Chapter 5
Nephi and Lehi devote
themselves to preaching—Their names invite them to pattern their lives after
their forebears—Christ redeems those who repent—Nephi and Lehi make many
converts and are imprisoned, and fire encircles them—A cloud of darkness overshadows
three hundred people—The earth shakes and a voice commands men to repent—Nephi
and Lehi converse with angels, and the multitude are encircled by fire. About
30 B.C.
1 AND it came to pass that in this same year [30
B.C.], behold, Nephi delivered up the judgment–seat to a man whose name was
Cezoram. 2 For as their laws and their governments were
established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more
numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction,
for the laws had become corrupted. 3 Yea, and this was not
all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed
by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction.
4 And it came to pass that Nephi had become weary
because of their iniquity; and he yielded up the judgment–seat, and took
it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days, and his
brother Lehi also, all the remainder of his days;
Helaman 5:1 – 4 (Emphasis mine)
There is change in Nephite society. A new man, Cezoram, was selected to fill the
judgment seat. It appears Nephi2
was thrown out by the voice of the people.
“[T]hey who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good,
therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become
corrupted” (v. 2).
The people refused to heed the words of King Mosiah2,
“if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is
the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he
will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this
land” (Mosiah 29:27). That time had come
and the people, for the first time in history, selected a wicked man as the
chief judge.
Hugh Nibley explains the consequences the people will face.
“You will notice that every time the dedication of the people to
the cause of God is mentioned, it is followed immediately by a qualifying
clause, proclaiming that the people who enter the covenant are not to be
considered righteous simply by virtue of party affiliation. They do not
represent the Good People as opposed to the Bad People: their own transgression can spoil
everything at any time; they are quite as capable of sinning and
incurring destruction as their enemies; they can bring down upon themselves the same
calamities as the dissenters; their garments can be rent along with the
most wicked; and they can be as completely destroyed as the Jaredites of old,
for there is no guarantee that they are the Good People. This is an extremely important
lesson driven home repeatedly in the Book of Mormon, that righteousness does
not consist in being identified with this or that nation, party, church, or
group. When you find a particularly wicked society in the story (as in
Helaman 5:2), look back a few pages and you will probably find that not many
years before, those same people were counted righteous.”[1]
(Emphasis mine)
Nephi2 “became weary because of their
iniquity.” He gave up the judgment seat
and he and Lehi4 preached the gospel “the remainder of [their] days.”
5 For they remembered the words which their father
Helaman spake unto them. And these are
the words which he spake:
6 Behold, my sons, I desire that ye
should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should
declare unto the people these words.
Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came
out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your
names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their
works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and
also written, that they were good. 7
Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of
you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.
8 And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of
you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but
that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven,
yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious
gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our
fathers. 9 O remember, remember, my sons, the words which
king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor
means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ,
who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.
Helaman 5:5 – 9 (Emphasis mine)
Mormon breaks from his abridgment to quote the words of
Helaman3 to his sons. He
wants us to recognize that we are getting very important, first-hand information.
Helaman3 reminds them he gave them the names of “our
first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that
when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye
may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that
it is said, and also written, that they were good” (v. 6).
Jennifer Clark Lane clarifies the importance of names in the
Book of Mormon.
“In the Book of Mormon, names have importance and significance
consistent with Israelite practices recorded in the Old Testament (i.e., a name
can be a memorial, an indication of change of character, and a part of a
covenant or an adoptive relationship.) The Israelite concept that the
term name (sem) also means memorial is demonstrated in
the passage when Helaman talks with his sons Nephi and Lehi about their names.
He tells them that they were given the names of their forefathers so ‘that when
you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may
remember their works’ (Helaman 5:6–7).”[2]
(Emphasis mine)
He then emphasizes to remember the words of king Benjamin, “[T]here
is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning
blood of Jesus Christ” (v. 9). This
wording has been found throughout the Book of Mormon.
John Welch explains:
“These sacred words identifying the Savior evidently became important in
Nephite worship after they were revealed through Benjamin. Samuel the
Lamanite would have had the opportunity to learn these words through the
ministry of Nephi and Lehi among the Lamanites (see Helaman 5:50), for the
words of Benjamin were especially important to Lehi and Nephi. Their father,
Helaman, had charged them in particular to ‘remember, remember, my sons, the
words which King Benjamin spake unto his people’ (Helaman 5:9). Nephi
and Lehi likely used the precise words of King Benjamin in their preaching,
just as their father had quoted to them some of the words of Benjamin: ‘Remember
that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the
atoning blood of Jesus Christ’ (Helaman 5:9; compare Mosiah 3:18; 4:8).”[3] (Emphasis
mine)
[1] Freemen
and King-men in the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute, accessed June 24, 2012.
[2] The
Lord Will Redeem His People: Adoptive Covenant and Redemption in the Old
Testament and Book of Mormon, Jennifer Clark Lane, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 24, 2012.
[3] Textual
Consistency, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed June 24, 2012.
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