Alma on physical and spiritual deliverance

Just as I think that the scattering and gathering of Israel have both a physical and a spiritual aspect, Lord Wilmore just demonstrated that it is the same for captivity and deliverance, or that physical bondage can be the metaphor for spiritual bondage. His post reminded me of something I just read in Alma 5

5 And behold, after that, they were brought into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land, and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this land also.

6 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?

7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.

8 And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not.

9 And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. And I say unto you that they are saved.

We have previously seen that Alma is particularly concerned about remembering the captivitiy of his fathers, because he has been instructed by an angel to do so. In these verses, we see that the remembering of physical captivity soon turns into a rememberance of spiritual captivity (bold text marks the transition). After talking about deliverance from physical bondage he seamlessly transitions to the subject of spiritual bondage, using similar language.

The physical "captivity" and "bondage" can be compared to spiritual "bands of death" and "chains of hell". The wilderness/darkness link may be a stretch but it made me think of Lehi's "dark and dreary wilderness" (1 Nephi 8:4). It's also interesting to note that it is the "word" that led to deliverance from both physical and spiritual captivity. When it comes to physical captivity, Alma is referring to Mosiah 24, where his father and a group of converts had been enslaved by the Lamanites. The "word" is probably the "voice of the Lord" that came on two occasions, in verses 13 and 16. The first time it promised to make their burdens lighter and the second time it instructed them how to escape. Similarly, the "everlasting word" brought the converts of Alma-1 out of spiritual darkness into light.

Temple symbols in 2 Nephi 14

2 Nephi 14 (also Isaiah 4) presents us with a glorious future state of the redemption of Zion. This chapter speaks of a time when the world will see that the fruit of the earth in Zion is "excellent and comely." (See verse 2.)

After that, we get these verses which have very clear connections to the temple covenant.

3 And it shall come to pass, they that are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem—
4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory of Zion shall be a defence.
6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and from rain. (2 Nephi 14/Isaiah 4)

Isaiah is telling us that the fruit of the earth is excellent because of their faithfulness to the covenant.  This fits in perfectly with the image of Zion as an enclosed garden -- in verse 5 we are told that the glory will be covered. (In the NRSV, the last part of verse 5 reads: "Indeed over all the glory there will be a canopy.")

I want to make one more point in this post. In the next few posts, I'll go into more detail about this post and demonstrate additional examples.  The parallelism in verse 4 caught my attention:

         4 When the Lord
                       shall have washed away
                              the filth of
                                    the daughters of Zion,
         and
                       shall have purged
                              the blood of
                                    Jerusalem
         from the midst thereof
                       by the spirit of judgment
         and
                       by the spirit of burning.


Notice how "filth" and "blood" are lined up in this construct.  The associated Hebrew roots are "tsoah" and "dam," respectively. This is very interesting in light of the connections Stisa recently pointed out regarding the Hebrew words for man, ground, God, and tree.

Verse 3 tells us that those "who are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy." Verse 4 tells us why -- they have been purged of the blood and filth by the spirit of "burning" and "judgment."

More about this to come.

April 27–May 3. Mosiah 7–10: “In the Strength of the Lord”

Here are additional resources from this blog to help you in your Come, Follow Me studies this week.

Link to the Come, Follow Me lesson.


Mosiah 7 -- Physical deliverance in the scriptures as a metaphor for spiritual deliverance, The significance of 'east', "Cunning"


Mosiah 8 -- A note about long side stories, "Dry Bones," King Mosiah as a seer


Mosiah 9 -- A story told twice, A note about transitions to first person, Consistent geography


Mosiah 10 -- "Hard Hearts" and a lack of understanding, Laman's complaints

"blotted out"

I haven't noticed this detail before. In Alma 5, Alma-2 is preaching to the people in Zarahemla. Verse 57 reads:

And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be blotted out, that the names of the wicked shall not be numbered among the names of the righteous, that the word of God may be fulfilled, which saith: The names of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people; For the names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand.

I think this is refering to something that happened a couple of decades earlier that is described in Mosiah 26. Alma-2's father, Alma-1, was the high priest of the church back then and there were some issues about members who had fallen into transgression that Alma-1 inquired the Lord about. The quoted verses below are part of the Lord's response.

24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand...

32 Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward...

36 And those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out.

Another example of internal consistency.

The expression, "blotted out", is also used by King Benjamin as part of a chiasmus in Mosiah 5

A that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ 
   B must be called by some other name; 
      C therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God.
         D And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name 
            E that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, 
               F except it be through transgression; therefore, 
               F' take heed that ye do not transgress, 
            E' that the name be not blotted out of your hearts. 
         D' I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name 
      C' written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, 
   B' but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, 
A' and also, the name by which he shall call you.

It is interesting to compare the use of this expression here with Alma 7:13

the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance

King Benjamin says that the name of Christ will be blotted out of our hearts if we transgress. But Alma says that Christ has the power to blot out our transgressions. The difference is obviously repentance. If we don't repent, our transgressions will blot out Christ, but if we repent, Christ will blot out our transgressions!

Physical deliverance in the scriptures as a metaphor for spiritual deliverance

Reading the first paragraph of the upcoming Come, Follow Me lesson for Mosiah 7 reminded me of a story from Alma 20 that I recently saw in a new light.  I'll share both in this post.  These stories illustrate that we can constantly find new layers of meaning in the accounts from the scriptures.

Mosiah 7

The first paragraph of the Come, Follow Me lesson for Mosiah 7 says:

While King Mosiah’s people were enjoying “continual peace” in Zarahemla (Mosiah 7:1), their thoughts turned to another group of Nephites, who many years before had left to dwell in the land of Lehi-Nephi. Generations had passed, and Mosiah’s people had heard nothing from them. So Mosiah asked Ammon to lead a search party to find the Nephites who had left. The search party found that the Nephites, “because of iniquity” (Mosiah 7:24), were in captivity to the Lamanites. But with the arrival of Ammon and his brethren, suddenly there was hope for deliverance. (link)

During a peaceful time, when the people had made covenants for themselves, their thoughts turned to those who had left and might not be feeling the same peace.  I love that concept.  Similarly, we can turn our thoughts to our ancestors, friends, loved ones, and even our future posterity during the peaceful times of our lives.

The Nephites at Zarahelma did something about it. A group of sixteen strong men headed south ("up") to the lands of Lehi-Nephi. Ammon is a leader of this group, and he and a few of his men are initially taken captive by the Nephite king, but eventually they come to a mutual understanding and agree to work together to become liberated.

King Limhi encourages his people with the words below:

O ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made.
19 Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them.
20 And again, that same God has brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is because of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage. (Mosiah 7)

It's easy for me to frame this story in a covenant context. Ammon and his brethren take advantage of a peaceful time to engage in the work of rescue and bring their brethren out of captivity.

This is not the only time in the Book of Mormon that a man named Ammon rescues his brothers.

Alma 20

I recently mentioned a similar example in a different context in a recent post.

Ammon (son of Mosiah-2) has just experienced tremendous missionary success. Lamoni is eager to introduce Ammon to his father, who is king over all the Lamanites, but Ammon has a different plan.  Following a prompting, Ammon and Lamoni travel to Middoni to free their brothers who have been taken captive by the king of that land.

They are successful in persuading the king of Middoni to release the men. It is interesting to see how Mormon seems to go out of his way to describe the condition of his brothers using the same symbolic language that is used to describe those who have come under Satan's power.

29 And when Ammon did meet them he was exceedingly sorrowful, for behold they were naked (see Mormon 9:5), and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords (see 2 Nephi 26:22). And they also had suffered hunger, thirst (see 3 Nephi 20:8), and all kinds of afflictions (see 2 Nephi 2:1-2); nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings.
30 And, as it happened, it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni; and there they were taken and cast into prison, and bound with strong cords, and kept in prison for many days, and were delivered by Lamoni and Ammon. (Alma 20)

"they had viewed themselves"

This expression, "they had viewed themselves", is found in Mosiah 4:2. It's an interesting and unique expression in the scriptures and causes me to pause and reflect. Am I able to view myself and what do I see? It reminds my of a great talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf from the October 2014 general conference titled, "Lord, is it I?". It is based on the Lord's disciples introspectively asking this question at the last supper instead of pointing their finger at others. Some excerpts from the talk:

In these simple words, “Lord, is it I?” lies the beginning of wisdom and the pathway to personal conversion and lasting change...

“Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? …

“… First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

This business of beams and motes seems to be closely related to our inability to see ourselves clearly. I’m not sure why we are able to diagnose and recommend remedies for other people’s ills so well, while we often have difficulty seeing our own...

many of us have a difficult time seeing ourselves as we truly are, and even successful people overestimate their own contribution and underestimate the contributions that others make.

when we start believing that our contributions at home, at work, and at church are greater than they actually are, we blind ourselves to blessings and opportunities to improve ourselves in significant and profound ways.

How did King Benjamin's people get to the point where they could view themselves "in their own carnal state"? They had heard and believed and the Spirit had testified to them what King Benjamin had said in Mosiah 2 and 3: That they owed everything to God, that they are completely dependent on Christ who should come to save them and that the natural man is an enemy to God. The resulting humility brought them to this point. They "had fallen to the earth" (Mosiah 4:1). But because of that, they could enter into a covenant and become "children of Christ" (Mosiah 5:7). He could seal them his and bring them to heaven (Mosiah 5:15), far above the earth they had fallen to.

"Cast..." and "hard heart"

I'm looking at symbols of the covenant between God and man.  They come in two basic forms, which I call "positive" and "negative."  For example, singing praises unto God is a positive symbol. (See Ether 6:9 or 3 Nephi 20:32, 34.)

I've found great joy as I search for these symbols, come to understand their context, then find additional examples of the same symbol in other passages of scripture. In fact, it was over one year ago that I decided to follow a prompting to study the Book of Mormon with a specific goal of understanding my covenants better.  At the time, I'm a bit embarrassed to say, I was under the false assumption that the temple covenant was rarely, if ever, mentioned in the Book of Mormon.  Many hours of study have demonstrated to me how incorrect this assumption was.  The temple covenant can be found all over the Book of Mormon, but only if one knows what symbols to look for.

Over time, one by one, many of these symbols have become familiar to me, and these days it is rare for me to study the Book of Mormon without recognizing numerous instances where covenants are discussed, just a little bit hidden from plain view, which seems entirely appropriate.

This post will discuss a connection between two negative covenant symbols: "cast off" and "hard heart." My main goal here is to illustrate how a passage that doesn't necessarily seem to be discussing covenants at first glance can actually be filled with symbolic covenant language (positive and negative).  Here are verses 1-8 of Jacob 6, in which Jacob discusses Zenos' allegory.  I'll highlight positive covenant symbols in green and negative symbols in red. "Cast" and "hard heart" will be placed in bright red with white text to help them stand out.

1 And now, behold, my brethren, as I said unto you that I would prophesy, behold, this is my prophecy—that the things which this prophet Zenos spake, concerning the house of Israel, in the which he likened them unto a tame olive tree, must surely come to pass.
2 And the day that he shall set his hand again the second time to recover his people, is the day, yea, even the last time, that the servants of the Lord shall go forth in his power, to nourish and prune his vineyard; and after that the end soon cometh.
3 And how blessed are they who have labored diligently in his vineyard; and how cursed are they who shall be cast out into their own place! And the world shall be burned with fire.
4 And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.
6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?
7 For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire?
8 Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you? (Jacob 6)

"Hard hearts" and "cast" are two symbols that center on the subject of unbelief. Unbelief is toxic to spirituality. Connecting these two symbols to the covenant help we appreciate deeper meaning in some passages where either or both of these terms are used:

• In Alma 33:20-21, Alma teaches why the people at the time of Moses would not "cast their eyes" and be healed. "Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them." He asks, "would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?"
• In Alma 20:29-30, Ammon and Lamoni (a recent convert) go to the rescue of Ammon's brethren. They find them naked, bound with strong cords, hungry, and thirsty. This happened because "it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni;"
• "And it came to pass that when Nephi had declared unto them the word, behold, they did still harden their hearts and would not hearken unto his words; therefore they did revile against him, and did seek to lay their hands upon him that they might cast him into prison." (Helaman 10:15)
• Nephi laments his weakness in writing in 2 Nephi 33:1-2: "And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men. But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught."

These symbols help us see that unbelief causes us to underestimate, disregard, and discard sacred and precious truths and cast them away.  A hard heart causes us to cast out prophets from among us (or cast their words out of our lives and routines).  In doing so, we reject the covenant and we will end up cast out from the presence of the Father at the day of judgment.

"Friend" as covenant term

I came across something interesting on this excellent blog. The blogger quotes from books that I don't have so I will just copy some of his quotes.

Amy Hardison writes that anciently, covenants were written with a specific vocabulary. Inside the covenant context, certain words had official and legal meanings that sometimes differed from their normal, everyday use. For instance, one of the words is "friend." In Isaiah 41:8 God chooses and blesses Israel because she is "the seed of Abraham my friend." Friendship is a binding of hearts and souls. We often describe this relationship with such phrases as "bosom buddies" or "soul mates." We attain a similar but far more sacred friendship with God by making covenants with him. Each covenant raises the level of our purity so we are more like him. Each covenant binds us to him in purpose and heart. This covenant unity, or sacred friendship, grants great blessings to us and our posterity. [Amy Blake Hardison, "Being a Covenant People," in Covenants Prophecies and Hymns of the Old Testament, pp. 24, 26-27]

I was not aware of this but realizing how the word, "friend" is used in the scriptures, it makes a lot of sense. Here are some examples.

Friends of God in the Old Testament

Abraham and Moses are both called friends of God

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (James 2:23, see also 2 Chronicles 20:7)

And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend (Exodus 33:11)

What does it mean to be a friend of God? As per the above quote, this seems like covenant language. Abraham is the father of the covenant people and in the Exodus, God establishes a covenant with Israel.

Jesus as friend of church leaders in the original and latter-day church

When Jesus prepared to empower the new covenant with his sacrifice, he moved his closest relations from the status of "disciple" to "friend".

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (John 15)

This is the first time he uses that term to his disciples. I think this creates a link to Jehovah's friendship with Moses and the old covenant.

Even though this use of the word as a covenant term is not common in our age, we see a similar pattern in the D&C. (I don't know but perhaps it was more common in Joseph Smith's time?). The word, "friend", is never used that way in the D&C until section 84, the section with the oath and covenant of the priesthood. He even makes reference to John 15.

63 And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God’s high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends

After this first time the Lord calls his latter-day servants "friends", it is repeated 10 more times in the D&C.

Another relevant passage from D&C is this

Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen. (D&C 88:133)

This was a formal salutation when entering the school of the prophets. Considering the fact that they were instructed not to receive anyone who was not "clean from the blood of this generation" and receive them by the ordinance of the washing of feet, there was a bit more to this than just a friendship in the modern sense.

Nephi and Zoram

There are some examples in the Book of Mormon. In 2 Nephi 1:30, we read

And now, Zoram, I speak unto you: Behold, thou art the servant of Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever.

Keep in mind that when Zoram came with Nephi out in the wilderness, they swore an oath to each other (see 1 Nephi 4:33-37). The blog I linked to comments on this verse

The usage of the word "friend" in this context refers to more than just a friendly relationship; it is a covenant term which tells us that Nephi and Zoram are in covenant. As Lehi's blessing over Zoram continues, he states that because Zoram has been faithful (to his covenant with Nephi), his seed will be blessed even as the descendants of Nephi, his covenant partner. [David Lamb, "Friend: A Covenant Term," in Recent Book of Mormon Developments, Vol. 2, p. 51]

King Benjamin and his people

Again I quote from the same blog commenting on Mosiah 4:4. This is in turn taken from the book by David Lamb that commented on Nephi and Zoram

In King Benjamin's proclamation we find another example of the word "friend" as it applies to a covenant relationship. King Benjamin begins his message by greeting his people as "my brethren" (Mosiah 2:9). While "brother" is also a covenant term, in this case "brethren" refers to blood lineage as they are all from the house of Israel. As he continues his speech, he salutes the people from time to time in various ways such as "O my people," or "O all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children," or "And again my brethren," etc. These various salutations during the first portion of his message can be found in Mosiah 1:47, 52, 70, 73, 79, 86, and 92.

     As King Benjamin finishes the first part of his message, he notices that the fear of the Lord has come upon his people and they have all fallen to the ground. In reading Mosiah 4:2-3, we find that these people enter into a covenant with God by asking that the atoning blood of Christ be upon them. Immediately after the people enter into a covenant with the Lord, King Benjamin addresses them in a different manner. For the first time in his speech, he addresses them as "friends."

     King Benjamin's introduction of the salute "my friends" into the proclamation at this particular point is more than an expression of fondness for his subjects; it is recognition that the people have entered into a covenant.

 This is so obvious now that I see it.

The wicked counterpart

I haven't seen any comment on this, but to me it seems that this meaning of "friend" also is used for the evil counterpart of righteous covenants, i.e. the "secret combinations" we read about, especially in the Book of Mormon, to gain power. At least when searching for the word, "friend" in the scriptures, I found that when this term is used among the wicked, it is very often used in that sense. Some examples:

For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him; and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God (Mosiah 29:22)

Now it came to pass that those judges had many friends and kindreds; and the remainder, yea, even almost all the lawyers and the high priests, did gather themselves together, and unite with the kindreds of those judges who were to be tried according to the law. (3 Nephi 6:27)

Therefore, behold, it came to pass that because of the secret combinations of Akish and his friends, behold, they did overthrow the kingdom of Omer. (Ether 9:1)

Chiasmus in Mosiah 3

Mosiah 3 is a great example of the complex, multilayered nature of the Book of Mormon text.  This chapter is very well known among members of the church, but some of the details aren't discussed often enough (in my opinion).

King Benjamin is speaking to his people. For most of chapter 3, he is recounting the words that an angel declared to him. In verse 2, he tells the people about a visit from an angel:

2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God. And he said unto me: Awake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me.
3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.
4 For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy. (Mosiah 3)

So the purpose of the angel's visit is to provide Benjamin with the words he needs to allow the people to become "filled with joy."

What follows is a great example of Hebrew rhetoric, where repetition is used in various patterns to underscore and emphasize certain points.

One point that is repeated four times is this: Faith and repentance on the name of Christ is the only way to salvation.  (See verses 9, 12, 17, and 21.) 

A related theme relates to the Law of Moses. Mosiah 2:3 makes it clear the people kept the law of Moses, so it was important to Benjamin to help the people understand that the law of Moses was given to point to the coming of Christ.

The words of the angel weave these two themes together in a complex and beautiful way, a way that makes more sense in the context of ancient Hebrew rhetoric than in our modern way of writing.

I've known about an example of chiasmus involving verses 18 and 19 for a long time, since it involves a verse that is very well known.  Recently, I noticed that the point made in verses 18-19 is set up beautifully by another chiasm found in verses 11-16. 

Here is the first chiasm:

A 11 For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, 

     B who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.

          C 12 But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

               D 13 And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, 

                     E the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy (central theme from verse 4), even as though he had already come among them. 14 Yet the Lord God saw that his people were a stiffnecked people, and he appointed unto them a law, even the law of Moses (secondary theme -- the Law of Moses points to Christ). 15 And many signs, and wonders, and types, and shadows showed he unto them, concerning his coming; 

               D' and also holy prophets spake unto them concerning his coming; 

          C' and yet they hardened their hearts, and understood not that the law of Moses availeth nothing except it were through the atonement of his blood.

     B' 16 And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; 

A' for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins.

That passage alone is complicated and takes a few readings to fully digest, but you notice in the yellow sections (B and B' above) he mentions those who died not knowing the will of God, those who ignorantly sin, and little children (who are "blessed") -- this is a point he comes back to in the second example of chiasmus, where he makes it clear that unless we become as a little child, we will be condemned:

18 For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. 

This is followed by the concluding words of the angel, which repeat the central theme and nicely summarize the message one more time:

20 And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. (see verse 13)
21 And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God (see verse 12), except it be little children (see verses 16 and 18), only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent (central theme -- see verses 9, 12, 17).
22 And even at this time, when thou shalt have taught thy people the things which the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, even then are they found no more blameless in the sight of God, only according to the words which I have spoken unto thee (see verse 4).