We start off the Book of Mosiah with King Benjamin, the son of Mosiah. King Benjamin is nearing the end of his life, and so preparing his people for the change in leadership and giving them his final exhortations. Notice that we're changing from a first person account to a third person account here. Mormon is now writing, and he's doing so several hundred years after all of this has taken place. He also has his own distinct style of writing.

In Mosiah chapter 1, we get some of the mechanics of what was going on. Mormon doesn't give us the date, like we've gotten used to (he probably doesn't consider it as important as the content, and didn't want to waste space), but we can see that Talmage figured it to be around 130 B.C. So we're over 450 years from the departure of Lehi into the wilderness. That's quite a bit of history to cover in four months.

We find out in verse 4 that the plates of brass were written in Egyptian. We know that Nephi wrote in Egyptian, and we'll later find Mormon and Moroni use Egyptian characters in their writings, but I think this is the first mention of the language used on the brass plates. It's an interesting indication of how influential Egyptian culture was on Jerusalem at the time of Lehi -- Babylonia and Egypt were the world's superpowers at the time.

Another important point of these verses (2 through 6) is the importance of literacy and keeping records. Benjamin set the example in verse 2 by teaching his sons: "And he caused that they should be taught in all the language of their fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding; and that they might know concerning the prophecies which had been spoken by the mouths of their fathers, which were delivered them by the hand of the Lord." King Benjamin emphasized repeatedly to his sons the importance of record keeping, and particularly in verse 5: "I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct."

King Benjamin's instruction concerning the importance of literacy and record keeping culminate with an exhortation to search through the records kept by the spiritual leaders of the people, the scriptures: "And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye mey prosper in the land, according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers." (Verse 7)

At this point we find that King Benjamin is getting old, and is going to hand the kingdom down to his son Mosiah (in verse 10): "Therefore, he had Mosiah brought before him; and these are the words which he spake unto him, saying: My son, I would that ye should make a proclamation throughout all this land among all this people, or the people of Zarahemla, and the people of Mosiah who dwell in the land, that thereby they may be gathered together; for on the morrow I shall proclaim unto this my people out of mine own mouth that thou art a king and a ruler over this people, whom the Lord our God hath given us." The coronation of a new king is an interesting thing here, but I think we just need to focus on a few important things about Nephite kingship. The Israelites were somewhat distrustful of monarchy, though they practiced it. The Nephites, up to this point, had been fairly lucky. Though they had fallen into wickedness a couple of generations ago and had to flee from the land of Nephi, they had a handful of good kings to rule over them, including Nephi, Mosiah, and Benjamin. The Nephite kings were very important folks. In addition to being the political leader, they were the commander in chief of the military in a very real sense: during times of war they fought with their armies, wielding the sword of Laban in the defense of their people. And until Alma comes around, there is no real distinction between church and state, so they also fill the role of spiritual leader of their people.

We see symbols of these roles in the national treasures that Mosiah is to take care of. Let's read about this in verses 15 and 16: "And it came to pass that after king Benjamin had made an end of these sayings to his son, that he gave him charge concerning all the affairs of the kingdom. And moreover, he also gave him charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and also the plates of Nephi; and also, the sword of Laban, and the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him.

The Nephites are instructed to come to the temple up in Zarahemla in order to hear King Benjamin's address. They follow the proper tradition and bring their sacrifices, as mentioned in Mosiah 2:3: "And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses." They gave their thanks to God, and they all camped out around the temple as families. Verses 5 and 6: "And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another. And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them." Now, there were a whole lot of people gathered to hear King Benjamin, and PA systems weren't very advanced at the time, so his words were written down and passed around for the people to read.

King Benjamin begins his great sermon by reporting on his stewardship. Notice he has based his government on the principles upon which the United States was founded: He doesn't claim any form of divinity (as many kings have) or the accompanying right to abuse the populace in any way he wants, he hasn't levied grievous taxes upon the people, and he has considered all people as equals. There's a lesson in this for his people (and for us) as well, in verse 17: "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

King Benjamin also speaks of the eternal debt we have toward our Heavenly Father. Recall the end of verse 21: "I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." And verse 24: "And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted to him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?" I'm going to borrow a quote from Brigham Young from the Institute Manual: "There is no man who ever made a sacrifice on this earth for the Kingdom of heaven, that I know anything about, except the Savior. He drank the bitter cup to the dregs, and tasted for every man and for every woman, and redeemed the earth and all things upon it. But he was God in the flesh, or he could not have endured it. 'But we suffer, we sacrifice, we give something, we have preached so long.' What for? 'Why, for the Lord.' I would not give the ashes of a rye straw for the man who feels that he is making sacrifice for God. We are doing this for our own happiness, welfare and exaltation, and for nobody else's. This is the fact, and what we do, we do for the salvation of the inhabitants of the earth, not for the salvation of the heavens, the angels, or the Gods."

Unity is another theme that shines clearly in chapter 2. It is an essential concept for living in Zion. Psalm 133 begins: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" King Benjamin knows the importance of this concept, having lived through a lot of contentions and struggles among his people, having seen the consequences of disunity, and having labored diligently to bring peace among the Nephites. He teaches in verse 32: "But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken of by my father Mosiah." He warns his people of the consequences of obeying the evil spirit and exhorts them to righteousness. Compare verse 41 with the beginning of Psalm 133 (which I just read): "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of neverending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

We have just a few minutes to cover chapter 3. A lot of good sound bites come from King Benjamin's speech. These next things, he tells us, were told to him by an angel of God. He then proceeds to give us this marvelous prophecy of the Savior, discussing his life, miracles, and sufferings. Verse 8 reads: "And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary." His death and resurrection, and the atonement made for the sins of the world are discussed. Verse 17 is important: "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent."

Verse 19 is another good sound bite, and has good instruction for us: "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Is he talking about our day in verses 20 and 21? That's a good warning for us: "And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. And behold, when that time cometh, non shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent." So we're going to be held accountable for our sins, unless we repent, and King Benjamin is warning of the awful consequences of failure to repent.

Further Reading

Church Educational System, Book of Mormon Student Manual (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1996).

Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Part 1 (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2004).

Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon (Deseret Book, 1988).

Stephen D. Ricks, ed. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Volume 1, Number 1 (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992).

Neal A. Maxwell, King Benjamin, from Heroes from the Book of Mormon (Bookcraft, 1995).