Sometimes the Crowd Is Just Plain Wrong.

Helaman 16

Finally, the chapter where it describes the Nephites throwing rocks and shooting arrows at Samuel, but to no avail, as  shown in this picture that I have loved since childhood. 

The first hundred times I typed in Samuel the Lamanite, the auto correct on this computer changed it to Samuel the Laminate.  It was pretty annoying.  But sometimes it made me smile because, just like a good laminate flooring, this Lamanite was durable.  Not an arrow or a rock hit him (vs. 2) because the Spirit of the Lord was with him.  

And not everyone was trying to kill him.  It says as many as believed went to the prophet Nephi, confessing their sins and were baptized.  (vs. 1).  And Nephi was a busy prophet because it says:

"...Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come— Telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins." (vs. 4-5)

So the question I ask myself is, "If I were standing on a wall preaching to the Nephites, would their arrows and stones have found me?"   No, wait.  The question I ask myself and the question that I could actually have any impact on and the question that actually matters is, "Would I have bothered to climb the wall in the first place?"   God has let plenty of people seal their testimony with their lives for his own righteous purposes and I don't know if Samuel understood whether or not he was ever coming down off that wall.  But he got up on it, he stretched forth his hand, and he cried with a loud voice, and he preached the word of God.  (Helaman 13:4) While we can't choose what happens to us when we follow the voice of the Lord, we do have to choose whether we follow it or not.  There is no fence sitting.  Either you do or you don't.  

When the unrepentant Nephites realized they couldn't shoot him down, "they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him.

 7 And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people. 8 And behold, he was never heard of more among the Nephites." (vs. 6-8)

I am glad he was able to return to his own people and teach them, because, according to vs. 15, they needed his bold teaching also.  

It seems very familiar when these wicked, confused people said this righteous prophet had a devil.  If someone doesn't agree with those who are wicked, then the wicked are the ones who call the righteous evil,  and the wicked call themselves the righteous.   

Even when the wicked see "there were great signs given unto the people, and wonders; and the words of the prophets began to be fulfilled" (vs. 13) they used their own reasoning and explained it away and taught that  "it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come."   (vs. 18) and that  the Prophet's reason for teaching about Christ was that they might "... by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one, work some great mystery which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend upon them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives" (vs. 21). 

So much of the latter part of Helaman deals with choice and freedom and peace and iniquity and destruction.  No one works harder to find truth and no one is more free than someone who seeks after Christ.  The fact that they have done the work to have the faith makes them strong.

Sadly, the chapter says that all this preaching and baptizing made "but little alteration in the affairs of the people  (vs. 12).

How could this be with Samuel and Nephi teaching the people?

Samuel was up on their wall,  Nephi was living next door, but Satan was in their hearts (vs. 22) which has always been far more valuable real estate when it comes to influencing pretty much anyone.