Helaman 13:5-8

⁵ And he said unto them: 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. ⁶ Yea, heavy destruction awaiteth this people, and it surely cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the world, and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people. ⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring glad tidings to my soul.  And behold, I was sent unto you to declare it unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold ye would not receive me. ⁸ Therefore, thus saith the Lord: 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

Helaman 13:5 – 8 (Emphasis mine)

Samuel begins his sermon announcing that he, a Lamanite, is speaking the words of the Lord.  What he says is what the Lord places in his heart.

We know little about Samuel.  Daniel C. Peterson reviews Samuel’s calling and authority.

“We know little about his career except for that brief portion of it recorded in Helaman 13—16. Certainly there is no statement in the Book of Mormon that says that Samuel did not hold the priesthood. The sentiments recorded at Helaman 13:5, 7 do not even remotely hint that he had not been ordained. And, given the general silence of the Book of Mormon about the affairs of the Lamanites when they did not impinge directly upon the Nephites, we would hardly expect to hear anything about Samuel's ordination. (For that matter, we also lack any record of the coronation or accession to the throne of the Lamanite king Lamoni.) It is significant, for our purposes, that the risen Savior later acknowledged Samuel as ‘my servant’ (3 Nephi 23:9), confirming that Samuel was God's authorized agent at the time he prophesied in the name of the Lord from the walls of Zarahemla.”[1] (Emphasis mine)

Samuel declaring that the Nephites would be destroyed in four hundred years echoes the words of Alma₂ to his son, Helaman₂.

And these are the words: Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in four hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief.

Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct—

Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities; yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come.

Alma 45:10 - 12

Without hesitation, Samuel gets to the point. “[T]he the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people” (v. 5). 

“Mormon was also acutely aware that the final Lamanite wars of A.D. 322-85, in which he himself played a leading military role, were the fulfillment of the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite and a testimony that the principle of divine retribution was in full operation (see Helaman 13:5; Mormon 1:19; 2:10-15).”[2]

There is only one thing that can save the Nephites.  That is “repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 6).  He declares to the people that an angel of the Lord has revealed this to him.  He had been sent to declare this before, but they would not receive his words.  If they refuse to accept his words, the Lord will withdraw his Spirit and He will “turn the hearts of their brethren against them” (v. 8).

As we read this set of scriptures, Samuel refers to the Nephites as “this people.”  This is traditionally read as “this people.”  Daniel C. Peterson suggests that more correct reading would be “this people.” “In subtle but (I think) unmistakable fashion, ‘Samuel, a Lamanite,’ very conscious of his own despised status as an outsider, warns the populace of a prosperous but corrupt and wicked Nephite city that their lineage and their complacent sense of being superior to the benighted Lamanites will not save them in the end. ‘His people,’ the Lord's people, those who receive the blessings of the atonement, will be made up of all those who hearken and obey, regardless of ethnicity and racial pride. But this message runs directly contrary to Thomas Murphy's depiction of the Book of Mormon as a racist text.”[3]

---

[1] Authority in the Book of Mosiah, Daniel C. Peterson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed August 10, 2012.

[2] Why Is So Much of the Book of Mormon Given Over to Military Accounts, R. Douglas Phillips, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed August 10, 2012.

[3] Editor's Introduction: Of "Galileo Events," Hype, and Suppression: Or, Abusing Science and its History, Daniel C. Peterson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed August 10, 2012.