Episode 46: Ripe for destruction

Helaman 11-12

11 ¹ By 20 BCE, contentions had increased, and the people began to kill each other with swords and there were wars throughout the land. All this was caused, of course, by that dastardly band of secret robbers that have plagued the people throughout Helaman's tale.

⁴ So Nephi cried out to the Lord, asking him to send a famine, saying that he would prefer the people to starve to death rather than be killed by the sword. Nephi told God that maybe that would cause the people to remember God and repent.

^5-6 So God sent a great famine, as Nephi had requested. The whole earth was completely dry for three years. Thousands of people died of thirst and starvation, especially in the more wicked parts of the land.

^7-8 While everyone was starving, some of the people began to remember the Lord, and they begged the judges to ask Nephi to ask God to stop the famine.

⁸ So the judges asked Nephi to ask God to stop starving the people to death. ⁹ And when Nephi saw the people humbling themselves in sackcloth, that did the trick. ^10-16 He told God that the people had repented; that they had swept away Gadianton's band and buried their secret plans in the ground; that he should be satisfied with the wicked men (and innocent men, women, and children) that he'd already killed in the famine; that he should listen to his words and make it rain. He pointed out that God had already obeyed him when he asked for the famine in the first place, so he ought to listen to him now when he asks him to stop.

^17-21 So God did as Nephi asked and made it rain, stopping the three-year famine. The people rejoiced and quit trying to kill Nephi. Now they considered him a great prophet, along with his brother Lehi. The people once again prospered and multiplied until they covered the land to the north and the south, from sea to shining sea. There were two years of peace, with the church spreading throughout the land. And most (or at least "the more part") of the Nephites and Lamanites belonged, once again, to the church.

^22-23 But then trouble brewed again. At first it was just a little contention, here or there, about this or that point of doctrine. But a year or so later, in 13 BCE, there was much strife, which Nephi and Lehi put an end to, with the many revelations that they received each day from God.

^24-27 And yet, despite the daily revelations, dissent grew in the land. Some of the dissenters were Nephites who joined the Lamanites and began to call themselves Lamanites. These dissenters stirred up the "real Lamanites" to go to war with the Nephites. The Lamanites murdered and plundered and then retreated to their secret places. They dug up the secret plans of Gadianton (which had been buried in the ground) and became an exceedingly great band of robbers -- the robbers of Gadianton.

^28-33 The Nephites decided it was time to put a stop to this. So they sent an army of strong men into the wilderness to kill the robbers. But the robbers drove them back. So the Nephites went forth again, and this time they killed many robbers, but many Nephites were also killed. The Nephites sent out another army, but they were defied by the robbers who had waxed strong. There was great fear among the people, as the robbers robbed, killed, and plundered, while carrying away the Nephite women and children.

^34-37 Now all of these evils--the famine and the wars--were sent by God to punish the people for being evil. And it worked, sort of anyway. The people got all stirred up in remembrance of the Lord, but they soon forgot him again, and waxed stronger and stronger in their iniquity, pride, and wickedness. And so by 7 BCE, they were ripening again for destruction.

Helaman’s sermon

12 ¹ Human hearts can't be trusted. ² When God is kind to people, they treat him badly. So God sends them death, terror, famine, and disease to remind them of his existence.

⁹ When God speaks, the mountains tremble and fall. ¹¹ God's voice makes the whole earth shake. ¹³ When he tells the earth to move, it moves. ¹⁴ If he tells the earth to go backwards, it goes backwards. ¹⁵ The earth moves, the sun doesn't. ¹⁷ If God tells a mountain to fall on a city, it falls on a city. ²⁰ If God says a man is accursed forever, he's accursed forever. ²² And a person that God curses forever can't be saved. ²⁶ Some people will be tormented forever in the endless misery of eternal damnation. That's just the way it goes. Amen.