HELAMAN 
CHAPTERS 6 - 11

CHAPTER 7

After serving a mission for several years on the northern continent, Nephi went back to Zarahemla. He was discouraged with the rejection he experienced—as time after time he tried to instill God’s word into the hearts of increasingly wicked northern Nephites.  He was trying to help them remember vital prophecies—for their own Salvation.

However, the Nephites in Zarahemla were becoming as impenitent as those in the north. Not only that, but Nephi was horrified upon his arrival home, to find that the government in the capital city was assumed by evil men, with the support of the citizens.

Nephi’s home was located near the road that led into the city. In his garden he had a tower from which he had likely often spoken to the people in his capacity as Church leader even before he went abroad to serve his long mission. Now, having returned home, he again went to his tower—this time with “his heart full of sorrow” for the great iniquity that had come to his land in only four years to pour out his heart to the Lord.

His thoughts traveled through history as he dwelt on the lifetime of the first Nephi for whom he was named, wishing he had lived during that earlier time.  All during Nephi’s growing up years, Helaman had impressed upon his young son the heroic nature of Nephi, Lehi’s son. Now at the time of such discouragement, the younger Nephi longed for the world of his hero.

Nephi said he was “consigned that these are my days,” accepting the Lord’s will as to when he was called to serve, and because he cared so much about the Salvation of his people, he realized that when they were wicked it would continue to “fill his soul with sorrow”.

Nephi’s distressed cries to the Lord carried loudly and some men heard him as they walked by the tower. They were astonished and so impressed that they ran and told others about it. When Nephi stood up and saw a multitude gathered around the tower listening to him, he immediately began to address them. He called on them to repent so that they could save their souls.

After Nephi reminded the people of their sins,he warned them what would happen to them as a nation if they did not repent—including changing their ways. Then Nephi addressed the wickedness of Gadianton’s evil band

and the iniquity of the people for embracing and promoting it. The prophecies he revealed were not his own words. The Lord had made them known to him.

CHAPTER 8

Nephi, in addition to boldly reminding the Nephites of their sins, rebuked them for allowing the Gadiantons to corrupt the original just laws of the land. 

Because more Nephites supported Gadianton than did not, it was not surprising that wicked judges who were members of the band were among the crowd and became furious with Nephi’s speech. 

The judges cried out to the crowd to seize Nephi, saying he is reviling against the people and the law. 

Nephi rebuked them with using the power of the Holy Ghost. The angry men, including the judges, were afraid to touch Nephi

Nephi used examples from scriptures to reason with the crowd. 

He reminded them of Moses parting the Red Sea and Moses making the brass serpent on a pole to heal snake venom as a representation of Christ lifted up to offer Eternal Life. Abraham knew of and preached of the coming of Christ. All the holy prophets testified of Jesus Christ.

Nephi knew that all of the people believed in their heritage,so he next appealed to that background knowledge.

After reminding the people of the testimonies of the prophets,

Nephi, who was also a prophet, bore his own testimony of Jesus Christ.

Nephi said that they already knew all the things he was telling them.

He again reminded them that they had evidence—both of things in Heaven and all things in the Earth such as scriptures, prophecies, all of nature, prosperity and temporal safety.

Next Nephi told them that because the things of the world had become so important to them, they had become wicked—hearkening to Satan and rejecting God, they were ripe for temporal and spiritual destruction

Then to make it more immediate, Nephi told the people that their Chief Judge—who was of the secret band of Gadianton—was just murdered.

CHAPTER 9

After Nephi made the startling pronouncement, the judges, who refused to believe him, sent five men running to the judgment-seat to prove that nothing had happened.

When they got to the judgment seat, there was the Chief Judge, dead and lying in his blood. They were so astonished, they believed in all Nephi had said and they fell down in dead faints.

As the people ran into the judgment-seat, they not only saw the dead judge lying in his blood, but they saw five unconscious men lying on the ground They had no idea what had been going on at Nephi’s garden, so they did not know who the unconscious five men were. They assumed that they were the murderers and were cast into prison.

Meanwhile, the judges and some of Nephi’s listeners were at the chief judge’s burial service. The judges inquired about the five men they had sent to run to the judgment-seat to check out Nephi’s words. The five men boldly testified that they had fallen to the ground upon seeing the dead judge and had awoken in prison.

The judges were unhappy that the murder was proved according to Nephi’words, so they decided to blame Nephi for the murder. They argued that Nephi had sent a man to kill the judge while he spoke the words of the judge’s murder.

The five runners were converted when they were in prison, and they were personally exonerated of all charges. Moreover, they rebuked the judges for what they said about Nephi.  The Holy Ghost helped them speak so strongly that the judges were confounded. Even so, their arguments were ignored, and

the judges had Nephi arrested, bound, and brought before the multitude. Then they began to relentlessly question him so they could convict him and have him put to death.

Nephi called out to the foolish judges on their false charges, reminding them that he told them about the murder before it had happened. He told them that their claims of him using an accomplice to murder the judge was absurd. 

Nephi reiterated the fact that he was speaking the words of God as a chosen prophet. He gave them further details of the actual murder incident. Nephi explained how the chief judge’s brother had murdered the judge. He then told the judges exactly how the brother would respond in denial to the charges and how to prove that the brother had been the murderer. Nephi told them to look at the robes of the brother, and they would find blood. At that point Nephi said that the murderer would confess. Of course all of this came to pass exactly as Nephi told them it would, as the prophet of God.

Of those who believed Nephi was a prophet, some were converted because of his words, and some were converted because of the testimony of the five converted runners. But the only way any are truly converted to a testimony of Jesus Christ is through the Holy Ghost.

Satan’s strongest goal is to thwart the mission of our Savior, Jesus Christ. One of the tools he used here to further his goal for those who were amazed at Nephi’s revelations but did not let the Holy Ghost into their hearts, was to make them think that Nephi was a god, rather than a prophet of the true God. This was another denial of Jesus Christ.

So instead of the revelations uniting the people, they were yet divided in their beliefs. Nephi and his followers were able to reclaim some souls, but the majority of the Nephites were unchanged.

CHAPTER 10

In spite of the sure evidence Nephi demonstrated, there was still a major division among the people. Many did not accept him as God’s prophet—who was sent to help them. 

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Nephi did not doubt. Hi was a prophet and the Lord had called him to His holy service. Walking toward his home after the manifestation of justice he had recently accomplished, he pondered over the things that the Lord had showed him. Nephi was so pure of heart that wickedness of his fellow citizens brought him agony of spirit. He was distraught.

Then suddenly, in the middle of his sad reflections, the Voice of the Lord came to him.

Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou has done; 

for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness 

declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people.  

And thou hast not sought thine own life, 

but has sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

Some of the Power tahat the Lord blessed Nephi with as a consequence of his righteousness. 

And now, 

because thou has done this with such unwearyingness,

behold, I will bless thee forever; 

and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, 

in faith and in works; 

yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee 

according to thy word, 

for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.

Next God made a sacred covenant with Nephi:

Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God.

Behold, I declare it unto thee

in the presence of mine angels,

that ye shall have Power over this people,

and shall smite the Earth with famine,

and with pestilence, and destruction,

according to the wickedness of this people.

(verse 6)

Nephi would be a tool in God’s Hand to induce consequences for the behavior or actions of the people. They would not be destroyed if they were righteous, but if they continued in wickedness they would reap their reward.

Unfortunately, the hard-hearted ones of the Nephite people showed they would only listen to God if they were afraid of destruction. Nephi was given the Power over the elements to try to help bring the people to their senses.

The Lord actually gave Nephi the keys to the Holy Priesthood on this continent. 

Behold, I give unto you Power, 

that whatsoever ye shall seal on Earth 

shall be sealed in Heaven; 

and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth 

shall be loosed in Heaven; 

and thus shall ye have Power among this people.

(verse 7)

The Lord gave Nephi examples of what this Power entailed (verses 8-10):

And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple, 

“it shall be rent in twain,” it shall be done.

And if ye shall say unto this mountain,

 “Be thou cast down and become smooth,” it shall be done.

And behold, if ye shall say that 

“God shall smite this people,” it shall come to pass.

Then God sent Nephi forth again to preach to the people.

And now behold, I command you, 

that ye shall go and declare unto this people, 

that thus saith the Lord God, who is the Almighty:

Except ye repent ye shall be smitten, 

even unto destruction.

(verse 11)

God trusted Nephi to go forth, armed with the sacred keys of the Priesthood, to warn the people with God’s very own words.

Nephi had been walking home in discouragement, but after the words of the Lord had come powerfully to him, he immediately set out to do as the Lord commanded. At the same time, Lehi preached and continued to stand beside his older brother in all righteousness.

Nephi had shown the Nephites great evidence of his authority, yet most of them still refused to listen to him, so Nephi continued to warn them.

At first, the Nephites simply refused to listen to Nephi’s warning; and then the crowds got nasty. They verbally abused him, and then they tried seize him to cast him into prison. But Nephi was so full of the Holy Ghost they could not touch him; he was transported out of the middle of the multitude.

Notwithstanding the people’s behavior, Nephi continued to obey the Lord’s commandments. Filled with the Holy Ghost, he went from multitude to multitude, declaring God’s message. For those he could not reach in person, he “sent it forth.” We are not told if this was in written form or if it was by missionaries who worked with him. In any case, there was no one who was not warned to repent.

Nephi had made a holy covenant with God. He invited all people to come to Christ, live in peace with each other, and eventually partake in Exaltation and Eternal bliss with God.

Conversely, the Gadiantons, because of their evil values, made a wicked covenant with Satan. They followed his fiendish directions and instigated terrible contentions—to the point that people were so divided that they began to kill each other.

CHAPTER 11

Contentions increased throughout Nephite territory—and terrible wars, instigated by Gadianton robbers, were fought. Nephi, watching the terrible internal wars and knowing that their wickedness was the root of the trouble, felt desperately afraid that his countrymen would kill each other—without repenting. But they refused to listen to him or to recognize their need for the Lord their God; the wars continued.

Finally Nephi, who had been given the power of sealing, prayed to the Lord to seal the heavens from raining. He knew the people were so bad that they needed to suffer deprivation to come back to their God.  For salvation of souls, he then prayed to the Lord to create famine in the land, hopefully to bring the people to realize that Christ was their Creator, and only through Him would they obtain both temporal and—especially—Eternal Salvation.

God had given Nephi the Power to make this happen; according to Nephi’s words, there was a “great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi”.

The famine continued and people stopped killing each other—but they still did not turn to God, even though all they had left was dry bare land where there had once been productive farms; they begin to die from the results of famine.

With the Heavens sealed, no crops grew; there was nothing left to feed the people or the animals. The famine became wide-spread and hopeless throughout the whole hemisphere—including where the more righteous Lamanites lived. In the most wicked parts of the land, people died by the thousands.

Finally, when the people saw that they would all surely die from want of food, they began to remember God and Nephi’s words.

They pleaded with their leaders to talk to Nephi, and to say to him, “Behold, we know that thou art a man of God, and therefore cry unto the Lord our God that he turn away from us this famine, lest all the words which thou has spoken concerning our destruction be fulfilled.” The judges and other leaders were as desperate as the rest of the people, so they humbled themselves to ask Nephi for help.

The people repented, humbling themselves in sackcloth, and set about eradicating the evil Gadianton robbers from among them.

Many of the most wicked were destroyed in the most wicked parts of the land and the obvious bands of robbers had been chased out of the cities and forced to bury their secret plans and evil oaths. Nephi, hopeful that this was sincere repentance, prayed to the Lord to end the famine.

Nephi pleaded with God, but God Himself, not only Nephi, wanted the people blessed. Nephi was given great Power because he did the Lord’s will. It was the Lord’s will that the errant Nephites repent. The Holy Spirit inspired Nephi to ask for appropriate things as he prayed.  The Lord willingly answered Nephi’s righteous prayer and sent rain and fruit and grain again came forth .

The Nephites, saved from the famine, turned whole-heartedly to the Lord, honoring His prophet and other Church leaders.

While the people remained righteous, the Lord blessed them.  The famine and want had destroyed much of their previous affluence, but with the Lord’s blessing, they rebuilt the hemisphere, multiplying and flourishing.

The seventy-seventh year was peaceful. So many Nephites and the Lamanites joined the Church of God. The people followed God’s commandments, and He blessed them with peace and prosperity.

However, during the seventy-eighth year, Church members began to argue points of doctrine, causing rifts among themselves, shaking the newly won peace.

Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true point 

of doctrine, having many revelations daily; therefore, they did preach unto the people.

Many years before, Nephite dissenters defected into Lamanite territory and had begun calling themselves Lamanites.  Many of these dissenters, converted by the Holy Ghost when they experienced with Nephi and Lehi the Lord’s miraculous visitation, returned to their own land to try to repair damages they had caused, but some of them stayed with the Lamanites, biding their time. These dissenters were began to stir them up in rebellion, and then they persuaded  some of the Lamanites by birth to join them.

These rebels started again what the famine had ended—a band of outlaws warring and stirring up wars with the rest of the population.

The Nephites were not faithful enough to merit the Lord taking sides with them against the rebels. The outlaws murdered, plundered, and retreated to the mountains—seeking the hidden wicked oaths and plans of Gadianton that had been buried five years before. More and more Nephites joined this rapidly growing evil band.

Finally these insidious enemies became so bold and destructive that the Nephite government sent many strong men into the wilderness to try to get rid of them. The Nephites had not realized how strong this outlaw band had grown, and when they finally went after them, the band had grown so huge that they drove these strong men back.

When the soldiers returned, beaten back by robbers, new recruits were gathered to again go into the mountains and wilderness to stamp out the evil robbers. But although they killed many outlaws, because the Gadianton band had grown to such massive proportions, they were able to kill enough of the Nephite forces that the Nephites were finally driven back.

In only a few short years, the outlaw band had grown so huge that they outnumbered the combined Nephite and Lamanite armies!  The Nephites at home went in terror of the evil robbers who boldly came into settled areas, capturing some men, but mostly women and children.

The evil band was able to do what they did because, even though it had only been five years since the Lord halted the famine and blessed the people with great prosperity, they had again stopped living righteously.

Even more people began again to forget their God. They kept growing more and more wicked. They refused to listen to the prophets of God and repent. They did not mend their ways. They increased stronger in their pride, and in their wickedness, ripening again for destruction.