The Disintegration of Nephite Society
Book of Mormon Notes - Saturday, November 25, 2023, Helaman 1
According to my reading schedule and my goal to read the entire Book of Mormon by Christmas, I should have already finished the books of Helaman and 3 Nephi by now. I don’t want to rush through any of it, but I will probably make shorter commentaries and work through more chapters. All of this will be great preparation for the Come Follow Me curriculum for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2024 when we study the Book of Mormon together. I’m excited for that.
I’m also very excited to begin a study of the Book of Helaman. The introduction to the Book of Helaman, like introductions to other books in the Book of Mormon, looks like it could have been written by Mormon. But when I consider how Nephi wrote the preface to his own book, it also makes sense that Helaman, or his son Nephi, or his son Lehi, wrote this preface to the Book of Helaman. Whoever wrote the preface to the Book of Helaman, it gives us a great overview of what we are about to study: the wars, contentions, dissensions, and wickedness of the Nephites, the prophecies of many holy prophets before the coming of Christ, the conversion and righteousness of many of the Lamanites (especially in contrast to the degeneracy and wickedness of the Nephites), and other events leading up to the coming of Christ. It is the record of Helaman and his sons Lehi and Nephi, in the Book of Nephi, or the large plates of Nephi, abridged and narrated by the great prophet-historian Mormon.
The deaths of many great Nephite heroes, including Teomner, Teancum, Pahoran, Moroni, and Helaman, and the temporary peace and prosperity of the Nephites seems to have led inevitably to more conflict. The Book of Helaman begins with more political strife because of the vacancy in the judgment seat after Pahoran’s death. It seems as though Pahoran was not able to facilitate a peaceful transfer of power because of his involvement in the wars against the dissenters and the Lamanites. It also seems as though he was not able to properly train a successor because three of his sons began to contend for the judgment seat after his death. This suggests to me that, like the many dissenters in Zarahemla, Pahoran’s sons were seeking for power and authority. They wanted to rule. They could have taken a lesson from the sons of Mosiah who refused even kingship in order to serve and preach the Gospel among their enemies.
One reason that I am excited to study the Book of Helaman is that, in my estimation, there are many parallels between more recent American history and the events in the Book of Helaman. Again, the parallels aren’t perfect, and my matching timeline isn’t perfect. But in the Book of Helaman we begin to catch a better glimpse of the kind of corruption that is rampant in our own modern American society. We could easily be somewhere in the Book of Helaman, or even deep into Third Nephi in terms of the timeline for anticipating the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The political conflict at the beginning of the Book of Helaman foreshadows political conflict in our time in at least two ways. The first is that there was corruption among the elites. Pahoran’s sons, Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni, contended for the judgment seat. They seemed to partake in that same spirit of dissension that afflicted the king-men and other rebels before them. The second is that the people also seemed to be corrupt. The voice of the people was part of the decision making process that King Mosiah had established long ago - a kind of democracy mixed with aristocracy. But the voice of the people led to some very unwise and destructive political decisions. More democracy, more equality, more voice of the people does not always lead to better decisions and greater political stability. In fact, in this case, the voice of the people, along with the corruption of the elites, led to disastrous consequences for the Nephites.
Mormon begins his abridgment and narration in the commencement of the fortieth year of the reign of the judges, only 51 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The death of Pahoran left a power vacuum that led to “a serious difficulty among the people of the Nephites” and “a serious contention concerning who should have the judgment-seat among the brethren, who were the sons of Pahoran”. Just as a brief side note, who could have come up with names like Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni? I challenge any one of you to come up with just one such name, let alone one verse that speaks from the dust like a verse of the Book of Mormon, let alone an entire chapter, or the Book of Helaman. Joseph Smith didn’t invent or write any of this. He translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God. Furthermore, Mormon’s voice shines through even more clearly here at the beginning of the Book of Helaman. His powers as an abridger and narrator have been gathering momentum, and they will continue to gain momentum into his own book, the Book of Mormon within the Book of Mormon (and also The Words of Mormon).
Another brief side note on Book of Mormon names: I hadn’t really noticed until today when I tried to spell out the names Helaman and Nephites in Hebrew, that the name Helaman is basically the name Laman, with the article “he” tagged onto the beginning.
Another linguistic detail that I just noticed: the phrase “gone the way of all the earth”. I noticed that Mormon used this phrase in his lamentation of the death of Teancum, and he uses it again here to describe the death of Pahoran. It is also a phrase that Mormon used to describe the death of King Mosiah (Alma 1:1), King Benjamin (Mosiah 1:9). And guess who started or first gave voice this linguistic trend in the Book of Mormon? It was none other than father Lehi himself, speaking of his own impending death:
Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling aparent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent bgrave, from whence no traveler can creturn; a few more ddays and I go the eway of all the earth. (2 Nephi 1:14)
I’m willing to bet that there is something in Jewish, Semitic, and Egyptian culture and linguistic history that can help account for this phrase.
Apparently Pahoran had many sons who stayed out of the conflict, but these three sons, Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni, caused three factions within Nephite society because of their contention for the judgment seat. To whom did the judgment seat rightly belong? Was it by inheritance of the oldest son? Should Pahoran II have been the chief judge? That appears to be the case because the voice of the people came out in favor of Pahoran II.
But as I mentioned previously, the voice of the people was not a guarantee of wise or just decision-making. King Mosiah made sure that the voice of the people was an integral part of the political process, and that just democracy would contribute to justice in general. But as King Mosiah also knew, the voice of the people isn’t an automatic guarantee for success:
Therefore, choose you by the avoice of this people, judges, that ye may be bjudged according to the claws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord.
Now it is not common that the avoice of the people desireth anything bcontrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the cpeople to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people.
And aif the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land. (Mosiah 29:25-27)
More democracy and equality doesn’t automatically mean more justice and peace. In fact, as we are beginning to see in this ancient Nephite society - and as should be obvious to any clear thinking citizen in our own corrupt modern American society - more democracy and equality sometimes means more injustice and conflict. The time had come in Nephite society when the voice of the people was not as reliable as it had been in the times of King Mosiah or any of the earlier chief judges. What happened? It seems to me that just as many great Nephite heroes were disappearing by dying off one by one, there was a concurrent decline in virtue in the people. Does this remind you of any modern civilized nation, perhaps one that began with a virtuous generation of revolutionaries, great men, and founding fathers who produced a Constitution and a wise system of government to bequeath upon their descendants?
The decision from the voice of the people in favor of Pahoran II may have been the correct and just decision, but it failed to resolve the conflict between the three brothers. One of the brothers, Pacumeni, though probably disappointed, decided to aunite with the voice of the people and support the system of government that King Mosiah had wisely established long ago. But Paanchi - maybe because he had too many of the same vowel in the middle of his name - Paanchi - seriously, who could come up with a name like that? - and his supporters were angry, or “exceedingly wroth”. Paanchi wanted to rule, and he did not accept the voice of the people. There was a faction in Nephite society that supported Paanchi against Pahoran and Pacumeni, a faction that was more rebellious than the faction that supported Pacumeni against Pahoran and Paanchi. Perhaps the faction that favored Pahoran was in the right, and the faction that favored Pacumeni was at least sensible enough to accept the decision of the majority of the people, whereas the faction that favored Paanchi was desirous for power and authority like the defeated king-men.
These political conflicts among candidates for rule in the highest office of the land might remind us a bit of our own presidential elections in the United States. The Hillary-Trump conflict was one of the most pronounced in recent history, but the voice of the people decided in favor of Trump. There were many among the American people who, like the supporters of Paanchi, were not happy with that decision. But Paanchi and his supporters not only refused to accept the decision (doesn’t Hillary still think that she won?), but they planned to rise up in rebellion against the people and against Pahoran. Some may argue that Trump supporters tried to do the same thing that Hillary supporters did, but it’s still not entirely clear to me if, and how one of the most incompetent and senile men in the country is now the President of the United States. Thankfully it’s not Obama or Hillary, but Joe Biden? Really America? I don’t consider Trump to be the pinnacle of wise and virtuous leadership or a paragon of the presidency, but at least he seemed to love the United States. At least he wanted to put America first and make America great again. But Joe Biden? How did that happen? How could someone who is so obviously one of the most corrupt and loathsome career politicians in the world be elevated to the office that the Founders imbued with such dignity? It is mind-boggling.
The point is that more democracy, whether among the Nephites or among us modern Americans, does not automatically translate into greater justice, stability, and peace. In fact, as these ancient Nephites soon discovered, the voice of the people, along with the corruption and conflict among leaders, contributed to the development of an even more nefarious faction in the body politic, and one that would eventually lead to the destruction of the entire Nephite nation.
Paanchi was about to flatter away his supporters to rise up in rebellion against the voice of the people that had decided in favor of Pahoran II, but the voice of the people would not put up with such rebellions. Paanchi was tried according to the avoice of the people and condemned unto death. This was the law. Again it seems as though the voice of the people lacked stability, wisdom, and judgment, because this election, trial, and execution led to even greater animosity among the disgruntled and dissatisfied faction of Paanchi. Wise and virtuous statesmen were not at the helm, and there was also a lack of wisdom and virtue in the people. If Pahoran I, Helaman I, and Moroni I had still been alive, they wouldn’t have put up with any of it. The Nephite civilization was beginning to decay and disintegrate, and the Paanchi-ites accelerated that decay and decline by sending aKishkumen in disguise to murder Pahoran on his judgment seat.
This was a big turning point in Nephite civilization. Think of the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. This was a big deal. But lest we think that Pahoran II was assassinated by a crazed and mentally deranged political opponent, Mormon makes it clear that Kishkumen’s treacherous crime was carefully planned and highly organized. In fact, Kishkumen introduced a new secret combination into Nephite society. The Nephites didn’t really know who had assassinated their chief judge Pahoran II, because Kishkumen had been in disguise, and because he fled so speedily from the crime scene.
How did Mormon know that Kishkumen was the murderer? How did Helaman and his sons know that Kishkumen was the murderer? Kishkumen and the supporters of Paanchi entered into a wicked covenant, even aswearing by their everlasting Maker, that they would tell no man that Kishkumen had murdered Pahoran. Kishkumen and his band mingled themselves among the people in a manner that prevented most of them from being discovered. Apparently some of them were discovered and put to death, but most of them seemed to have successfully blended into Nephite society.
Think of this: there was a band of murderers and robbers who had sworn with an oath that they would not make their crimes known, and yet they mingled with Nephite society so successfully that most of them were never discovered. Why would Mormon include these details about the corruption in Nephite society. Later, Mormon clearly warns us, his latter-day audience, that the same kind of corruption and secret crimes will run rampant among us. Think of how many Kishkumens have successfully blended in with American society, upheld by the wicked oaths of others in their band. In recent months we have even begun to realize that some of these modern Kishkumens have not only blended in successfully in American society, but even into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Wake up people! We need to awaken to our awful situation and realize that there are Kishkumens among us who appear to be normal American citizens or members of the Church.
After Pahoran II’s death, Pacumeni became the chief judge for a time, but his reign did not last long either because a dissenter from the Nephites (and a descendant of Zarahemla), the vicious Coriantumr (what a name, by the way?!), slammed him against the wall of the city and killed him during the Lamanite invasion of the Nephite capital. Again we witness how internal dissensions and contentions facilitated the successful external attacks from the Lamanites. All of this was taking place just fifty years before the birth of Christ. Things were heating up, just as things are heating up today.
Remember that the great Teancum had temporarily solved the problem of Lamanite invasions by assassinating both Lamanite kings, first Amalickiah, and then, at the cost of his own life, Ammoron. But the Lamanite hydra had many more heads, including the son of Ammoron, the next Lamanite king, a man named Tubaloth. Could you invent a name like Tubaloth? No. But it sure sounds like the name of a deranged, vengeful, and wicked king who was bold enough to send Coriantumr to attack the Nephites in their capital city, Zarahemla. Even the best of the Nephites, including Moronihah, were surprised by this attack. It was even more surprising than Hamas’ recent surprise attack on Israel. Think of it something on the par of Xi-Jinping’s communites Chinese armies taking over Washington D.C. But of course nothing like that could ever happen to us in the United States, because Biden would never invite Xi-Jinping to the White House, for example.
Under orders from the enraged Tubaloth, Coriantumr plunged the Lamanites into the center of the Nephite territories, conquering Zarahemla and initiating a march toward Bountiful. This very well could have been the end of the Nephite civilization, had it not been for the swift action of the great Moronihah, son of the great Moroni. Moronihah, with the help of the great Lehi (at least one Nephite hero who had survived), surrounded the Lamanites, slew Coriantumr, and recaptured Zarahemla. Moronihah had made a mistake by assuming that the Lamanites would not attack their capital, but Coriantumr erred by assuming that the Nephites were strongest in the center of their land.
These were very bloody battles. There was much loss of life, of men, women, and children. Perhaps we better understand the wisdom of Hagoth and his people who migrated first toward the north, and then who knows where. But like his father, Moronihah was victorious. They regained the city, and Moronihah sent away the Lamanite prisoners.
As I study this first chapter in the Book of Helaman, I can see so many parallels with modern American society: the political disarray and conflict, the corruption of elites and the people, the rise of secret combinations, external threats from enemies, the paucity of true heroes, and so forth. But at least up to this point the capital city of the United States, Washington D.C. still appears to be under American control. I say appears, because the recent friendly visit of the communist Chinese dictator Xi Jinping does not sit well with me, especially when I consider how many government and business elites in the United States are in bed with the Chinese. It looks like a recipe for disaster, especially when I consider that secret combinations are rampant in D.C. and in every part of the country, including my own dear state of Utah. As terrifying as the modern day Tubaloth’s and Coriantumr’s may be, the latter-day Kishkumens are just as much, if not more of a problem. This is one reason why I appreciate the work of patriots in organizations like Defending Utah, Tree of Liberty Society, and We Are the People.
Our political and social circumstances are not unlike those of these ancient Nephites, and Mormon knew that very well. Mormon’s account and abridgment sends forth wisdom as a voice from the dust to warn us and prepare us for things to come, especially the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus far Helaman, through Moroni, has taught us about wars, contentions, and dissensions among the Nephites. But the Lord, in his mercy, sent prophets among these ancient Nephites to warn and to prophesy of Christ’s coming. The Lord in his mercy has done the same for us today. But how many of us are really paying attention? I often wonder if it will take some catastrophe to make COVID look like a picnic in order to wake up the people to the reality of our awful situation, a catastrophe on the level of Kishkumen’s crimes and Coriantumr’s invasions. I hope not.