Mosiah 13

Abinadi’s Face Shines

When the king heard all this, he turned to his priests and said, 'Get rid of this lunatic. Kill him. Why are we even listening to him? He’s out of his mind.' They stepped forward to grab him, but Abinadi held them off and said, 'Don’t touch me. If you lay a hand on me, God will strike you down. I haven’t finished delivering the message the Lord sent me to give you. I haven’t yet said what you asked me to say. So God won’t let you destroy me—not yet.' 'But I will finish what God commanded me to say. And you’re angry with me because I told you the truth. You’ve called me crazy simply because I spoke the word of God.'

After Abinadi spoke, the people of King Noah didn’t dare touch him. The Spirit of the Lord was on him, and his face shone with brilliant light—just like Moses' face glowed when he spoke with the Lord on Mount Sinai. He spoke with power and authority from God. Then he continued:

'You see now—you have no power to kill me. So I’m going to finish my message. I can tell it cuts deep, because I’m telling you the truth about your wickedness.' 'My words fill you with shock and amazement—and anger.' 'But I will finish my message. After that, it doesn’t matter where I go or what happens to me—as long as I’m saved.' 'But I’ll tell you this much: whatever you do to me after this will be a symbol—a shadow of things to come.'

The Ten Commandments

'Now let me read you the rest of God’s commandments. I can see they’re not written in your hearts. I can see you’ve spent most of your lives studying and teaching wickedness.'

'Remember what I told you: 'You must not make any carved image or likeness of anything in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.'' 'And again: 'You must not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children for the sins of those who hate me—down to the third and fourth generation.'' '’But I show mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.'' '’You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let anyone go unpunished who misuses his name.'' '’Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.'' '’Six days you can work and do all your labor.'' '’But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work—not you, your son, your daughter, your servants, your animals, or any visitor staying with you.'' '’For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. That’s why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.'' '’Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.'' '’You must not murder.'' '’You must not commit adultery. You must not steal.'' '’You must not lie about your neighbor.'' '’You must not want what belongs to your neighbor—not his house, not his wife, not his servants, not his ox or donkey, not anything that is his.''

The Law Points to Christ

When Abinadi finished reciting these commandments, he said to them, 'Have you taught these people to obey all these things? To keep these commandments?' 'I tell you: No, you haven’t. If you had, the Lord wouldn’t have sent me here to prophesy judgment against this people.'

'You say that salvation comes through the law of Moses. I tell you it’s right that you should keep the law of Moses—for now. But I also tell you the time is coming when it will no longer be necessary to keep the law of Moses.' 'And more than that, I tell you: salvation does not come by the law alone. If it weren’t for the atonement that God himself will make for the sins and wickedness of his people, they would all perish—despite the law of Moses.'

'It was necessary for a law to be given to the children of Israel—a very strict law. Because they were stubborn people, quick to do wrong and slow to remember the Lord their God.' 'So they were given a law—a law of rituals and ceremonies they had to observe strictly, day after day, to keep them mindful of God and their duty to him.' 'But understand this: all these things were symbols of things to come.'

'Did they understand the law? I tell you: No, not all of them understood it. And that’s because their hearts were hard. They didn’t understand that no one can be saved except through the redemption of God.' 'Did not Moses himself prophesy to them about the coming of the Messiah—that God would redeem his people? And haven’t all the prophets since the world began spoken about these things?' 'Haven’t they said that God himself would come down among humanity, take on the form of a man, and walk the earth in mighty power?' 'And haven’t they also said he would bring about the resurrection of the dead—and that he himself would be oppressed and suffer?'