Lessons on the Book of Mormon 2020
Lesson No. Thirty-Two
A Time of Serious Difficulties and Great Opportunities – Helaman 1 – 6
The Book of Helaman is an account of contentions and dissensions among the Nephites a few decades before the First Coming of Christ. We live at a time before His Second Coming, and the lessons from the Book of Helaman are very important for us to apply in our own lives.
The Book of Helaman begins “there began to be a serious difficulty among the people of the Nephites” (Helaman 1:1). Nephi knew that he could do more to solve these difficulties by teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ than anything else, so “he yielded up the judgment-seat, and he took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days” (Helaman 5:4).
Nephite dissenters who sought for power resorted to violence. Today the primary weapons used by those who seek for power are false educational, political, and philosophical concepts. The solution to our difficulties, as it was in the Book of Mormon, is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nephi had great success in changing people’s hearts because the Lord supported him with His mighty power. (See Helaman 5:14-52) In our day we also have a marvelous opportunity to change hearts through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is being taught world-wide, and we can be part of it.
The following are two serious difficulties in our society and some suggestions of how we can make a difference.
There is a movement to cancel history and take God out of the founding of this nation. The Nephites also forgot God and His commandments, and when Nephi and Lehi became weary of the iniquity in their society they remembered that their father Helaman taught them of their heritage. (See Helaman 5:4-7) “And they did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God to teach the word of God among all the people of Nephi” (Helaman 5:14).
Today, many people have forgotten God and His commandments. They do not know our national heritage, but believe that the United States was founded on sin and oppression. Therefore, the founding of our nation is often demeaned, and our Founders are slandered.
The truth is that God directed Columbus, the pilgrims, the Founders, and the Constitution of the United States so there would be a free nation where the gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored (See 1 Nephi 13:12-19; D&C 101:80).
The accompanying illustrations were published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1976 as part of the Bicentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. They are excellent reminders that God uses good, wise, and imperfect people to accomplish His purposes.
Those who know the truths of the founding of our nation have the responsibility to teach them to their children and grandchildren, and to advocate them with their friends and associates. These illustrations are an effective way to do that.
The corruption of laws that protect the family and support individual responsibility. The Nephites “altered and trampled under their feet the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord had commanded him to give unto the people” (Helaman 4:22). And “they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted” (Helaman 5:2).
In our day laws that have historically protected the family and supported individual responsibility have been corrupted, and by doing so the agency of individuals and the responsibility of families have been compromised. This growing threat is often promoted by those who appear to be well meaning, but are at best ill informed, and at worst they are active conspirators against freedom.
The Lord knows all things, and He has directed latter-day prophets to give this warning: “Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets” (The Family – A Proclamation to the World).
There is a built-in tension between over-reaching government and functioning families. At the heart of many of the problems our society struggles with is the question of who has the responsibility for our basic day to day needs. Government is responsible for military, public safety and health, and many other important functions. However, our day to day well being is primarily the responsibility of the individual and the family.
Unfortunately, often the government is anxious to over-reach, and many individuals and families are willing to abdicate. It must be remembered that if the family is strong, government can be limited, and if the family is weak, government expands.
To begin to solve many of the worlds problems we must encourage “responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society” (The Family – A Proclamation to the World).
When we act with faith the Lord will make up the difference – Even when there are great difficulties in society there can be, as it was with the Nephites, “exceedingly great prosperity in the church insomuch that there were thousands who did join themselves unto the church and were baptized unto repentance….And it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea, even tens of thousands….Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God” (Helaman 3:24, 26, 28).
Helaman chapters 1 – 6 remind us we can be a force for good in a world that has many serious difficulties. And then after we done “all things that lie in our power; then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:17).