Helaman Chapter 16

1 And now, it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord.

verse 1 "they confessed unto him their sins and denied not" They truly repented.

2 But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows.

3 Now when they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized.

4 For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come-

5 Telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins.

verse 5 "Telling them of things which must shortly come" Nephi explained to the people the signs of the Lord's coming-those miraculous happenings which foretold the imminent birth of the Savior.

"that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand" We might rephrase this passage for clarity, "that the people who witness the signs of the coming of the Lord might recall that Nephi had prophesied of them." Thus, those people would recognize them-the signs-for what they are.

6 But the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him.

7 And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people.

8 And behold, he was never heard of more among the Nephites; and thus were the affairs of the people.

verse 8 One interesting fact we may derive from this verse is that Samuel did not write the account of his own story in the Book of Mormon record. He could not have since he jumped from the wall, fled, and was never seen again among the Nephites. The account was somehow retrieved and recorded by the prophet Nephi onto the large plates of Nephi.

9 And thus ended the eighty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

10 And thus ended also the eighty and seventh year of the reign of the judges, the more part of the people remaining in their pride and wickedness, and the lesser part walking more circumspectly before God.

11 And these were the conditions also, in the eighty and eighth year of the reign of the judges.

12 And there was but little alteration in the affairs of the people, save it were the people began to be more hardened in iniquity, and do more and more of that which was contrary to the commandments of God, in the eighty and ninth year of the reign of the judges.

13 But it came to pass in the ninetieth year of the reign of the judges, there were great signs given unto the people, and wonders; and the words of the prophets began to be fulfilled.

14 And angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy; thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled.

15 Nevertheless, the people began to harden their hearts, all save it were the most believing part of them, both of the Nephites and also of the Lamanites, and began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom, saying:

16 Some things they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass, of which has been spoken.

verses 15-16 Here is a typical reaction of a spiritually unresponsive individual to the fulfillment of prophecy. He says, in effect, "We can account for these few things by mere coincidence-the prophets simply "guessed right" in a few instances. Wait and see. Not all of the prophecies will come to pass."

17 And they began to reason and to contend among themselves, saying:

18 That it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, as it has been spoken, why will he not show himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem?

verse 18 "it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come" These unrighteous Nephites feel that the prophecies of Christ's birth are simply absurd and unscientific.

19 Yea, why will he not show himself in this land as well as in the land of Jerusalem?

verses 18-19 Though these unbelievers had been told that Christ would appear to the Nephites, they appear to be unaware of that fact. This selective inattention is also typical of the spiritually unresponsive.

20 But behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass, but not among us, but in a land which is far distant, a land which we know not; therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are true.

verse 20 "behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers" Part of the Nephite "tradition of the fathers" has become the prophecies of the coming of the Savior. Here it is referred to as a "wicked tradition" by the Nephite unbelievers. Their claim of wickedness for this tradition seems based on the fact that since Christ is prophesied to be born in a distant land, then the validity of the "tradition" or prophecy cannot be verified.

21 And they will, by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one, work some great mystery which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend upon them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives.

verse 21 The pronouns "they," "their," and "them" refer to the traditions of the Nephite fathers. Obviously the unbelieving Nephites are paranoid about the powers of these traditions. This paranoia likely stems from their ambivalent feelings about these traditions. Deep in their hearts, they have a nagging feeling, indeed a fear, that they are true.

"thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives" They are saying, "we need to think for ourselves and not just believe blindly in these foolish traditions."

22 And many more things did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come.

verse 22 It was likely not difficult for Satan to convince these non-believing Nephites that those signs and wonders that signaled the coming of the Lord were nothing but a plot meant to deceive them.

23 And notwithstanding the signs and the wonders which were wrought among the people of the Lord, and the many miracles which they did, Satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land.

24 And thus ended the ninetieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

25 And thus ended the book of Helaman, according to the record of Helaman and his sons.

verse 25 The book of Helaman ends just one year before the birth of Christ.