Mosiah 11 – 12
I find it interesting that Noah took only 1/5 of all the people had in taxes and caused so much wickedness. We currently take nearly 1/4 in taxes. Of course there is not a direct correlation but the more taxes the government controls the more opportunity for corruption and the more enticing it becomes for those hungry for power. How different would their situation have been if Noah had taken that revenue and built up their defenses rather than building his palace and throne? Noah sounds a lot like Simba from the Lion King when he was still a cub – thinking that ruling would be great fun and all a matter of doing what he liked – completely ignorant of the realities of good leadership. Abinadi gave the people warning more than two years before they killed him and that was before Alma created the church and fled from Abilidi – they all had ample time to repent. We must remember that it is not only Noah and his priests who were wicked here. The majority of the people (or so it appears) were also wicked enough that they proclaimed Noah innocent and brought Abinadi to him to be executed.
I love Abinadi’s response to their assertion that they taught the law of Moses to the people – “What do you even know about the law of Moses? You don’t keep or teach the people to keep even the most basic elements of the law of Moses.”
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