Helaman 10:1-19

Chapter 10

The Lord gives Nephi the sealing power—He is empowered to bind and loose on earth and in heaven—He commands the people to repent or perish—The Spirit carries him from congregation to congregation. About 21–20 B.C.

¹ AND it came to pass that there arose a division among the people, insomuch that they divided hither and thither and went their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the midst of them. ² And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his own house, pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him. ³ And it came to pass as he was thus pondering—being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities—and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying:

Helaman 10:1 – 3 (Emphasis mine)

Nephi₂ proves he had nothing to do with the murder of the chief judge.  This causes the people to argue with one another about what had exactly happened. Nephi₂ leaves the people to their “discussions” and he heads home.

While walking home, he is pondering everything that had happened.  He is pondering the great and wonderful things the Lord had revealed to him.  He was also discouraged because of the iniquities of the people.  While this was happening, “a voice came unto him saying:”

4 Blessed art thou, Nephi,

   for those things

      which thou hast done;

   for I have beheld

   how thou hast with unwearyingness

      declared the word,

      which I have given unto thee,

         unto this people. 

   And thou hast

      not feared them,

         and hast not

            sought thine own life,

   but hast sought

      my will,

   and to keep my commandments.

5 And now,

   because thou hast done this

      with such unwearyingness,

   behold, I will bless thee forever;

      and I will make thee mighty

         in word and in deed,

         in faith and in works;

   yea, even that

      all things shall be done unto thee

         according to thy word,

      for thou shalt not ask

      that which is

         contrary to my will.

6 Behold, thou art Nephi,

      and I am God. 

   Behold, I declare it unto thee

      in the presence of mine angels,

      that ye shall have power

         over this people,

   and shall smite the earth

      with famine,

      and with pestilence,

      and destruction,

   according to

      the wickedness of this people.

7 Behold, I give unto you power,

   that whatsoever

      ye shall seal on earth

      shall be sealed in heaven;

      and whatsoever

      ye shall loose on earth

      shall be loosed in heaven;

   and thus shall ye have power

   among this people.

8 And thus,

   if ye shall say unto this temple

      it shall be rent in twain,

      it shall be done.

9 And if ye shall say unto this mountain,

   Be thou cast down

      and become smooth,

      it shall be done.

10 And behold,

     if ye shall say

        that God shall smite

           this people,

    it shall come to pass.

11 And now behold,

    I command you,

      that ye shall go

         and declare unto this people,

    that thus saith the Lord God,

       who is the Almighty:

    Except ye repent

       ye shall be smitten,

       even unto destruction.

Helaman 10:4 - 11

The Lord speaks to Nephi₂, praising him for his faith and willingness to serve the Lord and his people.  Then, because of his absolute and full faith, He gives Nephi₂ a very special power to act in his name.  “I will bless thee forever … yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will” (v. 5).

This is quite a power.  Anything Nephi₂ says, in His name, will happen.  No limits.  The Lord knows that anything he asks will be in line with His will.  “And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain, it shall be done.  And if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou cast down and become smooth, it shall be done.  And behold, if ye shall say that God shall smite this people, it shall come to pass” (v. 8-10).

Jacob, the brother of Neph₁, taught the Nephites, “Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea” (Jacob 4:6).

¹² And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent. ¹³ Now behold, notwithstanding that great miracle which Nephi had done in telling them concerning the death of the chief judge, they did harden their hearts and did not hearken unto the words of the Lord.

¹⁴ Therefore Nephi did declare unto them the word of the Lord, saying: Except ye repent, thus saith the Lord, ye shall be smitten even unto destruction. ¹⁵ And it came to pass that when Nephi had declared unto them the word, behold, they did still harden their hearts and would not hearken unto his words; therefore they did revile against him, and did seek to lay their hands upon him that they might cast him into prison.

Helaman 10:12 – 15 (Emphasis mine)

Having received the word of the Lord, Nephi₂ returned and began preaching to the people.  He recounted what he was told by the Lord, warning them that if they did not repent, they would be destroyed.

These people had just seen a great miracle.  Nephi₂ had prophesied the murder of the chief judge, who murdered him, and how to question him.  It all happened according to his word.  This meant nothing to those assembled.  “[T]hey did harden their hearts and did not hearken unto the words of the Lord” (v. 13). 

He again warned them to repent or they would be destroyed.  Not only did they reject his words, they were critical and abusive of Nephi₂, and wanted to throw him in jail.

¹⁶ But behold, the power of God was with him, and they could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit and conveyed away out of the midst of them. ¹⁷ And it came to pass that thus he did go forth in the Spirit, from multitude to multitude, declaring the word of God, even until he had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among all the people.

¹⁸ And it came to pass that they would not hearken unto his words; and there began to be contentions, insomuch that they were divided against themselves and began to slay one another with the sword. ¹⁹ And thus ended the seventy and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

Helaman 10:16 – 19 (Emphasis mine)

You would think that, by now, the wicked would have learned that they aren’t going to be able to throw a prophet of God into prison.  They still tried, and the Lord protected him.  Nephi₂ was “conveyed away out of the midst of them” (v. 16).

From that time on, he went from group to group preaching the word of God.  Hugh Nibley explains:  “Nephi, who next went about on a preaching tour through the whole country, going ‘from multitude to multitude,’ while his assistants did the same (Helaman 10:17). This alarmed the Protective Association, the ‘secret band of robbers’ who sat in high places and whose real motives and methods were concealed from the public, and to counteract the effect of Nephi's preaching they systematically stirred up contentions everywhere (Helaman 10:18; 11:2 make this clear). Nephi's message was rejected everywhere, but the fighting that had been stirred up got entirely out of hand and developed into a civil war, or rather a series of ‘wars throughout all the land among all the people’ (Helaman 11:1).”[1]

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[1] The Way of the Wicked, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 29, 2012.