Don't be that guy: the worst tools in history

Have you ever met anyone who just thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread? Let's be honest, the best place to find those people is the high school weight room. Okay, yeah, that was an over-generalization, but no, I'm not talking about the typical football-playing meatheads that we all know and love, I mean a real, king-size, full-blown tool, somebody who thinks they're greater than God Himself. Ever met somebody like that? Whether you have or not, this post is for you. ;)

There are several such egomaniacs found within the pages of holy writ, one of which I encountered recently in Alma 9:6, who asks the following question: "...Who is God, that sendeth no more authority than one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?" Though the verse says "they" said this, I imagine some individual was the first to voice those words, for which reason I'm going to refer to said individual as "him" to make things simpler.

To give you a little background, here we have Alma, the high priest over the church in all of the land - and former chief judge, mind you - in the city of Ammonihah preaching repentance and prophesying of Christ's coming. Then some guy who appears a little too big for his britches - or robe, whatever his attire was - thought that if God was anybody, He would send their city something more than just a little ole prophet. So he exclaims, "Who is God?" In my 21st century dialect, that means, "Who does God think He is? He has all these great things to tell us, and He sends Alma? I mean, come on, the guy already resigned, he." 

This whole challenge idea expressed in the question "Who does He think He is?" is defined by the Urban dictionary as a "Rhetorical question asked of or when discussing a person who is acting in an annoying, stereotypical manner or is a poser." Thefreedictionary.com's version is: "Inf. Why do you think you can lord it over people that way?; Why are you so arrogant? (Usually in anger.)" So our lovely inhabitant of Ammonihah here is really expressing his belief that God is a poser, that He isn't as powerful as Alma says He is, and in order for everyone to believe that He is God, He has to prove it. Sounds like a sign-seeker to me. And we all know what happens to them (see Alma 30:43-60). Sure enough, Ammonihah was completely destroyed about a half-a-dozen chapters later. I guess God showed who He was.

Turns out, this is not an isolated incident. Some of our most famous, true-blue, bona fide tools asked very similar questions. Take a look at these three examples:

1.     From the Pearl of Great Price, Cain - "...But behold, Cain hearkened not, saying: Who is the Lord that I should know him?"  Moses 5:16

2.     From the Old Testament, Pharaoh - "...Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Exodus 5:2

3.     From the Book of Mormon again, King Noah - "...he was also wroth; and he said: Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?" Mosiah 11:27

First of all, you may notice that all the examples are men. Well Kimball, you might say, that's because the scriptures as a whole tend to be rather male-centric. That's a possible explanation. My findings might also lead you to suppose that all men are stuck-up idiots. No, not all men are idiots, but it appears that all idiots are men (or at least in all these examples). Okay, that's not what I'm trying to say either. Actually, I'm not trying to say anything at all, I want to ask something:

Who is God?

If you're not quite sure, that's okay. But remember, knowing the answer to that question is the only way you'll come to know who you are.