Day 8: Book of Mormon, Helaman

I’m excited to get to Helaman. Not because I got to read Helaman, but because the next book is where Jesus appears to the people of North America after his resurrection. I think a majority of non-Latter-day Saints, if they know anything about the Book of Mormon, think it mostly involves Jesus talking to Native Americans. Well, I’m nearly done with the entire book and Jesus is just now showing up in the flesh.

This is where it gets tricky. A Latter-day Saint will say: “Well, wait, Jesus was here from the beginning.” There’s a very complicated reason they will say this and, well, I’m not going to attempt to distill their Christology here. However, you can read this article on their website. It’s a lot. So, no, for non-LDS, we find that the holy book of this religion includes 1. A lot of detailed prophesy about Jesus Christ hundreds of years before his birth and 2. One book where he appears.

Helaman paves the way for this climax in the Book of Mormon. Many of the Lamanites join the church. They are repeatedly described as “more righteous” than the Nephites here. Several missionaries share their stories of near death, causing famines, or solving murders in order to win hearts and minds. It’s a good episodic book.

Samuel the Lamanite has some interesting prophesies. He lets us know that Jesus will be born in five years and gives a detailed account of his birth and the signs of it. There’s even a star in the east. What piqued my interest is the idea that when Jesus dies, the entire earth will be enveloped in darkness for three days. Now, I’m going out on a limb here — wouldn’t it be interesting if sometime around 30-34 A.D. the earth was in darkness for three days? I’m not saying that would prove either the Book of Mormon or the Christian Scriptures, but it would provide an interesting motivation for a new religious movement steeped in a resurrection story. Just sayin.

Things I Noticed in the Text

1. Helaman 5:22-23, And it Burns Burns Burns…That ring of fire! Helaman’s sons, named Nephi and Lehi (they’re popular names in this book) go out into the world to preach the gospel. They’re capture and thrown in prison. When the Lamanites come to do something to them, maybe execute or torture them, they’re protected by a ring of fire! When the Lamanites repent, they, too, are protected by the ring of fire.
2. Helaman 8:27, Deadly Prophesy. Nephi keeps up this pattern of miraculous preaching. He prophesies the chief judge (who is wicked and so are the people) will be found dead. Not believing him, the people rush to the judge to find him dead! An entire drama unfolds. Which leads to…
3. Helaman 9:36-38, Check Out That Hat. In the picture above. That guy is Seantum and, well, he killed the chief judge. Nephi predicted that and that was his face when the people confronted him. Good going, prophet!
4. Helaman 11:3-12, Starve or Believe. I had problems with this. Nephi prays for a famine because the people just won’t listen or convert. So God brings a famine and the people are starving to death. It is in their life-ending hunger they repent and the rains return. Not a fan of this story.
5. Helaman 14:2, Samuel the Lamanite. Guess what? Samuel says Jesus will be born in five years!
6. Helaman 14:20, Samuel Again. Guess what? When Jesus dies, there’ll be three days of darkness!

This post is part of a larger series where I read the entirety of Latter-day Saint scripture in 15 days. Take a look at the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.