Here we have an introduction to King Benjamin, one of the most beloved personalities in the Book of Mormon. Amaleki closes the transitional period by giving the sacred records to Benjamin as he bears his final testimony about the Savior, about the ministering of angels, and about the gifts of the Spirit.
“King Benjamin, a Just Man Before the Lord”
Here we have an introduction to King Benjamin, one of the most beloved personalities in the Book of Mormon. Amaleki closes the transitional period by giving the sacred records to Benjamin as he bears his final testimony about the Savior, about the ministering of angels, and about the gifts of the Spirit.
King Benjamin, Monarch of the Mighty Change
King Benjamin is one of the most beloved and oft-quoted personalities in the Book of Mormon. His valedictory discourse to his people, given about 124 b.c. to articulate the essential Christ-centered life of service and spiritual integrity (see Mosiah 2:9 to 4:30), is among the most celebrated gospel sermons ever recorded. Benjamin is the son of the first Mosiah, who is commanded of the Lord to depart from the land of Nephi with as many as will hearken unto the voice of the Lord, to preserve their lives and the records of their ancestors. Guided by the Lord through the wilderness, they find their way northward to safety in Zarahemla, where they join with the descendants of Mulek—“for the Lord did bring Mulek [surviving son of King Zedekiah of Judah] into the land north, and Lehi into the land south” (Helaman 6:10). Mosiah is named king over the union of the two peoples and serves in righteousness and devotion all his days, conferring the kingdom in his old age upon his son.
King Benjamin receives custody of the sacred records from Amaleki, and, like his father, serves the people with distinction, having established peace in the land of Zarahemla through outstanding leadership and military prowess: “And he did fight with the strength of his own arm, with the sword of Laban” (Words of Mormon 1:13). He teaches his three sons—Mosiah, Helorum, and Helaman—the supreme importance of the scriptures (see Mosiah 1:5–6). Toward the end of his life, Benjamin appoints his son Mosiah to be king of the land. In Benjamin’s farewell address to his assembled people—much of it imparted to him previously by a heavenly messenger in the night—he fulfills his promise to give them a new name, i.e., the name of Christ. So powerful are the words of King Benjamin that his people experience a complete spiritual transformation—“a mighty change” (Mosiah 5:2).