Abinadi and Moses

When Abinadi preached to King Noah and his priests, he asked them what they taught the people. When they replied, “We teach the law of Moses,” Abinadi responded by quoting “the commandments which the Lord delivered unto Moses in the mount of Sinai” (Mosiah 12:33). He was trying to make it clear to the priests that they were not even keeping these most basic of commandments in the law of Moses. He also referred to the teachings of Moses as he tried to help them see that salvation comes through Christ and not the law of Moses alone: “For behold, did not Moses prophesy unto them concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his people?” (Mosiah 13:33) Here he may have been referring to the prophecy of Moses who wrote, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken” (In Deuteronomy 18:15). As Nephi taught, Moses here had reference to Christ. Abinadi, who was alone in his witness of the truth, found comfort in taking Moses (and Isaiah) as his companion to teach King Noah and his priests the ways of God.

               I believe that Mormon wanted us to see that Abinadi was in fact a type of Moses in several ways. First, Abinadi had to preach hard words to a wicked king just as Moses had to do the same to Pharoah. When Abinadi prophesied against Noah, the wicked king responded, “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?” (Mosiah 11:27)  Similarly, when Pharaoh heard Moses’s request, he responded, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). Abinadi prophesied of great trials to come upon the people for their wickedness: “And it shall come to pass that I will send forth hail among them, and it shall smite them; and they shall also be smitten with the east wind; and insects shall pester their land also, and devour their grain. And they shall be smitten with a great pestilence—and all this will I do because of their iniquities and abominations” (Mosiah 12:6-7). Moses similarly promised plagues and pestilences to Pharaoh that all came upon Egypt as predicted, with flies and frogs and lice and much more. When Abinadi stood before King Noah, Mormon made the comparison explicitly with Moses: “After Abinadi had spoken these words that the people of king Noah durst not lay their hands on him, for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him; and his face shone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord. And he spake with power and authority from God” (Mosiah 13:5-6). Both Abinadi and Moses had power and light given them from God, enabling them to boldly stand before a wicked leader and testify of the Lord.  In the end, Moses did not enter the promised land where he hoped to go because of the unrighteousness of his people, and Abinadi never saw the effects of his preaching or the establishment of the church under Alma that came due to his testimony. But both were powerful prophets who testified of the Lord Jehovah despite the tremendous risk to themselves.