They Have Hardened Their Hearts

In Mosiah 11-13 we learn of the wickedness of King Noah, his priests, and their people in general. One of their main problems was that their hearts were not right before God. Mormon described Noah this way: “For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart.” More specifically, “he placed his heart upon his riches, and he spent his time in riotous living with his wives and his concubines.” Similarly, the priests that he chose, replacing those of his father, “were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.” When their people at first defeated the Lamanites in battle, “They were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength.” Abinadi came to call them to repentance, but the people as a whole “hardened their hearts against the words of Abinadi, and they sought from that time forward to take him.” Similarly, King Noah “hardened his heart against the word of the Lord, and he did not repent of his evil doings.” (Mosiah 11:2, 5, 14, 19, 29). King Noah, his priests, and their people all had their hearts lifted up in pride and set upon the things of the world so that they rejected the word of the Lord sent to them from a prophet of God.

                When Abinadi came and preached to them again two years later, he highlighted further the condition of their hearts. He opened his message to them with these words: “Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my people, for they have hardened their hearts against my words; they have repented not of their evil doings.” Their hearts were still hardened against the word of the Lord. Abinadi further said to the priests in particular, “Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise.” When they claimed that they were teaching the law of Moses, he replied, “If ye teach the law of Moses why do ye not keep it? Why do ye set your hearts upon riches? Why do ye commit whoredoms and spend your strength with harlots, yea, and cause this people to commit sin, that the Lord has cause to send me to prophesy against this people, yea, even a great evil against this people?” (Mosiah 12:1, 27-29) Though they pretended to have respect for the law of Moses, their hearts were set upon the things of the world, and they had not applied their hearts to try to truly understand and follow the commandments of the Lord. After they tried to take him and were stopped by the power of God, Abinadi continued, “Ye see that ye have not power to slay me, therefore I finish my message. Yea, and I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities.” That statement surely was true of Alma—his heart was touched by the words of Abinadi because he knew that his accusations against them were true. Abinadi continued teaching them the commandments: “And now I read unto you the remainder of the commandments of God, for I perceive that they are not written in your hearts; I perceive that ye have studied and taught iniquity the most part of your lives” (Mosiah 13:7, 11). The commandments of the Lord should not be something we only give lip service to, but they should be written in our hearts so that our greatest desire is to keep them. These commandments that he subsequently taught to them were indeed written on the heart of Alma who then wrote them down physically and taught them to the people. Unfortunately, the other priests and the king did not let their hearts be touched because they were so hardened. This story highlights that our teaching in the gospel should aim to touch the hearts of people so they can truly repent and desire the things of God.

                   All of these references to the condition of the hearts of Noah, his priests, and their people are in stark contrast to Limhi’s people many years later after they repented and finally turned their hearts to the Lord. After much softening through their suffering, they truly desired the things of God. Mormon described them this way: “They were desirous to be baptized as a witness and a testimony that they were willing to serve God with all their hearts” (Mosiah 21:35). Because they were willing to serve Him with all of their hearts, leaving behind the things of the world they had sought under King Noah, the Lord delivered them from their enemies and took them safely back to Zarahemla where they were baptized and truly became His people.