A Martyr's Testimony ~ The Death of Abinadi

After Abinadi condemned the king and the priests, the priests stirred up the king to anger.  They said:  And now, O king, what great evil hast thou done, or what great sins have thy people committed, that we should be condemned of God or judged of this man? . . . behold, we are guiltless, and thou, O king, hast not sinned; therefore, this man has lied concerning you, and he has prophesied in vain.  And behold, we are strong, we shall not come into bondage, or be taken captive by our enemies; yea, and thou hast prospered in the land, and thou shalt also prosper. (Mosiah 12: 13-15)

• We are strong!
• We shall not come into bondage!
• We shall not taken captive by our enemies!

For those of you who have been following the Couch since June, you may recognize the reasoning of ancient Jerusalem just before the Babylonians swept in.  What arrogance, you might say?  Doesn't it also sound like modern-day America?

King Noah condemned Abinadi to death, but then he waffled, fearing Abinadi's words.  But the wicked priests began to press the king and remind him that Abinadi's "crimes" were worthy of death and that to keep him alive would be political suicide.  So King Noah stiffened his resolve and commanded that Abinadi be burned alive if he would not recant his testimony.  Of course, Abinadi would not recant.

As the smoke began to curl upward from the fire, Abinadi made his final prophecy:  Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God.  And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities.  Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts.  And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire. (Mosiah 17: 15-19)

His final words were, O God, receive my soul, and he sealed his testimony with his death.

 

Copyright August 2013, Gebara Education

 

Quotes from the Book of Mormon

 

Pictures from www.lds.org