Chapter 15
The Lord chastened the
Nephites because he loved them—Converted Lamanites are firm and steadfast in
the faith—The Lord will be merciful unto the Lamanites in the latter days.
About 6 B.C.
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.
Helaman 15:1 – 3 (Emphasis mine)
Samuel tells the Nephites that, unless they repent, things
will be left desolate. Unless they
repent, there will be cause to mourn.
Women who are pregnant and cannot flee will perish.
Only repentance can save the Nephites. They will see signs and wonders because they
are the chosen people of God. He will
chasten them because he loves them.
Solomon wrote: “[D]espise
not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom
the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth
“ (Proverbs 3:11 - 12). The Lord
revealed to Joseph Smith, “Verily, thus
saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their
sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance
in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you—“ (D&C 95:1).
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.
Helaman 15:4 – 6 (Emphasis mine)
After explaining the Lord loves the Nephites, Samuel goes on
to say, “the Lamanites hath he hated
because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the
iniquity of the tradition of their fathers” (v. 4). Alma2 explained to the people of Ammonihah, “there
are many promises which are extended to the Lamanites; for it is because of the
traditions of their fathers that caused them to remain in their state of ignorance;
therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them and prolong their existence in
the land” (Alma 9:16). The
traditions of their fathers is responsible for their disbelief.
Yet, what does it mean when Samuel says He hates the
Lamanites? David Bokovay explains:
Scholars in recent
decades have shown that in the biblical world the word love often represented a
covenantal devotion to one's superior, while its opposite, namely hate, at
times signified the status of an individual outside of this affiliation. While
the connotation of these words for Westerners usually signifies an intense
emotional charge, in the ancient Near East, love and hate often carried the
aforementioned unique covenantal connotation.
"All their [the
Ephraimites'] wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the
wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house" (Hosea
9:15). As demonstrated in this biblical passage, the Ephraimites' wickedness
resulted in their loss of the blessing associated with having the God of Israel
serve as their sovereign. The Lord hated the Ephraimites "for the
wickedness of their doings" because in the context of ancient Near Eastern
treaties these acts were tantamount to a political insurrection. As a result,
the Ephraimites were removed from God's covenantal house or family. "I
will love them no more," declared the Lord: "all their princes are
revolters" (Hosea 9:15). Thus, the words love and hate in the biblical
world often carried a deliberate connotation of political alliance (or lack
thereof).
With this observation
in mind, the problematic passage in Helaman 15 where Samuel the Lamanite
describes God's love and hatred seems to convey a specific nuance derived from
the world of antiquity. When Samuel
presents his inspired message to the people of Nephi, he declares, "They
[the Nephites] have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi
hath he loved" (v. 3). With these words, Samuel attempts to remind the
Nephites that they have traditionally served as God's covenant people. In this
relationship, the Lord has acted as the Nephite suzerain from whom the people
of Nephi have received reciprocal "love." In contrast, Samuel
presents his own people, the Lamanites, as those whom God "hath hated
because their deeds have been evil continually" (v. 4). Significantly,
Samuel uses the verb hate in the same context in which it appears in the book
of Hosea. God hated the Lamanites in a parallel manner to the way he hated the
Ephraimites: their evil acts had placed them outside the boundary of his
covenantal relationship.[1]
Samuel reminds them that the Lamanites are the righteous
people. “[T]hey 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” (v. 5). Not only are they
living righteous lives, they are continuing to preach the gospel. The result is “there are many who do add to their numbers daily” (v. 6).
[1] Love
vs. Hate: An Analysis of Helaman 15:1-4, David E. Bokovoy, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed September 2, 2012.
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