THURSDAY DEVOTIONAL

Wall Builders   Cody F Miller

WHO IS A ROCK, EXCEPT OUR GOD

So, last evening in BOM study group, we discussed the record of Abidini. The genius of Abinadi is not that he was a lone prophet, a voice in the wilderness, going up against the entire court of King Noah and his priests, even the population, but it was the clarity and sharpness of his teaching concerning the Savior.

Who can we compare Abinadi to? I thought about Elijah, fighting against Jezebel and her false priests of Baal. We thought that he was similar to prophets like Noah, and even the angels during Lot’s time with the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah.

 Abidadi was a prophet who stood in “the gap” What does it mean to “stand in the gap”?

Ezekiel 22:30³⁰ So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

What is that wall? It is the wall of righteousness, the moral and spiritual foundations of God’s people. Have you ever built a concrete wall, or laid brick and used mortar compound to build it up and make it secure? When walls start to wear down, the concrete starts to chip away, and if there is a weak spot, or hole in the wall, it’s only a matter of time before the whole thing comes tumbling down. So in a spiritual sense, the “wall” that the Lord refers to represents our righteousness as a people, our moral fiber, and our spiritual foundation in the Him. What would cause a hole in this wall, which would cause it to weaken and eventually fall down? I think that apostasy would be one cause. Apostasy would lead to “every man” considering himself “right” in his own eyes. During the time of Abidani, the people had gone beyond apostasy, they were just plain lost and the walls were tumbling down. The Lord sent Abidani as an intercessor, one who would stand in the gap and become a “patch” in that hole in the wall, even to the point of giving his life for it.

 Isaiah 30:12-13

¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, trust in oppression and perversity, and rely on them,

¹³ Therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.

We talked about other comparisons to Abidadi. I thought about when Nephi was constrained by the Angel of the Lord to chop off the head of Laban, and at that point Nephi’s life would never be the same. The sound reasoning for this “righteous” kill was that taking the life of Laban would prevent generations from dwindling in unbelief, and Abinadi was a part of that generation; so Nephi stood in the gap. We then compared Alma to Abinadi; he was the one soul converted by Abinadi. By his faith in the words of Abinadi, he was able win more souls, and to baptize them, and to gather them back to the fold of the Lord. So if you were to do a time line from Nephi to Abinadi, and to Alma and then to Mormon, then to Joseph Smith. You can see them all literally standing in a line, filling the breach of sin and apostasy that the world has fallen into. You can see the gold plates going from hand to hand until it reaches our hand in the form of the book of Mormon, and now we stand in the gap. Awesome!!

Ephesians 3:14-21¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

 ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,

¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—

¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

 ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

2 Samuel 22:31-33³¹ As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven;
      He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
      He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

³² “For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?

 ³³ God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect.