Remember Zeniff, who took off with a group of people to go down to the land of Nephi? In Mosiah chapter 7, King Mosiah gets curious about what had happened to them. A group of people is sent to find out what's going on down there. They are led by a guy named Ammon, not to be confused with Mosiah's son of the same name. Mosiah was a descendant of Nephi, remember, and this Ammon is a descendant of Zarahemla (Mosiah 7:13). Nevertheless, this Ammon is a pretty good dude, and apparently a very capable leader for this expedition.

Ammon and his group travel southward, it says in verse 4, for a period of forty days. It might be useful to recall at this point that forty is a Hebrew idiom for an unspecified, but sufficient amount. This is good to know, considering how frequently we see that number in the scriptures. So they were traveling for quite a while, long enough to end up in the land of Shilom, which is apparently near the land of Nephi. Ammon takes three others and sneaks up toward a nearby city. Once spotted by the king and his guard, they are immediately apprehended and thrown into prison.

This is King Limhi who throws Ammon into prison. We'll learn a little more about him and how he became King when we get into the history of this little group of people. For now, Ammon is saved by the king's curiosity. He was going to be put to death, but in verses 10 and 11 we get the king's own words on this matter: "And now, I desire to know the cause whereby ye were so bold as to come near the walls of the city, when I, myself, was with my guards without the gate? And now, for this cause have I suffered that ye should be preserved, that I might inquire of you, or else I should have caused that my guards should have put you to death. Ye are permitted to speak."

Ammon's pretty glad, of course, for the king's curiosity. He tells who he is, and suddenly King Limhi is pretty happy. Why? His people are a vassal state of the Lamanites. They are getting taxed at one half their income, and they are suffering in general because of this. So King Limhi gathers up his people and tells them, "Look, this guy Ammon was sent to save us. So start repenting and be on your best behavior, 'kay?" Ammon also tells them what's been going on in Zarahemla while they've been away.

It's interesting that King Limhi and his people had been trying to find Zarahemla. Remember, three generations had passed since their departure, so few, if any among them, had been to Zarahemla. So they got lost. An expedition traveled northward, missed Zarahemla entirely, and landed in Jaredite country. That nation, so recently destroyed, had left a land full of bones (and one survivor -- remember, King Benjamin's father had translated part of the Jaredite history from a rock and Coriantumr was found and lived with the Nephites for a little while, per Omni 1:20-21). In all likelihood, they thought this was Zarahemla, and their hopes of rescue were devastated.

The expedition to Jaredite country brought back a bunch of artifacts, including twenty-four plates with strange writing on them. King Limhi is curious to know how these people were destroyed, and so would like the plates translated. Well, Ammon pointed out that King Mosiah has interpreters that he can look into and translate with. Note in Mosiah 8:13 that if you look into them without authorization you die. In any case, Mosiah has the gift and privilege of being able to use the interpreters, and thus is a seer. And we get some good doctrine in the conversation between King Limhi and Ammon in the rest of the chapter. Let's read verses 15 and 16. "And the king said that a seer is greater than a prophet. And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God." Ammon goes on to say that seers can look into things past, present, and future for the benefit of humanity.

At this point we get to chapter 9, and we start reading the history of the people of Limhi, starting with his grandfather, Zeniff. If you recall, Zeniff was among a group of people that took off from Zarahemla to return to the land of Nephi, which they considered their inheritance though it had been taken over by the Lamanites. They were going to try to kill the Lamanites and drive them out of the territory, but Zeniff disagreed and wanted to try a more peaceful approach. This doesn't sit well with the leader of the group, so instead of killing the Lamanites, they start killing each other. A handful survive, Zeniff among them, and return to Zarahemla only to gather more people to start off again. This time they make it to the land of Nephi, and the king of the Lamanites, King Laman, says "sure, we'll give you the land." But King Laman has sinister intentions, as we read in verse 10: "Now it was the cunning and the craftiness of king Laman, to bring my people into bondage, that he yielded up the land that we might possess it." However, as long as Zeniff's people are righteous, they are able to defend themselves against invading Lamanite armies, and so are never taken into bondage.

Chapter 10 sees more contentions with the Lamanites after the death of King Laman. Well, Zeniff gives his people a pep talk and encourages them to trust in the Lord, and they are thus able to hold their own. But Zeniff has gotten old, and has to turn over the kingdom to one of his sons -- King Noah. In chapter 11 we're introduced to King Noah, who puts a hefty tax on his people, takes a bunch of wives and concubines, kicks out all the priests and consecrates new, wicked, priests, and incites his people to all manner of wickedness. Well, this isn't a good way to go about things, and so we're also introduced to Abinadi in this chapter. Abinadi goes about warning the people that they need to repent and straighten up, or they'll be brought down into bondage. Well, he can't get away with that sort of stuff -- he's demoralizing the troops; it's unpatriotic. So King Noah says, starting in the middle of verse 27, "Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction? I command you to bring Abinadi hither, that I may slay him, for he has said these things that he might stir up my people to anger one with another, and to raise contentions among my people; therefore I will slay him."

In chapter 12, since Abinadi has a warrant out for him, has to sneak among the people in disguise. So he comes along in disguise and says (verse 1): "Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying -- Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this people, for they have hardened their hearts against my words; they have repented not of their evil doings; therefore, I will visit them in my anger, yea, in my fierce anger will I visit them in their iniquities and abominations." So he basically rips of his disguise once he gets among them, and starts preaching. He says some things they can't let him get away with, such as (verse 3) "And it shall come to pass that the life of king Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace; for he shall know that I am the Lord." Also, disease, famine, infestation, bondage, the usual stuff. So he is brought to stand trial.

The story of Abinadi is very traditional, you see. We see it happening over and over again throughout history. I'm very impressed, particularly with its similarity to what happened to Socrates, as told by Plato. You see, Socrates also went among the people, pointing out their self-deluding pride. He ticked off a lot of people, so, like Abinadi, he was brought to trial on a trumped-up charge: "corrupting the youth." After being questioned, and withstanding the questioning just like Abinadi in verse 19, he is nonetheless sentenced to death. The whole history of what happened to Abinadi is very believable, because we've seen it happen before.

In any case, we see Abinadi in trial here, and he's rebuking the priests. They read to him a passage from Isaiah 52, and ask him for its meaning. Abinadi points out that it's pretty presumptuous of them, if they themselves can't understand a few verses of scripture, to purport to be the teachers of the people. Well, they respond that they teach the law of Moses. Great, so Abinadi starts reciting the ten commandments. Well, they won't have any of that, so as we get into chapter 13 they're about to grab hold of Abinadi and put him to death right there. Abinadi responds with the power of God, in verse 3, "Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time." It doesn't matter what they do to Abinadi, but it ain't going to happen until he completes his mission. So he finishes the ten commandments, points out that they don't follow them, let alone teach them, and explains that they are a type for the coming of the Messiah.

At this point we arrive in chapter 14, and Abinadi starts quoting Isaiah. Chapter 14 is basically Isaiah 53, one of my favorite prophecies regarding the Messiah. It's referred to by part of the hymn O God The Eternal Father, in the lines "With no apparent beauty that man should him desire, he was the promised savior to purify with fire." To the Jews this obviously isn't Messianic, but they consider it to be a description of the suffering of Israel in general. It's good to have an understanding of popular Jewish interpretation of some of these passages of scripture so that we can understand where they're coming from and be on friendly terms with them as a people. In any case, Abinadi quotes this as having reference to the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

Speaking of Abinadi, he gives the interpretation of this, as well as the verses quoted by the priests, in chapter 15. There is some good stuff in here. Let's start with verses 10 and 11: "And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord -- I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God."

This is all great stuff. We've only got a limited amount of time, but surely we can stop for just a couple more verses. Let's read 13 and 14. "Yea, and are not the prophets, every one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has not fallen into transgression, I mean all the holy prophets ever since the world began? I say unto you that they are his seed. And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!"

In chapter 16 Abinadi concludes his teachings. He teaches that although Christ brings salvation, the wicked, by their deeds, reject the offer and will receive accordingly. Verses 13 through 15: "And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved? Therefore, if ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come -- Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen."

Chapter 17 starts with Abinadi being sentenced to death. One of the priests, named Alma, stands up for Abinadi, and asks the king to allow him to depart in peace. Well, that doesn't go over too well, and suddenly Alma is running for his life. Meanwhile, Abinadi is thrown into prison for three days, and then the sentence of death is officially given. He's told he may recant his statements, and be permitted to live, but he refuses to do so. In verse 10 he mentions "Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you. And if ye slay me ye will shed innocent blood, and this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day." This gives Noah a good scare, but he is egged on, and they tortured him to death with burning sticks. He gives one last prophecy against the people, and his last words are "O God, receive my soul" (verse 19).