Rhetoric: In what way does this injunction to believe in Yahweh constitute a conceptual transition from the Messiah as future redeemer to anything else? The question arises because most of Benjamin’s transitions have been purposeful and clear, yet this apparent transition neither concludes the previous material nor introduces the next section, which seems to return to the topic of verse 5. I believe that the explanation lies in the fact that the Book of Mormon associates Yahweh and the Messiah more closely than we would do in our modern theology. The injunction to believe in God (Yahweh) is therefore a punctuation of the discussion of the Messiah (Yahweh). (See “Excursus: The Nephite Understanding of God,” following 1 Nephi 11.)
Nevertheless, Benjamin here lists a different set of circumstances and different items about which one must have faith. It is possible that this reference is to the Messiah and his Father, the Most High God, rather than to the Messiah and Yahweh (considered as the same being).
Reference: Benjamin repeats the phrase “both in heaven and in earth.” This is probably a reference to a Book of Mormon title for Yahweh. (See commentary accompanying Mosiah 3:8.)