Mosiah 17: Alma Believes Abinadi and Abinadi Is Martyred

I was in the garage last spring, trying to get a dovetail joint to sit right. I had cut the pins, marked the tails, and chiseled out the waste. But something was off. The joint was loose. It would hold for a while, but it would never be tight. I had to decide whether to start over or shim it and hope.

I started over. It took another hour, but the second one fit.

There is a difference between something that looks right and something that is right. Abinadi understood that. He stood in front of a king who could have let him go, and he did not shim it.

How Did Alma Believe Abinadi in the Book of Mormon

The chapter opens with a young man named Alma. He is described as a descendant of Nephi. He has been listening to Abinadi, and something clicks.

But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken, for he knew concerning the iniquity which Abinadi had testified against them; therefore he began to plead with the king that he would not be angry with Abinadi, but suffer that he might depart in peace.

Alma does not believe because of a sign. He does not see a miracle. He believes because Abinadi's testimony matches what he already knows to be true about the iniquity of the people. The Spirit confirms it. That is how it works most of the time. Not with fire from heaven. With a quiet recognition that what you are hearing is true.

Alma goes to the king and pleads for Abinadi's life. It does not go well. King Noah casts him out and sends servants to kill him. Alma flees and spends many days hidden, writing down everything Abinadi said.

I think about that a lot. Alma is young, alone, and hunted. His first act of faith costs him everything he had. His second act is to pick up something to write with and preserve what he heard. He does not know if he will survive. He does not know if anyone will ever read it. But he writes it down anyway.

Why Was Abinadi Killed in Mosiah 17

The priests bring Abinadi before the king. They accuse him of saying that God himself would come down among the children of men. That is the charge that seals it.

King Noah gives Abinadi a way out. He says if Abinadi will recall his words, he can live. Abinadi refuses.

And now, when Abinadi had said these words, he fell, having suffered death by fire; yea, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his death.

He does not recant or beg. Instead he delivers one more prophecy, telling Noah that his seed will suffer the same fate, death by fire, because they will eventually believe in the salvation of the Lord.

The text says Abinadi sealed the truth of his words by his death. That word, sealed, means something. In the ancient world, a seal made a document official. It could not be changed. Abinadi's death made his testimony permanent, and no one could say he was lying or bluffing. He proved it.

What Happened to Abinadi After He Spoke to King Noah

The execution is brutal. They scourge him with faggots, bundles of sticks, and burn him alive. It is hard to read. It is supposed to be hard to read.

But here is what I keep coming back to. King Noah almost lets him go. Verse 11 says Noah was about to release him, but his priests stopped him. Noah feared the judgments of God. He knew Abinadi was telling the truth. He just did not have the spine to act on it.

That is a harder question than whether you believe. It is whether you will act on what you believe when the people around you are telling you not to.

There is a connection here to the article on Mosiah 9, which covers Zeniff's record and the danger of being over-zealous. Both chapters deal with kings who made bad decisions because they listened to the wrong voices. Noah listened to his priests. Zeniff trusted the Lamanites. The pattern is the same, but the cost is different.

Meaning of Sealing the Truth by Death in Mosiah 17

Abinadi's death is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of something else. Alma escapes, takes Abinadi's words, and writes them down. Those words become the foundation of the church that Alma leads for decades.

The fire that killed Abinadi did not destroy his testimony. It preserved it. Alma made sure of that.

I think about this when I am working on something that feels pointless. A joint that no one will see, a paragraph that might not get read, a day of work that does not produce anything visible. Sometimes the thing that matters most is the thing you do when no one is watching and no one will thank you for it. Alma wrote in hiding. Abinadi spoke while burning. Neither of them knew what would come of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did King Noah almost release Abinadi before he was killed

Noah feared Abinadi's words. He sensed they were true and was terrified that the judgments of God would fall on him if he killed an innocent prophet. But his priests talked him out of it.

What was the specific charge against Abinadi that led to his death

Abinadi was accused of saying that God himself would come down among the children of men. The king and his priests considered this blasphemy.

How did Alma's reaction to Abinadi differ from the other priests

The other priests mocked and accused Abinadi. Alma believed him. He recognized the truth of what Abinadi said about the iniquity of the people. He pleaded for Abinadi's life and then fled for his own.

What did Alma do after he was cast out

Alma hid for many days and wrote down everything Abinadi had spoken. Those writings became the foundation of his ministry and the record we still read today.

I finished that dovetail joint. It took longer than I wanted, but it was tight and right. I did not have to shim it.

That is what Abinadi did. He did not take the easy way out or shim it. He let the fire do its work, and the truth held.

-- D.