The Mosaic ordinances were schoolteachers because they were symbolic precursors to—or “types” of—the Savior’s mission. Abinadi allows himself no more than this succinct explanation, presumably because the theological arguments that explained the symbolic relationship of Mosaic practices to the revealed Messianic mission were part of what the priests had knowingly eliminated in the Noahite religion. Were this information completely new, no doubt Abinadi would have developed and illustrated his meaning. Because he does not, we deduce that his audience had heard the debate before and understood this argument from a quick reference alone.
Apocryphal Literature: The first-century letter of Barnabas is a post-Christian examination that interprets the Mosaic symbols in a Christian context, as Abinadi suggests can be done. Nevertheless, Bart D. Ehrman, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, notes that the letter of Barnabas had a distinctly anti-Jewish tone of which neither Abinadi nor Mormon would have approved.