Sources for study
As I’ve pointed out a number of times, the most important and primary source for our gospel study this year is the Book of Mormon – the Book itself. If you did nothing else but read the suggested chapters in the Book each week, that would be the most valuable reading you could do this year, whether you are reading it for the first time or the fiftieth. You can read it on paper or on your device. There are advantages to both. You choose what works for you. I’ve converted to reading on my iPad, but you do what is best for you.
I would say the second most important resource for this year is the Come, Follow Me for Individuals and Families manual. The lessons with thoughtful questions are well done.
As you know, in this blog/email I usually give the reference or link for two or three other sources to supplement your learning. I hope it isn’t overwhelming to you that I do that. Don’t feel that you have to follow any or all the links, watch any or all the YouTube lessons or listen to any or all of the podcasts. Again, you do what works for you. I just want to make them available to you. I don’t suggest anything that I haven’t read or listened to. I know there is a lot of good material out there, but I don’t suggest anything if I can’t vouch for it, at least, to some extent.
The most valuable resource for me is the four-volume Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon by Robert Millet and Joseph McConkie. It was written over 30 years ago, but is exceptionally well done. They have a bias for quoting Elder Bruce R. McConkie, for obvious reasons. They focus on doctrine and do a good job of doing so. Unfortunately, most of you don’t have access to their books and/or don’t have time to plow through them, so I try to give you the best 3 or 4 quotes for each week. Brent L. Top, another excellent BYU religion faculty member, joins Millet & McConkie as an author for Volume 4 which begins with Third Nephi.
I have found the weekly YouTube lessons by Tyler Griffin and Taylor Halverson, Book of Mormon Insights, to be a great find! They have taught me a lot about the Book of Mormon. They have the full support of all the resources of Book of Mormon Central to enhance their teaching. Tyler is a humble man and an exceptionally good teacher. Taylor adds interesting perspective and insights. It’s helpful that their lessons are now available on podcast, but they always warn that they use a lot of visuals so to watch the YouTube, if you can. They are right. I try to listen to the podcast (usually while riding my bike) but also watch the YouTube lesson and take notes as I go.
Also from Book of Mormon Central are the weekly Notes by John W. (Jack) Welch. He is really bright and has some excellent insights. His background is law, so he likes to get into the legal aspects of issues in the Book of Mormon, which I sometimes find a little tedious. But he also has some real nuggets in each week’s Notes.
Finally, I’ve started listening regularly to David Butler and Emily Freeman on Don’t Miss This. Their style is quite different from Tyler & Taylor and put me off a little at first but their hearts are good and they teach important things often from a perspective that I would have otherwise totally missed. They are much more behaviorally focused rather than cognitively, sort of more right brain than left brain. Since I live most of my life in my left brain, they are good for me.
Maybe you don’t want to wait until my blog post/email comes out each week to listen to the YouTube lessons or podcast(s) which you enjoy most. You should be able to find them on your own rather than wait for me to send you the link. Then you won’t have so much to read and listen to on Sunday.
In summary, if you have a “love-hate relationship” with my weekly blog/emails (as at least one good person does), please don’t get bogged down by trying to listen to or watch every link and reference. I’ve even started putting supplementary material in endnotes so you can skip those and get through reading faster, if you want. I’m honored that you would take time to read anything I have written. I really don’t want to be a burden but just to enhance your study and hopefully help to bring the Book of Mormon to life a little more for you and your family. Thanks so much for reading!
Helaman chapter 13
Who is Samuel?
In the 86th year, the Nephites did still remain in wickedness. They are only five years from the coming of Christ in the Old World. They repented about 16 years earlier when Nephi prayed for a famine and they nearly starved to death. But after it was removed, they quickly forgot the Lord. The Nephite pride cycle has led them into a downward death spiral of pride and wickedness. Ironically, the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God, according to the law of Moses. The tables have turned. The Lamanites are the good guys and the majority of the Nephites are the rebellious ones.
Rather than send another famine or an invading army in response to their wickedness, the Lord now sends a Lamanite prophet to the Nephites. (He is the only Lamanite prophet in the Book of Mormon.) There was one Samuel, a Lamanite, came into the land of Zarahemla, and began to preach unto the people. Interesting how Mormon wrote that – “one” Samuel, “a” Lamanite. I think he did that to make the point that Samuel, though a prophet, was no one special in the eyes of the Nephites. The language is similar to that of Alma the Younger when describing to his son Helaman his first thoughts of Jesus, with whom he was not very familiar, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. (Alma 36:17) This language reflects someone who is not familiar with or has little respect for either Samuel or Jesus Christ. Mormon is subtly telling us of the negative, condescending attitude of the Nephites toward this Lamanite who has come to preach to them.
Where did Samuel come from? We have no clue, presumably from the south, the land of Nephi, where the Lamanites live. Who taught him the gospel? Was he taught by Nephi and Lehi when they were there years before? Perhaps so. Was he in the prison with them when the voice of God was heard and 300 were converted? Possibly, or maybe one of his family was. Was he taught or converted by an anti-Nephi-Lehi? Perhaps. We don’t know. He appears on the scene, gives his remarkable address from the wall of Zarahemla and disappears. We only know that, when his message had been delivered and the unbelieving Nephites frustrated that they couldn’t hit him with stones or arrows began to charge him on the wall, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people. And behold, he was never heard of more among the Nephites. We never hear of him again. But what a mark he left in Zarahemla!
Samuel prophesied what the Lord put in his heart
Like Alma in Ammonihah and Nephi in Zarahemla, Samuel is initially rejected in Zarahemla and starts to leave for home when the Lord turns him around. He did preach, many days, repentance unto the people, and they did cast him out, and he was about to return to his own land. But behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart.
Samuel tries to get back into the city of Zarahemla, but they won’t let him in. It is a walled city, so he would have to go in by one of the gates. Not to be denied, he went and got upon the wall thereof, and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice, and prophesied unto the people whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart.
This is no canned talk. Samuel is speaking from the heart. But he has prepared himself well, as every good missionary does, so that the Lord can put words into his mouth. For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.(D&C 100:6) Some of us “shoot from the hip” when we get to the pulpit, but Samuel spoke from the heart when he got onto the wall. Did seeing Samuel on the wall cause some of the people to think of and picture king Benjamin speaking from a tower in the same city, perhaps not far from the wall, over 130 years before? Maybe so. Samuel is going to quote Benjamin. If they didn’t think of it before, they probably will then.
Samuel does not beat around the bush. Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people.
Samuel and Mormon use the word “heart” four times in two verses. Why does Samuel speak from the heart? Why not from his mind? The heart is said to be the seat of the soul. “The heart, as referenced in the scriptures, is used to convey the deepest feelings that combine the spirit and the intellect.” (Paraphrase of Elder Cook. I can’t find the exact quote.)
Actually, the heart is just a blood-filled bag of muscle about the size of your two fists together which pumps blood to your lungs and to the rest of your body. The only “thinking” the heart does is to generate an electrical signal about 60 to 80 times a minute (unless we are exercising) and send it to the muscles in its walls to cause them to contract. But the heart figuratively represents the center of feeling and emotion in a person. The heart in that sense is really the representation of the spirit within a person, the spirit son or daughter of loving Heavenly Parents, the spirit that gives life to the body and animation to that life. Even the brain is useless without the spirit. So to speak from the heart, is to speak from the spirit, from the eternal person inside of us, the part of us that is most in tune with our Father, His Son and the Holy Ghost, as well as angels sent by them. Those who listen with their hearts are listening with the ears of their spirit for those things that resonate with the truths they as a spirit already knew before coming to this life.
President Joseph F. Smith taught: “All those salient truths which come home so forcibly to the head and heart seem but the awakening of the memories of the spirit. Can we know anything here that we did not know before we came?” (Gospel Doctrine, p 13)
So when the Lord puts it into Samuel’s heart what to say, it is a member of the Godhead speaking to the spirit within Samuel. And when Samuel speaks from the heart to the people, it is the spirit inside Samuel, the noble son of God clothed in a mortal tabernacle, who is speaking to the people. We would do well to do the same when we speak, teach or bear testimony – do so from our heart!
Four hundred years
Samuel is very specific in his prophecies. He tells the Nephites when to expect that the prophesied sword of justice will fall on their people. It will happen in 400 years. Four hundred years is a long time! That would be like a prophecy made in the year 1620 by John Alden of the Mayflower Company (one of my ancestors) as they landed on Plymouth Rock, that the United States (the land in which they just arrived) or the United Kingdom (the land from which they came) would fall in 400 years, the year 2020, because of transgression and wickedness. (Kind of spooky to even think about, especially in this election year in the US!) Brother Jack Welch has some interesting comments about the significance of 400 years in the Mayan calendar that may relate to this prophecy. Interesting that 5 years and 20 years were also important intervals in the Mayan calendar. Here is the reference to his Notes for this week. https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/archive-files/pdf/welch/2020-08-27/helaman_13-16_formatted.pdf
Glad tidings
Samuel tells the Nephites that an angel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring glad tidings to my soul. … I was sent unto you to declare it unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold ye would not receive me.
These sentences are at the center of a five-verse chiasmus, verses 5-9, centered on the fact that Samuel was sent to bring the people of Zarahemla glad tidings which had been given him by an angel, but they rejected him. What were those glad tidings? Have you heard the phrase “glad tidings” before? Of course you have? That phrase was used by the angel Gabriel in telling Zacharias that he and Elizabeth would have a son who would prepare the way for the Lord. (Luke 1:19) And the more familiar message to the shepherds from the same angel, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11) Glad tidings or good tidings, especially when brought by an angel, seem to most often be associated with the coming of the Savior.
Samuel has learned from an angel[1] that the signs of Christ’s birth will be given in five years. But he wasn’t able to share those glad tidings with the people of Zarahemla because they rejected him. In the next chapter, he will share the signs of Christ’s birth, but his words will not be “glad tidings” to most of the people.
Not so glad tidings
Samuel spends most of this chapter (There were no chapters on the gold plates and this was all one sermon.) preaching to the people of Zarahemla about their wickedness and the hardness of their hearts. Because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take away my word from them, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them, and I will suffer them no longer, and I will turn the hearts of their brethren against them. He calls them to repentance and obedience. In verses 21-24, Samuel details what they are doing (or not doing) that is so offensive to the Lord. He lists at least five things: (1) their hearts are set on their riches; (2) they forget the Lord; (3) they are not thankful; (4) their hearts are full of pride; and (5) they cast out and stone the prophets.
Does this list apply to us in our day? I’m afraid so! Like my wife’s aunt said to her last week, “I don’t need to read the book of Helaman, we are living it!” She is right! We are living the book of Helaman. This same list fits our day. We must guard ourselves against these sins, which are part of the pride cycle.
The solution is to repent and turn to the Lord. If ye will repent and return unto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not.
Notice that in the very first verse of this chapter, we learn that, in contrast to the Nephites, the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God, according to the law of Moses. David Butler and Emily Freeman have a really good discussion this week about repentance, obedience, strict obedience, checklists, perfectionism, etc. It’s worth listening to. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/V_HNzRLK93Y. The part about “strict obedience” is near the first of the lesson about 7 minutes into the broadcast.
Thus saith the Lord!
Samuel begins to speak for the Lord. Thus saith the Lord! I wonder how the Nephites liked a Lamanite speaking to them in the first person as if he were the Lord. I doubt it went over very well. Maybe that’s why they tried to kill him after he has delivered his message.
Wo unto this great city of Zarahemla; for behold, it is because of those who are righteous that it is saved; yea, wo unto this great city, for I perceive, saith the Lord, that there are many, yea, even the more part of this great city, that will harden their hearts against me, saith the Lord.
But blessed are they who will repent, for them will I spare. But behold, if it were not for the righteous who are in this great city, behold, I would cause that fire should come down out of heaven and destroy it.
Zarahemla is currently being spared because of the righteous that are still in it. But, if they are cast out or killed, it will be destroyed by fire. In 3 Nephi 8, when many cities are destroyed by the events that occur at the time of Christ’s death, Zarahemla is burned by fire. Samuel truly is a prophet! (Actually, many cities were burned, but Zarahemla is the only one to be named.)
In the last days, the cities in which we live can be saved by our righteousness and that of our families and those around us. I believe that cities will also be saved by the presence of a temple in them. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that Pres. Nelson, like the prophets before him beginning with Pres. Hinckley, is so anxious to build temples all over the world.
After cursing their cities, still speaking for the Lord, Samuel curses their riches. It shall come to pass, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, our great and true God, that whoso shall hide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land, save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord. … Behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them. Inflation, bear markets, real estate crashes, unemployment, bankruptcies, fraud, deceit, theft. Are we living the book of Helaman? Have our riches become slippery? Sometimes, it certainly feels that way! Samuel truly is prophetic!
There is one comforting word about riches. Whoso shall hide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land, save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord. The key to retaining our riches (be they meager or great) is to hide them up unto the Lord. The Lord has blessed us with the opportunity to donate tithes and offerings to Him for the building up of His kingdom on earth and to bless others. If we turn our hearts to Him and don’t set our hearts on our riches, we will share freely with those in need. Hopefully, in doing so, our riches will not be slippery in these volatile last days. Excellent advice in the scriptures on riches comes from Jacob, But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. (Jacob 2:18-19)
The final reason the Lord is upset with the people of Zarahemla is because ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time. Samuel is living proof that they reject the prophets and seek to kill them. The warning applies to us in our day. We don’t generally throw stones at the prophets but we ignore or reject their counsel and think that we have a better way, that we are more informed, or more current on social issues or more politically correct. It is a very dangerous position to think that we know more or are more enlightened than the Lord’s anointed on any subject related to the gospel and our theology. It is the beginning of the road to apostasy.We will see next week that it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved, and it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not; and it was they who had not shed the blood of the saints, who were spared. (3 Nephi 10:12)
Samuel has lots more to say to the people of Zarahemla in this chapter, but this is enough to get the idea. The Lord is not pleased with these people. Samuel concludes this portion of his message, O ye people of the land, that ye would hear my words! And I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye would repent and be saved.
Helaman chapter 14
A very specific prophecy
The Lord will not leave the people of Zarahemla in despair because of the solemn message delivered by Samuel. He has good news for them. The good news is prophecies about the Savior, the signs of His birth and of His death, and about the plan of salvation. This is a wonderful chapter!
Here is the prophecy of His birth. Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.
That is a very specific prophecy, the kind of prophecy you can “take to the bank.” A lot of people were listening. I’m sure it was a great comfort to the believers. But for those who were rejecting his words in their hearts, this was ammunition. You can bet that they went straight to their smart phones, opened their calendar app, scrolled five years ahead and marked the day five years from then when the signs of Christ’s birth must be given or Samuel is a false prophet and those who believe him have been deceived. As we will see next week, it comes down to the last day five years later when a day [was] set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet. (3 Nephi 1:9) Tune in next week to see what happens.
So what are the signs that the people should watch for? These were also very specific.
There shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day. Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign;
There shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.
There shall be many signs and wonders in heaven.
The coming of the Light of the World will be heralded by light! It could be no other way. In the Western hemisphere, there will be no darkness at the going down of the sun on the night the Son is born. Everyone will know that He has been born. It’s interesting that a much more specific and visible sign was given to the people of the Western Hemisphere than the Eastern Hemisphere. In the Old World, they would see the new star, but there was no night without darkness. Perhaps the Lord, knowing that His people in the Western Hemisphere would have to wait longer to see the Lord, felt that they deserved a more demonstrative sign. Maybe they were more worthy of such a sign.
What is that new star? Was it a comet? (I remember as a young boy sitting in a stake conference session one time trying to figure out if Halley’s comet, which approaches earth every 76 years, could account for the new star. Probably not.) Was it a super nova? Perhaps. If so, how long before Christ was born did the explosion of a star have to occur for the light to arrive on the earth at the right time to signify His birth? It could have been hundreds of years earlier if the star was hundreds of light years away.
Samuel speaks a sacred name
The most important thing for the Nephites (and for us) to know is that, whosoever shall believe on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life.[2] This is one of the central truths of the universe! And it was spoken by a humble Lamanite prophet from the wall of Zarahemla. It is as true today as it was then. There is no other way!
Samuel reminds the people of Zarahemla that these are the words of the angel spoken to him that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth[3], the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name. And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits.[4]
Wow, it doesn’t get much more doctrinally drenched or powerful than that! Go Samuel!
This Lamanite prophet just quoted their beloved king Benjamin, actually the words of an angel to Benjamin. (Was it the same angel? Perhaps so.) Samuel quoted sacred words to them. He repeated the sacred name of Jesus Christ given to the Lamanites from the angel of the Lord through Benjamin 118 years earlier. The comments by Brother Welch on this name are profound:
It is interesting to note that “the name” of Christ found in the dead center of king Benjamin’s speech in Mosiah 3:8 is found precisely in Samuel’s text in Helaman 14:12: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of Heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning.” … These words are the ten-part (twenty-one-English-word) title for the Lord—“Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of Heaven and of earth, the creator of all things from the beginning.”
King Benjamin had called his people together to give them something special—a name that would distinguish them before God and from all other people on earth. The name could not be “Jehovah” or “Jesus Christ”—many groups had already been given that name. The name that king Benjamin gave to his people was a ten-noun name: Jesus Christ, Son God, Father Heaven Earth, Creator All Beginning.
It was this new name that king Benjamin gave to his people when they entered into the covenant at the temple and took upon them the name of Christ. This was a most sacred name that the Nephites who Samuel was addressing would have already known. King Benjamin was in Zarahemla when he gave his people that name 118 years earlier. He was then on a tall tower by the temple. Samuel was also in Zarahemla. The Nephites would not let him in, so he stood on a tall wall, which was as close as he could get to entering the city. When the Nephites heard Samuel speak the sacred name from the city wall, they were angry and tried to kill him. That was going too far. It must have struck even them as blasphemous for a Lamanite to be speaking the sacred covenant name to them, the people of Zarahemla.
Welch Notes
Another witness – the signs of His death
Samuel has the attention of the people of Zarahemla – either because their hearts resonate with him or because they want to kill him. He now gives them another very specific sign, the sign of Christ’s death. But before telling them the sign, he launches into a discussion of why Christ needed to die, the Plan of Salvation, the first and second deaths and the need for repentance.
He surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.[5]
Using three different imperatives – must, behooveth, expedient – Samuel teaches that Christ must die. Obviously, Christ had His agency when on earth. He also had power over death because of His paternal parentage. He could have chosen not to die, but He had to die to put into effect the Father’s plan. He had to die to fulfill His mission, the mission to which He agreed before the foundations of the earth were laid. He had to die to become our Savior and Redeemer, as He promised He would do.
At this point, Tyler Griffin has an excellent discussion of the Plan of Salvation in their broadcast this week. He outlines the Plan in a unique and different way from which I’ve ever seen it taught. The best part is that Christ is at the center of the Plan, which is as it should be. Here is the link to their YouTube broadcast for this week. https://youtu.be/pqBj7Ws6QXI
I will also attach to this email and post on the Book of Mormon Study Class FaceBook page a screen capture of the diagram he created. (At the end of their broadcast, they showed a finalized version of the diagram, not just the marker-on-a-white-board version they created while teaching.) I suggest you go to their podcast and start about about 28:14 for an excellent discussion of the Plan of Salvation.
An important doctrine taught by Samuel, but often misunderstood, is that Christ’s atonement brings all men back into the presence of God, at least to be judged. Whether they “remain” there depends on the choices they have made it life. The resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.[6]
Now, what are the signs of His death?
In that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.
Just as light heralded His birth, darkness marked the death of the Light of the World. The darkness lasted for three days in the Western Hemisphere. Either the darkness included the Sunday He was resurrected, which is not very likely, or He died on Thursday, not Friday as is traditionally taught. The darkness began about 3 hours before He died, about noon in Jerusalem. Since there are several time zones difference between Jerusalem and the Western Hemisphere (depending on where Zarahemla was located), the darkness in Zarahemla would have begun early Thursday morning and continued through the day onThursday, Friday and Saturday. (See Welch Notes for further discussion)
Other signs will accompany His death – earthquakes, thunder, lightning, and tempests. We’ll talk more about those next week.
Then comes this remarkable verse: And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many. When Christ visited the people of the Western Hemisphere after His resurrection, He asked to see the records that the prophet Nephi had kept. Christ pointed out that the event of the graves being opened was not included in the record. He instructed Nephi to include it. (See 3 Nephi 23) Think how amazing that is! Christ, who as Jehovah gave this revelation through an angel to Samuel, knows that it was omitted. He didn’t have to look in the records to find that out. It’s just like the Father calling to Adam in the Garden, “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9) He was asking for Adam’s sake not because He didn’t know. Similarly, Christ looked in the records for Nephi’s sake not because He didn’t know. It’s also amazing that the resurrected Lord is validating the words of this lowly prophet, “one Samuel a Lamanite”. Not many prophets are in that select group!
Why will these signs of Christ’s birth and death be given? These signs and these wonders should come to pass upon all the face of this land, to the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men—And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation.
This applies to us. If we are spiritually in tune, diligent in understanding the scriptures and following the words of the living prophets, we will recognize the signs of the times in our day, signs which seem more obvious every year, to the intent that we might believe and be saved. But if we ignore the signs, it won’t go well for us when He comes again.
Samuel closes this portion of his sermon by reminding those listening to him, both those who believe him and whose hearts are changed and those who are offended by him and whose hearts are hardened, that it is their choice. But they must live with the consequences of the choice they make. Remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you. The same is true for us.
Know this, that ev’ry soul is free
To choose his life and what he’ll be;
For this eternal truth is giv’n:
That God will force no man to heav’n.
He’ll call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless with wisdom, love, and light,
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind. (Hymns No 240)
Helaman chapter 15
Samuel concludes his message from the wall with a stern warning to the Nephites, contrasting their wickedness with the righteousness of the Lamanites.
And now, my beloved brethren, behold, I declare unto you that except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you desolate. Their women will mourn and be left with no place for refuge and they shall be trodden down and shall be left to perish. Not a pretty picture!
By contrast, the Lamanites, whom the Lord has “hated” (meaning they have broken the covenantal relationship with Him) have become righteous. The more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses. They are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth. … as many as have come to this, ye know of yourselves are firm and steadfast in the faith, and in the thing wherewith they have been made free. Even though they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days … and in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; … the Lord shall be merciful unto them … and they shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep. It shall be better for them than for you except ye repent.
Samuel’s final words to the wicked Nephites are, Now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites: If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them, saith the Lord, because of their unbelief notwithstanding the many mighty works which I have done among them; and as surely as the Lord liveth shall these things be, saith the Lord.
So let it be spoken, so let it be done – in 400 years as prophesied by Samuel!
Helaman chapter 16
Some of the people are converted
The people in the city Zarahemla listening to Samuel preaching from the wall are in two groups. The smaller group believed on his word [and] went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord. It’s interesting that Nephi was preaching and baptizing while Samuel was also trying to preach to the Nephites. It’s not like they were in competition with each other. Surely, Samuel and Nephi were brothers in the gospel and had somehow coordinated their joint efforts. Perhaps it was Nephi who recorded the words of Samuel so that Mormon could later included them in his abridgment.[7]
Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come—Telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins.
On the other hand, as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows. It’s like Ammon defending the king’s flocks; the Lord is with him and he cannot be hit. Seeing this happen changes the hearts of some of the Nephites. When they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized.
The more part of the people did not believe
However, most of the people did not believe the words of Samuel. Therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him.
And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people.
And behold, he was never heard of more among the Nephites;
Such was the ministry of “one Samuel a Lamanite” among the people of Nephi in Zarahemla. He was a great missionary. Of his prophecies, there are not many greater. His testimony of the coming Messiah, the Son of God is eternally powerful. His teaching of the plan of salvation was sublime. His courage in calling the proud Nephites to repentance was undaunted. What a great prophet! He is one of those great souls from the Book of Mormon peoples I hope to meet someday!
The most believing part
Things did not improve over the next five years but continued their downhill slide, the more part of the people remaining in their pride and wickedness, and the lesser part walking more circumspectly before God.
In the 90th year, there were great signs given unto the people, and wonders; and the words of the prophets began to be fulfilled. And angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy; thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, the people began to harden their hearts, all save it were the most believing part of them. Even in the midst of pride, wickedness and rejection of the words of the prophets, there were still some faithful saints, Nephites and Lamanites, who held on to their faith and covenants. How did they hold on? By following the prophets, keeping the commandments, caring for the poor, resisting pride and wickedness and focusing on their hope in the coming of Christ. It can be done! We can be righteous even in an increasingly wicked world.
Emily Freeman bears a sweet testimony near the end of their Don’t Miss This lesson this week about this line of scripture. She says that she determined years ago that she would be one of “the most believing part” of those watching for the Savior. No matter what the opposition, she would never give up. Good for her! We can all make that commitment. I’ve already given you the link to their YouTube lesson. Her testimony begins about 7 minutes from the end of the lesson.
Satan has great hold on the hearts of the people
As the time for the birth of the Savior draws near, Satan and his minions accelerate their efforts to sow doubt and lies among the Nephites and Lamanites. The same is happening in our day. As we approach the Second Coming of the Savior and we are seeing more signs of His coming, Satan is also hastening his work of sowing doubt, lies, apostasy, and wickedness in the world in which we live. He knows that his dominion in this world will come to and end (at least for a thousand years) with the Second Coming of the Son of God, so he is fighting to the bitter end.
Look at the pernicious doubts Satan sows among the Nephites and Lamanites.
Some things they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass, of which has been spoken.
It is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, as it has been spoken, why will he not show himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem?
Why will he not show himself in this land as well as in the land of Jerusalem?
You get the idea. The father of lies from the beginning is doing what he does best, sowing lies in the hearts of the children of men. It would appear that he is winning the battle for the hearts of the Nephites and Lamanites.
Many more things did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come.
Notwithstanding the signs and the wonders which were wrought among the people of the Lord, and the many miracles which they did, Satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land.
We must guard ourselves against falling into Satan’s trap by believing in his lies today. These words were preserved for us by Mormon so that we would be warned and not deceived. My prayer is that each of us will firmly resolve to be among “the most believing part” of those who are living in our day and looking forward to the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May He bless us all as we endeavor to stay on His covenant path.
Thanks for reading!
Richard
Endnotes
[1] Who was that angel?
You probably know by now that I like to ask the question, “Who was that angel?” Who was it that came to Samuel and shared “glad tidings” with him about the coming of the Savior? Could it have been Gabriel (Noah) who bore the same message to Zacharias, Mary, and Joseph? Possibly so. It seems to be his privilege of declaring the glad tidings of the coming of the Savior. Could it have been Abinadi, the martyred prophet who launched 200 years of righteous Nephite prophets? Or could it have been Alma or king Benjamin, whose words Samuel will quote? We don’t know. Some day we will understand the organization of angels in the economy of God and who gets to do what and how it all happens. But we do know that Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. (2 Nephi 32:3) They are ministers for the Holy Ghost. When an unseen angel has a message for us, it feels like the Holy Ghost, because they speak by His power. I suspect we have entertained angels unawares (Romans 13:2) more often than we realize.
[2] Believe on the Son of God
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: “Belief brings salvation and belief brings damnation. Men are saved or damned, depending upon what they believe. If they believe in Christ and his saving truths, they are heirs of salvation. If they believe in a false system of salvation, they will be damned. It is one thing to worship the living Lord and quite another to worship dead deities that have been graven by art and man’s device.” (New Witness, p. 23.)
It is one thing to accept Christ as our Savior and quite another to accept him as our Lord and Master. The former is to profess the acceptance of the blessings of salvation, the latter to assume the burdens of discipleship, of submitting ourselves to his guidance and Lordship. In the present text, salvation is inextricably woven into the acceptance of the doctrine of Christ’s divine sonship.
Millet & McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon
[3] Jesus Christ . . . Father of heaven and of earth
Christ is the Father of the faithful—the Father of all who are born again and take upon themselves his name. He is the Father in the sense that through his atoning sacrifice we are born into a newness of life and are born again in the resurrection as immortal and eternal beings. He is also the Father in the sense that he did the labor of creation—all things having been created by him.
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
[4] Believe on his name
The thoughtful student of scripture must be aware that it is one thing to believe in Christ and quite another to “believe on his name.” To believe in the name of Christ is here announced as embracing repentance from all our sins; whereas one may profess to believe in Christ and yet not have abandoned sin. There are certain prerequisites to believing on the name of Christ: First, the acceptance of Christ and the willingness to be a witness of him at all times and in all things and in all places (see Mosiah 18:9). Second, the acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This precludes the right to pick and choose, to sort out the doctrines that could bring inconvenience and social embarrassment. Third, the acceptance of those who have been commissioned to represent the Lord; that is, to sustain and uphold his anointed servants. And fourth, to sustain and be loyal to that Church upon which he has placed his name and within which is found the authority to perform the ordinances of salvation.
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
[5] Why it was necessary for Christ to suffer and die
These verses are without peer in the Bible. The New Testament tells the story of how Christ suffered and died in the working out of an infinite and eternal sacrifice. Yet it is to such discourses as the one here delivered by Samuel that we must turn to learn why that suffering and death were necessary. Christ died that salvation might come. He died to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead. He died that all men might be redeemed from the effects of Adam’s fall. He died that all men might enjoy the eternal union of body and spirit and that there might be a way whereby they could again attain—this time forever—the presence of that God who gave them life.
Commentary
[6] Back into the presence of God
In a sense all men and women are redeemed by Christ from spiritual death—the separation from God—at least temporarily. One of the blessings of the Atonement is that following their resurrection all persons shall stand before the Holy One of Israel to be judged of the deeds done in the mortal body. Those who have sought to live in accordance with gospel law and thus have been quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall receive a fulness of the same and thus be fitted and equipped to be with God everlastingly. Those, however, who have lived a terrestrial or telestial law, and thus are quickened by a portion of those respective glories, shall be quickened by a fulness of the same. These shall then be denied the presence of the Father forevermore. Even the sons of perdition, at least those who received a mortal body, shall stand before God and be judged. They shall be cast out into outer darkness to a kingdom of no glory (see D&C 88:29–32).
Commentary
[7] Nephi
Nephi, the son of Helaman, was a man of great spiritual power. Signs, wonders, miracles, and prophecy were all common to his ministry. Nephi was presumably the local priesthood leader, and it would appear that those touched by the power of Samuel’s message were sent to Nephi to receive the ordinances of salvation. This would be similar to a situation in which a nonmember attended a stake conference in which a visiting General Authority was present. If the investigator were to be moved by the message of the authority, he or she would be encouraged to be further taught by the missionaries and then to receive baptism at the hands of local legal administrators.
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