Abinadi and the Exodus

As Abinadi testified before King Noah and his priests, he used images and words found in the story of the exodus. However, instead of a message of hope, Abinadi used the story of exodus to show Noah and his priests that their choices were leading to bondage and suffering.

Into Bondage

The first time Abinadi preached to the people of King Noah, he prophesied that if they did not repent, they would be brought into bondage. His words evoke those of the Lord to Moses, during his call to deliver Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 3:7-9, 16-17), but are used in a way that conveys a dramatic reversal of the Exodus for Noah’s people (Mosiah 11:20).

The Lord told Moses, "I have seen the affliction of my people," "seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them," and "seen that which is done to you in Egypt." Through Abinadi, however, the Lord offers a negative variation of these words to Noah and his people: "I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms" (Mosiah 11:20; also compare what the Lord says of Jerusalem in 1 Nephi 1:13 and Jeremiah 13:27).

The Lord told Moses He had "heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters" and would come down "to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians." The Lord told Noah and his people that He would "deliver them into the hands of their enemies" and that they would be "brought into bondage" (Mosiah 11:21). In contrast to Israel in Egypt, "I will be slow to hear their cries" and "I will not hear their prayers, neither will I deliver them out of their afflictions," unless they repent (Mosiah 11:24-25). The Lord told Moses and Israel, "I have surely visited you" to deliver them from Egypt. The Lord told Abinadi, "I will visit them in mine anger" (Mosiah 11:20).

God said to ancient Israel, "ye shall know that I am the Lord your God" (Exodus 6:7). Of Noah and his people, He said, "they shall know that I am the Lord their God" (Mosiah 11:22). When the Lord gave the ten commandments, He warned, "I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children" (Exodus 20:5). To Noah’s people, He said, "they shall know that I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of my people" (Mosiah 11:22).

Noah’s words, "Who is Abinadi that I and my people should be judged of him?" (Mosiah 11:27), echo those of the ungrateful Israelite who asked Moses, "Who madest thee a prince and a judge over us?" (Exodus 2:14). When King Noah asks, "Who is the Lord that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?" (Mosiah 11:27), he is portrayed like Pharaoh, who asked, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?" (Exodus 5:2), and like Pharaoh, "hardened his heart" (Mosiah 11:29; compare Exodus 7:13).

Personal application

The wickedness and sins of King Noah and his people are characterized in Abinadi’s prophecy as a form of bondage. Noah and his priests are placed in the roles of Pharaoh and the Egyptian taskmasters. The Exodus blessings are turned on their heads because of the rebellion of the Nephite colony and their leaders.

As you read Abinadi’s words, consider how your personal sins and rebellions against God can limit your happiness and opportunities to grow. If we turn to God, we increase our freedom and our ability to experience greater joy. Can you think of a way you can turn to God more fully?

Plagues and Pestilence

Abinadi’s words on his second mission to Noah and his people draws upon the language in Exodus, in which the Lord smote the Egyptians with various plagues. The Lord warned the unrepentant Noah, like the recalcitrant Pharaoh (Exodus 7:5; 14:4, 18), that he "shall know that I am the Lord" (Mosiah 12:3). God told Pharaoh, "I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth" (Exodus 9:14-15). The Lord told Noah’s people, "I will smite this my people with sore afflictions, yea, with famine and with pestilence" and that, "except they repent I will utterly destroy them" (Mosiah 12:4, 7-8). Both groups were smitten with "hail" (Exodus 9:22; Mosiah 12:6), the "east wind," and insects that would "pester their land . . . and devour their grain" (Mosiah 12:6; Exodus 8:16-24).

A second notable connection is when Moses took ashes from the furnace, sprinkled them toward heaven, and the Egyptians were cursed with boils and blains (Exodus 9:10). Israel, however, was promised that if they would diligently hearken to God, "I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26; see also Deuteronomy 28:60). When Abinadi is suffering death by fire he tells the priests, "ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities" (Mosiah 17:14-16).

Abinadi taught Noah and his priests from the words of Isaiah, which explained that Christ would suffer and bear the transgressions of his people (those who hearken) and makes "intercession" for them. Significantly, Noah’s priests, who rejected Christ, who was familiar with man’s infirmities and sicknesses (Isaiah 53:3-4; Mosiah 14:3-4), are "smitten with all manner of diseases because of their iniquities" (Mosiah 17:16).

Personal application

When Noah and his people rejected Abinadi’s prophetic warning and refused to repent, they were smitten like the Egyptians and Pharaoh, who hardened their hearts against the Lord and Moses. Their lives became increasingly worse to the degree that they rebelled against God. As you read Abinadi’s words, ponder how daily repentance and following the counsel of living prophets and apostles can increase the blessings in your life. Having carried our sorrows and infirmities, our Savior is always ready to bless us with healing and love, as soon as we are willing to turn to Him.