Helaman 15

Helaman 15

Helaman 15:1–3

1 And now, my beloved brethren, behold, I declare unto you that except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you desolate.

2 Yea, except ye repent, your women shall have great cause to mourn in the day that they shall give suck; for ye shall attempt to flee and there shall be no place for refuge; yea, and wo unto them which are with child, for they shall be heavy and cannot flee; therefore, they shall be trodden down and shall be left to perish.

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

Comments

Samuel has just related the terrible destructive forces that will be unleashed at the time of Christ’s death. The question about those destructions was not whether or not they would come, but how they would affect these Nephites. Samuel tells them that it depends upon their repentance. If they do not repent, “[their] houses shall be left unto [them] desolate.” While the destructions certainly open the possibility that Samuel was threatening a dwelling place, it is also possible that he was speaking of the lives of the people and their families. The house was both a physical structure and a metaphor for the people who lived there, and that included descendants.

That it was the destruction of people becomes evident in verse 2, which deals with the plights of women and children. Those most vulnerable inhabitants of the land “shall have great cause to mourn.” They “attempt to flee and there shall be no place for refuge.”

In verse 4, Samuel specifically mentions the people of Nephi twice. That sets up the next verse where Samuel will contrast them with the Lamanites.

Samuel notes that the Nephites “have been a chosen people of the Lord.” They will lose that status if they do not repent.

Helaman 15:4–6

4 But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the tradition of their fathers. But behold, salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for this intent hath the Lord prolonged their days.

5 And I would that ye should behold that 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.

6 Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily.

Comments

Samuel compares the Nephites and the Lamanites, and the Lamanites clearly portray the more favored people. Even though the Nephites had been a chosen people (verse 3 of this chapter), they are no longer the more favored of the Lord, for they have not repented but the Lamanites have. Ironically, the Lamanites became converted through Nephite preaching, but now are sending a prophet to call the Nephites to repentance, even as Nephi₂ had called them to repentance.

In verse 6, Samuel notes that “the more part of [the Lamanites] are [walking circumspectly before God], and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily.” The Lamanites are repenting. The Nephites are so in need of repentance that they need a Lamanite prophet to call them to repentance.

Helaman 15:7–9

7 And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them—

8 Therefore, 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.

9 And ye know also that they have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their faith in Christ.

Comments

Samuel declares the message that Mormon wants to emphasize. When the Lamanites are truly converted, they are “firm and steadfast in the faith.” As with the people of Ammon, these new converts have also forsaken warfare and their weapons. Mormon has already told that story, so we who read Samuel’s statement understand how significant that fact is. These new Lamanite converts are like the faithfulness of the people of Ammon. Like those people, “they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their faith in Christ.”

Helaman 15:10–13

10 And now, because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which they do believe, for because of their firmness when they are once enlightened, behold, the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days, notwithstanding their iniquity—

11 Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—

12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them.

13 And this is according to the prophecy, that 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.

Comments

The promise of the land is that if a people keep the commandments, they will prosper, and be protected in the land. For the Lamanites, it becomes a promise that “the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days.” The prolonging of days refers to the continuation of the Lamanites after the destruction of the Nephites. That returns to the four-hundred-year prophecy with which Samuel began this discourse.

What will happen in that prolonging of days is that there will be a time when they forget, but there is also the promise that there will be a restoration of the knowledge of the truth to them. Remembering that Mormon left out some of Samuel’s discourse (see Helaman 14:1), we need to pay attention to what he did include. This prophecy that the Lamanites would eventually be restored to the truth and would again know their Redeemer, is at the heart of the reason that Mormon wrote the Book of Mormon. They are the focus of the last thing Mormon wrote, recorded in Mormon 7.

Helaman 15:14–17

14 Therefore I say unto you, it shall be better for them than for you except ye repent.

15 For behold, had the mighty works been shown unto them which have been shown unto you, yea, unto them who have dwindled in unbelief because of the traditions of their fathers, ye can see of yourselves that they never would again have dwindled in unbelief.

16 Therefore, saith the Lord: I will not utterly destroy them, but I will cause that in the day of my wisdom they shall return again unto me, saith the Lord.

17 And 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.

Comments

Even though Yahweh had accepted the Nephites as a chosen people (verse 3 of this chapter), “it shall be better for [the Lamanites] than for [the Nephites] except [they] repent.” The Nephites had all of the advantages but squandered them by turning away from their God and his commandments. Unless they repent, destruction will come.

Although there will be a short time of repentance after the signs of the birth of the Savior, they will still fall away again, and the prophesied destruction will come. The Nephite nation will be destroyed even before the physical destructions accompanying the death of the Savior.

This is not the end of a chapter in the 1830 Book of Mormon.