Helaman 2-3 Study Guide: To be discussed September 11
Day 1: Read Helaman 2:1-7
1. Why was there a void in the judgment-seat in the 42nd year of the reign of the judges? Who did the people call on to fill that void?
2. List what we know about Kishkumen and Gadianton from these verses. What did Gadianton promise his followers?
3. How did Helaman’s servant infiltrate Kishkumen’s band?
Day 2: Read Helaman 2:8-14; 3 Nephi 4:1; Mormon 2:27-28
4. List three goals of those who espoused Kishkumen’s secret combinations. Have these goals changed throughout history?
BONUS: Did Helaman’s servant have a license to kill? Why or why not?
5. How did Gadianton’s band escape after Kishkumen’s demise?
6. Give examples of secret combinations we should avoid today. No specific names, please.
Day 3. Read Helaman 3: 1-7
7. What two things were there a “little” of in the 43rd year of the reign of the judges? Do you think these two are connected?
8. What contributed to the great Nephite migration in the 46th year?
9. How did the immigrants in the north make houses? Why?
BONUS: How do you think Mormon knew the specifics of the people who moved north?
Day 4: Read Helaman 3:8-16; Words of Mormon 1:3-5
10. What indication do we have that there was a “Green” movement in the land northward?
11. In what way(s) was the north dependent on the south?
12. What do we learn from Mormon about the records he abridged? What does this tell you about Mormon? About the record we have? (See also Words of Mormon 1:305.)
Day 5: Read Helaman 3:17-22; Helaman 5:6
13. How many years of wars, contentions and dissensions did the Nephites have at this time?
14. Describe Helaman’s style of leadership.
15. Why did Helaman name his sons Nephi and Lehi? (See Helaman 5:6.)
Day 6: Helaman 3:23-30; Hebrews 4:12; D&C 11:2
16. What does it mean to “prosper”? What kind of prosperity was there among the Nephites in the 49th year?
17. Using parallelism in his two “thus we see” statements (vv. 27, 28), Mormon compared the elements of these two observations. How is the thought “the Lord is merciful” like the promise “the gate of heaven is open”? Is calling on the name of Christ the same as believing on his name? Why or why not?
18. How is the word of God “quick and powerful”? Look in a dictionary for alternate definitions of “quick.” See also Hebrews 4:12, D&C 11:2. Using Helaman 3:27-29, how can we help the church prosper during difficult times?
BONUS: From Helaman 3:30, of what is the right hand symbolic?
Day 7: Read Helaman 3: 31-37
19. Among what group of people did pride begin in the 51st year? What did their pride lead to? From v. 36, what is one common cause of pride?
20. Find and mark the six blessings of fasting and prayer listed in Helaman 3:35.
21. Compare Helaman 2:1-2 with Helalman 3:37. How many years did Helaman serve as chief judge among the Nephites? Who succeeded Helaman as chief judge?
Helaman 2:6 - Hugh Nibley: “And here's one of the servants of Helaman, ‘...having been out by
night, and having obtained, through disguise, a knowledge of those plans...’ Now what was his
disguise? His disguise was that of a defector, of course. He'd come over as an insider who
knew all about it, and defectors are quite common. He was a mole. He was actually an
undercover man; he was a double agent for Helaman. He knew all the workings, and this is
why they would come to him and why Gadianton said, lead me to him. Get me an audience
with the judge so I can bump him off. So this was one of the servants of Helaman; otherwise,
this looks rather confusing, but it isn't when you realize the nature of his disguise. He didn't
wear a mask or a false moustache or anything like that. But his disguise was his persona. He
was a [pretended] defector. He'd come over; he knew all about Helaman. And he had attained
‘a knowledge of those plans which had been laid by this band to destroy Helaman.’ This is
their regular police practice. He was put in there as an undercover man, a double agent.”
(Teachings From the Book of Mormon, Lecture 74, p. 204-5
Helalman 3:1 - [Pride] is an attitude that commences
with personal comparisons with others and leads to demeaning thoughts or oppressive actions directed at
other sons and daughters of God. The pride of self satisfaction imposes its primary effects upon the one
who is proud. His attitude blocks his own progress. In contrast, the pride of comparison is pernicious
because of its tendency to the oppression of others. C. S. Lewis described the pride of comparison when
he said: Pride is essentially competitive. . . . Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of
having more of it than the next man. . . . It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being
above the rest. Lewis called pride "the utmost evil" and "the complete anti God state of mind," because
this kind of comparison leads men to enmity and oppression and every other kind of evil. This insightful
Christian saw that every person should look up to God as "immeasurably superior" to him or her. He
continued: Unless you Know God as that and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison you do
not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking
down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something
that is above you. (Mere Christianity [New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1960], pp. 109 11.)
President Ezra Taft Benson expressed a similar thought when he said: “Pride does not look up to God
and care about what is right. It looks sideways to man and argues who is right. Pride is manifest in the
spirit of contention. [("Cleansing the Inner Vessel," Ensign, May 1986, p. 6.); Dallin H. Oaks, Pure in
Heart, p.96]
Helaman 3:7 - While this is not significant doctrinally, it does give an additional external
evidence of the truthfulness of the book, since Joseph Smith could not have been aware, as a result of his
own intellect and learning, of this important item that has since been substantiated by modern scientific
findings. DCBM, 3:339. “The Book of Mormon dates this significant technological advance to the year
46 B.C. Recent research shows that cement was in fact extensively used in Mesoamerica beginning
largely at this time. One of the most notable uses of cement is in the temple complex at Teotihuacan,
north of present-day Mexico City. According to David S. Hyman, the structural use of cement appears
suddenly in the archaeological record. Its earliest sample ‘is a fully developed product.’ The cement
floor slabs at this site ‘were remarkably high in structural quality.’ Although exposed to the elements for
nearly two thousand years, they still ‘exceed many present-day building code requirements.’ After its
discovery, cement was used at many sites in the Valley of Mexico and in the Maya regions of southern
Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. It was used in the construction of buildings at such sites as Cerro de
Texcotzingo, Tula, Palenque, Tikal, Copan, Uxmal, and Chichen Itza...Mesoamerican cement was
almost exclusively lime cement. The limestone was purified on a ‘cylindrical pile of timber, which
requires a vast amount of labor to cut and considerable skill to construct in such a way that combustion
of the stone and wood is complete and a minimum of impurities remains in the product.’ The fact that
very little carbon is found in this cement ‘attests to the ability of these ancient peoples.’ John Sorenson
further noted the expert sophistication in the use of cement at El Tajin, east of Mexico City, after Book
of Mormon times. Cement roofs covered areas of seventy-five square meters! ‘Sometimes the builders
filled a room with stones and mud, smoothed the surface on top to receive the concrete, then removed
the interior fill when the [slab] on top had dried.’ The presence of expert cement technology in pre-
Hispanic Mesoamerica is a remarkable archaeological fact, inviting much further research. Cement
seems to take on significant roles in Mesoamerican architecture close to the time when the Book of
Mormon says this development occurred.” (John W. Welch, Reexploring The Book of Mormon, p. 213)
Helaman 3:15 - Brigham Young tells the story: “Oliver Cowdery went with the
Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates... When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him
to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went
there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He
says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was
just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this
table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more
plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first
time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken
down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these
words: ‘This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom
of our God and his Christ.’” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 19, p. 40)
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