An angel from God appeared to King Benjamin while he slept, telling him to awake and standing before him to declare “glad tidings of great joy” (Mosiah 3:2–3). The angel told Benjamin that the Lord had heard his prayers, and gave him a message to deliver to his people: that the Lord would come down from heaven, dwell in a body of flesh, and work miracles, and that he would be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mosiah 3:8). Benjamin relayed these words to the Nephites gathered at the temple.
When Benjamin finished speaking the words the angel had delivered to him, the people had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them (Mosiah 4:1). Benjamin called them to remember the greatness of God and their own nothingness, to humble themselves, and to stand steadfastly in the faith spoken by the angel (Mosiah 4:11). The people then declared their willingness to covenant with God to obey his commandments all their days, so as not to bring upon themselves the never-ending torment the angel had warned of (Mosiah 5:5).