20 And it came to pass that one of them said unto him: What meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our fathers, saying:
21 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth;
22 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion;
23 Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem;
24 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God?
These verses are so hopeful in nature. They are verses of rejoicing and celebration in the goodness, mercy and power of God. All the ends of the earth are invited to rejoice together. Possibly the wicked priests were using these verses and others like them to justify their wickedness, arguing that because all the ends of the earth are to sing together, there was no need for them to repent. God's goodness and kindness would cause him to overlook their evil deeds. The God they are imagining up for themselves is all mercy, no justice. This is nearly the opposite of the God Abinadi introduces them to - seemingly all justice and no mercy.
Fortunately for us, these verses give Abinadi a wonderful foundation from which to spring into a meaningful doctrinal discussion of the nature of God and the plan of redemption.
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