HELAMAN 13-16

Watch the video presentation on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/bfts5ItaYI0

ICEBREAKER

Show Arnold Friberg picture of Samuel the Lamanite and ask “What’s wrong with this picture?”

Hint: Helaman 16:7

The phrase that stands out to me is, “he did cast himself down from the wall”. Now look at that picture, what’s the issue? That wall is huge! Look how high it is! What would happen if you jumped down from that wall? You’d never survive it. That is a massive wall. And Samuel is dwarfed by it. This verse suggests that the wall must have been much lower. One low enough to climb up, and who knows, maybe he had a ladder or a rope. But to jump down without getting injured definitely gives the impression that it was a much smaller wall. Now it could still be high, but not that high. So let’s say, for arguments sake that it’s more like 10 to 15 feet high. A little more reasonable a number for this story. You might be wondering why this even matters. Once again I don’t believe this is an inconsequential matter. When you look at this picture, with this itty bitty Samuel the Lamanite way up high on the wall, what might you attribute the soldiers inability to hit him to? You may begin to think, well, maybe they just missed, or Nephite archers had chronic bad aim, like they were the storm troopers of the Book of Mormon. I think it takes something away from the miracle of this story. What’s the alternative view. Picture Samuel the Lamanite on a 15 foot wall kind of like he was standing on top of a one story house. And there you are, an archer, or you have a rock in your hand, and he’s right there. Just feet away from you. An incredibly easy shot to take. And you pull back your bow, with his heart right in your target, no Lamanite is going to tell you what to do, and you let it go, and, whoosh, you miss. It glances to his left. You think, huh, let’s try that again, and you take another arrow into your string, this time, really focusing in on your target. No way you are going to miss this time. You let it fly, and sure enough, the arrow swings to the right. Now you are dumbfounded. And amazingly, all the others who are shooting arrows or throwing rocks miss as well. How could this be? There is only one explanation. 

Why couldn’t they hit him? Helaman 16:2

They couldn’t hit him, because the Spirit of the Lord was with him. It wasn’t because they were a bad aim or that he was an incredibly small target. God protected him. In fact, we know that this was a miraculous thing to behold because just look at the next verse. 

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.

This proves how miraculous a thing this was. It convinced a number of people that Samuel must be a prophet, and they repented, and went to be baptized by Nephi. And, on the other hand, those that did not accept his words, have a different explanation, and it wasn’t that he was just hard to hit, or really good at dodging rocks, they say in 16:6

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.

Their only explanation was that he was able to do this by the power of the devil. 

STAYING ON YOUR WALL

Well, is there a lesson for us in this? What does it teach you? 

A few thoughts. One, God protects his prophets until their message is delivered. Just like Abinadi, Nephi and Lehi in prison, Alma and Amulek in prison, Joseph Smith, these prophets were miraculously protected by God’s power until their work was complete. Also, I feel this teaches that when we have the Spirit of the Lord with us, we can not be hit by the arrows of the adversary. Satan is on the attack and the scriptures often speak of the fiery darts of the evil one. He's trying to knock us off our walls of faith and integrity. BUT, if we have the Spirit of the Lord with us, they will harmlessly whizz by. The Spirit is there as a protection to us. He exposes Satan’s lies, warns us of spiritual dangers, and gives us encouragement and fortitude to choose the right. Samuel is an example of someone wielding the shield of faith without actually holding a shield. We can do the same. 

HIS MESSAGE

Now that’s probably the most famous thing we know about Samuel the Lamanite. It’s what we think of when we hear his name, right? But what about his message? Are there any gems of truth we can discover within it? Anything unique? Yes! And that’s where I’d like to spend the remainder and the bulk of our time. On his message. Ezra Taft Benson once said that the time period just before the first coming of Christ in the Book of Mormon parallels our time period preceding the second coming of Christ. I think you’ll find that this holds true. Therefore, Samuel’s message could also be directed at us of the latter days. What does he have to teach us? 

ICEBREAKER

If I had to pick one verse that really captures the entire essence of Samuel’s message, the crux, the backbone of it, I would choose Helaman 13:38. 

Ask if anyone can explain how “snipe hunting” works”.  

Snipe hunting is the quintessential practical joke of the Old American West and has been kept alive in many a girls camp or scout camp over the years. What you need for this to work is somebody who has never heard of snipe hunting before and a group of knowing associates who are willing to perpetrate the scheme. A snipe, for the most part, is a mythological flightless bird without much common sense, which makes them easy to catch. And apparently, they are incredibly delicious to eat. The joke, is to convince the target that they exist, take them “hunting” and then laugh at their gullibility. Now the best snipe hunter I’ve ever known was my great Uncle Verland who turned snipe hunting into an art form. I get this description from my father who actually experienced this himself. Now this is what Uncle Verland would do. For weeks before he would tell you all about snipes and snipe hunting, how delicious they were to eat and how you could catch them. He would tell you how stupid they were, and all you had to do was find a snipe trail, sit there with an open gunny sack at night and call to them. If you did this right, they would run right into your sack and you could scoop them up and enjoy snipe stew that night. Well my Dad fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Uncle Verland would say that you had to wait for the best night to do it. There needed to be a snipe moon. A snipe moon was just a little sliver of a moon that didn’t give much light. You’ll see later that darkness was key to the success of the prank. Also, you needed to practice the snipe hunting call which involved little clucking noises, and then in a high pitched whine you’d say “Here snipe, Here snipe”, and then cluck some more. So all week, you’d practice your snipe calling skills. Then, when the night finally arrived, all of the boys and ranch hands would get together to help you out on your first snipe hunt. So my Dad and Uncle Verland were designated as the snipe hunters while the ranch hands would hike up into the hills and scare the snipe down the trails and in to their sacks. Before they left though, Uncle Verland would go down to the hen house, and pick out a nice big hen, and he’d wear a large overcoat. Then he’d take the hen and stick it down into his coat and under his arm, and since it was dark, you really couldn’t tell that anything was unusual about his appearance. Well, off they went into the hills. The ranch hands would hike up farther, but then eventually circle around and head back to the bunk house. Well, meanwhile Uncle Verland and my Dad sat there with their gunny sacks open and started calling. Here snipe, cluck, cluck, cluck, here snipe. After a little while, Uncle Veland would say “I can hear them coming, keep calling”. Oh, the excitement was building, and as they sat there, clucking in the darkness, Uncle Verland would slowly open his coat, then in one swift movement, he’d grab the hen by the legs, pull it out, swing it around his head a few times, drop it down into the bag and then hold it up triumphantly shouting, “I’ve got mine!”. And there in the darkness, all you could see was this bag, bouncing up and down, feathers flying, and a lot of squawking. Then he would say, “You can have all the rest”, and then he’d leave you there. Well, after that demonstration, how long do you think you would sit up there in the darkness calling for snipes? Hours. Finally, after you were hoarse and cold, you would walk back to the bunkhouse and be welcomed by the laughter and applause of all the other ranch hands.

Well, the moral of the story is this. You can’t catch a snipe. Why? Because they don’t exist. You can’t catch something that was never there. 

TRANSITION

I believe that the Nephites at the time of Samuel the Lamanite, as well as many people in our day, are on a snipe hunt. They are hunting for something that is impossible to find. What is it? See if you can find it in Helaman 13:38

What is the snipe the world is hunting for? Happiness in iniquity. It’s impossible. It’s contrary to the nature and laws of the universe. You can’t catch it, because it doesn’t exist. Remember what Lehi said in 2 Nephi 2:13 “If there be no righteousness there be no happiness”.  Alma the Younger said in Alma 41:10 “Wickedness never was happiness”. 

And yet, many spend the bulk of their lives trying to do just that. They’re on a snipe hunt. It reminds me of this famous quote from C.S. Lewis:

"What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could . . . invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."

C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity, 53-54”

Therefore, we need to be wiser than they. Or else someday we may find someone behind us in the sage brush laughing because we bought into his lie. We thought that if we just sat out there clucking and holding our bag of anticipation open long enough, happiness would run right into it and give us everything we ever wanted. Unfortunately, the longer we sit out there, the harder we try, the more of a fool we make of ourselves.

In Enoch’s vision, do you remember what Satan was doing when he looked down at the misery of the wicked in Moses chapter 7? He was laughing. Laughing at their pain, their suffering, their foolishness. To him, it is like a big practical joke. Well, what was the Lord doing in that same vision? Weeping. The happiness and salvation of his children is no laughing matter to him. 

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

A few questions to consider here:

• Are there any “snipe hunts” you’ve been on lately or ways that you’ve been searching for happiness in iniquity? How’s that working out for you?

• What happiness have you experienced through living righteous principles?

SERVANTS AND SIGNS

Well God doesn’t want us to be fooled by the snipe hunts of the world. He wants us to be saved. He wants us to be happy. So he does some things to help us; to keep us from being deceived. And in the final chapters of Helaman, he sends the people two things to help them: Servants and Signs. Servants and signs. Let’s take a closer look at these two great blessings.

SERVANTS

First, he sends servants, or prophets, like Samuel the Lamanite, to prophesy, to teach, to warn, to reveal the practical joke before it gets too serious. Prophets are the guys that come in and say, hey, don’t fall for it, they’re just trying to fool you. His servants alert us to the fact that snipes aren’t real. That you can’t find happiness in wickedness. 

Unfortunately, Satan doesn’t take this threat to his plans lightly and he tempts people to reject that help. How do people often react to the words and warnings of the prophets? These chapters give us some examples of that.  Do the following Rejecting the Revelators crossword puzzle to find the words that describe the wrong way to react to the prophets. 

Crossword available for download at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeachingWithPower

• Across

• 3. They get ________ with them and seek to destroy them. (14:10)

• 4. They cast them out, ______ them, cast stones at them, and slay them (13:24)

• 5. They won’t _________ them (13:7)

• 7. They put up _______ to keep them out (13:4)

• Down

• 1. They ________ their hearts against them (13:12)

• 2. They get angry, cast stones at them, and shoot ______ at them. (16:2)

• 6. They ________ them out. (13:2)

ANSWERS

3 Across-Angry

4 Across-Mock

   They make fun of them.  In 14:10 Samuel gives one of the reasons that they are rejecting him. He says “Because I am a Lamanite . . .ye are angry with me”. So there is a little bit of racism or prejudice there that they feel gives them leave to mock and reject him. Pssshh, no Lamanite is going to tell me what to do. Similar kinds of mocking and prejudices are used to reject modern day prophets. They are too old,  too American, too behind the times, too white, too strict, too lenient, too left, too right, too soft, too hard. They mock their backgrounds, their speaking ability, their leadership style, their policies. There really is no end to the criticisms that are leveled at the living prophets. 

5 Across-Receive

7 Across-Walls

    What walls do we put up between ourselves and the prophets? The walls of pride (I don’t need to listen to them, I don’t need their counsel, I know what’s best for me) The walls of laziness (I don’t have time to listen to them speak for 8 hours on conference weekend) The walls of sin, The walls of apathy (I just don’t care, I have better things to do). The walls of disbelief (I think they’re getting it wrong, I  don’t believe they’re actually speaking for God) 

1 Down-Harden

2 Down-Arrows

    Now thankfully, I think we are past the days where their physical lives are in danger, but do people still try to knock them off their walls? Dismiss them, accuse them, try to make them look silly, doubt their motives, deconstruct their message. The arrows are still flying all around them from the bows of the media and the skeptic. Fortunately, our modern prophets, like Samuel, have the Spirit of the Lord with them, and continue to stand strong.

6 Down-Cast

I believe that the most common form of casting out prophets today is ignoring them. 

So, you can see, lots of walls that are put up in front of the prophets. The interesting thing is, according to the story, what do prophets do when walls are put up in front of them? They climb them. They keep trying. They do whatever they can to get their message out there. What kinds of things do they do nowadays to “climb the walls"? They broadcast their words to all the world. They send out church magazines each month. They produce Mormon messages. They give special firesides, participate in interfaith activities, provide humanitarian aid, 2travel the world speaking to various congregations, release proclamations and official statements. They do all kinds of things on social media. The prophets are constantly climbing walls and shouting their message to the church and the world. 

PAST OR PRESENT PROPHETS

There is another reaction to prophets that I want to add here, and it comes from Helaman 13:25-26.

Sometimes the problem isn’t that they don’t believe in prophets. It’s that they claim to believe in the prophets of the past, but they reject the prophets of the present. Samuel teaches the principle that if you reject the prophet of the present, you would have rejected the prophets of the past. Jesus taught the same principle to the Pharisees. Do people still do the same thing today?

Spencer W. Kimball once said:

"Even in the church, many are prone to garnish the sepulchers of yesterday's prophets and mentally stone the living ones" (Instructor, 95:257).

President Spencer W. Kimball

So we can’t claim allegiance to the principles taught by Gordon B. Hinckley, David O. McKay, Heber J. Grant, or Joseph Smith, if we can’t accept the teachings and leadership of Russell M. Nelson.

Now there’s a sister principle to this truth as well. Have you ever wondered what you would have done, had you been alive during certain eras of scriptural history? Would you have had the faith to cross the plains with the pioneers? Would you have had the faith to build a boat with Nephi? Would you have accepted Jesus Christ’s miracles and teachings during his mortal ministry? Would you have followed Moses through the Red Sea and into the wilderness? Sometimes you may wonder. But this principle tells you exactly what you would have done. If a true principle is that if you reject the prophet of today, you would have rejected the prophets of the past, then something else is true as well. If you accept the prophet of today, and follow him, and believe in him, you would have done the same with the prophets of the past. So, if you strive to follow the counsels and teachings of President Nelson, you would have had the faith to cross the plains, and build the boat, and accept the Savior. Both principles stand true. 

Thankfully, our prophets always get up on those walls and brave those arrows and stones and continue to stand strong. 

SIGNS

There is another blessing God often sends to help us navigate a snipe hunting world. Signs. Now we’ve already established in a previous video that signs do a poor job of creating faith, but a great job of reinforcing it. These people have already witnessed the sign of Nephi predicting the murder of the chief judge and they didn’t seem all that impressed by it. So now God is going to give them SIGNS. Bigger SIGNS. And this is new. Prophets going all the way back to Lehi in the Book of Mormon had predicted the coming of the Savior, but not until Samuel do we have a specific sign mentioned of his birth. And it’s a doozy. What’s the sign of his birth? 14:3-6

Well, that is a sign. Basically, the sun is going to go down, and it’s not going to get dark. That is an unmistakable sign. 

Then, he’ll prophesy the sign of his death in 14:20-27.  Basically two things, darkness and destruction. The first sign is glorious and riskless. There is no danger associated with it. But the second sign is destructive and frightening. So it’s like Samuel saying, “If I’m right about the first sign, then you will know that I’m going to be right about the second one, and you can be prepared for it. 

CHRIST=LIGHT, NO CHRIST=DARKNESS

Now just a bit of a side note here. I really find the two signs interesting. I believe there is a message taught by them. Why is it days of light when he is born and days of darkness when he dies? What’s the principle? It teaches me that when Christ comes into your world, into your life, that’s what he brings, light and clarity and rejoicing, but when Christ leaves your world or your life, or when we push him out of it, there is only darkness. Christ, light, no Christ, darkness. Which of the two signs describes your current circumstances? Do you have more of a “sign of his birth” or “sign of his death” kind of life? And if you’re in the darkness, let him in, let Christ be born into your world with all his life giving light and energy. And if he’s already there, don’t let his presence die for you, Keep his presence alive, always walk in the light.

TO THE INTENT

Well back to the purpose of signs here. The key phrase to look for here is “to the intent”. And I see two basic ones. What is the two-fold intent of these signs. 

Look in the following verses:

• 14:12 

• 14:28 

• 14:29

In verse 12, he gives signs to the intent that ye might believe

In 28, same thing, to the intent that they might believe

But he adds another reason here as well, to the intent that there be no cause for unbelief. Or in other words, they will leave you with no excuse for unbelief. My power will be miraculously and clearly demonstrated. There will be no reason or basis for your doubts.

Those two purposes are reiterated in 29. To the intent that those who believe might be saved, and those who will not believe,  well, it will make for a righteous judgment to come upon them. God will be justified in his condemnation of them. He can say, I gave you every reason in the world to believe. I almost made it obvious to you that I was there, and that my gospel was real, and that my principles were true. 

A GOD OF SIGNS

Now, those signs seem pretty spectacular and some may wonder why God doesn’t seem to do things quite like that anymore. Well, as we near the second coming, I believe we may. But I personally do believe in latter-day signs. I believe that God still sends them and frequently. There are general ones, yes, but more importantly, I think he sends them to individuals. They may not be as dramatic as a day, a night, and a day of light but they’re there. I’ve heard students, friends, family members, and even strangers share these kinds of things. Unexplainable circumstances, answered prayers, medical miracles, dreams, visions, help from outstretched hands of service when they were at their lowest, comfort from the unseen world, not to mention the miracles of creation all around us, the power of the scriptures, and the guidance of living prophets. We have signs enough that God is there. I have heard many, many stories and experiences from people, inside and outside the church, too many to doubt that God is an active and present force in the lives of his children in today’s world. Oh, there are signs out there. God is still a God of signs and miracles and I’m sure that many of you, right now, could attest to that fact. 

THE 6 GREAT RATIONALIZATIONS

But, there are two ways we can react to those signs. As verse 29 says there are some that will believe and some that will not believe. And at the end of the Book of Helaman, the majority of the Nephites fall into the latter category, despite an increase in great signs, wonders, and angelic visions. So how can people not believe when signs clearly indicate God’s power is present. Well, they rationalize. They rationalize away the signs. I find the last verses of chapter 16 fascinating. It’s basically a collection of all the major ways people dismiss God’s signs. And you know what, Satan hasn’t changed his tactics much over the years. I think you’ll see that the same rationalizations that the Nephites used back then, are the ones people continue to use today.  

I’m going to give you the verses and I want you to find as many different rationalizations as you can. In Helaman 16:15-23. What do you see?

Here’s what I see

COINCIDENCES

v.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. This is what I call the rationalization of “coincidences”. If there seems to be some unexplainable miracle or happenstance, it must have just been a coincidence. It’s a coincidence that a resolution came after you offered that prayer. It’s a coincidence that this person was healed after receiving a priesthood blessing, they would have recovered anyway. It’s a coincidence that something a prophet said actually happened. Lucky guess. The fact that things in your patriarchal blessing have turned out to be true, just self-fulfilling prophecies and generalizations. It’s like their only explanation. All signs are mere coincidences. My response to that accusation. That’s a lot of coincidence. In my life alone, there have been way too many instances where coincidence just doesn’t cut it as an explanation. I think I’m intelligent enough to recognize a pattern when I see one. 

UNREASONABLENESS

v. 18 It is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come.  This is the rationalization of “unreasonableness”. Now I personally feel that the gospel is very reasonable and it makes sense to me in a rational way. However, to those in the secular, unbelieving world, things like miracles, and golden plates, and angels, and a spiritual afterlife will never seem reasonable. My response to that? Aren’t we living in a world now where we can do things that to past generations would seem miraculous or impossible? I could see somebody saying that it is not reasonable to believe that a person could travel across the ocean in a matter of hours, and yet, now we can fly from New York to Paris in less than a day. They could says it’s not reasonable to think that you could carry a small device in your pocket that allows you to communicate with people around the world, listen to music, and access the bulk of man’s collective knowledge. They could say that it is not reasonable to believe that a man could walk on the moon. Some still struggle with that thought as conspiracy theories abound.  There are a lot of things that would not seem reasonable then that are completely reasonable now. It’s just not a very good explanation. Just because something seems unexplainable to us now, doesn’t mean it will remain that way forever.

TRADITION

v. 20 We know that this is a wicked tradition which has been handed down unto us by our fathers. This is the rationalization of “tradition” .  We can dismiss these things because they’re old-fashioned, or obsolete. The only reason people believe these things is because it has been passed down from generation to generation. Children brainwashed by their parents and their parents brainwashed by their grandparents. It’s a wicked tradition. People just need to wake up and live in the present. The modern age has all the answers. Don’t hold on to these outdated and silly beliefs. There is a certain sense of pride that accompanies the feeling that you’re ahead of everyone else, that you’re progressive, that you have discovered the real truth hidden for ages, that you’ve really figured things out. Mom and Dad are still stuck in the past, but me, I’ve been awoken. These are just traditions. My response to that. Is it fair to dismiss something just because it’s old? Or is it possible that things of the past have been believed for ages because they’re true? Because they’re fundamental. Now yes, there are some things of the past that we do need to move on from. Just because it’s old doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true either. It’s that neither the fact that it’s old or new is the basis to dismiss or accept it. We need to approach things on their own merits, not their age. 

SEEING IS BELIEVING

Also in v. 20 at the end, they complain that Jesus is going to be born in the Old World instead of in the New. “Therefore, they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are true. The rationalization? “Seeing is Believing”. I can only accept it if I can witness it with my own eyes. If I can’t see it myself, it cannot accept it as truth. I can’t accept a belief in God because he’s never been shown to me. Nobody has ever photographed him. I can’t believe in Joseph Smith as a prophet, because I wasn’t present for the First Vision. I can’t believe in the Book of Mormon because I can’t handle the Golden Plates myself and they haven’t archeologically uncovered a sign that says “Welcome to Zarahemla” yet. The physical, tangible world is all that matters to them. 

YOU CAN’T ALWAYS BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE

But yet, then you have the rationalization of v. 21 and this one is really devious. Look at what they say here. 

21 And they will, by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one, work some great mystery which we cannot understand,

Oooh. Can you see how good that is? They have successfully protected themselves from any possible sign that might come in the future. Even great and obvious ones. So in the last verse it’s “Seeing is Believing” and in this verse it’s “Well, you can’t always believe what you see”. You just can’t win with these guys. They have blocked themselves off from any manifestation of God’s power. They have hardened their hearts. Nothing can penetrate it. Not even something like “a day, a night, and a day of light will work”. 

ANTI-AUTHORITY

At the end of verse 21 we got one more.

I call this rationalization the “anti-authority” rationalization. People out there are just trying to control and manipulate you. Don’t trust or believe anyone. Don’t trust parents, don’t trust prophets, don’t trust church leaders. It’s all a power struggle and the Church just wants to run your life. To that I say, I have never been coerced to do anything as a member of the church. It’s all voluntary. Nobody has ever commanded me to do something or act in a certain way. It’s always been by invitation and encouragement. 

Well there you have it. The 6 great rationalizations. Hopefully, you’ve never found yourself using these.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

• Some questions you might ask during this section of the lesson.

• How has accepting God’s servants blessed you?

• What “signs” of God’s power have you experienced in your life? 

• When have you witnessed one of the 6 Rationalizations? 

• How would you counter their arguments?

CONCLUSION

I’d like to end with these verses from Helaman 15:5-6. Here’s the alternative to rejecting servants and signs. In this wonderful role reversal in the Book of Mormon, it’s the Lamanites this time that stand as a powerful example for us to emulate. 

5 And I would that ye should behold that the more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses.

6 Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily.

That is what I hope we can do as members of Christ’s church in the Latter-days. Let’s stay in the path of our duty, walking circumspectly, which means carefully before God, keeping the commandments and sharing the gospel with unwearying diligence. I’m confident that if we follow this simple formula we won’t ever be taken in by the practical jokes of the adversary. Remember, you can’t catch a snipe. It’s impossible. You can’t find happiness in iniquity. So, heed God’s servants and watch for his signs. If we do, happiness in this life and the next will be ours.