Book of Helaman 1-6 - Come Follow Me - "The Rock of Our Redeemer"

A quick summary of key events in Helaman 1-6:

• These six chapters cover years 40-68 of the reign of the judges. 
• There are SEVEN chief judges during this period because five are murdered as a result of greed and pride
• Kishkuman and the Gadianton robbers slowly began to infiltrate the land with their secret combinations and murders. This led to Nephite dissension, which led to the successful Lamanite invasion.
• After Moronihah (the son of Mosiah) was only able to get back 50% of their land from the Lamanites, the Lamanites and Nephites began to freely travel between the lands and trading commerce with each other.
• Lehi and Nephi, the sons of Helaman (who was the son of Helaman, who was the son of Alma), preached for the rest of their days. As a result, many Lamanites were converted to the Lord.
• The Lamanites became increasingly good. The Nephites became increasingly bad. 
• The Lord protected Lehi and Nephi when they entered the land of Nephi to preach to the Lamanites and were thrown in prison. More Lamanites were converted. 
• The Lamanites eradicated the Gadianton robbers instead of listening to them and became increasingly meek and humble while the Nephites listened to the robbers and began to join with them in "their secret murders and combinations." (Helaman 6:38)
  
  

By the time we reach the writings of Helaman, the Nephites had lost and regained land to the Nephites three times over 15 years. Each time this happened, many people died. 

The Come Follow Me manual refers to how this happened as the "pride cycle," in which the Nephites were so blessed for obeying the commandments that they became very prosperous, forgot how they reached that level of success, began to fight with one another, and weakened themselves to the point where the Lamanites could come in and destroy them. Then, they remembered, repented, were blessed, and began to prosper yet again. 

(Click to enlargen): 

A recent example of the pride cycle (click to enlargen):

How Do You Overcome the Pride Cycle?
When I think about this, I look at the physical and spiritual gifts that the Lord has blessed me with and whether I have become lifted up in pride, or whether I am seeking to use my gifts to further the work the Lord, serve others, and bring beauty into the world. A little exercise to consider: Write done five blessings in your life. Write down how you have used them for good. Then write down how you can work on them this year, to use them for good. Moroni was a master strategist and blessed the Nephites with his skill and thinking. He never forgot the Lord and the inspiration the Lord gave him. It never occurred to him to use his skill to crown himself king, yet this thought occurred to many others (Paanchi, Kishkumen, Gaddianton, Amalickiah, all of the kingmen, to name just a few). In fact, in Alma 60:36, Moroni says, "I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country."

 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/1994/11/captain-moroni-and-pahoran?lang=eng

In Helaman 3, we see that in the 48th and 49th year of the reign of the judges that there was so much peace throughout the land that "there was exceedingly great prosperity in the church." However, by the 51st year, after only a few years of prosperity, pride "began to enter into the church - not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God - And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethern" (Helaman 3:34-35). It's a bold reminder to watch ourselves and how quickly we can forget.

Trials and Hope
What about those that were humble and faithful throughout, the ones that never fell prey to the pride cycle, the people of Ammon who remained true to their covenant not to lift their weapons; Helaman, Moroni, Teancum, Lehi, Nephi, and so many more that were not named? They had to live through those wars and see their people slaughtered by the Nephites, too, even though they were obedient. 

It says in Helaman 3:34 that the pride of others caused "the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much afflictions."

It says of the humble followers of God: 

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their unto God." (Helaman 3:35).

We cannot live this life without trials and anguish but I find great comfort in knowing that the the Lord is always waiting and encourage us to remember him. We can remember the words that Helaman taught his sons:

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm 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." (Helaman 5:12).

"They were steadfast and immovable" - Come Follow Me - Mosiah 29 - Alma 4

Today as I was studying scriptures, and re-reading a chapter that I've studied several times in the last week, I felt an intense wave of emotion as I read Alma 2:30:

At this point in history, an evil man Almici, was trying to make himself king of Zarahemla. When he didn't succeed by vote, he made himself a king anyway with his followers, then tried to overthrow the Nephites in the land by brute force. When that didn't work, and the Amlicites had to flee from the Nephites, the Amlicites joined forces with the Lamanites to return and destroy the Nephites. That's when we get to this verse.

In Alma 2:16, it says that Alma is "at the head of his armies," not trying to protect himself, but to protect his people, fighting with the wicked Amlicites face-to-face. This is a scary prospect. It says in Alma 2: 27 that after the Amlicites joined forces with the Lamanites and returned to defeat the Nephites that those Lamanites + Amlicites were "numerous almost, as it were, as the sands of the sea." The Nephites were relying on their faith in the Lord, and that they were defending their beliefs, their God, and their families.

Alma never flinched from his faith in the Lord and in doing so, he helped his people to be strong during great adversity. The Lord gave him strength to slay Amlici in Alma 2:31, then fight the king of the Lamanites in Alma 2:32. I think it's interesting that with Alma's great faith he slew, and even gave chase, that they might have peace in their lands. Whereas the king of the Lamanites hid behind his guards once he realized that he wasn't going to defeat Alma.

Remembering
Earlier this month, I shared a seven-minute video on the book of Mosiah and how we can turn to the Lord if we always remember. When we get to Alma 4, just eight years after King Mosiah has died, and Zarahemla no longer has a king (they've moved to a system of judges that King Mosiah recommended to prevent an evil king from taking over one day, like King Noah did), we see the effects of people forgetting.

In Alma 1, no one went hungry or naked. Everyone was equal. By Alma 4, just eight years later, there were envyings and strife, and people turning their backs upon the naked and hungry. (Click on image to enlargen or click on links above to go to those scripture chapters.)

It's stunning how little time it takes for people to forget, and for a righteous to become corrupt. It's stunning how many people forgot the words of King Mosiah and how much peace and happiness they had throughout the land. It's a reminder to always remember, and always put the Lord first in our lives. We can't take our blessings and gifts for granted, lest we forget where they come from and that they should be used for good, to serve others, to serve our God. We can't forget that the Lord loves us all equally, no matter the trials we face in our lives, our gender, our age, our titles, or the color of our skin. We are to serve each other as equals, as brothers and sisters united under one God.

As happened in the land of Nephi, when Alma listened to Abinadi and escaped into the wilderness to preach the word of God, there were people in Zarahemla that hadn't forgotten. They were steadfast and immovable. They still fed and clothed the poor and needy. Alma himself stepped down as chief judge, appointing a righteous man in his place, so that he could go out among the people and teach the word of God. He was steadfast and immovable in his conviction and desire to bring people to God. He didn't put a title in front of the value of worthy work, and that's something that Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, Enos, King Mosiah, King Benjamin, King Mosiah's son King Mosiah, Alma, and of course, Alma the Younger himself, all did. It was never about fame, accolades, title, or wealth. It was about serving their people because when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God. (Mosiah 2:17).

Gideon Never Forgot
One final thought I want to share about this section of scriptures, is another one of my favorite scripture heroes, Gideon. Gideon was a brave and intelligent warrior. It says in the scriptures that the wicked Amlici was also a wise man but only "as to the wisdom of the world." (Alma 2:1). Gideon could have defeated King Noah but he let him go because the Lamanites were coming and King Noah lied and said he needed to save his people. Then, when King Noah's people were taken in bondage by the Lamanites, it was Gideon who devised a plan to help them escape and return to Zarahemla (Mosiah 22:3-9). Finally, Gideon died defending the word of God from the wicked Nehor (Alma 1:8), because at that point he was very old, and no longer able to defend himself from the blows of the sword. I admire this courageous man. A lot of his successes were that he never forgot. He ended his life as a martyr for the Lord, never forgetting his Lord, his God.