After being led by a righteous king Zeniff, the son of Zeniff, called Noah, came to power. Instead of being righteous he “did not walk in the ways of his father” and “did not keep the commandments of God” (Mosiah 11:2). It is noteworthy that as part of this wickedness, Noah “built many elegant and spacious buildings” and he also built a “spacious palace.” Moreover, he built ornamented seats for himself and his high priests high above the other seats in the temple, and he built a high tower near the temple. He also built a great tower on the hill north of the land of Shilom. And the record states that “he placed his heart upon his riches” (See Mosiah 11:2-14)
In response to this rejection of his Father in Heaven and also of his righteous father Zeniff, king Noah was visited by a prophet named Abinadi, who will proceed to prophesy to him concerning Christ. In prophesying of Christ, Abinadi will quote Isaiah’s words, in particular those which declare that Christ will be “despised and rejected of men” (Mosiah 14:3; compare Isaiah 53:3). This quote from Isaiah alludes to another prophecy of Christ uttered by Jacob:
And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation. But behold, according to the scriptures, this stone shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build. And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner? (Jacob 4:15-17; see also Psalms 118:22)
Abinadi will also declare that Christ is both the Father and the Son. (Mosiah 15). This might lead one to ask, How does the concept of building on a sure foundation relate to the concept of being both the Father and the Son?
Part of what seems to be implied here is that Christ is able to take the role of both the Father and the Son because of his righteousness and obedience to the commandments. And all this is possible because Christ has chosen to build upon the only sure foundation, which is that of his Father, and thus Christ has also become that “great and last and only sure foundation” upon which others might build. As for wicked king Noah, he will lose his kingship, and all his spacious buildings, his elevated seats, and great towers will become of no worth because he has rejected the ways of his Father in Heaven (as well as the ways of his father Zeniff) and placed his heart upon his riches. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]
According to Robert Clark, if we look for a key in Abinadi’s sermon, particularly the one concerning Christ as the Father and the Son, we might find it in the name Abinadi. The spelling of the name “Abinadi” suggests an analogy to the Hebrew word eben, meaning “rock” or “stone.” We could say, following the parallel to Christ, that Abinadi himself appears among the people as a foundation stone to be rejected.
But how does this relate to the concept of the Father and the Son? “Father” in Hebrew is ab, spelled aleph-beth; “son” is ben, spelled beth-nun. Joined together they become aleph-beth-nun, the root of “Abinadi,” or of the rock, eben, on which we are to build.
Clark writes: “For this particular insight, I am indebted to Friedrich Weinreb, Roots of the Bible (Devon: Merlin Books, 1986), 120.” [Robert E. Clark, “The Type at the Border: An Inquiry into Book of Mormon Typology,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 2, Num. 2 (Fall 1993), pp. 66-67]
Note* There is also another scripture in Helaman 5:12 which states:
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
The reader will note that this message is sandwiched between two accounts of building: that of the people in the land northward (the former Jaredite homeland) and (2) that of the Jaredites themselves, beginning with the great tower (see Helaman 3:14 and Helaman 6:28) [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]
Mosiah 14:5 He was bruised for our iniquities ([Illustration] The phrase “he was bruised for our iniquities” is more correctly rendered “he was crushed (Hebrew daka’) for our iniquities.” Jesus Christ was crushed in the Garden of Gethsemane. The word Gethsemane (Hebrew Gath Shemen ) itself signifies “oil press,” Just as olives are crushed at an olive press to render pure olive oil, so the Anointed One was crushed to sanctify mankind. He suffered so mightily in the Garden of Gethsemane that he bled from every pore (Luke 22:44; Mosiah 3:7; D&C 19:18). Occasionally, freshly crushed olive oil is reddish in color., as shown in this photograph in which oil pours over white rock. Photograph by Matthew J. Grey. [Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah, p. 91]
Mosiah 14:5 He was bruised for our iniquities ([Illustration] The phrase “he was bruised for our iniquities” is more correctly rendered “he was crushed (Hebrew daka’) for our iniquities.” Above: Olive press, Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. Olive oil runs into the stone basin near the top half of the press. Olive oil production consisted of two stages: crushing and pressing. Olives were first placed in a stone basin and then crushed by a huge stone wheel set on end that rolled over the olives. The crushed olives were removed from the stone basin and placed in baskets designed especially for olive presses. A great beam with large stones secured at one end weighed down upon the baskets filled with crushed olives. From the baskets, pure olive oil flowed down into a basin. The olive oil was then placed in jars for immediate storage. Photograph by Tana and Mac Graham. [Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah, p. 91]
Mosiah 14:5 He was wounded for our transgressions ([Illustration] Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be wounded, or pierced, “for our transgression,,” referring to Christ’s crucifixion. This photo is of a “heel bone pierced by an iron nail, discovered in the tomb of a Jew named Yehahanan son of Hagkol … This intriguing find, dating back some 2,000 years, is the only archaeological evidence in the world for the practice of crucifixion” (In the Path of Christianity, Israel Museum [pamphlet, 2000]). Photograph Zev Radovan. [Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah, p. 90]
Mosiah 14:6 All we like sheep have gone astray ([Illustration] Shepherd’s Fields, near Bethlehem. While foraging for food, sheep occasionally stray from the flock and from their shepherd. The mortal Jesus approached a group of his followers and “was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). Photograph by Carrilyn Clarkson. [Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah, p. 92]