Book of Mormon Commentary - Helaman 7

by Don R. Hender

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

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.]

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
             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. [Between 23 and 20 B.C.]

~ 23 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, that Nephi, the son of Helaman, areturned 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 areject all his words, insomuch that he could not stay among them, but returned again unto the land of his nativity.

 1* [23 B.C.]
   a Hel. 6:6
 3a TG Prophets, Rejection of
4 And seeing the people in a state of such awful wickedness, and those Gadianton robbers filling the judgment-seats—having ausurped 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 aunpunished because of their bmoney; 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 cworld, and, moreover, that they might the more easily commit adulterya, and steal, and kill, and do according to their own willsa—

And Steel and Kill 
When the telling sign of legalized adultry and the whoredoms of Sodom and Gommorah appear, then one may be assured that under that surface that robberies and murders are being commited and going unpunished not only because of 'that protection' of the law to such sins, but due to one's position and money. Review through the record of the courts and one will see it. Consider all the sins of darkness about us. The missing children, the unsolved crimes, the evil which men in high places do commit and do get away with day by day. From the presidency on down, it has been apparent, and the liberal left is demanding of our society more and more. And the conservative right is standing and speaking out against it less and less. 		 5a that they might the more easily commit adultry ... do according to their wills The altering and corrupting of the law, which we have amongst us today, has made it all the more easy and 'socially acceptable' according to the law to commit adultry and whoredoms. This is but the beginning of the down fall of society. It does attack the very fiber of mankind and its fundamentally basic unit, the family. The more 'socially' acceptable and even promoted by the letter of the law such sin and wickedness is promoted, the more entrenched in the ripening unto destruction our society becomes. When in the name of 'civil rights and equality' under the law the sins of Sodom and Gommorah become institutionalized, making it against to law to 'discrminate' for employment purposes and enforcing the institution of gay rights even to the point of marriage; then our society stands upon the very brink of destruction. And the decay has come from within, both from the lack of the strong voice against it and from the moral decay and basic fiber of righteousness of the people. Such sin is not a 'basic right' of the people. It is not protected by the Constitution of America any more than murder is the legal right of the participant to commit it and to not be held accountable for commiting the crime.  4a TG Tyranny;
      TG Unrighteous Dominion
 5a Job 12:6; Job 21:7; Ps. 73:12
   b TG Bribery
   c Matt. 13:22; D&C 39:9

When the Wicked Rule 
Today the Commandments of God are being set at naught. They are being taken out of our every day lives. The nation which was built upon God and the rights of liberty God gives is being influenced by evil designing forces, which are undermining the very foundations of the promised covenant upon which occupation of this land is based. And the ways adulterous ways of the wicked are being esposed according to law such as same sex marriage and the right to teach such to 'their' children in their homes. The wickedness of Sodom is coming in upon us. And the righteous are being prosecuted for the rightful exercise of their God given rights, the law being so twisted to deny them of such, such as Religious freedom without persecution. How are we so much diferent from those of Nephi's day in the 7th chapter of Helaman?
6 Now this great iniquity had come upon the Nephites, in the space of anot many 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 ajoyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, bfirm 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 asorrow because of this the wickedness of my brethren.

 6a IE six years see
      Hel. 4:26; 6:6, 32; 11:26
 7a 2 Ne. 5:27 (26-28)
   b D&C 5:22
 9a Jer. 9:1-3
10 And behold, now it came to pass that it was upon a tower, which was in the agarden of Nephi, which was by the highway which led to the chief market, which was in the city of Zarahemla; therefore, Nephi had bowed himself upon the tower which was in his garden, which tower was also near unto the garden gate by which led the highway.
11 And it came to pass that there were certain men passing by and saw Nephi as he was pouring out his soul unto God upon the atower; and they ran and told the people what they had seen, and the people came together in multitudes that they might know the cause of so great mourning for the wickedness of the people.
12 And now, when Nephi arose he beheld the multitudes of people who had gathered together.

 10a Hel. 9:8
 11a Alma 50:4
13 And it came to pass that he opened his mouth and said unto them: Behold, awhy have ye gathered yourselves together? That I may tell you of your iniquities?
14 Yea, because I have got upon my tower that I might pour out my soul unto my God, because of the exceeding sorrow of my heart, which is because of your iniquities!
15 And because of my amourning and lamentation ye have gathered yourselves together, and do marvel; yea, and ye have great need to marvel; yea, ye ought to marvel because ye are given away that the devil has got so great hold upon your hearts.
16 Yea, how could you have given way to the enticing of him who is seeking to hurl away your souls down to aeverlasting misery and endless wo?

 13a Matt. 3:7 (5-8)
 15a TG Mourning
 16a Alma 26:20
17 O repent ye, repent ye! aWhy will ye die? Turn ye, turn ye unto the Lord your God. Why has he forsaken you?
18 It is because you have hardened your hearts; yea, ye will not ahearken unto the voice of the bgood shepherd; yea, ye have cprovoked him to anger against you.
19 And behold, instead of agathering you, except ye will repent, behold, he shall scatter you forth that ye shall become meat for dogs and wild beasts.

 17a Isa. 1:5-6; Ezek. 18:23, 32
 15a TG Disobedience
     b Ezek. 34:12; John 10:14;
       Alma 5:60 (38-60);
       TG Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd
     c Num. 14:11-12; 1 Ne. 17:30 (23-31);
       Jacob 1:8; Alma 12:37 (36-37)
 19a 3 Ne. 10:4-7
20 O, how could you have aforgotten your God in the very day that he has delivered you?
21 But behold, it is to get again, to be bpraised of men, yea, and that ye might get gold and silver. And ye have set your hearts upon the criches and the vain things of this world, for the which ye do murder, and plunder, and steal, and bear dfalse witness against your neighbor, and do all manner of iniquity.
22 And for this cause awo shall come unto you except ye shall repent. For if ye will not repent, behold, this bgreat city, and also all those great cities which are round about, which are in the land of our possession, shall be taken away that ye shall have no place in them; for behold, the Lord will not grant unto you cstrength, as he has hitherto done, to withstand against your enemies.

 20a Isa. 17:10 (4-11)
 21a TG Selfishness
     b TG Peer Infulence
     c TG Treasure
     c Matt. 15:19-20; TG Slander
 22a Rev. 8:13; D&C 5:5
     b Hel. 8:5
     c Mosiah 7:29
23 For behold, thus saith the Lord: I will not show unto the wicked of my strength, to one more than the other, save it be unto those that repent of their sins, and hearken unto my words. Now therefore, I would that ye should behold, my brethren, that it shall be abetter for the Lamanites than for you except ye shall repent.
24 For behold, they are more righteous than you, for they have not sinned against that great knowledge which ye have received; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them; yea, he will alengthen out their days and increase their seed, even when thou shalt be butterly destroyed except thou shalt repent.

 23a Hel. 15:14 (11-15)
 24a Ex. 20:12; 1 Ne. 17:55; Alma 9:16;
       D&C 5:33
     b Alma 9:19; Hel. 10:14
25 Yea, wo be unto you because of that great abomination which has come among you; and ye have united yourselves unto it, yea, to that asecret band which was established by Gadianton!
26 Yea, awo shall come unto you because of that pride which ye have suffered to enter your hearts, which has lifted you up beyond that which is good because of your exceedingly great riches!
27 Yea, wo be unto you because of your wickedness and abominations!

 25a 2 Ne. 10:15; Hel. 3:23
 26a Isa. 5:8-25
28 And except ye repent ye shall perish; yea, even your lands shall be taken from you, and ye shall be destroyed from off the face of the earth.
29 Behold now, I do not say that these things shall be, of myself, because it is not of myself that I aknow these things; but behold, I bknow that these things are true because the Lord God has made them known unto me, therefore I testify that they shall be.

 29a Hel. 8:8
     b Hel. 8:12
* Verse 1 [23 B.C.].
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