Saturday, November 25, 2023

John W. Welch on Mosiah 15:1-5

  

MOSIAH 15:1-5—AN ANCIENT PERSPECTIVE ON MONOTHEISM

 

The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4), a priestly blessing recited by Jews even today, says, “Hear, O Israel, our Lord God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart.” People tend to view the word “one” as meaning only one God numerically—but the ancient text was understood in terms of there being only one true and faithful God. It has more to do with exclusive loyalty rather than numerical counting.

 

Abinadi replaced the text in Isaiah 52:7, “Thy God reigneth,” with “The Son reigneth” (Mosiah 15:20), and thereby emphasized that the Son is the Messiah who will come and redeem. Abinadi explained in what sense Christ is the Son and the Father. Christ is the Son because He will be born to a human mother in a miraculous way. However, He will also be the Father, because He is the Creator of heaven and earth (Mosiah 3:8), and because we are spiritually born again as Christ’s sons and daughters (Mosiah 5:7). Christ is the very Eternal Father of heaven and earth, but not of the whole cosmos. That is God the Father. (John W. Welch, Inspiration and Insights from the Book of Mormon: A Come, Follow Me Commentary [American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc., 2023], 126)