Text: Abinadi speaks as if the Messiah had already come, when his birth lies in Abinadi’s future. As Daniel Ludlow explains: “Often when ancient prophets would speak of future events or prophecies, they would use a verb form sometimes called the ‘prophetic past tense.’ That is, they would talk about the future as though the event had already happened.” Here Abinadi explains that he is “speaking of things to come as though they had already come.” He does this not only because his intimate knowledge of the prophecies makes the event seem real and already accomplished, but also because his argument requires that the atonement be accomplished. The divine promise of the future atonement is sufficient to supply the benefits in Abinadi’s present. Neither Abinadi nor anyone else must wait for the atonement to be able to repent.