I've been slacking... 12 days since my last post. I have been reading, though, so it's just getting it down "on paper", so to speak.
This is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. Mormon has resumed his abridgment and tells about good King Benjamin. Chapter one of the book of Mosiah has always been one that I have read in order to get to the good stuff to follow. I've really thought about the content of chapter one though, and this is what came to mind.
As we start the book of Mosiah, we are told that it is about 130 B.C. We read about Benjamin's family, or rather about his sons. They are: Mosiah (presumably named for Benjamin's father), Helorum and Helaman. Speculation warning: Helaman, the son of Alma the younger (in the book of Alma) may have been named for Helaman, Benjamin's son. It seems to be common practice in Book of Mormon society to name your child after a beloved family member. Since Alma's father came from the land of Lehi-Nephi, the family name of Helaman may not have originated from his side of the family. But what about his wife's side? Is it possible that Alma the younger married one of King Mosiah's daughters and they named Helaman after a favorite uncle or grand uncle? Alma did hang out with King Mosiah's family, after all. Like I said, speculation.
Back to King Benjamin and his sons. Benjamin teaches his sons about some very important facts and truths - important enough for Mormon to include them in his abridgment. Mosiah, Helorum and Helaman were taught to be "men of understanding". What does that mean? I think that it means they were educated in the knowledge of their time and of their society. They were taught the things that had been handed down from father to son since Lehi's time - things such has reading and writing in both Hebrew and in Egyptian (how else could Mormon abridge the records of the kings of almost 1,000 years onto a compact volume?). They were taught the sciences of their day, practical knowledge, philosophy, social arts and skills, tradecrafts and probably war and weapon skills as well. Most importantly though, they were taught how to apply their knowldge to spiritual understanding. They were taught to understand how God has ordered His creations. They were taught to understand the spiritual nature of human knowledge. They became men of understanding about the world, from a spiritual perspective. Question: Are we men/women of understanding, in the way these brothers were? Can we become such? How do we go about becoming men/women of understanding? Re-read this chapter for more clues.
Benjamin taught his sons about spirituality. They learned from the scriptures, both those in the Brass Plates and those that the earlier Nephites had written. Benjamin taught them about prophecy and showed them the prophecies that had been made about them. From their father, these sons learned to search the scriptures.
Benjamin also emphasized to his sons the need for God in their lives. They were made aware of God's hand in preserving their people, and how God would continue to protect and prosper them if they kept His commandments. Benjamin had first-hand examples of God's protective hand, and he used them in teaching his sons.
Several years later - the Book of Mormon time-line shows it to be about 124 B.C. - Benjamin calls for Mosiah and tells him to gather his people to hear their King speak. He tells Mosiah that he will be declaring him their new king and that he as going to give the people a name. Benjamin told Mosiah that he was ready to pass on the kingdom to him, as he was feeling that his years were getting short. Benjamin charged Mosiah with several things:
-- To keep the records faithfully.
-- To keep and preserve the Brass plates, the Liahona, and the sword of Laban.
-- To teach his people to choose righteousness and recognize their need for the Lord.
-- To reign righteously and justly.
Benjamin reiterated to Mosiah the importance of the Lord in their lives and society and the need to live accordingly.
King Benjamin wanted the people to hear from his own mouth that Mosiah would be their new king. This is an excellent indicator of what a good King Benjamin was. He recognized the need to pass on the kingdom, instead of waiting until the last gasp of his life. Moreover, he wanted to proclaim the new king from his own mouth; he wanted no disputations to arise. He wanted a peaceful transition to his heir that would not cause any problems for his people. Not only did he recognize that the time was right, he understood the best way to announce the change. In the history of the world, the peaceful transfer of power is relatively rare; not many societies did it, and most did not do it with any regularity. It takes a great ruler to know not only who to pass the reins on to, but when to pass them on so that the transition will be peaceable.
It is interesting that Benjamin had Mosiah himself spread the word about the gathering. Benjamin probably felt that Mosiah should be the one that people received the initial word from. Mosiah was probably already well known, and people would respond favorably to his announcement.
At any rate, the people were asked to meet with their old king and hear some of his last words. In a sense, it was the assembly of a "general conference" for their day. This chapter sets the stage for the marvelous discourse by a righteous and benevolent king which appears in the next few chapters.
Don
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