pgs. 394 and 395...they did no more seek to destroy Nephi, but they did esteem him as a great prophet, and a man of God.

16 And now, O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, and try again if they will serve thee? And if so, O Lord, thou canst bless them according to thy words which thou hast said.

  17 And it came to pass that in the *seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that ^arain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain.

  18 And behold, the people did rejoice and glorify God, and the whole face of the land was filled with rejoicing; and they did no more seek to destroy Nephi, but they did esteem him as a ^agreat prophet, and a man of God, having great power and authority given unto him from God.

  19 And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a ^awhit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness.

  20 And thus it did come to pass that the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to build up their waste places, and began to multiply and spread, even until they did ^acover the whole face of the land, both on the northward and on the southward, from the sea west to the sea east.

  21 And it came to pass that the seventy and sixth year did end in peace. And the seventy and seventh year began in peace; and the ^achurch did spread throughout the face of all the land; and the more part of the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, did belong to the church; and they did have exceedingly great peace in the land; and thus ended the seventy and seventh year.

  22 And also they had peace in the seventy and eighth year, save it were a few contentions concerning the points of doctrine which had been laid down by the prophets.

  23 And in the *seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many^arevelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year.

  24 And it came to pass that in the *eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were a certain number of the dissenters from the people of Nephi, who had some years before gone over unto the Lamanites, and taken upon themselves the name of Lamanites, and also a certain number who were real descendants of the Lamanites, being stirred up to anger by them, or by those dissenters, therefore they commenced a ^awar with their brethren.

  25 And they did commit murder and plunder; and then they would retreat back into the mountains, and into the wilderness and secret places, hiding themselves that they could not be discovered, receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them.

  26 And thus in time, yea, even in the space of ^anot many years, they became an exceedingly great band of robbers; and they did search out all the ^bsecret plans of Gadianton; and thus they became robbers of Gadianton.

  27 Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people of Nephi, and also among the people of the Lamanites.

  28 And it came to pass that it was expedient that there should be a stop put to this work of destruction; therefore they sent an army of strong men into the wilderness and upon the mountains to search out this band of robbers, and to destroy them.

  29 But behold, it came to pass that in that same year they were driven back even into their own lands. And thus ended the eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

  30 And it came to pass in the *commencement of the eighty and first year they did go forth again against this band of robbers, and did destroy many; and they were also visited with much destruction.

  31 And they were again obliged to return out of the wilderness and out of the ^amountains unto their own lands, because of the exceeding greatness of the numbers of those robbers who infested the mountains and the wilderness.

  32 And it came to pass that thus ended this year. And the robbers did still increase and wax strong, insomuch that they did defy the whole armies of the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites; and they did cause great fear to come unto the people upon all the face of the land.

  33 Yea, for they did visit many parts of the land, and did do great destruction unto them; yea, did kill many, and did carry away others captive into the wilderness, yea, and more especially their women and their children.

  34 Now this great evil, which came unto the people because of their iniquity, did stir them up again in ^aremembrance of the Lord their God.

  35 And thus ended the eighty and first year of the reign of the judges.

  36 And in the eighty and second year they began again to ^aforget the Lord their God. And in the eighty and third year they began to wax strong in iniquity. And in the eighty and fourth year they did not mend their ways.

  37 And it came to pass in the *eighty and fifth year they did wax stronger and stronger in their pride, and in their wickedness; and thus they were ^aripening again for destruction.

  38 And thus ended the eighty and fifth year.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 12

Men are unstable and foolish and quick to do evil—The Lord chastens his people—The nothingness of men compared with the power of God—In the day of judgment men shall gain everlasting life or everlasting damnation. About 7 B.C.

  1 And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and ^aprosper those who put their^btrust in him.

  2 Yea, and we may see at the very ^atime when he doth ^bprosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of ^cprecious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do ^dharden their hearts, and do ^eforget the Lord their God, and do ^ftrample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

Even though it was only for a short time, it is nice to see that the people finally did accept Nephi as a prophet and had peace and prosperity in the land.  In April conference of 1977 Spencer W. Kimball stated, "The Lord uses the weather sometimes to discipline his people for the violation of his laws."  We see an example of this in chapter 11 verse 17.  I wonder if society today would ever take a famine or a drought as the result of a violation of God's commandments.  People today seem to think any negative weather changes are due to "global warming" caused by humans, not God.  Isn't it sad to think that Satan has persuaded society to forget the importance and influence of our Heavenly Father in our day to day lives?

pgs. 392 and 393...let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent...

6 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 ^afamine, and with pestilence, and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people.

  7 Behold, I give unto you ^apower, that whatsoever ye shall ^bseal 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.

  8 And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain, it shall be done.

  9 And if ye shall say unto this ^amountain, Be thou cast down and become smooth, it shall be done.

  10 And behold, if ye shall say that God shall smite this people, it shall come to pass.

  11 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 ^adestruction.

  12 And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent.

  13 Now behold, ^anotwithstanding that great miracle which Nephi had done in telling them concerning the death of the chief judge, they did harden their hearts and did not hearken unto the words of the Lord.

  14 Therefore Nephi did declare unto them the word of the Lord, saying: Except ye repent, thus saith the Lord, ye shall be ^asmitten even unto destruction.

  15 And it came to pass that when Nephi had declared unto them the word, behold, they did still harden their hearts and would not hearken unto his words; therefore they did ^arevile against him, and did seek to lay their hands upon him that they might cast him into prison.

  16 But behold, the power of God was with him, and they could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit and ^aconveyed away out of the midst of them.

  17 And it came to pass that thus he did go forth in the Spirit, from multitude to multitude, declaring the word of God, even until he had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among all the people.

  18 And it came to pass that they would not hearken unto his words; and there began to be contentions, insomuch that they were divided against themselves and began to slay one another with the sword.

  19 And thus ended the seventy and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 11

Nephi persuades the Lord to replace their war with a famine—Many people perish—They repent, and Nephi importunes the Lord for rain—Nephi and Lehi receive many revelations—The Gadianton robbers entrench themselves in the land. Between 20 and 7 B.C.

  1 And now it came to pass in the *seventy and second year of the reign of the judges that the contentions did increase, insomuch that there were wars throughout all the land among all the people of Nephi.

  2 And it was this ^asecret band of robbers who did carry on this work of destruction and wickedness. And this war did last all that year; and in the *seventy and third year it did also last.

  3 And it came to pass that in this year Nephi did cry unto the Lord, saying:

  4 O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather ^alet there be a ^bfamine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee.

  5 And so it was done, according to the words of Nephi. And there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi. And thus in the *seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword but became sore by famine.

  6 And this work of destruction did also continue in the *seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was ^adry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land.

  7 And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to ^aremember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi.

  8 And the people ^abegan to plead with their chief judges and their leaders, that they would say unto Nephi: 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 hast spoken concerning our ^bdestruction be fulfilled.

  9 And it came to pass that the judges did say unto Nephi, according to the words which had been desired. And it came to pass that when Nephi saw that the people had ^arepented and did humble themselves in sackcloth, he cried again unto the Lord, saying:

  10 O Lord, behold this people repenteth; and they have swept away the band of Gadianton from amongst them insomuch that they have become extinct, and they have concealed their secret plans in the earth.

  11 Now, O Lord, because of this their humility wilt thou turn away thine anger, and let thine anger be appeased in the destruction of those wicked men whom thou hast already destroyed.

  12 O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, yea, thy fierce anger, and cause that this famine may cease in this land.

  13 O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth ^arain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain.

  14 O Lord, thou didst hearken unto ^amy words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou saidst that: If this people repent I will spare them.

  15 Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them.

It's inspiring to read how close to the Spirit Nephi was and how he aligned his will with the Lord's will. The fact that he asks the Lord to give his people the trial of famine rather than war is quite a statement.  Why didn't he ask the Lord to take away the trial all together?  Could it be because human beings need trials in their lives to keep them going through the pride cycle again and again and again?  I've heard so many people ask why God let's hard things like war, earthquake or disease happen.  This reading helps us see that these things can actually serve as reminders to rely on God and respect Him and His commandments.

pgs. 390 and 391...I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works;

15 Now, as for the murder of this man, we know not who has done it; and only this much we know, we ran and came ^aaccording as ye desired, and behold he was dead, according to the words of Nephi.

  16 And now it came to pass that the judges did expound the matter unto the people, and did cry out against Nephi, saying: Behold, we know that this Nephi must have agreed with some one to slay the judge, and then he might declare it unto us, that he might convert us unto his faith, that he might raise himself to be a great man, chosen of God, and a prophet.

  17 And now behold, we will detect this man, and he shall confess his fault and make known unto us the true murderer of this judge.

  18 And it came to pass that the five were liberated on the day of the burial. Nevertheless, they did rebuke the judges in the words which they had spoken against Nephi, and did contend with them one by one, insomuch that they did confound them.

  19 Nevertheless, they caused that Nephi should be taken and bound and brought before the multitude, and they began to question him in divers ways that they might cross him, that they might accuse him to death—

  20 Saying unto him: Thou art confederate; who is this man that hath done this murder? Now tell us, and acknowledge thy fault; saying, Behold here is ^amoney; and also we will grant unto thee thy life if thou wilt tell us, and acknowledge the agreement which thou hast made with him.

  21 But Nephi said unto them: O ye ^afools, ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye ^bstiffnecked people, do ye know how long the Lord your God will suffer you that ye shall go on in this your way of sin?

  22 O ye ought to begin to howl and ^amourn, because of the great destruction which at this time doth await you, except ye shall repent.

  23 Behold ye say that I have agreed with a man that he should murder Seezoram, our chief judge. But behold, I say unto you, that this is because I have testified unto you that ye might know concerning this thing; yea, even for a witness unto you, that I did know of the wickedness and abominations which are among you.

  24 And because I have done this, ye say that I have agreed with a man that he should do this thing; yea, because I showed unto you this sign ye are angry with me, and seek to destroy my life.

  25 And now behold, I will show unto you another sign, and see if ye will in this thing seek to destroy me.

  26 Behold I say unto you: Go to the house of Seantum, who is the ^abrother of Seezoram, and say unto him—

  27 Has Nephi, the pretended prophet, who doth prophesy so much evil concerning this people, agreed with thee, in the which ye have murdered Seezoram, who is your brother?

  28 And behold, he shall say unto you, Nay.

  29 And ye shall say unto him: Have ye murdered your brother?

  30 And he shall stand with fear, and wist not what to say. And behold, he shall deny unto you; and he shall make as if he were astonished; nevertheless, he shall declare unto you that he is innocent.

  31 But behold, ye shall examine him, and ye shall find blood upon the skirts of his cloak.

  32 And when ye have seen this, ye shall say: From whence cometh this blood? Do we not know that it is the blood of your brother?

  33 And then shall he tremble, and shall look pale, even as if death had come upon him.

  34 And then shall ye say: Because of this fear and this paleness which has come upon your face, behold, we know that thou art guilty.

  35 And then shall greater fear come upon him; and then shall he confess unto you, and deny no more that he has done this murder.

  36 And then shall he say unto you, that I, Nephi, know nothing concerning the matter save it were given unto me by the power of God. And then shall ye know that I am an honest man, and that I am sent unto you from God.

  37 And it came to pass that they went and did, even according as Nephi had said unto them. And behold, the words which he had said were true; for according to the words he did deny; and also according to the words he did confess.

  38 And he was brought to prove that he himself was the very murderer, insomuch that the five were set at liberty, and also was Nephi.

  39 And there were some of the Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi; and there were some also, who believed because of the testimony of the five, for they had been converted while they were in prison.

  40 And now there were some among the people, who said that Nephi was a prophet.

  41 And there were others who said: Behold, he is a god, for except he was a god he could not ^aknow of all things. For behold, he has told us the thoughts of our hearts, and also has told us things; and even he has brought unto our knowledge the true murderer of our chief judge.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 10

The Lord gives Nephi the sealing power—He is empowered to bind and loose on earth and in heaven—He commands the people to repent or perish—The Spirit carries him from congregation to congregation. Between 23 and 20 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that there arose a division among the people, insomuch that they divided hither and thither and went their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the midst of them.

  2 And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his own house, ^apondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him.

  3 And it came to pass as he was thus pondering—being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities—and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a ^avoice came unto him saying:

  4 ^aBlessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with ^bunwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine ^cown life, but hast sought my ^dwill, and to keep my commandments.

  5 And now, because thou hast 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 ^aall things shall be^bdone unto thee according to thy ^cword, for thou shalt ^dnot ask that which is contrary to my will.

Wow.  The Lord tells Nephi in chapter 10 verse 5 that he will bless him forever.  One of the Book of Mormon commentaries I enjoy reading entitled "Your Study of the Book of Mormon Made Easier" by David Ridges breaks down chapter 10 verse 4 into what the Lord tells Nephi he has done to earn this blessing.  It states that it was earned by:

1. things which thou hast done (actions)

2. with unwearyingness (consistently faithful)

3. hast not feared them (more concerned about what God thinks than what people think)

4. hast not sought thine own life (not made his own desires his top priority)

5. hast sought my will (subjected himself to God's will)

6. keep my commandments (strived to keep His commandments)

This is a great guideline for all of us as to how we should try to live our own lives.  Of course it isn't really anything that we haven't heard already but sometimes hearing things in a new way can change our perspective or open our minds a little.

pgs. 388 and 389...instead of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven...ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of judgment.

19 And now I would that ye should know, that even since the days of Abraham there have been many prophets that have testified these things; yea, behold, the prophet ^aZenos did testify boldly; for the which he was slain.

  20 And behold, also ^aZenock, and also ^bEzias, and also ^cIsaiah, and ^dJeremiah, (Jeremiah being that same prophet who testified of the destruction of ^eJerusalem) and now we know that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words of Jeremiah. O then why not the Son of God come, according to his prophecy?

  21 And now will you dispute that ^aJerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the ^bsons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were ^cMulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem? But behold, this is not all—

  22 Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he ^atestified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the ^bcoming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in his day which is to come.

  23 And behold, he is God, and he is ^awith them, and he did manifest himself unto them, that they were redeemed by him; and they gave unto him glory, because of that which is to come.

  24 And now, seeing ye know these things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many ^aevidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received ^ball things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true.

  25 But behold, ye have rejected the truth, and ^arebelled against your holy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up for yourselves ^btreasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, and where nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of ^cjudgment.

  26 Yea, even at this time ye are ripening, because of your murders and your ^afornication and wickedness, for everlasting destruction; yea, and except ye repent it will come unto you soon.

  27 Yea, behold it is now even at your doors; yea, go ye in unto the judgment-seat, and search; and behold, your judge is murdered, and he ^alieth in his blood; and he hath been murdered ^bby his brother, who seeketh to sit in the judgment-seat.

  28 And behold, they both belong to your secret band, whose ^aauthor is Gadianton and the evil one who seeketh to destroy the souls of men.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 9

Messengers find the chief judge dead at the judgment seat—They are imprisoned and later released—By inspiration Nephi identifies Seantum as the murderer—Nephi is accepted by some as a prophet. Between 23 and 20 B.C.

  1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Nephi had spoken these words, certain men who were among them ran to the judgment-seat; yea, even there were ^afive who went, and they said among themselves, as they went:

  2 Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not ^abelieve that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true.

  3 And it came to pass that they ran in their might, and came in unto the judgment-seat; and behold, the chief judge had fallen to the earth, and did ^alie in his blood.

  4 And now behold, when they saw this they were astonished exceedingly, insomuch that they fell to the earth; for they had not believed the words which Nephi had spoken concerning the chief judge.

  5 But now, when they saw they believed, and fear came upon them lest all the judgments which Nephi had spoken ^ashould come upon the people; therefore they did quake, and had fallen to the earth.

  6 Now, immediately when the judge had been murdered—he being stabbed by his brother by a garb of secrecy, and he fled, and the servants ran and told the people, raising the cry of murder among them;

  7 And behold the people did gather themselves together unto the place of the judgment-seat—and behold, to their astonishment they saw those ^afive men who had fallen to the earth.

  8 And now behold, the people knew nothing concerning the multitude who had gathered together at the ^agarden of Nephi; therefore they said among themselves: These men are they who have murdered the judge, and God has smitten them that they could not flee from us.

  9 And it came to pass that they laid hold on them, and bound them and cast them into prison. And there was a proclamation sent abroad that the judge was slain, and that the murderers had been taken and were cast into prison.

  10 And it came to pass that on the morrow the people did assemble themselves together to ^amourn and to ^bfast, at the burial of the great chief judge who had been slain.

  11 And thus also those judges who were at the garden of Nephi, and heard his words, were also gathered together at the burial.

  12 And it came to pass that they inquired among the people, saying: Where are the five who were sent to inquire concerning the chief judge whether he was dead? And they answered and said: Concerning this five whom ye say ye have sent, we know not; but there are five who are the murderers, whom we have cast into prison.

  13 And it came to pass that the judges desired that they should be brought; and they were brought, and behold they were the five who were sent; and behold the judges inquired of them to know concerning the matter, and they told them all that they had done, saying:

  14 We ran and came to the place of the judgment-seat, and when we saw all things even as Nephi had testified, we were astonished insomuch that we fell to the earth; and when we were recovered from our astonishment, behold they cast us into ^aprison.

One of the main blessings that comes from reading the Book of Mormon is an eternal perspective.  Whether we realize it or not, the way we live our lives is always a product of what we truly want most.  Those who do not have an eternal perspective may only desire worldly gifts such as fame, fortune, or pleasure and strive for those things.  Those with an eternal perspective hopefully desire eternal gifts such as covenants, families, and spiritual growth and focus on obtaining them. 

 

Years ago I had a visiting teacher who joined the church late in life and a short time later found out that she was dying of cancer.  One day, not long before she died, she told me about the years of her life when she was married to a successful, handsome doctor and raising her children.  She thought she had it all.  She lived across the street from an LDS family and thought they were nice but strange.  Eventually she lost her husband to infidelity and divorce and the money ran out.  Now she looked back on that family and said, "I can see that they were not strange but different, because they wanted completely opposite things from life than I did.  They wanted things that really matter.  Members of the church are so lucky because they are walking around with a completely different perspective on life than the rest of us."  

I've thought about that conversation so many times since. Reading this passage today brought it to mind again because Nephi is trying to teach the people to live for eternal treasure, not earthly treasure.  If we can follow Nephi's teachings we will be so blessed. It seems like a relatively simple lesson in theory but in reality it is so often forgotten.