Where was Abinidi for the two years between? They were far
away from Zarahemla, was he just hidden in the wilderness?
When Abinidi was prophesying of all the bad things coming, I
can see why, since they had so far prospered and conquered their enemies every
time, it was hard to believe. I think we do that now with things like food and
water storage, or not procrastinating the day of your repentance. I don’t think
it’s just the people of King Noah that felt immortal. And that thought helps me
to see how it is a blessing when the Lord sends us trials, or allows them to
come, and reminds us that life is fragile, because we are so hard headed and
forgetful. In the moment of this life when tragedy comes we are consumed by it,
and the pain seems so important. But eternally, those things really are
blessings if the remind us of our eternal purpose and goals, a few moments of
pain for an eternity of happiness.
When Abinidi prophesied that if they did not repent they
would be destroyed and leave a record to warn other nations, it also explains
why Zeniff was so interested in the record they found in the land of bones.
When the people were angry about Abinidi telling them to
repent they took him to the king and made it all about Abinidi prophesying
about the king and his iniquities. They knew their king’s pride and were
totally manipulating him. I feel like all those kinds of games we play to try
to make people do what we want are not okay. We are supposed to be direct and
honest and invite then give agency. I need to be more aware of if I do that,
because I don’t like it when people do it to me, I hate how it feels. I don’t
know if I do it, but I want to be aware of it, and live more honestly. And I
feel like that is what Heavenly Father wants for me, too.
When they cast Abinidi into prison and then counsel about
what to do it makes me grateful to live in a land ruled by law and where we
have freedom of speech. How horrible would it be to have your life and freedom
controlled by the whim of the king!
At first I couldn’t think why the priests wanted to question
and try to confound Abinidi. As I think about it, I think they were trying to
discredit him. They knew what he was saying about their sins was true, but they
didn’t want anyone to believe him. If they could trip him up they could destroy
his credibility and protect themselves.
They start with trying to accuse him of sinning by preaching
repentance and destruction because it wasn’t joyful and peaceful,
misinterpreting scriptures and taking them out of context to try and prove the
opposite point. Those are two tools I can see Satan using now. First that if
you say anything is bad then you are not peaceful and accepting, and therefore
yourself the bad. The second is to take scriptures out of context and twist
them to try and prove that good is really bad.
The great sin which Abinidi accuses the priests of
committing and teaching the people was to put other things above God. Love of
money and sex are the universal evils of the world. Probably because the money
and the sex themselves are not bad, so it is easy for Satan to twist these to
and deceive people. But if we put God above those things, then we will be okay
and able to keep them in the proper perspective. It’s like the homosexuality
debate. People act like God be restraints on people’s sexual desires is
impossible and asking too much. But if we put God ahead of sexual desire, we
can see it from the proper eternal perspective. Same things for teenagers who don’t
want to have to control their impulses, or anyone else for that matter.
The money questions is still complicated to me. It’s hard to
know when it is okay to want things and when you should give all your money away.
Is it okay to want a nice house when children are starving all over the world? But
creating a good life for my family is important, too. I’m just not sure how to reconcile
it all. And it’s so hard for me, it’s hard for me to know if I am submitting to
God’s will because of all the stress and emotions that get in the way on that subject.
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