live and learn to the degree that we understand that now is not all there is. We are supposed to live and learn until we understand that this life is more fleeting and less real to us than the life beyond this one. If this life and world are fleeting and ephemeral and that true reality lies beyond it, the things we experience here can become less tragic and less overwhelming.
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