Helaman 7:1-9

The Prophecy of Nephi, the Son of Helaman—

God threatens the people of Nephi that he will visit them in his anger, to their utter destruction except they repent of their wickedness.  God smiteth the people of Nephi with pestilence; they repent and turn unto him.  Samuel, a Lamanite, prophesies unto the Nephites.

Comprising chapters 7 to 16 inclusive.

Chapter 7

Nephi is rejected in the north and returns to Zarahemla—He prays upon his garden tower and then calls upon the people to repent or perish. About 23–21 B.C.

¹ BEHOLD, now it came to pass in the sixty and ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of the Nephites [23 B.C.], that Nephi, the son of Helaman, returned to the land of Zarahemla from the land northward. ² For he had been forth among the people who were in the land northward and did preach the word of God unto them, and did prophesy many things unto them; ³ And they did reject all his words, insomuch that he could not stay among them, but returned again unto the land of his nativity.

⁴ And seeing the people in a state of such awful wickedness, and those Gadianton robbers filling the judgment–seats—having usurped the power and authority of the land; laying aside the commandments of God, and not in the least aright before him; doing no justice unto the children of men; ⁵ Condemning the righteous because of their righteousness; letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished because of their money; and moreover to be held in office at the head of government, to rule and do according to their wills, that they might get gain and glory of the world, and, moreover, that they might the more easily commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do according to their own wills—

Helaman 7:1 – 5 (Emphasis mine)

While things were getting bad at home, Nephi₂ was preaching in the land northward.  He was not successful in his efforts.  “[T]hey did reject all his words … he could not stay among them, but returned again unto the land of his nativity” (v. 3). 

Nephi₂ returned to a thoroughly corrupt Nephite society.  The Robbers filled the judgment seats, taking control of the Nephite legal and political system.  “Mosiah's system of judges worked well for many years, but with the increase of unrighteousness, crime and lawlessness became so general that several chief judges were murdered; the high office became an object of intrigue and manipulation by political cliques and finally by criminal gangs, with the ‘Gadianton robbers filling the judgment seats’ in the end (Helaman 7:4).”[1]

Hugh Nibley further explains:

“The objectives of the Gadianton society being to overthrow or gain control of the government and run things to suit themselves, in time they ‘did obtain the sole management of the government, insomuch that they did … turn their backs upon the poor and the meek’ (Helaman 6:39). None of Mosiah's or Limhi's sentimental social legislation for them! The one thing the Gadianton administration respected was money, and their policy was ‘to rule and do according to their wills, that they might get gain and glory of the world,’ naturally ‘letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished because of their money; (Helaman 7:5). To operate with impunity they needed public support…”[2] (Emphasis mine)

Money was the idol of the Nephites.  Money bought justice.  The “guilty and the wicked [went] unpunished because of their money” (v. 5).  Those in political power used it to “get gain and glory of the world” (v. 5). 

They also wanted to continue their wicked and sinful lifestyle.  The political class wanted to make it easier to “commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do according to their own wills” (v. 5).

⁶ Now this great iniquity had come upon the Nephites, in the space of not many years [IE six years]; and when Nephi saw it, his heart was swollen with sorrow within his breast; and he did exclaim in the agony of his soul:

⁷ Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord—⁸ Yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren. ⁹ But behold, I am consigned that these are my days, and that my soul shall be filled with sorrow because of this the wickedness of my brethren.

Helaman 7:6 – 9 (Emphasis mine)

Having returned to a thoroughly wicked society, Nephi₂ wished he lived in the days of Nephi₁ and Lehi₁.  “I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord” (v. 7).  Of this time, Nephi would write:

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did consecrate Jacob and Joseph, that they should be priests and teachers over the land of my people.

And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.

2 Nephi 5:26 - 27

If he could have lived in those days, he would have had “joy in the righteousness of my brethren” (v. 8).  He accepts that he lives in the time he lives, and his “soul shall be filled with sorry because of the wickedness of my brethren.”

We will see that, in spite of his sorrows, he was living in the right time and place.  The Lord needed Nephi₂ and he served the Lord with steadfastness and righteousness.

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[1] Politics in Jerusalem, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 15, 2012.

[2] Good People and Bad People, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 15, 2012.