Over the next few years, there was little change among the
people. The wicked became even more so. They disobeyed God’s commandments. They
had been warned of the consequences. “Because I have called, and ye refused; I
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded” (Proverbs 1:24).
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which
I say” (Luke 6:46).
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so
by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
“For the time is come
that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them that
obey not the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17).
“And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have
known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go
contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the
Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's
paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved—I say unto you, that the
man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God…”
(Mosiah 2:36-37).
Over a period of four years, many signs were given. The
words of the prophets were beginning to be fulfilled. Samuel was one of those
prophets. “And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his
coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the
night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear
unto man as if it was day” (Helaman 14:3).
A year later we read, “And it came to pass that in the
commencement of the ninety and second year, behold, the prophecies of the
prophets began to be fulfilled more fully; for there began to be greater signs
and greater miracles wrought among the people” (3 Nephi 1:4).
Angels appeared to men. The scriptures were beginning to be
fulfilled. Alma had prophesied of this day. “And it shall be made known unto
just and holy men, by the mouth of angels, at the time of his coming, that the words
of our fathers may be fulfilled, according to that which they have spoken
concerning him, which was according to the spirit of prophecy which was in
them” (Alma 13:26).
All but the most faithful part of the Nephites and Lamanites
ignored these signs and became firm in their denial of the signs. They fell
back on the own wisdom and strength. “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own
sight” (Isaiah 5:21).
Lucky guess, the wicked said. But, all the things that were
prophesied will not and cannot happen. “The unbelievers will readily admit a
kind of luck involved in the accomplishment of any number of the prophetic
signs, but their refusal to believe the prophets is staked on the claim that
the total number of signs cannot possibly occur. Piqued, Mormon is all too
happy to prove them wrong in 3 Nephi 1, and he does so repeatedly and with
relish.”[1]
The wicked began to use reason and knowledge to explain away
what they were seeing. We see this today. People claim something couldn’t have
happened for the following reasons… The wicked are nothing if not consistent.
“Faith is anchored in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the knowledge
of him is both sure and possible. The contrast between faith as sure knowledge
and the knowledge reason can provide is evident when we compare Amulek’s
testimony of Christ as the anchor to sure knowledge with the conclusion of many
Nephites just before His coming: ‘And they began to reason and to contend among
themselves, saying: that it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ
shall come’ (Helaman 16:17–18). Not ‘reasonable,’ but nonetheless true.”[2]
“Human reasoning cannot place limits on God or dilute the
force of divine commandments or revelations. Persons who allow this to happen
identify themselves with the unbelieving Nephites who rejected the testimony of
the prophet Samuel. The Book of Mormon says, ‘They began to reason and to contend
among themselves, saying: That it is not reasonable that such a being as a
Christ shall come’ (Helaman 16:17–18). Persons who practice that kind of ‘reasoning’
deny themselves the choice experience someone has described as our heart
telling us things that our mind does not know.”[3]
The “so-called” wise people rejected the words of the
prophets because it was not “reasonable.” It’s unreasonable that someone like a
Christ will come. If he’s the Son of God, “why will he not show himself unto us
as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem” (Helaman 16:18).
It’s obvious they are in full service of the Father of Lies,
the source of all evil in the world.[4]
They rejected Samuel’s words as a false and wicked
tradition. It’s easy, they claimed, to “prophesy” about something that would
occur half-way around the world.
“This may come as a surprise to many Latter-day Saints who
have conflated Nephi’s explicit prophecies with those of Samuel’s, but a review
of Helaman 13–15 easily confirms that Samuel did not, in fact, prophesy that
the resurrected Jesus would appear among the Nephites. It can be surmised from
the text that Samuel had intended to bring these good tidings (cf. Helaman
13:6–7) but because the people cast him out, he returned instead with
predictions of judgment. Mormon does indicate that he has edited out many of
Samuel’s prophecies (14:1), but given both the significance of a prediction concerning
a visit from Christ and Mormon’s repeated use of the argument from fulfillment,
it is doubtful that he would have targeted this sort of prophecy for deletion.
Additionally, given the people’s specific complaint mentioned in Helaman 16:19 of
‘Why will [Jesus] not show himself in this land as well as in the land of
Jerusalem?’ it is highly unlikely that Samuel had actually foretold Jesus’s
Nephite ministry while preaching in Zarahemla.”[5]
They could well have been quoting Korihor. “How do ye know of their surety? Behold,
ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that
there shall be a Christ” (Alma 30:15).
They claimed the devil was responsible for the prophesies to
keep the people as servants. They got the devil part right. They didn’t realize
they were the ones listening and following him.
The people continued to come up with explanations why Christ
was not real. Like the people in Noah’s
time, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
They spread rumors and there were contention throughout the land.
“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
“A proud look, a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood,
“An heart that deviseth wicked
imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
“A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord
among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
And here ends the year 1 B.C. and the book of Helaman,
written by Helaman, son of Alma, and his sons Nephi and Lehi.
[1] Temporality
and Fulfillment in 3 Nephi 1, Kimberly M. Berkey, Journal of Book of Mormon
Studies 24 (2015): 59.
[3] Worthy
of Another Look: The Historicity of the Book of Mormon, Elder Dallin H.
Oaks, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 21/1
(2012): 70.
[4] “But
behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an
angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone
astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he
taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught
them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even
until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true;
and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse
upon me” (Alma 30:53).
[5] “Saving
Christianity”: The Nephite Fulfillment of Jesus’s Eschatological Prophecies,
Heather Hardy Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 23 (2014): 40-41.
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