Come Fe Follow Me LDS- Mosiah 4-6 (Apr 20-26)

'King Benjamin & The 4 Phases of the Priesthood'

-  King Benjamin's Speech passes through Faith, Hope & Charity

-  The difference between Marxism and King Benjamin

- The Fluid Hierarchy, the Parable of the Talents and the Rich, Poor & Beggar

 

Podcast Links:

 Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cwic-media/id1428167000

 Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3BNjs4EJqo0iK4LURdTPDb

 

 

all right in this Cwic episode of come

follow me we are studying the book of

Mosiah chapters four through six this is

the rest of King Benjamin's speech and I

think it's important before we move on

into chapter four here that we just give

it kind of a little bit of a chapter

summary of where we start here in in one

chapter one of Mosiah remember in

Chapter one King Benjamin is talking to

his three sons he designates Messiah his

son as the king and then he specifically

remarks about the temple relics

right the people's relics which are

the brass plates and the plates of Nephi

and the Liahona and probably a well in

the sort of Laban and possibly the

ermine Thummim but he doesn't mention

that and he may be using this in a way

to set up what he's about to do here

right with this ritual with what looks

like a Feast of Tabernacles and day of

atonement ritual and the question is is

why is this mentioned before we start

off with all of this and it makes me

think that possibly this temple drama

may have been found in those brass

plates because remember he says this he

emphasizes how important it was for them

to have the brass plates with them and

for Lehi to have been taught in Egyptian

and how these are a very joseph's fight

a Joseph white plates and these are a

Joseph I'd people but not all of them

just the Nephites right the

Mulekites there are at least Jude from

that from Judah the tribe of Judah

perhaps there's some from others as well

other tribes as well but why is it so

important to say that we would have

dwindled in unbelief as our brethren the

Lamanites would have if we didn't have

these brass plates certainly Benjamin is

talking about his father right

referencing that he took those plates

with him when they when they snuck out

basically probably from the land of

Nephi to go to on their Exodus toward

the land of Zarahemla however mentioning

it right here I think is also it does

tie back to Messiah King Benjamin

speaking and then he's going to give you

know his son Messiah the kingship

here and crown him but I just wonder if

those brass plates aren't full of or

have some of this temple drama that

we've been going over here over the last

couple of chapters inside of them and

something maybe a little bit more

specific remember that what we have in

Genesis at the beginning of Genesis with

the creation story and the story of Adam

and Eve in the Garden of Eden these are

the these are temple dramas right these

stories are temple dramas and that's

what they're written for they're written

for the temple remember that Moses is

writing these things and from what he

has seen on Mount Sinai in vision it

appears to me Abraham does the same

thing right he writes about the creation

story when he's in a vision that's

important to understand and so were the

brass plates full of more detail of the

Feast of Tabernacles rituals and the

temple drama that was focused on the Son

of God on Jehovah and the doctrine of

Christ right coming down to Mary being

born of a woman and then taking on

the sins of the world

and it just makes me wonder that that it

just seems to me that that Benjamin or

perhaps Mormon who abridged this is

letting us know that that is that is the

setup here going into this ritual so

perhaps some of this a lot of this

this was in those brass plates of course

we know that there are a lot of writings

and a lot of books that are in those

brass plates that we do not have today

in her Old Testament so then he goes on

to chapter 2 and remember we focused a

lot on the idea of a fluid hierarchy

there and we talked a lot about the

servant and the suffering servant and

how King Benjamin represents both a

himself as a temporal King there's

participation from the audience the

congregation in their tents facing the

temple and then of course they use the

role of the Messiah right

that is Jehovah and will be Jesus Christ

and those roles that are those different

roles that are played and we kind of

play on the word of Mosiah which is very

similar to Messiah all right so this is

kind of the beginning of maybe this

temple drama then we go to chapter 3 and

here we get the words of the angel we

don't know at least I don't know if

all of chapter 3 is from the words of

the angel a majority of it just a

portion of it we do get some hints here

after in in chapters 4 and 5 but this

chapter in chapter 3 has focused now not

just on these roles but specifically on

the doctrine of Christ so this is this

is the emphasis here what would be the

central point of the temple drama and so

remember that this always makes a lot of

sense to me the way that this is

organized because as I've said many

times knowledge comes before faith right

knowledge comes before faith and now

that knowledge can grow into a perfect

knowledge based on our faith but

knowledge has got to come before our

faith so this this temple drama talking

about the suffering servant talking

about the roles of the King as a

suffering servant talking about the

doctrine of Christ

this is information that is being put

out there first this is how the Lord

works right it's through missionaries

it's through preaching it's through

bringing the truth and principles of the

gospel especially the doctrine of Christ

to others that don't have it and so

where I do believe these individuals

here all have the doctrine of Christ and

this is just ritual that they're going

through it is there's a process there is

an order in how this is being laid out

that I think is this magnificent so now

we step into chapter 4 here and chapter

4 is going to bring together four and

five are going to bring together a lot

of the four interpreters and the quick

principles in them the higher in the

lower laws it's going to have the fluid

I our hierarchy again and here it's

going to have a four phases of the

priesthood faith hope and charity or

outcome you can kind of see in here and

that's not a surprise because again in

my estimation a lot of what the prophets

write about is pulled from this temple

drama and you know it's if we can

recognize that these things

would have been core doctrines to the

ancient Israelites including a focus on

the doctrine of Christ then we can

understand that you know this is this

was a way to have everybody

participate to make new covenants to

teach right and it would be written in a

way through chiasmus and poetry and

chorus ways that would be remembered and

taught and that could be you know some

of it perhaps brought back to your home

and you would have a way to remember

these things who knows how many of these

people actually read they could were

literate but a drama and something

written in a way that you can remember

the stories could be remembered real

well that doctrine was put into a ritual

that's something you can remember and

teach over and over again and I just

wonder if some of this wasn't removed

from the Old Testament and we can see

little pieces of it

in the Psalms but that a lot of a

teachings may have come from some of

those ancient books that we don't have

in an ancient temple drama that was in a

way the older ways the older theology

that maybe some of those in the

wilderness at the time of Jesus Christ

were still holding on to so here we

enter into chapter 4 and this is a very

famous chapter within the church there's

there's a few key scriptures that are

really important that we bring up often

so let's start off here with verse 1 it

says here and now it came to pass and

when King Benjamin had made an end of

speaking the words which he had which

had been delivered unto him by the angel

of the Lord that's the last chapter that

he cast his eyes round about on the

multitude and behold they had fallen to

the earth for the fear of the Lord had

come upon them so let's understand this

so everybody had fallen to the earth

now I'm not discounting that this is

something where they were overwhelmed

with a spirit that's a real possibility

but remember that falling to the earth

and laman and lemuel do this before

Nephi right this is a very common

manifestation of humility and acceptance

right so if everybody does this and

we're in a ritual situation that would

be very common for them at this point

having received the Word of God having

received this information about the

suffering servant about those that are

preserved and the doctrine of Christ

that they are now humbling themselves

and that's what this is going to start

off with it's a position of humility

toward the greatness of God and their

acceptance of this remember when we see

oftentimes the fear of the Lord it's not

a matter of trembling and oh I'm afraid

right a lot of times when we see the

fear of the Lord well the way we ought

to look at that is respect right and awe

and worship and that that's kind of

you know oftentimes when you look at

that word fear that's really what that

means more than being afraid so they're

humbling themselves in a

of worship and respect and honor and

then in verse two and they viewed

themselves in their own carnal state

right the lower law the physical law the

temporal law even less than the dust of

the earth this is again going back to

Moses and that fluid hierarchy they are

nothing right they realize their

nothingness just as Moses did and yet

they are also understanding what their

potential is right and then at the

bottom of verse 2 it says something very

interesting and keep this in mind it

says for we believe in Jesus Christ

remember the doctrine of Christ had just

been laid out for them in the last

chapter the son of God that's key

what are they saying with that title

Jehovah is coming down to earth right

who created heaven and earth and all

things who shall come down among the

children of men that's part of a temple

drama Jehovah will be sent it's the

premortal the war in heaven and

the assigning of a savior for all of us

who are finding ourselves in a carnal

state a fallen state and this is the

exact opposite I'm not gonna go over

this much now but next week and the week

after we're going to be focusing on a

Ben a died and the King and King Noah

and his priests and what Mormon

seems to be doing here is he is setting

up one scenario of acceptance of the

doctrine of Christ right and then we're

gonna see the exact opposite with a Ben

a die right that's what this first half

or so of the book of Mosiah is all about

it's contrasting these two it is a focus

on the higher and lower laws so then we

get in verse 3 here and I'm going to run

through several of these principles

simultaneously as we go through the

chapter but then in verse 3 we get

having a piece of conscience right that

is peace having peace of conscience

because of the exceeding faith which

they had in Jesus Christ who should come

according to the words which King

Benjamin had spoken unto them so first

they have faith here so we're gonna run

down faith hope and charity throughout

this and simultaneously we're gonna run

through the four phases of the

priesthood so what is happening here

they are deciding they're using their

agency they are falling to the ground

they are manifesting right which is

speech and works right the second phase

of the priest oh the first phase is that

they are using their agency they are

accepting this we get this even this is

kind of what the process they're gonna

run through in chapter 4 and then in

chapter 5 they actually do it right

through actually making the

covenant but it's outlined here for us

through these first four phases of the

priesthood the order that these things

take place in a ritual setting so the

way to understand this is not just this

is something that happens spontaneously

but rather if this is written out and

and this is kind of put out in order

then this is an understanding of how

these things happen in the order in

which they happen and they're gonna run

right through the four phases of the

priesthood which makes a lot of sense

they are at the temple and making

covenants in verse six again this

introduction of knowledge and working

with faith I say unto you if he have

come to a knowledge of the goodness of

God and his matchless power again you

have to have that knowledge and then you

can put the faith in him right that is

what is happening here it is King

Benjamin's speech right I don't mean

just the speech that's outlined him for

for him to say I mean it is his crying

in the desert as John the Baptist does

it is his preaching here that comes to

them first and then they accept it and

then very clearly in verse 8 there is

none other salvation save this which

have been spoken of right there's the

the only way the only way is to get a

remission of your sins and the baptism

isn't listed here but that would be a

part of this and to

humble yourselves go through the

repentance process and then do right and

have faith in Jesus Christ that will be

contrasted with what a Bennett I has to

talk about where King Noah and his

priests are only believing in the merits

of the law of Moses the lower law so in

verse 10 and again believe that ye must

repent of your sins you can see here

what we're going through it is speech

right that's coming out it is repentance

these are all Aaronic priesthood

functions right these are all the lower

law first the first two phases of the

priesthood it is making a decision and

accepting right you're falling to

the earth that is your manifestation and

your works and speech this is all part

of the first two phases of the four

phases of the priesthood and then in

eleven and twelve I'm going again

simultaneous they're simultaneously here

we first had faith and then this is

I'm going to relate this to hope right

I'm going to relate this to hope he says

here if you have known of his goodness

and have tasted of his love think about

the tree of the Tree of Life and the

fruit thereof and have received a

remission of your sins with which

causeth such exceeding great joy in your

souls right okay so again what

is happening here it's a faith in a

trust in the principles of the doctrine

of Christ and once you have that and

you've built that up then you get this

and this is part of that hope again to

me hope is a state of being and it's an

understanding of what your future is

because of your worth because of being a

child of God because of Christ and who

you can become

with it with an eternal progression and

fulfillment in your life so we're

tasting of his love and having

exceedingly great joy right would be a

it would be a position of Hope coming

after your faith

after the trust in Jesus Christ okay so

faith and hope check those two off we're

moving down that process and

simultaneously we've gone through the

the lower functions of the priesthood

and the first two phases right one being

agency right accepting and two would be

the manifestation of that it would be

your works he's going to double down on

that as we get down here a little bit

lower and so now we're gonna move to the

third and fourth phases of the

priesthood and again this might be an

abridgment that is only a partial very

partial from what King Benjamin would

have gone over who knows this could have

lasted seven days three days five days

ten days

right so we may not be getting all of

what King Benjamin had said to his

people but my guess is if there were

more it would be outlining these steps

even further so then we go down to 14

remember the third phase of the

priesthood is family right that's the

first start into what we would consider

to be a Melchizedek Priesthood function

and here we get in 14 and you will not

suffer your children that they go hungry

or naked neither will ye suffer that

they transgress the laws of God and

fight and quarrel one with another and

serve the devil who is the master of sin

or who is the evil spirit which hath

been spoken of by our fathers the

mentions that we get of this evil spirit

all have to do with a war in heaven and

then the adversary right that's a big

that war in heaven is a big part of that

he being an enemy to all righteousness

but you will teach them to walk in the

ways of truth and soberness you will

teach them to love one another and to

serve one another okay so now we're

talking about family here that is a

natural position to go to right because

that's your first responsibility going

outside of yourself that's how the four

phases work so first I need to be

responsible for my own choices my own

agency secondly I need to be able to

speak about that and speak to others

about my convictions and about my

testimony

my works right my manifestation of my

agency needs to be congruent with that

that is all part of the lower law that's

all part of you as an individual now he

moves outside of that circle your own

circle and he moves to family right that

would be the natural next place to go

you have to have that checked off first

obviously and then he's gonna move on to

step four or phase four right or it's

about community and everybody else and

you can see as you study these

principles right these

interpreters that I've articulated and

these quick principles you start to see

these things over and over again

throughout the scriptures and you see

that okay I mean and that's how I kind

of built all of this and developed all

of these things is simply by finding

these patterns everywhere and Mosiah are

here or King Benjamin's speech is no

different it fits right in here so in 16

he moves to the community and he says

and also ye ourselves we'll succor those

that stand in need of your sucker right

your help your service as a servant you

need to take on that role as a servant

you will administer of your substance

unto him that stand at the need now even

though this is primarily talking about

temporal substance I think it would be

important here to understand that this

is the exact same principle that applies

to a spiritual substance and what do I

mean by that I mean helping others right

with temporal substance is a big

part of let's say the United order right

or the law of consecration but it's not

all of it right we consecrate our

talents we consecrate all that we've

been given and that means our spiritual

gifts and everything else right and so

that's part of the law of consecration

as well so as we go through this don't

think about just a temporal substance

it's your spiritual gifts

and places that you've been given a lot

where you need to impart with that with

others and help other people and what do

we call that that is mercy that is love

that is charity right so again

simultaneously we are moving here from

faith to hope now that we have those two

in place because they are sequential

right these attributes are sequential

faith first then hope and then charity

right now we're going to be focusing a

lot more on charity and the law of

consecration or community and the fourth

phase of the priesthood he then says

here and we remember we're going to get

a distinction here between beggars and

the poor these are two separate people

and I'll give you a parallel to this

here in a minute

says and you will not suffer that the

beggar putteth up his petition to you in

vain and turn him out to perish okay so

again what can we be beggars um we're

gonna get this here and in in verse 19

here in a second right what can you be a

beggar of it's not just food and raiment

clothing you know anything else we're

beggars for spiritually we're all

beggars spiritually right

look at those two simultaneously says

here in 17 you might say that this man

is brought upon himself his own misery

and his punishments are just okay this

is exactly what was going on in the time

of Christ of Jesus

remember when somebody was ill when they

were a leper when they were handicapped

when they were blind or deaf remember it

was always about this is on your parents

or this is on you either you or your

parents sinned and therefore this is

justified to you and of course Jesus

comes around and says I don't think so

right he does the exact opposite and he

heals those individuals and what is he

doing he is standing in for what

everybody else should have been

in a higher law society right a higher

law society is all about covenant and

charity it's reaching down to those

below you in whatever circumstance

temporal circumstance a spiritual

circumstance whatever it might be and

pulling them up and it's those and this

is the second part it's important as

well those that are lower in that

situation reaching up you have to be

able to do that in both cases you are

humbling yourself so this is the exact

opposite teaching of what sayings for

example the Pharisees would teach about

the beggars right they had it coming to

them that's what they would say and

remember this is their king talking

right their king is going over all of

this think of this again make sure

you're thinking of this continually in a

ritual situation something that is at

least semi scripted in 18 that if you

think this way that they are worthy of

this because of their own actions or

whatever it might be then you have great

cause to repent so we can find people

that are all oftentimes in a very

difficult situation especially

temporarily well in both ways and it's

easy to say they made bad choices right

that this is all just them but the

question is are you given more in

your situation than those people were

were you giving the ability and more of

a spiritual strength to not make those

bad decisions were you given a better

hope to not make those decisions were

you given better teachings and

principles and faith then maybe somebody

else is given are your genes different

right genetically are you different and

does that make a difference it's

important to understand all those things

right I think that's what he is saying

here because you're a beggar too

ultimately for the biggest prize out

there were all beggars for it so we

says here in verse 19 this is a verse

that we've heard often it says for

behold are we not all beggars do we not

all depend upon the same being even God

for all the substance which we have

again and he's gonna go over just

temporal items here but this is both

temporal and spiritual it really is our

growth spiritually does come from our

agency but it is a get is always a gift

and we're always indebted to God for it

it's not just because of us

right so do we not depend on the same

being even God for all the substance

which we have for both food and raiment

and for gold and for silver for all the

riches which we have of every kind and

then he goes back and says look you know

how you were just prostrating on the

ground right everybody fell to the

ground realizing that they are of a

nothingness right and basically you are

begging for a remission of your sins in

that situation so again that's why

that's first right that's right that's

part of the lower law begging for

repentance humbling yourself

it's Christ what does he do he does the

same thing he comes down humbling

himself into a mortal body into a mortal

world he is in humiliated killed right

but it's his mercy and His grace his

charity that wins out in the end and

that's what King Benjamin's going here

through that order so he's putting us in

the same role as him in that sense I'm

talking about the Lord right where we

apply the idea of taking on that role

right it's actors and roles here

roles and actors it is us fulfilling the

the role of the suffering servant of

paying the price for somebody else

because we play the role of the beggar

also as we can play the role of the

helper right of the servant just as

Christ did and then he gets into a

little bit more nitty-gritty here and

he's going to divide the poor from

beggars these are two different people

and then there's those that are neither

right so overall there's three different

groups right he says and again I say

into the poor this is in verse 24 ye who

have not and yet have sufficient that ye

remain from day to day I mean all you

who deny the beggar this is the poor

he's talking about that deny the beggar

because you have not I would that ye say

in your hearts that I give not because I

have not but if I had I would give right

in other words you need to still stay

humble toward those that are in in even

worse position than you so he's

classifying the poor of those that don't

have extra they're barely making it

day-to-day but they have food most of

the time at least and then there's the

beggar that they don't even have maybe

land or the ability to do anything for

whatever reason to be able to produce

and he says down in verse 26 I would the

II should impart of your substance to

the poor right so now it's that middle

group the poor every man according to

that which he hath such as feeding the

hungry clothing the naked visiting the

sick and administering to the relief

their relief both spiritually and

temporally as we said simultaneously

according to their wants right so what

are we starting to get here we're

getting an idea here of the United order

we're getting an idea here of the law of

consecration but this is something that

is really important to understand back

up in verse 13 he says and you will not

have a mind to injure one another but to

live peaceably and to render to every

man according to that which is his due

right that would be justice right if you

gave a day worth of work you get a day's

worth of wages right so be just with

everyone some people start to read that

and they start thinking that this has

something to do with

certain political ideologies and it

couldn't be farther from the truth and I

have seen this and heard this from even

LDS scholars that start to equate some

of these things with some type of a

Marxist idea right that you are to have

everybody equal and to give to everybody

so that they are equal to you that is

not at all what King Benjamin is saying

here and that's not how that works right

that is a corruption that is only

achieved I'm talking about Marxism

through force and tyranny you cannot

when you what happens is that

you know there's how I see this write

something like Marxism which is still

out there right believe it or not it's

failings are monumental and the

destruction of this has been as evil as

anything you can think of and yet there

are many people that still go back and

still want to align themselves

sympathize with this idea of flattening

the hierarchy and the problem is the

approach to this is always the same it

is we're going to skip all three of the

first phases of the priesthood and we're

gonna go directly to the fourth we're

gonna take out the individual we're

gonna take out your agency as best we

can we're going to take out your works

your manifestation your speech number

two and third is family how do we take

out family we're going to have you be

loyal to the state first and loyal to

your family second if even that and

that's the way it always works out what

King Benjamin is going through here is

all four phases of the priesthood you

cannot give up the lower law you can't

give up the individual which is the

Aaronic priesthood you can't give up

agency you can't give up their works and

their speech the way you move toward

that fourth principle as they're doing

here

is through righteousness is through love

and charity and people making their own

choices doing their own works based on

what we've seen here so far preaching

the word people accepting it and then

following through with covenant with

each other and helping each other out

both spiritually and temporally I've had

a few of these discussions these minimal

and very minimal discussions but

discussions with people that are members

of the church and usually in academics

and there's still a leaning from

many people it's you know in that world

toward this Marxist idea of you know in

this social justice idea that cannot

work right it is tyrannical that is to

me it's exactly what happened in the war

in heaven is that there was a flattening

of the hierarchy we're going to remove

the ability to grow so that there is not

envy right it is it is a philosophy of

envy a flattening of the hierarchy which

can never happen you can't have a

flattening of the hierarchy the answer

to that is not flattening out the

hierarchy the answer to that is charity

and love the answer to that is a fluid

hierarchy where everybody can move up or

down based on their own decisions and

their individuality and that you can

foster charity among each other or

people can reach down and people can

reach up think about the plan of

salvation if everybody was the same if

nobody needed your service if nobody

needed you to sacrifice even within your

own family alright what would that do to

the plan of salvation it's completely

frustrated and so King Benjamin's words

here are crucial in understanding this

that you have to have the four phases of

the priesthood this is this is at the

very core of our theology in the church

it's rarely spoke enough in these terms

I I wish it was more but

this is at the core of our theology

these four phases and in fact in verse

27 we get an explanation of this I think

this is a really important qualifier

here and for understanding what King

Benjamin is saying he says and he

obviously feels that he needs to put

this in here he says and see that all

these things are done in wisdom and

order what does that tell us that tells

us that you can do these things

providing for the poor and helping the

beggar you can do these things in a way

that is not wise and that is not in a

good order in fact it might be he's

saying this because it's really easy to

do this the wrong way so he adds his

qualifier in there and then he says for

it is not requisite that a man should

run faster than he has strength in other

words if you're a poor there's only so

much that you might be able to do beyond

what you're doing for your family right

and again it is expedient that he should

be diligent that thereby he might win

the prize let's talk about that in a

second here it's the same prize that

everybody has the poor the beggar the

one that's well-off it's the same prize

that we all are looking for therefore

all things must be done in order it's a

really interesting statement

right you have these different groups

these three different groups he's

talking about but there needs to be an

order as to how this is done and to me

it's looking at the focus of these four

phases of the priesthood and

understanding that all of us have the

same prize in mind so for example would

it be wise and orderly if all we're

looking at is giving cash to the beggars

and the poor's is that the wisest thing

to do not that you should say I'm not

going to do it at all but is that the

primary focus that seems to be the

primary focus in government right it's

not a looking at the other three phases

of

how do we help you create better

decisions in agency how do we help your

works be productive and help you produce

and number three what about family what

is your family situation here because

family is a great sense of support for

all of these things we need to focus on

having the family as a center part of

society and civilization in doing that

to me is doing that in order right and

then lastly is charity from outside of

your family and from things that you

can't make the right decisions for or

have the right works for but bringing

you along so that we're all going toward

winning the prize the same prize it's

all the same end so let's look at this

in the light of the parable of the

talents I've gone over this just

recently but I want to do it again let's

let's talk about this we talked about

this I think it might even been last

week or the week before talking about

the fluid hierarchy and that's how this

works here you happen to have three

groups so let's say you had a one that

was well-off had the five talents right

and they're full of spiritual gifts and

productivity and intelligence and health

right and street smarts and they're able

to really do really well and so they go

out and they produce another five

talents okay and then you have the one

that has the sermon that only has two

talents let's just say for now that that

is more along the lines of maybe the

poor or just above the poor it would be

that a talent would be a one day's wage

so this would be a little bit more than

two talents would be more than that

right you would be a little more than

above poor but let's say that we see

that as the second group and as long as

I'm poor if I have the idea that I if I

could when I can I will help the beggar

the person that has even less than I do

and if I follow certain principles it

doesn't matter that I'm down below here

that I'm poorer because I can grow I can

use my agency

and I can use my works in my expression

to move forward and get another two

talents and who knows over time maybe if

I have the right help and I have the

right faith I can move up and now maybe

I'm a five talent person and I'm not

talking about just money right I'm

talking about being rich spiritually and

then there's the third person right and

the third person is the one that has one

talent and what do they do they go out

and they bury it right they bury it

because it's like saying look I've only

got the one talent I'm not a five talent

person I'm not a two talent person I

don't have that kind of money or

productivity or skills or health or

whatever it might be which is really

just saying I'm just gonna sit back and

I would look at this in a sense of envy

and victimhood

right I can look at this in a sense of

envy and victimhood and I'm going to

lose those first three phases if I do

that to some degree I'm gonna lose my

agency because if I'm a victim right

then maybe I can't do all these things

I'm being oppressed and I'm going to

reduce my own idea of what I have for

agency number two my expression in my

works hey if I'm oppressed or if I'm a

victim or I've got these problems and

maybe I don't have the same works I

don't have the same motivation to have

those same works and faith in those

works and third maybe maybe it's hard

for me to keep a family the way it

should be because I don't have those

talents in place right that money in

place I don't have those gifts in place

but that's what I'm saying that and this

is unpopular sometimes but the beggar

and the poor also have to be a part of

Covenant covenant is reaching from both

sides right so it's not just a matter of

those that are better off spiritually

those that are better off with their

testimonies those that are better off

with money those are better off with

intelligence or skills or anything else

reaching down and just by themselves

pulling up you have to have the other

side of that reaching up right and

efforting that that has to be there that

is part of to me that is part of the law

of consecration

that is part of the United order

that is part of covenant it's the same

way with the Covenant that we have with

God right the guide reach down below all

of us and is willing to pull us up but

he doesn't do it just by itself

that isn't enough just like our works

aren't enough we have to have both

covenant means coming together at one

mint means both of us reaching out to be

at one with each other us and God so we

have to go through those our agency we

have to make the right choices we have

to hear the right word we have to have

the right works and the right speech and

we need to develop family of some sort

one way or another and then we can be in

a position to reach down and pull others

up but we all need to go through that

process that's what the prize is right

that's what the prize is none of us get

away without being tried like Abraham

and Sarah

none of us because it is all about

becoming and we can't do that without

our agency and without our works and

speech so we've gone through this

simultaneously the fluid hierarchy

here we have the have faith which is up

toward the top of the chapter we have

Hope which is the joy that we have right

the assurance of where we can go with our

lives because of a remission of our sins

and because of the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ it's a state of mind it's a state

of being and then of course the last

portion of this chapter focuses on

charity and how we're helping our family

and how we're helping others faith hope

and charity and along with that we have

the four phases of the priest

right agency being number one it's a

first thing number two is our speech and

our works our manifestation of our

agency what we're going to do number

three is family and number four is

community its Zion its covenant with

everybody else so this to me is

something that being a ritual is

purposefully put into this context and

into this order now in Chapter five we

get the covenant actually happening so

they've gone over this the teaching

Benjamin's taught these things we've had

participation from the audience right

from the congregation here at the

temple but here the Covenant actually

happens and this is what it's starting

to it's all built toward is this

covenant reaction you'll see how this is

also apparently looks like this is a

covenant or ritual situation that that

everybody knows about they may have done

this last year or maybe three years ago

or whatever it might be but they know

what's going on here says here in verse

1 of chapter five and now it came to

pass that when King Benjamin had thus

spoken to his people he sent among them

desiring to know of his people if they

believed in the words which he had

spoken unto them right getting his

speech out to everybody they need that

knowledge and in verse two we get a hint

here and they all cried with one voice

okay how does that happen you know the

way that happens drama you know the way

that happens script right this could be

a psalm here that they are a reference

to a psalm here a chorus they would be

led here likely by somebody by the

Hasaan

who would be the you know even today in

a synagogue the Hasaann is maybe Hudson

Hudson is the one who leads the

congregation in certain speech and song

and you might even have assistants that

are going out because there's so many

different people same people perhaps

that are

reading the words of King Benjamin to

those that are in their tents so they

all cried out with one voice saying we

believe all the words which thou has

spoken so they're agreeing to this right

they're stepping into this the words

have come to them the rod of iron is

there they're going to believe and hang

on to the rod of iron

and we know there are surety and truth

because of the Spirit of the Lord

omnipotent so they felt the spirit which

has wrought a mighty change in us and in

verse 4 and it is the faith which we

have had and in verse 4 it says and it

is the faith which we have had on the

things which our King has spoken unto us

right so again knowledge is given to

them first and then it's like okay I can

have faith in this I understand this I

believe in this I can lean and trust on

this and in verse 5 and we are willing

to enter into a covenant this is the

part that they would speak of with our

God to do his will to do his will it

works and to be obedience to His

commandments this is just like what we

get in the first blessing of a sacrament

on the bread and so one key once King

Benjamin sees that there's an acceptance

of this at this point this would be part

of the drama part of the participation

by the audience he says because of the

covenant which he have made ye shall be

called the children of Christ his sons

and his daughters for behold this day

this day there it is right with covenant

right this day he hath spiritually

begotten you for ye say that your hearts

are changed through faith on his name

therefore year born of him and have

become his sons and his daughters so I

would that ye should take upon you the

name of Christ so there is the idea of

what we do at baptism right we repent of

our sins first we have faith in Jesus

Christ it's like the first principles

and ordinances of the gospel right and

and then

we take upon ourselves the name of

Christ so this is the name that Benjamin

was talking about it looks like in

Chapter one of Messiah that he said he

was going to give a name to this people

he why does he know he's going to do

that because it is a ritual he knows

that that is part of what goes on here

this is how this happens and we're gonna

get in with a bin and I also this same

idea about being born of Jesus Christ

right because when we're born of Jesus

Christ he becomes our Father and we are

his sons and his daughters in that sense

in a minute I will explain how he is

both the father being Jehovah or Jesus

Christ how he is both the father and the

son not in the idea of a Trinity but in

playing in different roles right it's

it's actors and roles roles and actors

it's a fluid hierarchy then he says

something interesting here we've heard

this before in verse 9 and it says and

it shall come to pass that whosoever do

with this taking on the name of Christ

shall be found at the right hand of God

what does that mean for he shall know

the name by which he is called for he

shall be called by the name of Christ so

those that are called by the name of

Christ in other words those that make

the covenant and stick to it will be

found on the right hand of Christ well

that's what that's the hand that you

make an agreement with a covenant with

is your right hand it's like the

separation of the sheep and the goats

right and those that are not going to be

called by the name of Christ those that

don't take on his name have to take on

another name he says and those that do

that find themselves on the left hand of

God so there's this idea I mean even

think about how a presidency sits even

right so if you've got the Prophet right

you would have the first counselor who's

higher in the hierarchy sit on his right

and the second counselor sit on his left

right that doesn't mean one's good and

one's bad it just it's just talking

about that's how that would work there

has to be hierarchy you have to have a

seating arrangement with everything

right and it's the same way with your

bishopric right as you look up at the

bishop you're going to see you're going

to see your bishop there in the center

your first counselor to his right and

the second counselor to the left so that

is being reconciled with God reconciled

means sitting in counsel and those

that are on the right side are going to

be those that are reconciled and sitting

in counsel with him because of the

covenant that is made and kept and by

the way the commandment do not take the

Lord's name in vain what are they doing

here they're taking on the Lord's name

that's an important thing to understand

I think that the watered down version of

that and again this is just my thoughts

on this I did an episode on this

actually but my thoughts on this are

that taking on the name of the Lord

taking the name the Lord's name in vain

saying OMG is a very small part of that

what it means is that when you've

covenanted and you've taken on his

name through that covenant through

baptism and then you do it in vain

you're you follow through in vain in

other words it doesn't mean anything to

you that's the Covenant right

that's the commandment it

seems to me and then in the last verse

of the chapter verse 15 we get that

begin as I said he was gonna circle

around to the works to good works he

does that here he says therefore I would

that ye should be steadfast and

immovable always abounding in good works

that Christ the Lord God omnipotent

meals may seal you his in other words

you know the seal on something he's

claiming you and then in the last

chapter we're going over here chapter 6

just briefly there's a couple just a

couple things I wanted to go over he

says here that everybody entered into

the Covenant that makes sense except it

were little children and they took

upon them the name of Christ remember

that we're talking about Old Testament

times here where this is during the time

in Jerusalem where we don't really have

any scriptures now the Jews have their

scriptures they have the Maccabees

for example and the period that happened

during the Hasmonean period but our gap

in the Old Testament right coming down

from more the times of Malachi down to

the New Testament there are several

hundred years there that we don't have

any writings from the prophets here we

do in that time period and what are they

focused on they're focused on Jesus

Christ and Mosiah he begins to reign in

the stead of his father Benjamin he

begins in his thirtieth year he's 30

years old or 29 years old when he begins

to rain and Messiah also like King

Benjamin walks in the ways of the Lord

and observes the Lord's judgments and

his statutes and did keep his

commandments in all things whatsoever he

commanded him

that is probably Mormon writing and then

he puts himself in the role of the

servant here at the very end it says and

King Messiah or Mormon puts him in the

role of servant Susan King Messiah did

cause his people that they should till

the earth that is that's kind of like

that that's

language of the Garden of Eden and he

also himself did till the earth thereby

he might not become burdensome

unto his people so he is put

in that same role of lowering himself

and putting himself into that role of

the servant King so what a masterful

piece of work we have here with King

Benjamin's speech that's a bridge by

moment

we have the fluid hierarchy everywhere

here we have a ritual right where people

know what's going on that is put into a

specific order we see the four phases of

the priesthood we see faith hope and

charity and as we move into the next

couple of weeks with Abinadi we're

gonna see the exact opposite thing

happening with King Noah and his priests

I'll talk to you next time

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