Abinadi

Many many many apologies for the tardy post, our Internet conked out just as I was trying to publish this last night.  So sorry, but here it is:



At the height of King Noah's debauchery, a prophet named Abinadi was sent among the Nephites in Shilom.  The first time he preached he was forced to flee for his life, but two years later he came back in disguise.  He stayed disguised long enough to enter the city, but it wasn't his mission to preach to the people.  He had been sent to preach to the king.  He revealed himself almost as soon as he was inside the city, and was arrested and taken before King Noah and his priests to be tried.  He gave a powerful sermon, one of the most powerful in The Book of Mormon (thus I won't try to paraphrase it here.  I couldn't hope to do it justice.  You can, however, find it in the Book of Mosiah). However, being powerful, it offended many of Noah's priests.  They tried to have him taken out and killed, but he suddenly glowed with the light of heaven, and the guards were afraid to touch him.  He hadn't finished his sermon, and God would not allow him to be touched until his mission was complete. 
He very nearly convinced Noah.  He was nearly set free.  Unfortunately, Noah had spent his entire life surrounding himself with the wrong people, and they convinced him that Abinadi should be executed for his insolence.  One man, however, did stand up for Abinadi: his name was Alma, and he was one of Noah's priests.  He understood that much of what Noah's priests were doing was wrong, and some part of Abinadi's sermon had touched him.  He tried to convince Noah to let him go in peace, but Noah turned on Alma instead and had him thrown out of court.  Afterwards Noah sent his servants to murder him, and Alma had to flee for his life.  As for Abinadi, he was burned at the stake.  As the flames were started, he prophesied that Noah would be killed in the same way he killed Abinadi, and that his priests and their descendants would be scattered and outcast through history.
The death of Abinadi has to be one of the worst tragedies of The Book of Mormon.  He gave himself up to King Noah, probably knowing full well what the consequences would be, and it's very likely he died without knowing just what good it had done.  Noah certainly hadn't been converted, and the people were just as hardened as before.  The thing was, Abinadi hadn't necessarily been sent to save Noah.  Of course, it would have been a great benefit to everybody, but I think (remember that is isn't church doctrine) that Noah was too proud and too far gone to ever be willing to listen to someone who told him he was doing wrong.  No, Abinadi hadn't been sent for Noah, because somewhere out in the wilderness, Alma was writing down everything Abinadi had spoken in King Noah's courtroom, and he was about to begin something that would change the world.

Fare thee well, friend!
Mira