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Why have I never noticed these verses before? I wish I did. This is a seven verse summary of king Benjamin. To me, when king Benjamin gathers his people and gives them his speech in Mosiah 1-5, the man seems to appear out of nowhere. I remember in seminary and in institute class that the emphasis on him was always his speech and the setting of his speech at the temple and how he got the word out without a microphone and how we need to face the temple, etc. It’s an amazing speech no doubt but after reading these seven verses his speech is even more amazing. These verses teach us what kind of a king, what kind of a prophet, and what kind of a disciple of Christ he truly was.

In verse 12 Mormon tells us that there were contentions in the land. Verses 13-14 tell about battles with the Lamanites, that king Benjamin fought with his armies using the sword of Laban. He didn’t sit back on his throne and wait to hear how the fighting was going and wait to hear what his armies needed, he was out there on the battleground more interested in fighting for his people than preserving his own life. Verse 14 starts by telling us, “And in the strength of the Lord they did contend against their enemies…” He was a king that relied on the Lord to guide him and strengthen him and he taught his people to do the same.

Verses 15-16 tell us about the false people in the land. There were false Christs, false prophets, false preachers, false teachers, and many Nephites who dissented over to the Lamanites. That means that between Sherem and Mosiah chapter 1 the anti-Christs never stopped coming. The three infamous anti-Christs we read about and always talk about are just samples, according to these two verses. We know what happens when the falsies come. People follow them.

From verses 16-18 we are told that king Benjamin was a holy man and that he had holy prophets in the land. I love what verse 18 says, “king Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land.” After fighting physically with his armies he then gathered his army of holy prophets and he fought spiritually for his people to establish spiritual peace in the land.

King Benjamin was both a fierce physical warrior and spiritual warrior. It makes sense then that when he called his people to gather at the temple they came. They didn’t come because he was the king and must be obeyed, they came because they were a people at peace due to his extremely hard work. And even though they were not all able to hear him and had to wait for papers to be passed out they did not leave because they knew that he had important things to say to them. I always read Mosiah chapters 1-2 and think if I were there in the hot sun, unable to hear him I would get bored fast and leave. But after reading these seven verses I know I wouldn’t get bored or leave.

We all know that Mormon did not have a lot of space to write and he always sounds like he didn’t have a lot of time and he always says he can’t write a hundredth part of all the records but some day I would love to be able to read all those plates about king Benjamin.

For me, there is a lot going on in this chapter. In verses 2 and 4 Jacob talks about the language skills of Sherem the anti-Christ. In verse 2 Sherem uses flattery to overthrow the doctrine of Christ. And in verse 4 he is said to have a perfect knowledge of the language of the people. I never thought about these verses before but now I can’t help but wonder — what kind of excessive, insincere praises can one give in order to overthrow the doctrine of Christ? I don’t know. It would be nice if some examples were given. Or maybe I do know but I just don’t know I know. Verse 4 also says that with his language skills he was able to flatter and use ‘much power of speech’. Is power of speech persuasion skills? He must have had a very high vocabulary so that he could sound intellectual.

Whatever kind of speech mojo Sherem had it worked. This is what always gives me chills when I read about the three anti-Christs specifically mentioned in the Book of Mormon. They were successful! In verse 3 it says that he was able to lead many away from the truth. YIKES! The people were that easy? Apparently yes. But for Sherem it wasn’t enough, he wanted Jacob.

In verse 5 Jacob lists the many spiritual experiences he had had with revelations, angels, speaking with the Lord and he ends the verse by saying, “I could not be shaken.” This statement got me thinking, what experiences have I had that render my faith in God and Jesus Christ unshakeable? I’m still working on that one but one thing I do know is that the scriptures teach us how to have unshakeable faith. They teach us what we need to know, what we need to say, and what we need to do. Honestly, this statement by Jacob kind of makes me nervous. Could I ever be that easy to sway from the truth?

One thing I’ve learned from studying the scriptures is that when the devil, his demons, or his earthly servants, like Sherem, command, the faithful do not obey. When Satan tempted Christ three times after he fasted for 40 days, Christ did not obey. He could’ve turned the rocks into bread but it would have been at Satan’s tempting. When Satan tried to get Moses to worship him, Moses did not obey. When Daniel and his three amigos were told to eat the king’s meat and drink his wine and worship his pagan god, they did not obey. And when Sherem told Jacob to show him a sign of the truth of Christ’s coming and atonement, Jacob did not obey.

Here’s what cracks me up about sign seekers. They want a sign to prove to them that there is a god but due to their lack of faith they will never be able to believe the truth about anything in the gospel no matter what signs they receive. In Sherem’s case it worked because he was actually in denial about what he already knew to be true and the sign was pretty severe. But I’ve finally come to understand the phrase ‘faith precedes the miracle’. Faith opens up our minds to see possibilities that have not yet materialized and enables us to then make things come true. The other thing about sign seekers is that they want physical signs to prove spiritual truth. Hmmmmm……….