Tag: Helaman
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Reactive
Moronihah did not anticipate and prepare for what the landlord would do. Unlike his father, Moroni, he prepared for the previous war. He was still able to text to the circumstances and quickly regain control of the neighbor lands after the Lamanites invaded. I could definitely see the possibility of an attempted political assassination if…
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Foreshadowing Samuel
I never realized before how close Mormon comes to directly quoting the words of Samuel the Lamanite when he warns of what would happen if the prophets of the Lord should curse the treasure of the people for their wickedness.
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How unsteady
It continues to amaze me how quickly and repeatedly the people can go from treating Nephi like a pariah to hailing him as a prophet to rejecting his call to seeking his assistance and hailing him again to turning to their pride again.
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Weak conversion
Right after some people had declared that Nephi was a prophet and done even claimed he was a god he was rejected by everyone when he declared that they should repent. It is likely that there were some individuals who accepted his call to repent but also likely that there were those who had declared…
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Animosity and pride
It seems to me from reading of the Nephites and Lamanites and from observing our nation that the preference of animosity and pride among us are key markers regarding how righteous we are as a people. When we tear people down and sow division we are distancing ourselves from the Spirit. When we see people…
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Internal strive leads to external danger…again
Once again a Lamanite threat has success because the Nephites were busy quarreling internally and failed to have adequate defenses. It makes me wonder as I see our strident divisions what external threats might emerge against us (and when).
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Perspective matters
Most of the Nephites were angry at Samuel the Lamanite but to a humble Nephi’s willing to listen to his words they would have heard him praising their ancestors over his own. Later the people imagined all kinds of explanations to reinforce what they wanted to believe. This is normal human nature, we can either…
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How long will ye choose darkness?
It is clear from a distance that the neighbors were rejecting the light that the Lord was sending their way and choosing to support those who flattered their pride. I see parallels among us today, even among members of the church, as we often prefer messages of ease and flattery rather than hard truths about…
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No assumptions
If I were in Nephi’s place i would be inclined to assume that the Lord would want to send rain upon the land when the people relented and so i would have been least pleading when asking the Lord to send rain. Nephi, despite knowing the character of God very well, plead for rain more…
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Fixed intent
It occurs to me that the wicked judges might have done more to hide the prophecies of Nephi by allowing the people to execute the five they assumed to be guilty rather than releasing them with the intent to trap Nephi instead. I’m tend to assume they didn’t really believe that Nephi had considered with…