Mosiah 11: 1-19
This simple phrase that explains the deviation of King Noah from the truth is a double-edged accusation. A footnote in verse 2 compares King Noah to Jeraboam of the Old Testament who caused the children of Israel to sin. Noah's deviation is just that. Clearly, we must assume that King Noah is not ignorantly sinning. He was the son of Zeniff and grew up in his household. Beyond this, he took a people, who previous to this had learned to fear God and to recognize the strength of the Lord in protecting them from their enemies, and had altered the affairs of the kingdom to support his wickedness.
Perhaps the most telling part of this account are the verses that relate their attitude towards the conflict with the Lamanites, when they came back victorious from fighting the Lamanites this time, they were boastful of their own strength, and blood thirsty. (Verse 19 attributes this fully to the wickedness of the king and the priests.) Boasting and blood thirsty, both are diabolical or destructive in nature. To boast is to build up oneself at the expense of others. Amos 6:13 offers a definition of boast as to "rejoice in a thing of naught," as if to be excited by something that is not really true. Section 3 of the Doctrine and Covenants also give additional insights into putting our strength in God, and not in the designs of men.
This simple phrase that explains the deviation of King Noah from the truth is a double-edged accusation. A footnote in verse 2 compares King Noah to Jeraboam of the Old Testament who caused the children of Israel to sin. Noah's deviation is just that. Clearly, we must assume that King Noah is not ignorantly sinning. He was the son of Zeniff and grew up in his household. Beyond this, he took a people, who previous to this had learned to fear God and to recognize the strength of the Lord in protecting them from their enemies, and had altered the affairs of the kingdom to support his wickedness.
Perhaps the most telling part of this account are the verses that relate their attitude towards the conflict with the Lamanites, when they came back victorious from fighting the Lamanites this time, they were boastful of their own strength, and blood thirsty. (Verse 19 attributes this fully to the wickedness of the king and the priests.) Boasting and blood thirsty, both are diabolical or destructive in nature. To boast is to build up oneself at the expense of others. Amos 6:13 offers a definition of boast as to "rejoice in a thing of naught," as if to be excited by something that is not really true. Section 3 of the Doctrine and Covenants also give additional insights into putting our strength in God, and not in the designs of men.
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