A Sure Foundation

A Sure Foundation
Helaman 1-5

After the great war, peace was once more established among the people of Nephi.

Moroni retires and yields his armies to his son Moronihah

The king-men are removed from power and Pahoran regains the judgement seat. New judges replace allthose that had been appointed by the king-men.

Helaman and his brethren go forth and declare the word of God from field to field, causing the people to repent . This they did in order to refound the church- they were putting things back in order.

The people began to prosper in the land and became very rich- notwithstanding, they were not lifted up in pride. They did humble themselves exceedingly before the Lord.

Alma 62
50 Yea, they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had adelivered them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of bafflictions, and he had cdelivered them out of the hands of their enemies.
51 And they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and aprosper in the land.

5 7 B.C. Helaman dies and his brother Shiblon, takes possession of the sacred things entrusted to Helaman by their father Alma.

56 BC: Moroni dies

55 BC Exodus by land and sea by many Nephites to the land northward

53 BC Shiblon dies . Because his brother Corianton had migrated northward, Shiblon passes the sacred things on to Helaman’s son Helaman. Some of the Nephites dissented and went to the Lamanites to stir them up to anger once again. The Lamanites brought an army against Moronihah and were driven back and defeated.

Helaman 1: 1-4
1 And now behold, it came to pass in the *commencement of the fortieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there began to be a serious difficulty among the people of the Nephites.
2 For behold, aPahoran had died, and gone the way of all the earth; therefore there began to be a serious contention concerning who should have the judgment-seat among the brethren, who were the sons of Pahoran.
3 Now these are their names who did contend for the judgment-seat, who did also cause the people to contend: Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni.
4 Now these are not all the sons of Pahoran (for he had many), but these are they who did contend for the judgment-seat; therefore, they did cause three adivisions among the people.

Pahoran II is elected by the voice of the people to be the chief judge and governor.

How do his opponents react to the results of the election?

Pacumeni concedes but Paanchi does not. He is very angry

I cannot help but think of the 2000 general election and the conflict that transpired
You may remember that there was an issue concerning thousands of questionable votes cast by Democratic voters who may have been confused by the balloting method in Florida.
Because this presidential race was so close, VP Al Gore was not willing to concede until this issue was investigated and resolved. This resulted in further controversy surrounding various localized recounts throughout Florida.

Helaman 1
7 But behold, Paanchi, and that part of the people that were desirous that he should be their governor, was exceedingly wroth; therefore, he was about to aflatter away those people to rise up in rebellion against their brethren.
8 And it came to pass as he was about to do this, behold, he was taken, and was tried according to the avoice of the people, and condemned unto death; for he had raised up in rebellion and sought to destroy the bliberty of the people

This of course, did not set well with Paanchi’s followers. They were very angry not only that Paanchi would not be their chief judge , but that he had been condemned to death as well.

Unlike Al Gore, who finally conceded after the U.S. Supreme court halted any further recounting and let stand a declaration by Florida's secretary of state that Bush had won Florida, Paanchi’s followers decided a different course of action. They hired an assassin by the name of Kishkumen to kill the newly elected chief judge., which he did. Kishkumen killed Pahoran as he sat on the judgement seat.

Helaman I
10And he was pursued by the servants of Pahoran; but behold, so speedy was the flight of Kishkumen that no man could overtake him.
11 And he went unto those that sent him, and they all entered into a covenant, yea, aswearing by their everlasting Maker, that they would tell no man that Kishkumen had murdered Pahoran.
12 Therefore, Kishkumen was not known among the people of Nephi, for he was in disguise at the time that he murdered Pahoran. And Kishkumen and his band, who had covenanted with him, did mingle themselves among the people, in a manner that they all could not be found; but as many as were found were condemned unto adeath.

Another election was held and Pacumeni was appointed to be chief judge and governor over the people.

In the meantime, the Lamanites were gathering together an innumerable army, armed with all manner of weapons, and protected with headplates, breastplates, and all manner of shields of every kind. And they came down that they might pitch battle against the Nephites.

The Lamanite army was lead by a Nephite dissenter named Coriantumr. He had been appointed by the King, Tubaloth ( son of Ammoron) to lead the Lamanites to victory over the Nephites that they might have power over the Nephites.

The Nephites had allowed themselves to become distracted with all the internal contention and left Zarahemla insufficiently protected. They never dreamed that the Lamanites would be bold enough to attack their capital city. But, that is exactly what happened. Coriantumr marched his army right into the city , took possession of it and killed Pacumeni.

22 And now when Coriantumr saw that he was in possession of the city of Zarahemla, and saw that the Nephites had fled before them, and were slain, and were taken, and were cast into prison, and that he had obtained the possession of the strongest hold in all the land, his heart atook courage insomuch that he was about to go forth against all the land.


What lesson can we learn by this experience? Contention weakens the group. It can weaken a family, a ward, a stake, a church and a nation.

How?
When I was growing up, my mother and father felt very strongly about avoiding contention in the home. They had eight children in 15 years- the first seven of which were girls. You can imagine how avoiding contention was sometimes difficult, especially with 5-6 teenage girls in the home at any given time. But, we had a family standard. We were not allowed to tell each other to “shut up”, we could never call each other “stupid” or any other word that held the same meaning. Fighting was not tolerated PERIOD!!! This isn’t to say that we never got frustrated, angry or upset at each other. We did. Sometimes we said things that we later regretted. However, our parents were very perceptive..they knew when things needed to be resolved between siblings and made sure that happened. I remember my mother telling me, “ Friends will come and go in your life, but your sisters are with you for eternity.” As a result, as adults, we are all very close. My brother and sisters are and will continue to be my very best friends and
hugest fans.

Moronihah was able to, with his armies, regain control of Nephite cities and establish peace once again. With the death of Pacumeni, the judgement seat remained vacant. The voice of the people spoke and Helaman, son of Helaman was appointed.

Now, Kishkumen, the assasin, also had it in mind to kill Helaman. By this time, Kishkumen’s secret brotherhood had grown stronger. A man named Gadianton took over and trained the brotherhood to a high state of effieciency.

Helaman 2
4 For there was one aGadianton, who was exceedingly expert in many words, and also in his craft, to carry on the secret work of murder and of robbery; therefore he became the leader of the band of Kishkumen.
5 Therefore he did aflatter them, and also Kishkumen, that if they would place him in the judgment-seat he would grant unto those who belonged to his band that they should be placed in power and authority among the people; therefore Kishkumen sought to destroy Helaman.

Now, Helaman was a smart man. He sets up a little counterintelligence. One of his servant’s went undercover into this secret brotherhood to gain information.

7 And it came to pass that he met Kishkumen, and he gave unto him a sign; therefore Kishkumen made known unto him the object of his desire, desiring that he would conduct him to the judgment-seat that he might murder Helaman.
8 And when the servant of Helaman had known all the heart of Kishkumen, and how that it was his aobject to murder, and also that it was the object of all those who belonged to his band to murder, and to rob, and to gain power, (and this was their bsecret plan, and their combination) the servant of Helaman said unto Kishkumen: Let us go forth unto the judgment-seat.

Kishkimen trusted the servant – he had given the right sign. Kishkumen knew that the servant was in a position to get him into the presence of the judge without being suspect. While all along, the servant had his own agenda- to protect the chief judge and maintain the liberty of the people. It was a big double cross!

9 Now this did please Kishkumen exceedingly, for he did suppose that he should accomplish his design; but behold, the servant of Helaman, as they were going forth unto the judgment-seat, did stab Kishkumen even to the heart, that he fell dead without a groan. And he ran and told Helaman all the things which he had seen, and heard, and done.
10 And it came to pass that Helaman did send forth to take this band of robbers and asecret murderers, that they might be executed according to the law.
11 But behold, when Gadianton had found that Kishkumen did not return he feared lest that he should be destroyed; therefore he caused that his band should follow him. And they took their flight out of the land, by a secret way, into the wilderness; and thus when Helaman sent forth to take them they could nowhere be found.

Well, that’s the end of them, right?

Nope, because here we get a little commentary from Mormon

13 And behold, in the end of this book ye shall see that this aGadianton did prove the overthrow, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi.
14 Behold I do not mean the end of the abook of Helaman, but I mean the end of the book of Nephi, from which I have taken all the account which I have written

Do we live in a world today that has secret combinations?

We only have to re-read Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley’s October 2001 address to know that we do.
My beloved brethren and sisters, I accept this opportunity in humility. I pray that I may be guided by the Spirit of the Lord in that which I say.

“I have just been handed a note that says that a U.S. missile attack is under way. I need not remind you that we live in perilous times. I desire to speak concerning these times and our circumstances as members of this Church

Those of us who are American citizens stand solidly with the president of our nation. The terrible forces of evil must be confronted and held accountable for their actions. This is not a matter of Christian against Muslim. I am pleased that food is being dropped to the hungry people of a targeted nation. We value our Muslim neighbors across the world and hope that those who live by the tenets of their faith will not suffer. I ask particularly that our own people do not become a party in any way to the persecution of the innocent. Rather, let us be friendly and helpful, protective and supportive. It is the terrorist organizations that must be ferreted out and brought down.

We of this Church know something of such groups. The Book of Mormon speaks of the Gadianton robbers, a vicious, oath-bound, and secret organization bent on evil and destruction. In their day they did all in their power, by whatever means available, to bring down the Church, to woo the people with sophistry, and to take control of the society. We see the same thing in the present situation.

We are people of peace. We are followers of the Christ who was and is the Prince of Peace. But there are times when we must stand up for right and decency, for freedom and civilization, just as Moroni rallied his people in his day to the defense of their wives, their children, and the cause of liberty (see Alma 48:10). “ (Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Times in Which We Live,” Ensign, Nov 2001, 72).

Helaman 3

1 And now it came to pass in the *forty and third year of the reign of the judges, there was no contention among the people of Nephi save it were a little pride which was in the church, which did cause some little dissensions among the people, which affairs were settled in the ending of the forty and third year.
2 And there was no contention among the people in the forty and fourth year; neither was there much contention in the forty and fifth year.
3 And it came to pass in the *forty and sixth, yea, there was much contention and many dissensions; in the which there were an exceedingly great many who departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and went forth unto the land anorthward to inherit the land.


This chapter covers about 11 years of Nephite history. For sake of time, I will summarize.

Helaman II sits on the judgement seat. He is a righteous and equitable ruler. Overall, the wars and contentions cease and there is great peace and prosperity among the people. During this time the Church experiences a period of tremendous growth- so remarkable that it astonishes even the leaders of the church.

This period of prosperity soon shattered by the onset of pride in the hearts of many members of the Church. Puffed up in their pride, they persecuted the more humble Saints. Because of this persecution, the humble followers were forced to “wade through much affliction” As a result of the pain and affliction, the Saints fasted and prayed much, which resulted in greater faith in Christ, which in turn filled their souls with joy and consolation.

Helaman 4

1 And it came to pass in the *fifty and fourth year there were many dissensions in the church, and there was also a acontention among the people, insomuch that there was much bloodshed.
2 And the rebellious part were slain and driven out of the land, and they did go unto the king of the Lamanites.
3 And it came to pass that they did endeavor to stir up the Lamanites to awar against the Nephites; but behold, the Lamanites were bexceedingly afraid, insomuch that they would not hearken to the words of those dissenters.
4 But it came to pass in the fifty and sixth year of the reign of the judges, there were adissenters who went up from the Nephites unto the Lamanites; and they succeeded with those others in bstirring them up to anger against the Nephites; and they were all that year preparing for war.

Weakened by internal strife, the Nephites were driven from Zarahemla by the Lamanites, and bloody war raged in the land. In the space of about 2-2.5 years, the Lamanites had gained control of all of the land southward. The following year, Moronihah and his armies were able to regain about 1/2of what they had lost.

11 Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, awould not have happened had it not been for their bwickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.

Mormon takes this opportunity to identify specific things that comprised the wickedness and abominations of the Nephite Church members½ ½

1. Pride of their hearts because of their exceeding riches: Riches in themselves, did not cause damning pride among the Nephites. It was the enmity that results form the ‘love of money’ that led to a disregard for God and others, resulting in self-indulgent and wicked behavior.
2. Oppression of the poor: The proud rich looked down upon those less fortunate and labeled them lazy and unworthy. Their elevated sense of self-importance causes the proud rich to unrighteously judge, mock, withhold support from, and even persecute the less fortunate.
3. Making a mock of that which is sacred: including making light of sacred doctrines, practices, and covenants, as well as the mockery of other people who are literally the sons and daughters of the true and living God.
4. Denying the spirit of prophecy and revelation: Pres. Benson said “ We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is done in the spirit of ‘my will and not thine be done’..the proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives.
5. Murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery: The selfish proud, with enmity toward their fellowmen, see nothing wrong with resorting to selfish means to fulfill their desires and attain their ends. Elder Neal A. Maxwell declared, “ Selfishness is much more than an ordinary problem because it activates all the cardinal sins! It is the detonator in the breaking of the ten commandments.”
6. Rising up in great contentions
7. Boasting in their own strength: Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “ One of the most common of all sins among worldly people is relying on and then boasting in the arm of flesh. This is a most serious evil. It is a sin born of pride, a sin that creates a frame of mind which keeps men from turning to the Lord and accepting his saving grace. When a man knowingly or unknowingly engages in self-exultation because of his riches, his physical prowess, his business ability, or even his works of righteousness, he is not in tune with the Spirit of the Lord. “ ( CR, April 1990, pp84-85)

Helaman II’s sons Nephi and Lehi, and Moroni’s son Moronihah preach repentance and have some success. As a whole, however, the church dwindles because of the loss of spiritual strength resulting from individual and collective unrighteousness. Without the spirit of the Lord sustaining them, they become “weak like unto the Lamanites” and fail in their own attempts to repel the onslaught of that enemy. ( DCBM, McConkie, pp.346-348)


Chapter 5

By this time, Helaman II’s son Nephi has possession of the judgment seat. He is literally sick and tired of the wickedness of the people so, he yields the judgment seat to Cezoram and he and his brother Lehi, devote themselves full time to preaching the gospel. They are following in the pattern their great grandfather Alma set. Their father, Helaman II had died. In chapter 5 we read the words he left for his sons.
The theme to Helaman’s words for his sons was: Remember!

(Spencer W. Kimball: “When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be ‘remember.’ Because all of you have made covenants-you know what to do and you know how to do it-Our greatest need is to remember. That is why everyone goes to sacrament meeting every Sabbath day-to take the sacrament and listen to the priests pray that they . . . may always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them. . . . Nobody should ever forget to go to sacrament meeting. ‘Remember’ is the word. ‘Remember’ is the program.” (Book of Mormon Symposium Series, Helaman 3 – 3 Nephi 8, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 243)
9 O remember, remember, my sons, the awords which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the batoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to credeem the dworld.
10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, ain the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.
11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath asent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

(Every person builds a house of faith. We do so knowingly or unknowingly. And every builder soon learns that a good building with bad foundations is worse than useless; it is dangerous. As one Christian writer has observed, ‘If the stability of buildings depends largely on their foundations, so does the stability of human lives. The search for personal security is a primal instinct, but many fail to find it today. Old familiar landmarks [will be] obliterated. Moral absolutes which were once thought to be eternal are being abandoned’ (Stott 22). Thus our house of faith can be no more secure than the foundation upon which it is built. Foolish men build upon the shifting sands of ethics and the marshlands of human philosophies and doctrines. The wise build upon the rock of revelation, heeding carefully the living oracles, lest they be ‘brought under condemnation ... and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the rains descend, and beat upon their house’ (D&C 90:5).

All that we do as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must be built upon a foundation of faith and testimony and conversion. When external supports fail us, then our hearts must be riveted upon the things of the Spirit, those internal realities which provide the meaning, the perspective, and the sustenance for all else that matters in life. …Surely the supreme challenge of this life for those of us who aspire to Christian discipleship is to build our lives on Christ, to erect our house of faith, a divine domicile in which he and his Spirit would be pleased to dwell. There is safety from Satan and his minions only in Christ. There is security only in his word and through his infinite and eternal power. (Robert L. Millet, Book of Mormon Symposium Series, Helaman 3 – 3 Nephi 8, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, pp. 26-8)

Nephi and Lehi preached the gospel city by city until they had taught in every city of the Nephites. Then, they moved into Lamanite territory

17 And it came to pass that they did apreach with great bpower, insomuch that they did confound many of those cdissenters who had gone over from the Nephites, insomuch that they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto repentance, and immediately returned to the Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done.
18 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might aspeak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them—
19 Therefore they did speak unto the great astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round about abaptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the bwickedness of the ctraditions of their fathers.
After their great success in Zarahemla, they moved on to the city of Nephi where they were thrown into the very prison that Ammon and his brethren were cast into by the servants of Limhi . Here Nephi and Lehi are encircled about with a protective pillar of fire that keeps the astounded Nephite dissenters and Lamanites at bay. The prophets reassure them “aFear not, for behold, it is God that has shown unto you this marvelous thing, in the which is shown unto you that ye cannot lay your hands on us to slay us. “ Thereafter an earth quake shakes the prison, and the terrified aggressors are “ overshadowed with a cloud of darkness. Amidst the continuing earthquake, a voice calls out three times in succession, commanding the people to repent = and seek no more to destroy my servants. The Lamanites are immobilized with terror and rendered “immovable” by the confining cloud of darkness.

35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.
36 And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did ashine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld.
37 And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.
38 And they said unto the man: Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse?
39 Now the man’s name was Aminadab. And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God.
40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: aWhat shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?
41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must arepent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have bfaith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and cAmulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.

They immediately follow his counsel, and the darkness is indeed dispersed so that all present are able to share in the fullness of the divine outpouring. As a result they were filled with that cjoy which is unspeakable and full of glory. and were blessed with the spirit of peace and the ministration of angels descending from heaven. Thus, through the blessings of the Lord and His prophets, and the inspired assistance of Aminadab, some three hundred individuals are converted and become a powerful missionary force for reclaiming the more part of the Lamanites in the regions round about.

Brothers and sister, seeds of testimony though at times are rendered dormant in the hearts of those who might fall away, can be awakened, nurtured and empowered by the inspiration of the Lord, who calls us forth continually to take our places as instruments of charity in the fold of the good shepherd.

We cannot be one with ourselves and with God if we are not united to His will. Our pride will be swallowed up in our willingness to do His will. The Rock of our salvation is Jesus Christ, or Lord and Savior. He is our sure foundation. As we seek to remember thee important doctrines and principles, the blessings of the Lord will be ours. We will be rooted to Christ. We will be men and women of Christ. We will enjoy the blessings of exaltation..

These priceless chapters in the Book of Mormon help us to remember in gratitude our eternal debt to the Savior for His matchless Atonement.. They help us remember to guard against internal dissension, the seedbed for destruction. They help us remember that Zion flourishes when pride is kept in check. By learning how to grow up unot the Lord as do Helaman’s sons, Nephi and Lehi, we, as children of our Father in Heaven, can enjoy the spiritual view of our future pathway home. (Pinegar & Allen, Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon 2:207-8)