One of Noah’s priests inquired about four verses in Isaiah, and Abinadi replied, “Are you priests, and pretend to teach this people, and to understand the spirit of prophesying, and yet desire to know of me what these things mean?” Then he condemned them: “If ye understand these things ye have not taught them,” which constitutes a perversion of the ways of the Lord.
A rigorous interchange ensued.
Abinadi: “What teach ye this people?”
Priests: “We teach the law of Moses.”
Abinadi: “If ye teach the law of Moses why do ye not keep it?” Then the prophet condemned their greed, their immoral behavior, and their causing the people to sin.
It is significant that Abinadi invokes “the heart” as the way to understand the things of God: “Ye have not applied your hearts [not minds] to understanding.” The heart is the core of life and strength. In the ancient world it included the mind, spirit, and soul—one’s entire emotional and mental makeup. As the ancient writer said, “For as he thinketh in his heart so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). But more importantly, the heart was the very thing Noah and the priests needed to have changed, and yet they would not (Alma 5:13–14).