Talk:Mosiah 25:16-20

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.

How can a king decide who has authority over the Church?

Mosiah 6:3 tells us that Benjamin "consecrated his son Mosiah to be a ruler and a king over his poeple, and had given him all the charges concerning the kingdom, and also had appointed preists to teach the people...." This notion of divinely appointed kings with both spiritual and secular authority dates back to Old Testament times (I recently heard a radio interview with Bruce Feiler where he discussed God warning the ancient Israelites about the dangers of a king before David was chosen as king--it'd be interesting to learn more about that and tie in the discussion here).

Interestingly, we read in 2 Ne 10:11 that "this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles." And in v. 14, "For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words." Do these verses refer to latter-day Gentiles on the American continent? Ancient America also? When Jacob was reciting these words, wasn't there a king in the land then? How long after Jacob said these things were the judges established? Was there any connection? --RobertC 15:52, 10 Oct 2005 (CEST)