Helaman 13

In the 86th year of elected judges, the Nephites, for the most part, remained in a wretched state of wickedness, while many Lamanites were strict observers of God’s commandments as given to Moses. [6 BC]

At this time there was a Lamanite named Samuel who came to Zarahemla to preach to the people. After several days of preaching he was thrown out and decided to return to his home. On his way back the voice of God came to him saying that he should return to Zarahemla and prophesy the words that came to his heart. When he arrived at the city walls he was denied entry. So he climbed up on the wall, stretched out his arms, and loudly cried out the prophecies that God put into his heart.

“I am Samuel the Lamanite,” he cried out. “I have come to speak the words that God has put into my heart. God wants you to know that the sword of justice hangs over you people, and that within 400 years this sword of justice will fall upon you. This heavy destruction that awaits you and your descendants is sure to come. Nothing can prevent it except your repentance and faith in Jesus Christ who will surely come into the world, suffer, and be killed for his people.”

“An angel of God has told me some great news, and sent me to share it with you, but you wouldn’t let me inside your city to receive my words.

“God has sent me to tell you this, ‘You Nephites have become a terribly hard hearted people. Unless you repent I will withdraw my Spirit and my protection from you. Unless you repent I will quit putting up with you, and I will turn the hearts of the Lamanites against you. Within 400 years I will afflict your people with wars, famine, and disease. When my fierce anger comes, the fourth generation of your enemies will witness your total destruction. This devastation will surely come unless you repent.’

“ ‘If you do repent,’” Samuel continued speaking God’s words, “ ‘I will turn my anger away. Blessed are those who do repent and turn to me. And pity to those who don’t. Pity to this great city of Zarahemla. It is only because of those who live here in righteousness that this city is saved, because I can see that most people who live here have turned their hearts away from me. I will bless and save those among you who repent. If it weren’t for the righteous among you I would send fire down from heaven to destroy this city. But a time will come when you will cast out the righteous among you, and be ripe for destruction. Beware great city, of the wickedness and abominations within you. The same holds true for the city of Gideon and all the other great Nephite cities.’

“ ‘A curse will come upon the land because of the people’s wickedness and abominations. Anyone who tries to hide their treasures from me will find that they are cursed, and that their treasures will disappear, unless they are righteously stored for the purposes of God. When the time of destruction comes, you Nephites will hide your wealth from your enemies before running away. In the end you will lose both your wealth and your lives.’

“You and your wealth will both be cursed,” Samuel continued, “because you worship your riches more than you worship God, who has given them to you. You forget to thank God who provides for you, but you always remember the wealth that he provides. Instead of thanking him, you fill your lives with pride, boastfulness, envy, conflict, malice, persecutions, murder, and all sorts of sinfulness. Because of this, God will bring a curse upon your land and upon your riches.

“I pity you because the time has arrived when you now throw your prophets out. You mock them, throw stones at them, kill them, and subject them to all manner of indignities, just as people have done in times past. I’ve heard you say, ‘If we had lived in the times of our ancestors, we would never have killed our prophets, stoned them, or cast them out.’

“I say to you that you are much worse than your ancestors. If a prophet comes among you and points out your sinfulness, you will become angry with him, cast him out, and seek his destruction. You will call him a false prophet, a sinner, and a servant of the devil because he shows you your evil deeds. On the other hand, if a man came among you who filled you with flattery, told you that your sins were nothing to worry about, and advised you to walk proudly while doing anything your heart desired, you would declare him a true prophet. You would look up to such a flatterer, shower him with part of your wealth, and give him the finest clothing to wear. Because he tells you what you want to hear, you would find him faultless in your eyes.

“You area a wicked and perverse generation of stubborn people. How long do you really think that God will put up with you? How long will you allow yourselves to be led by blind and foolish guides? For how long will you choose darkness over light? God is already angry with you, and has cursed the land because of your sinfulness. The time will soon come when he will curse your riches and make them so slippery that you cannot hold onto them. When you find yourselves in poverty crying out vainly to God, you will realize that your desolation is complete, and your destruction is certain.

“Oh how you will howl and weep in lament, saying, ‘If only I had repented, if only I hadn’t killed the prophets, stoned them, and cast them out, if only I had remembered God for the riches he gave us, then I wouldn’t have lost everything I had. But now, my wealth has vanished and nothing can be done. The tools that I have today will be gone tomorrow. The swords that we have for battle will disappear before we need them. Oh how I wish I’d repented back when God’s word was given to us. Because we didn’t repent, we are surrounded by demons and angels of the devil who seek to destroy our souls. In spite of our past sinfulness, oh God, won’t you turn your anger away from us now?’

“These will be your words in those days. Your days of probation are behind you. You will have procrastinated about your salvation until it is too late, and your destruction is certain. You will have sought all your lives for things you couldn’t keep. You will have spent your days trying to find happiness through sinful living that is contrary to the nature of righteousness, and contrary to the will of God. Oh people of this land, listen to my words. I pray that you will repent and be saved, and that God’s anger will be turned away from you.”