Abinadi's Disguise

Mosiah 12:1 And it came to pass that after the space of two years that Abinadi came among them in disguise, that they knew him not, and began to prophesy among them, saying: Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my people, for they have hardened their hearts against my words; they have repented not of their evil doings; therefore, I will visit them in my anger, yea, in my fierce anger will I visit them in their iniquities and abominations.

This painting was part of a grouping finished and displayed in August of 2020 at Writ & Vision in Provo. I was especially interested in this story at that time because of current political and church policy events. Many Latter-day Saints at that time drew parallels between King Noah and Donald Trump. Additionally, the creation of the first “Mormon” church in written story, at the Waters of Mormon, was an interesting thing to think about in light of the directive to drop the self-identifier “Mormon” within the church.

Copyright retained by J. Kirk Richards. Contact the artist to license this image for publication.