Mosiah 13

That did it for Noah. “Kill him. He’s crazy.” Which, of course, is a terrible way to handle the mentally handicapped.

Well, they tried, but Abinadi got some weird force around him and said, “You touch me before I’m done and God will incinerate you. And if I stop talking he might incinerate me. You think I’m crazy. You just wait.” And with that his face started to shine. Everyone backed off.

“As you see, God won’t let you kill me before I’m done,” he said. “And I can also see that my words slice into you like hot knives into butter. That’s God’s spirit doing that. And it makes you equal parts amazed and angry. Don’t worry, when I’m finished you can finish me off. God will take me home.

“I’m going to read you the Ten Commandments, the core of God’s law. Because instead of teaching that law you’ve actually taught its opposite all your lives.

“You can’t make any image resembling anything you’ve ever seen. Some people are stricter about this than others. But at the very least you can’t depict God or any god, let alone bow to that depiction. Yahweh is quite particular about this law. He’s not insecure, but he doesn’t appreciate roving hearts. He’s got a bit of a temper sometimes, too. He’ll actually draw out punishments for several generations—as is obvious in your society’s case.

“Don’t misuse God’s name or reputation.

“Take every seventh day off. Make sure your slaves do too.

Another thing Yahweh’s particular about. He set up this ‘seven’ number as a special one from the beginning, even claiming he rested on the seventh day after he started creating everything. We know from Isaiah, though, that he never sleeps. So it must have been more of a slowing down for him than a nap.

“Honor your parents. Don’t murder—let’s see you keep that one today. Don’t have sex with someone else’s spouse. Don’t steal (brass plates excepted?). Don’t lie about anyone, including yourself. And finally stop obsessing about things you don’t own. Stop pining away for things that aren’t yours.”

Abinadi gave the priests a simple quiz: are these what you’ve been teaching. He then answered his own question: No. “If you had, I would not have felt God push me into these aggressive sermons. And even if you had, you haven’t taught people that Mosaic law isn’t enough. It will end. This is all about the Great Reconciliation, the sequel to Moses’ law. That involves Jesus.

“The law is good. Strict because God knows Jews. It was a good thing, no doubt, and remains so. But it is only a barometer of future times. Do Jews understand this about the law? No. They’re stubborn as the mules they whip. They don’t want to move beyond pat observance into a principle-based practice. And they just don’t like the idea of Christ as I’ve put it.

“But wouldn’t you agree that Moses and all the other prophets had at least some hint of the Anointed One in their writings? Haven’t at least some of them said that God would turn into a man and stride across Palestine? Haven’t they said he would suffer deeply because of his self-awareness—and others’ awareness of his stature—and that he would rise from the dead, opening up that gift for the human race?