Remember, Remember
Book of Mormon Notes - Tuesday, November 28, 2023, Helaman 5
Helaman chapter five is one of the greatest chapters in all of scripture. I know that I’ve said that about a lot of chapters, but this one is chock full of Christ-centered testimony and teachings. All of Mormon’s previous abridgment and commentary on the Book of Helaman seems to lead up to this chapter, culminating in the direct quotations of Helaman and his sons.
Like the first Chief Judge of the Nephites and his great predecessor Alma, Nefi delivered up the judgment seat to another in order to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many similarities between Alma’s decision to hand over the responsibilities of the chief judge to Nephihah, and Nephi’s decision to hand over the responsibilities of the chief judge to Cezoram. Just as in Alma’s time, the Nephites in the time of Nephi, son of Helaman, had begun to wax proud. Like Alma, Nephi witnessed the suffering and afflictions of the humble followers of Christ because of the persecutions and the wickedness of proud. Like Alma, Nephi was sorrowful because of the wickedness of his people. Like Alma, Nephi knew that the only solution was to try the virtue of the word of God, and to do what Alma had done, namely, to confine “himself wholly to the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy”.
But there were also differences between the ministry of Alma in the early years of the reign of the judges and the ministry of Nephi in the years just prior to Christ’s birth. Whereas in Alma’s time, most of the pride and wickedness seemed to be concentrated in cities like Zarahemla and Ammonihah, in Nephi’s time, most of the people had become so wicked that they were on the verge of destruction:
For as their laws and their governments were established by the avoice of the people, and they who bchose evil were cmore numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were dripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.
Yea, and this was not all; they were a astiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction. (Helaman 5:2-3)
It would be difficult to find a better description of the time in which we now live. We live in the last days, or as President Nelson recently put it, with language drawn from this chapter in the Book of Helaman (see the footnote especially):
My dear brothers and sisters, these are the latter days. If you and I are to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures, it is imperative that we each have a firm spiritual foundation built upon the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.2
To anyone who is paying attention it is obvious that those who choose evil are cmore numerous than those choose good, or at least that those who choose evil have won most battles in the culture wars. Those who choose evil are also the most vehement and vocal. The worst, as the poet put it, are full of passionate intensity, while the best lack all conviction. The voice of the people is not the same as it used to be. How else could charlatans and criminals like the Clintons, the Bushes, Obama, and especially Biden ever be nominated, let alone elected as President of the United States of America, that high office to which Washington and Lincoln once bestowed their dignity? The argument could be made, and it has been made, that we have been ripening for iniquity ever since the days of Woodrow Wilson. But now our Divinely inspired Constitution hangs by a thread, the laws have become corrupted, and we are such a astiffnecked people that we can’t be governed by the law nor justice except to our destruction. No wonder President Nelson drew inspiration from this chapter in the Book of Helaman in order to prepares us to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures.
Like Alma before him, and perhaps like our dear Prophet today, Nephi had become weary because of the iniquity of his people. Mormon’s description of Nephi’s weariness is significant because the Lord will later commend Nephi for his unwearyingness. In other words, Nephi was weary of the iniquity of his people, but he was not weary in well doing. Thus the Lord instructed Joseph Smith and his associates:
Wherefore, be not aweary in bwell-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of csmall things proceedeth that which is great. (D&C 64:33)
Or in the words of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians:
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9)
Like Alma before him, Nephi shifted his focus, attention, energy and efforts away from his previous political post in order to take it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days. His brother Lehi did the same. They became full-time missionaries.
Why did they do this? Because they remembered what their father Helaman had taught them. Here we move from Mormon’s extensive narrative and abridgment of the large plates of Nephi to a direct quotation of Helaman to his sons. This brief sermon from the great Helaman, son of Helaman to his sons who were growing up unto the Lord, is now legendary and contains one of the most oft-quoted verses in the Book of Mormon. It has been quoted almost 100 times in General Conference alone, and probably much more than that. But let’s take a closer look at Helaman’s teachings to his sons because there is certainly much more gold to be mined from this inexhaustible source of spiritual riches. These are some of the words that Helaman spake unto his obedient and attentive sons Nephi and Lehi:
Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first aparents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were bgood.
Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.
And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a atreasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that bprecious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.
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.
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.
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.
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. (Helaman 5:6-12)
I count the repetition of the word “remember” thirteen times in that short passage. What did Helaman wish for his sons to remember?
to keep the commandments of God
their names
their forefathers after whom they had been named
the works of their forefathers
that the works of their forefathers were good
the words of King Benjamin
that salvation only comes through Christ
the words of Amulek to Zeezrom concerning how the Lord redeems from sin
that it is upon the arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your bfoundation
That’s ten simple things to remember.
But there’s just so much in these brief instructions from Helaman to his sons. Consider this: Mormon named his own son Moroni after the great Nephite hero and chief captain, probably after having already studied these passages in the Book of Helaman. Remember that Ammoron instructed the ten year-old Mormon to prepare himself for the custody of the plates, and Mormon retrieved the plates when he was only twenty-four years old. Mormon certainly already knew the story of Moroni, and he had probably read about Moroni, as well as about Helaman and his sons, in the scriptures that were available more generally to the Nephites. But can you imagine what it would have been like, after fourteen years, for the twenty-four year old Mormon to enter into the repository of Nephite records and begin the work of preparation to create the Book of Mormon? Perhaps Mormon’s son Moroni had already been born by then, but I imagine that when Mormon first read Helaman’s instructions to his sons Nephi and Lehi, whether he read these instructions from the more general Nephite scriptures or directly from the plates of Nephi and the record of Helaman, Mormon must have been inspired to do the same thing for his son Moroni that Helaman had done for his sons Nephi and Lehi, that is, bestow a name that would inspire memory of a righteous heritage, memory of the Savior, and memory to do good.
Furthermore, when I consider Mormon’s own memory, soaring back through Nephite history, it makes sense to me that the memory of the founders of the Lehite civilization was still fresh in his memory, even while writing about Helaman and his sons. Most importantly, Mormon’s memory of Christ’s ministry among the Nephites was perhaps most fresh in his memory, not only because he had probably already read and studied the record of Third Nephi before abridging it, but also because the Lord and the three Nephites had ministered unto him personally. The story of Lehi and Nephi in the small plates of Nephi may seem like a distant memory by the time we reach this chapter in Alma, but Helaman, and Mormon, wished for the memory of these two great prophets and founders to be preserved and present for their respective audiences. Imagine how Helaman’s sons must have studied the lives and teachings of their forefathers whose names their bore. And imagine what Mormon might want us to learn about the birth and rebirth of this great civilization - the birth through Lehi and Nephi, and the rebirth through Nephi and Lehi, all in preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Helaman bestowed the names of their first aparents who came out of the land of Jerusalem in order for them to remember their good works and emulate their good examples. In fact, Nephi and his brother Lehi went to preach the word of God to their wicked people because they remembered the words of their father Helaman, and because they remembered how their first parents had also preached the word of God to their wicked people, Lehi in Jerusalem and in the Promised Land, and Nephi to his wicked brothers Laman and Lemuel. I suppose that Nephi most emulated Alma by relinquishing the judgment seat to Cezoram, but both Nephi and Lehi embodied and expressed the same hopes of the original Nephi and Lehi.
It is interesting to note that good was both said and written of the original Lehi and Nephi, and Helaman desired that good be both said and written of his sons with the same names. This suggests to me that there was a strong oral tradition among the Nephites, in addition to their tradition of record keeping. Helaman’s own memory was saturated with the teachings of previous prophets, including King Benjamin, whose words he paraphrases and even quotes verbatim:
And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a atreasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that bprecious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.
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. (Helaman 5:8-9)
How did King Benjamin put it exactly?
And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be ano other name given nor any other way nor means whereby bsalvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the cLord Omnipotent. (Mosiah 3:17)
Helaman’s mastery of the prophesies of the prophets and of Nephite history enabled him to chose the most important messages for his sons, and his sons were prepared to receive this most important message, just as the people of Gideon were prepared to receive Alma’s most important message:
For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the atime is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people. (Alma 7:7)
As important as the names and the works of the original Lehi and Nephi were, Helaman knew that there was one things which is of more importance than they all, namely the coming, the life, and the ministry of our Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, after teaching his sons about the significance of their names, he calls upon the words of King Benjamin and Amulek to teach them specifically about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, His work of Redemption from sin, and the glad tidings of the conditions of repentance. It is repentance that brings unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of our souls. After drawing from these, and probably many other sources in Nephite history and from the Nephite records, Helaman shares his own inspired testimony of Jesus Christ in a verse that has probably been quoted throughout the Church more than any other, a verse that deserves even closer attention and study:
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. (Helaman 5:12)
Did Nephi and Lehi remember their father’s testimony? Yes. Did they build their bfoundation upon the arock of their Redeemer? Yes. We can pay attention to how the devil later sent forth his mighty winds, his shafts in the whirlwind, and when all his hail and his mighty cstorm beat upon them, and then we can better understand why these winds, whirlwinds, shafts, hail, and storm had no power over Nephi and Lehi because of the rock upon which they were built.
But of course Mormon didn’t record and inscribe these teachings of Helaman to his sons for his own, or even solely for his son Moroni’s benefit. Just as Mormon has been teaching latter-day fathers (and mothers) how to teach their sons (and daughters) throughout the Book of Mormon, from Lehi’s teaching to Nephi, from King Mosiah’s teachings to his sons, from Alma’s teachings to his sons, and from the teachings of the Ammonite mothers to their sons, Mormon continues to teach latter-day fathers (and mothers) how to teach their sons (and daughters) through Helaman’s teachings to his sons Nephi and Lehi. And living prophets and apostles have frequently taught the same things by the same Spirit. I’ve noticed that President Eyring in particular has taught frequently from these verses in the Book of Helaman. (See, e.g. “As a Child”, and more recently “Steady in the Storms”) In fact, in both of these talks, Elder Eyring introduces Helaman’s teachings in almost the exact same way:
For those of us who are concerned about such a future for ourselves and for those we love—in our families, in our quorums, and in our classes—there is hope in the promise the Lord has given us of a place of safety in the storms ahead. Here is a word picture of that place. You have read about it in scripture. It has been repeatedly described by living prophets. A loving father told his sons of it this way as he tried to strengthen them against the storms of temptation: (from “As a Child”)
For those of us who are concerned for ourselves and for those we love, there is hope in the promise God has made of a place of safety in the storms ahead. Here is a word picture of that place. It has been repeatedly described by living prophets. For example, as recorded in the Book of Mormon, an inspired and loving father told his sons how to strengthen themselves to stand steady in the storms ahead of them: (from “Steady in the Storms”)
Elder Wilford W. Andersen and Elder Weatherford T. Clayton have also taught specifically from these passages of scripture.
To be continued…