Come Follow Me LDS- Mosiah 1-3 (Apr 13-19)

"Mosiah, Messiah'

- The beginning of Mosiah is not the beginning of Mosiah

-  The relics are passed on to Mosiah

-  King Benjamin's speech is rich in ritual

- The Fluid Hierarchy in King Benjamin's Speech

-  Three words:  "Servant" "Keep" "Preserve"

-  The Doctrine of Christ

 

Podcast Links:

 

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

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

 

 

 

all right and this cwic media come

follow me episode we're going to be

covering the book of Mosiah chapters one

through three there's a few things that

I'd like you to focus in on here

one is ritual it seems to me that what's

happening here is not just some anomaly

it's not just a speech that is happening

from King Benjamin but rather we're

getting or getting little insights into

what might be ancient ritual this is a

coronation ceremony it looks like and

also perhaps a temple drama something

that we might have seen in an annual

assembly where the king was re throned

so to speak re coronated in this case

a new coronation where things would be

renewed and would be born again and new

names given and titles and where you

would have all of this taking place in a

temple setting where creation right

where the temple is focused on

creation there's also a couple of words

here that I want you to think about or I

want you to focus on is we get through

these first three chapters here one is

servant or service we're going to notice

that it's mentioned several times and in

a certain way remember the context that

we're looking at here that's important

to understand we're looking at something

if it's ritualistic which it seems

almost certain to me that it is then

we're looking at something that has done

many many times over and we might be

able to find in other parts of the

scriptures another word to keep your eye

out for is kept or preserved I want to

go over that as well we see that several

times and that might give us a little

bit of a hint about the original

Christians and Benjamin using those

words in the same way that maybe the

Christians the early Christians would

have used them but first we want to look

at the very beginning of the book of

Messiah remember where we're at now it's

been

couple of weeks but remember that we are

in a position in the timeline here of

being you know we're if you look at the

at the summary it's a hundred and thirty

to 124 BC so we've gone through hundreds

of years here with just a few pages in

the last portion of the small plates and

again why as a recap because of the lost

116 pages in other words the two records

that were being kept simultaneously one

was written in just barely because they

were running out of room there the small

plates and so you had a lot of people

writing down just a few words at the end

there while the king would have been

keeping the large plates and it's the

large plates that Mormon was narrating

and editing and that's what was lost so

the timeline would be simultaneous to

what was going on in those small books

but we lose so much of the richness in

context of how we open up here in the

book of Mosiah one thing to understand

is that a part of those lost hundred

sixteen pages or more were was the

beginning of the book of Messiah so we

have more than likely it looks like

there were at least a couple it looks

like there were a couple of chapters

that were part of that would have been

the end part of the lost hundred and

sixteen pages the reason we know that is

because in the original manuscript the

printer's manuscript this chapter right

here chapter one that we have today

was actually written as chapter three

and if you notice when we drop in here

to the book of Mosiah were dropped in

into a place that just seems very abrupt

here's the verse one and now there was

no more contention in all the land of

Zarahemla well where's the talk about

all the contention among all the people

who belong to King Benjamin who are

those people

so that King Benjamin had continual

peace all the remainder of his day

so there's no context to this of being

able to now be in a place of peace here

in the land of Zarahemla apparently it

looks like there was a lot of contention

and we get little bit bits of that in

the book of all night and in the words

of Mormon where they talked about how

Benjamin wielded the sword and led his

own armies in battle against the

Nephites and maybe even a lot of

internal contention in the land of

Zarahemla remember you have two

different peoples that are brought

together here you have the grandfather

Mosiah right who left the land of Nephi

with a minority of the group of Nephites

the rest stayed behind and were probably

slaughtered or enslaved or both but they

left with the relics of the temple of

the royal priesthood and they went and

found Zarahemla using probably the

Liahona and there they met the mule

kites who are descendants of David mule

ik was one of the sons of King Zedekiah

the one that was taken away into Babylon

by King Nebuchadnezzar

but Moses people that came to Zarahemla

were a minority even there right there

were many more mule kites maybe double

the amount of the amount of Nephites

that arrived there and yet Messiah was

made King so there's a lot of things

that could have been happening here and

what would be likely in those hundred 16

pages that we don't really get the

context for here as we're dropped into

the book of Messiah another thing to

look at is that you always see on

all of Mormons books that he edited

right that he that he narrated you

always see a summary written by Mormon

about the book we don't have that with

the book of Messiah that's gone along

with 116 pages what we have here today

these chapter summaries are from I want

to say I want to say 79 but right in

that area there when we had the new

LDS scriptures

so Bruce R McConkie

and under Spencer W Kimball and

others that put those together but

there's always at the beginning of

Mormons books a summary of the book

itself and here we're missing that so

that would have been part of the hundred

and sixteen pages as well so here we get

Benjamin at the end of his life getting

ready to coronate one of his sons and he

brings the three of them to give three

of his sons together here in chapter one

and talks to them about a couple of very

important things first we get here in

verse 2 it says that it came to pass

that he had three sons and he called

their names Mosiah

and hella room and Helaman and he caused

that they should be taught in all the

language of his father's that thereby

they might become men of understanding

that they might know concerning the

prophecies which had been spoken by the

mouths of their father so interestingly

here when we talk about the language of

his father's it seems to be what he's

talking about here is Egyptian remember

that there would have probably been a

tradition here because we know the brass

plates were written in Egyptian of those

descended from Joseph of Egypt right who

was a ruler in Egypt those that kept the

records after Joseph would likely have

been following his footsteps

writing in Egyptian so that's an

important point and he says that if it

were not for the brass plates right

looking back to the time that Nephi used

the sword of Laban against Laban Himself

to get the brass plates that if it

wasn't for the brass place that they

would have dwindled in unbelief and he

says here specifically in verse 4 for it

were not possible that our father Lehi

could have remembered all these things

to have taught them to his children

except it were for the help of these

plates so they had to have them for he

having been taught in the language of

the Egyptians

that's Lehi therefore he could read

these engravings and teach them to his

children that thereby they could teach

them to their children

alright so the brass plates are written

in Egyptian and so is so are the records

that Nephi is writing that Jacob is

writing right these are all written in

Egyptian now notice that we don't get

the term reformed Egyptian at this point

the only time we get that is at the end

of the Book of Mormon with Mormon

and Moroni so when we say that the

records here of the Book of Mormon

originally were written in reformed

Egyptian they weren't or at least we

have no record of that anywhere the

records that were kept were written in

Egyptian that's the only way we only

described in descriptor that we have of

the language right is that it was it was

in Egyptian but you're talking about

from the time Lehi left Egypt to the

time of Mormon about a thousand years

and if you've ever gone back and tried

to look at something written in the year

1000 in English for example which would

have been right around the time of

Middle English even where you're

you're not in Old English anymore you're

coming into Middle English which at

which has a lot of Latin in it you can

hardly read it right it's language

changes even with the ability to write

language changes especially with the

lack of a printing press and so it's

Mormon and Moroni that ended up writing

right in especially Mormon his

compilation of all the records is

written in a reformed Egyptian but

something that's interesting to look at

here he says that if we didn't have the

brass plates and the other records then

we would have been more like the

Lamanites who were subject to the

traditions of their fathers to me this

is a point that is very similar to the

Garden of Eden right remember I've

talked about how the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil a certain

representation of that would be the law

or the scriptures it would be the

commandments of God

and so as Adam and Eve partake of the

fruit of the null of the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil their per

taking of the law which is the lower law

right the law which means that their

eyes are opened

they are shown what is good and what is

bad what they should do what they

shouldn't do right opposition in all

things and therefore they fall right

because they cannot live the law not

perfectly so as they're given knowledge

about the commandments of God about the

nature of God and the plan of salvation

and what they're supposed to do what is

expected of them what their potential is

then obviously they fall because they

fall short of meaning that as we all do

we have all partaken of the fruit of the

tree of the knowledge of good and evil

we chose to we chose to fall right we

chose to be brought down here into

mortality and to receive that knowledge

now for us here in the latter days where

we have so much scripture and so much

knowledge of the gospel we are more

accountable we're more it more much is

given much is expected and so with the

Nephites here that's why they keep

falling down and then coming back around

through the pride cycle and it's the

Lamanites through their ignorant right

ignorance is bliss that that are the

reminders to the Nephites because of the

wars and contentions from the Lamanites

about how they need to live and follow

the commandments in the scriptures a

strong opposition to them so you have

basically that that principle that says

okay do I want to take a step forward

and if you think about it we chose to do

it and it was the plan of our Heavenly

Father in Jesus Christ in the

pre-existence that we should fall that

we should partake of the fruit of the

knowledge of the tree of the knowledge

of good and evil what would the other

plan have been then right before they

were down in the garden of

right what's in the garden of Eden

everything changes because Lucifer's the

one that's enticing them to partake of

it but before then before Lucifer lose

loses in the battle the war in heaven

his plan would have been the opposite of

that it is no we don't want to put

knowledge out there for you we don't

want to give you the responsibility of

growth and progression and to becoming

it is we're going to cap where you can

grow and be limited in your knowledge

and understanding but therefore you

don't have condemnation or as much

condemnation you lack the ability to

grow and progress but you also lack the

judgment and that would have been his

argument the other side said no you need

to be able to grow and progress and in

order for you to do that to get around

the condemnation of the knowledge that

you will receive in mortality whether

it's a full knowledge of the gospel or

it's just what's good and what's bad we

will provide a savior for you so that

you can have faith in Him and that price

will be paid if you choose to accept it

so having the brass plates when

Nephi killed Laban and brought that

right in some ways it's kind of like

saying we are you know for the Nephites

they're going to partake of the

knowledge of the tree of the fruit of

the tree of knowledge of good and evil

they're going to take the risk of growth

now as he has his sons together here he

decides he's going to give the kingship

to Mosiah his son remember King

Benjamin's father's name is Mosiah and

up to now that's who he we have read

about right the one who left the land of

Nephi took the people with him

discovered the Urim and Thummim in the

wilderness came to Zarahemla and became

king of Zarahemla that's the grandfather

the grandfather son is King Benjamin

here and then King Benjamin names one of

his sons Mosiah like his father and

Mosiah is an interesting name right

I've seen especially recently a an idea

that the name Messiah is a mixture

between Moses right because it's kind of

like that the original Messiah coming

out of the land of Nephi going into a

nexus to Zarahemla there's it's a

typology of the Exodus it really is and

then mixing that with a Reformation that

was required similar to what Josiah King

Josiah had the problem with that in my

mind anyway is that King Josiah is

Reformation may not have been a very

positive thing in fact it might have

been the exact opposite and we know from

royal Skousen who is the director of the

Book of Mormon text project right and

from the original texts that Joseph

Smith pronounced Moses named as Messiah

right he pronounced it as Messiah and as

we go through especially coming into

chapter 2 here we're gonna see to me why

that would make a lot of sense

remember in Hebrew the vowels are there

are no vowels so it's something that

could have been spelled exactly the same

in Hebrew and just pronounced

differently so it wasn't the same we

don't really know that but we'll see

here that as a king and a priest and a

prophet mosaic is a lot like The

Anointed One right he would be like an

anointed one and a type of the Messiah

but before we get to chapter 2 let's

take a look here at chapter 13 verse 13

in Chapter 1 King Benjamin has just

talked about the people that are going

to come together here the next day

receiving a new name remember what he's

going over here think of the temple you

got to think of your own temple

experience here with chapters one

through three and what the think

about the beginning of Genesis

because that's part of the temple that's

temple liturgy I believe that's what

Moses saw while he was on Sinai that is

not history that is a vision and so it's

it's centered in the temple and he's

going to be at the temple where there's

going to be a new covenant which is like

a new creation that's going to be

happening here but he gives a warning

about these people he says moreover I

saying to you that if this highly

favored people of the Lord should fall

into transgression and become a wicked

and adulterous people that the Lord will

deliver them up that thereby they become

weak like unto their brethren and he

will no more preserve them not going to

go into that yet but we're gonna hit

that word preserve or it kept or keep a

number of times here in these first few

chapters so he calls Messiah to be the

next king in verse 16 he says he gives

him charge concerning the records which

were engraving on the plates of brass in

Egyptian right that's one of the

temple relics right and also the plates

of Nephi which would be the small plates

and of the large plates and also the

sword of Laban right that sword that

represents Joseph and the ball or

director so the Liahona so these are the

relics of the temple of the royal

priesthood so to speak something that

might have even been kept in something

like an arc of a covenant as Don Bradley

talks about in the lost 116 pages that's

the way they were when Joseph Smith

found them right in a stone arc the

early Saints even called it an arc and

just like the Ark of the Covenant has

the bowl of manna and it has the rod of

Aaron in it and it has the tablets of

stone they were written by the hand of

God in it something very similar here

that they have to anchor their society

and their belief system in these

tangible items that would have likely

been kept at the temple or at least at

the palace and so King Benjamin tells

Messiah to send out

a proclamation to the land and the land

of Zarahemla to have everybody come this

next day to the temple now we don't have

a lot of context on this maybe there was

something similar that we would have

read about from the original Messiah

when King Benjamin was coronated that

would give us more context on this in

those missing chapters but the

demographics here are a little strange

right because apparently they send out a

proclamation and everybody's supposed to

come from a land of Zarahemla the very

next day to the temple and imagine what

they're doing they're gonna be bringing

animals to sacrifice they are bringing

massive tents or they might have 10 20

30 people in these tents right and

they're supposed to do all this and be

there the next day

so does this include the other cities

right that we later see Alma and a mule

ik preaching in were they all under King

Benjamin and Messiah how large is the

land of Zarahemla for them all to be

there by the next day or did they know

already that they were going to be there

right that this was a feast a festival

that would happen at the annual assembly

anyway and the proclamation was that

Messiah was going to be the king

something like that but we get an idea

here about the amount of people that

might have been there you would imagine

this is both the Nephites and the mule

kites right that would be gathered here

together and so then King Benjamin

begins his speech and the people come in

their tents they're all opened up you

can imagine a very wide long tent for

each family with the front completely

open right and then facing the temple

remember Abraham was facing the temple

right and this is what they do in Sukkot

right where or the temple of or the

festival of Tabernacles in the fall

around the time of Yom Kippur the Day of

Atonement the Feast of Tabernacles is

the Feast of

that's what that means and the same

thing would happen they would come in

their tents it was representative of the

Exodus and they would open up the fronts

and face the temple so again this is

this seems very ritualistic here are

they having a feast of tabernacles that

would make a lot of sense if they are

where they would renew a covenant that

they would do every year and this would

be a special time because there is a new

king being coordinated what drama would

be taking place at this time would there

be pageantry in the sense of a

presentation and going through certain

rituals

King Benjamin starts his speech off here

doing what a king or a high priest would

do at the Day of Atonement where he's ex

coping himself right where he is showing

that his garments are clean he says here

that we should give thanks to the Lord

our God who had brought us out of the

land of Jerusalem and who delivered us

out of the hands of our enemies and

appointed just men as teachers just men

to be there a just man to be their king

who established peace in the land of

Zarahemla remember all that contention

that we read briefly about is now

brought to a position of peace I would

suggest that in stating that that King

Benjamin here had established peace in

the land of Zarahemla is perhaps a

reference to the term Melchizedek right

what is what is that really mean it's

king of righteousness another title that

is used in these drama scenarios here I

think would be Prince of Peace right

that's Melchizedek

he is the king he is the Prophet he is

the priest and he would be anointed for

those things right for the priesthood

and for the royal position and the

anointed one is the Messiah or Christ in

an Anglicized Greek and so Mosiah who is

going to be court

coronated here crowned is a messiah

right he's going to be anointed as

a priest more than likely we don't see

that specifically and prophet and as the

king so he is a messiah in that sense

and he is a type of Jesus Christ of the

King of Kings we're gonna see that here

so an idea again of how many people are

here they have their tents not

everybody can hear King Benjamin so they

erect a tower quickly apparently and he

speaks from the tower but still not

everybody's gonna be able to hear them

right they're gonna hand out flyers

basically with words so that they can

hear they can read what he is saying

which means some of them read or people

that read at least would go out maybe

further out into the congregation here

and read what King Benjamin had said we

read in verse eight and it came to pass

that he began to speak to his people

from the tower and they could not all

hear his words because of the greatness

of the multitude again yet they got

there in a day

therefore he caused the words which he

spake should be written and sent forth

among those that were not under the

sound of his voice that they might also

receive his words again just

logistically to write down all of his

words as he's talking and then give it

out to every single family in every tent

it might be a little much right and then

he's going to go into certain things

that you're gonna see stated by several

prophets and in a lot of places in the

Psalms which are temple texts he says in

verse 10 I have not commanded you to

come up hither that ye should fear me or

that you should think that I have myself

and more than a mortal man so he's going

to insert himself into the fluid

hierarchy that is crucial for a prophet

to do and a king in this type of a drama

in presentation he has got to anchor

himself to something greater than him

for the people to be to have faith in

that King to be able to follow him and

he says I am subject to infirmities and

I've been chosen by this people I've

been consecrated by my father so he was

anointed that he should be a ruler and a

king over his people and he has been

this is in verse 11 kept and preserved

theirs again by his matchless power to

serve you with all the mites mind and

strength for that before which the LORD

hath granted unto me so we're getting

words here that we hear in the New

Testament and in the Old Testament I

believe in Deuteronomy right it's all

about the love the two great

Commandments right love God with all

your might mind and strength and the

second is like unto it right you love

your neighbor so serve God and serve

your neighbor

it's a fluid hierarchy that he's

representing here and this would be

something that would come from Scripture

and from a drama at this time at the

time of a coronation at the time of an

annual assembly but captain preserved is

interesting the I can't think of the

Hebrew word for this but the Hebrew word

in Genesis when Adam who was a king and

who was a high priest and who was a

prophet is told to keep the garden right

that he kept it and he tilled the garden

keep until the garden the Hebrew word

that is used there is the same word used

for the priests in the temple as they're

going through the administration of the

rites there which is pretty interesting

because the Garden of Eden is a type of

the temple it's temple text remember

that but the word in Hebrew for the

Christians even today is nose-ring which

means kept or guarded or preserved and

that was the name early on for the early

Christians as well in Hebrew so what

were they keeping what were they

guarding

what were they preserving was it a

certain tradition of the temple that

they had was it the new and everlasting

covenant that Christ said that he

represented and that his blood

represented it's interesting that we get

that word here that idea that concept

here so many times in this coronation

ceremony in this annual assembly in this

temple drama does the word hearken back

to older times in the time of Christ

what was it was it

harkening back to the older ways to

older traditions and that's why they

called the Christians the nose ring it's

pretty interesting here there's a lot I

think we can glean out of this if we see

this as a ritual and then he puts

himself again in the hierarchy even with

those that are his followers that are

his citizens in verse 14 he says even I

myself have labored with mine own hands

that I might serve you and that she

should not be laden with taxes etc and

then he puts himself in a position here

where this is this is a to me a

reference kind of like what you would

see in the war in heaven in verse 15 yet

my brother and I have not done these

things that I might boast this is about

pride right he's putting himself at

a distance from pride

neither do I tell these things that

thereby I might accuse you if you read

about these temple dramas and some

of the themes that go on in the ancient

Middle East you know it's about

sacrifice there's a sacrifice that's

often made there is the conquering of

good over evil there is a covenant that

is made and maybe even a battle in the

war of Oh of a war in heaven right

Lucifer in the in the premortal life was

full of pride and that's what made him

fall he wanted all of the glory right

number one he would not put himself into

the fluid hierarchy he refused he had to

be on top of everything secondly in the

book of Revelation he's

the devil or the accuser

that's what Diablo sin Greek means is

the accuser what does the accusing is

accusing everybody who chose the

Savior's plan right there was chosen to

follow the Savior what would he be

accusing them of well think about how

things would be done today right shame

on you shame on you some people are not

going to make it it's a good argument

some people aren't going to make it some

people but it's really more of an

argument about envy it's really more of

an argument about positioning of a

distinction between classes of

distinction between success see if

you're all capped at a certain place

then there is no distinction and so the

accusing would be done by those that

would follow Lucifer that would say hey

we want except for Lucifer who will be

on top of everything we want everybody

to be flattened out in a hierarchy there

is no hierarchy

everybody's flattened out because nobody

can grow nobody can progress but you

lose the condemnation that would come

along with making mistakes so it seems

to me as he talks about boasting and

pride and also with accuse you I don't

know I mean I just again as I think

about ritual here and looking at this as

a drama as these rites of Coronation at

the temple it seems to me that that

could very easily be a cry back to the

war in heaven and he says that I have a

clear conscience among you today

remember that the high priest at the Day

of Atonement has to be pure himself

first he and his family have to be

purified first he has to be able to show

that before he can go around and take

the blood of the sacrifice of the ox and

the goat and purify the altars in the

temple in the Ark of the Covenant and

the people and the land he first has to

be purified and again in 16 I do not

desire to boast for I have only been in

the service I get to service here in a

minute in this

service of my god so service has a lot

to do with the fluid hierarchy right

it's where are you gonna put yourself

are you willing to lower yourself below

someone else especially below God that's

what service is and then we get the

famous scripture in verse 17 and behold

I tell you these things that ye may

learn wisdom that that ye may learn that

when ye are in the service of your

fellow beings

ye are only in the service of your God

all right so we all take different roles

here and one role would be to be in

service it's just like the king is going

to serve his citizens and this to me is

a harkening back to the servant songs in

the Book of Isaiah which also could have

been ritual which also could have been

perhaps even coronation or annual

assembly a temple drama perhaps remember

the suffering servant is Jesus Christ so

you have this theme of service here or a

servant maybe and he says look and then

if I who are your King labor to serve you

then ought ye not to labor a sort of one

another right again the fluid hierarchy

and this is all about

coronation all about the king here he

says and behold also if I whom you call

your king have spent his days in your

service and yet has been in the service

of God do merit any thanks from you oh

how you ought to thank your heavenly

King right again remember that in a

temple drama likely this is not doctrine

right but in a temple drama likely the

king and probably the queen would

represent those that are in their tents

the congregation right they would

represent them in the temple drama in

these rites and then they would

represent themselves as being the

temporal king and queen right there

acting in a sense is in a lower position

of what the real king would be right oh

how you ought to thank your heavenly

king the king of King

who Benjamin here would also act as

remember that in the ancient Israel

Israelite temple drama it would be the

king that would come out of the Holy of

Holies through the veil and would be

born again right kind of like a son a

son of God and he would represent in

some ways Jehovah in that sense right

again it's that's scholarship

that's not doctrine that scholarship but

it looks like that's what happened

there is that the king would come

out of the Holy of Holies and be born of

God

kind of like Jehovah coming down to

earth and being born of Mary again makes

a lot of sense for Messiah the first and

was I the second to be called Messiah or

Messiah and then down a little bit

further more creation and garden of

Eden terminology he says here in verse

25 you cannot say that ye are even as

much as the dust of the earth yet you

are created of the dust of the earth but

behold a belonging to him who created

you so remember your place which is you

are nothing

you're not even as good as the dust of

the earth and at the same time because

these we learn this in chapter one of

the book of Moses at the same time you

are everything right and the only way we

understand that is a nice fluid

hierarchy because it goes forever up

above us and forever below us hopefully

that's the idea anyway and in 27

therefore as I said unto you that I set

had served you served you walking with a

clear conscience before God even so I at

this time have caused that you should

assemble yourselves together that I

might be found blameless this is a high

priest verbiage here and that your blood

should not come upon me right this is

very very similar to the day of

atonement and probably other rites

of the temple and then he's going to go

over the spiritual economy a little bit

he's gonna say this last part of this

chapter he's gonna start talking about

this

savior specifically and he's going to

start talking about how well about the

doctrine of Christ but in the spiritual

economy context here in verse 34 he says

there are not many among you except it

be your little children that have not

been taught concerning these things but

what knoweth that ye are eternally

indebted to your heavenly Father to

render to him all that you have and are

so again talking about how through the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ through

creation even existing in the first

place in a spiritual economy we can

never get there through our works that

doesn't mean that works aren't important

we'll see here shortly that they're very

important they're everything about who

we are becoming but we can never pay the

price to get to where we need to go and

to continue to progress without the

payment that was made right it's like

the five talents the two talents the one

talents from the parable of the

talents right which are coins it's an

investment it's a spiritual economy and

some of us are given more some of us are

given a medium amount some of us are

given hardly anything as far as

spiritual gifts as far as opportunity

goes as far as knowledge goes as far as

any kind of asset spiritual asset that

we would have but it doesn't matter in a

fluid hierarchy none of that matters all

that matters is is are you able to take

that and grow with it to the next point

because some people are higher than we

are in that way some are lower but we

all ultimately have the same potential

but to understand that potential we need

to understand that in the spiritual

economy we can't just get there through

merit it doesn't work in order to move

towards something you have to have an

idea of I can step over into this I have

a vision of where the next step is it's

outside of yourself and that to me is

what religion and worship is all about

you have to be able to have faith that I

can step outside of just me right I have

to have

faith somewhere else not just in my

merit not just in my actions in fact

people who believe it's just your merit

in actions you'll often oftentimes don't

even believe that you have your own

agency it's just all biology sister

cells that determine what choices are

going to be made so in the spiritual

economy from the time of creation where

were created our spirits our bodies have

such our beings and from the payment

that was made through the sacrifice of

Jesus Christ we are always going to be

indebted to our Heavenly Father into

Jesus Christ always and we want it that

way we want it that way because that

indebtedness is part of why we worship

right it's because that's part of what

we have why we have a faith in something

greater than us who loves us and has

paid an eternal debt for us if we took

that away then we're taking the ability

to have faith in something else if that

debt was gone and then he ends the

chapter talking about a warning about

our works about our decisions that they

are essential because it's how we become

like the Savior therefore if that man

repenteth not and remaineth and Anaya

then enemy to god someone who's

transgressed

the demands of divine justice do awaken

his immortal soul to a lively sense of

his own guilt which stuff cause him to

shrink from the presence of the lord and

to fill his breast with guilt and pain

and anguish which is like an

unquenchable fire right and mercy has no

claim on that man

therefore his final doom is to endure a

never-ending torment right in other

words we need to be able to be forgiven

we need to be able to repent we're going

to all make mistakes

but we need the doctrine of Christ we

need that and that's what he's about to

go into here in the next chapter so here

in chapter 3 he starts off by saying

that he's been visited by an angel in

verse 2 he says and the things which I

shall tell you are made known unto me by

an angel from God what

things the things about Christ the

things about the doctrine of Christ that

he's about to go over and the angel said

to him awake and I awoke and beheld he

stood before me so this is a very common

scene right think of Joseph Smith with

Moroni in his room think of Adam right

think of a Jacob there's

oftentimes this idea of sleep that goes

along with a time of Covenant think

about Peter James and John at Gethsemane

when the Covenant act is being made

right there asleep so strange but

there's always that that

coupling there of Covenant not always

but there's oftentimes a coupling of

sleep and awake with the idea of

covenant so when you see that when you

see sleep or you know kind of in a place

why would they write that down or awake

think about covenant it's kind of like

when you see the term this day that is

oftentimes associated with covenant

language and he talks about the Savior

whose time cometh soon and that he

reigneth right he is the king of kings

he is the heavenly king who was and is

from all eternity to all eternity and

that he will come down from heaven here

we go into the doctrine of Christ among

the children of men

so in our midst right that's part of the

condescension of God and shall dwell in

a tabernacle his body of clay and shall

go forth amongst men and then it says

some things that we read very

specifically in some messianic words

from Isaiah and he talks about he's

gonna work mighty miracles of the sick

the dead the lame the blind the Deaf and

those of all manner of diseases that's

also in Isaiah why is he bringing that

up right here in this coronation he's

not just like thinking about what to say

right he's being told certain things

that are going to be said and he's

focusing it in here on the doctrine

of Christ that would go right along with

temple drama and a coronation and

speaking of the Savior he says and he'll

suffer temptations and pain of body

hunger thirst fatigue even more than any

man can suffer except it be unto death

for behold blood cometh from every pore

I think that we get that in Luke I think

we're told that that's important to

understand right that's Gethsemane the

oil press or the wine press that is the

blood of Jesus Christ the pressure of

what he was it was Bert he was burdened

with that is the wine or water that we

take at the Saturday at the time of

sacrament and by the way a lot of the

verbiage that we get from King Benjamin

here has a lot to do with our sacrament

actually with the body that he's talking

about with the condescension of God and

with the blood that is spilled from

every pore and he shall be called as his

purse aid and he shall be called Jesus

Christ how is he gonna call him Jesus

Christ we're talking about 120 130 years

before he's even born well again what is

Jesus where do we get the word Jesus

from Jesus comes from what we say as

giant English is Joshua in Hebrew it's

Yeshua right so Mary his mother called

him Yeshua not Jesus and what is Yeshua

I mean essentially it means

Savior and what does Christ mean The

Anointed One

so Jesus Christ means and he shall be

called we could look at it this way he

shall be called the anointed Savior so

we're getting anointing from him being a

king and from being a priest right

Christ is the new Melchizedek restoring

them what his early priesthood and all

the ordinances of the temple and all

things that are focused on the doctrine

of Christ and it gets another title here

that's also very important we've talked

a lot about on this podcast the son of

God

right just gone over how he is going to

and into mortality with a body being

mourn and suffer that's what the Son of

God means it really means that in a

sense the son of Mary or the son of a

woman and the father of heaven and earth

that's another title so he is also the

father in the sense that it's a title

it's a meaning it's a role just like

when you would have when it somebody is

coordinated I'm sure as they spoke with

as Benjamin was coordinating crowning

his son Messiah there might have been

many titles that would have been given

to him you would see that today with

someone in royalty right because they

each have a different meaning you can

rule over different places but they have

a history and they have a meaning behind

them it's the same thing here

right councilor Prince of Peace the new

Melchizedek the king of righteousness

the mighty God the everlasting father

right these two here we have the father

of heaven and earth that's a title the

creator of all things from the beginning

and then he says and his mother shall be

called Mary again were a hundred and

twenty hundred thirty years here before

the time of Christ Mary in Hebrew is

medium right the same name that we have

from Moses his sister and essentially it

it is a way to say woman right it means

woman so we can look at that also as you

know that really was her name likely

it's he and he will be a born of a

woman he will be like us he's gonna

condescend to us and in verse nine he

cometh unto his own that salvation might

come unto the children of men even

through faith right this is the only way

that we could have faith in something so

it's not just a payment it's you know we

owe the first principle the gospel is

faith and this is the only way by him

condescending and having the charity and

love and grace mercy for us that he did

that he does that's the only way for

to grow to be able to have faith in him

that's what makes the whole thing work

and they'll scourge him say that he has

a devil and then he tells us here that

he will be crucified I think that we

probably if we did not have the edits

and maybe things that are lost in the

Old Testament we probably would have

heard the same thing that he would be

crucified and then quickly here just

like we're going to get well keep in

mind as we read this when we get to a

Bennett I in King Noah what we're really

getting there from Mormon is a

comparison between King Benjamin on one

side and King Noah on the other right so

we're gonna look at that and when we get

to a Ben and I because we'll be able to

reach back to what we're going over now

with King Benjamin and there are

parallels that are specifically put in

by Mormon in the in a narrative for us

to understand how to contrast these two

and understand the principles that are

going on and the difference between

following those principles and not

following those principles but he talks

about the law of Moses here just like

King Noah and his priests do and he says

in 14 yet the Lord God saw that his

people were stiff negative and he

pointed unto them a law even the law of

Moses and what does the law do it points

you forward to signs and wonders and

types and shadows that look forward to

Jesus Christ that's what the law is for

but they hardened their hearts and

understood not that the law of Moses

availeth nothing except it were through

the atonement of his blood so we can

look at the law of Moses as okay it's

being fulfilled but again we can look at

it as just the law or the commandments

right it doesn't matter that us

following the commandments today

following what's in the scriptures it

means nothing it means nothing if it's

not for the blood of the atonement

right in our faith in that atonement it

doesn't get us anywhere through our own

merit so works by themselves can't get

us anywhere

can't help us foot can't get us to

fulfill our potential and then on the

other end mercy by itself or grace by

itself without works as we're told is is

dead right faith without works is dead

so you have to have both and there's

going to get we're especially with a

beam and I we get a very clear outline

about this difference between faith and

faith and grace on one side and works

and commandment and judgment on the

other and that's a lot about what the

Book of Mormon is about it's about the

it's another testament of Jesus Christ

and understanding that we have to have

that additional we have to have that

faith in him in that doctrine we have to

partake of the fruit of the tree of life

which is the doctrine of Christ

partaking just of the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil will not do

it won't help us then dues us and

we're told here in 24 and thus saith the

Lord

they shall stand as a bright testimony

against this people those are the words

of the gospel and the words of Benjamin

whereof they shall be judged every man

according to his works whether they be

good or whether they be evil right so of

course we're judged by our works our

works are important we just can't make

it with just our works we have to be

able to have faith and lean on have

trusting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

I'll talk to you next time