A deep dive into Helaman 5, part 1 of 2

Helaman 5 is a wonderful chapter, filled with beautiful doctrine and intricate details about the lives of two prominent Nephite missionaries, Nephi-2 and Lehi-2.

In this post, I'll highlight some significant connections between Helaman 5 and other chapters in the Book of Mormon.

Part 2 can be found here.

Verses 1-4 -- Nephi-2 delivers up the judgment seat in order to preach the word of God

In verse 1, Nephi delivers the judgment seat to a man named Cezoram. We learn that Nephi obtained the judgment seat in Helaman 3 when his father died. Cezoram is murdered in Helaman 6.

In verse 2, there is a mention that "their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people" and that "they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good," both of which are referenced by King Mosiah (see Mosiah 29:25-27) at the time he established the reign of the judges.

In verse 4, we learn that Nephi has a brother named Lehi (more about the obvious significance of those names below), a fact we first learned in Helaman 3. Verse 4 also contains a pattern: yielding up the judgment seat to someone else in order to preach the word, which is exactly what Nephi's great-grandfather Alma the Younger does in Alma 4:17-19.

Verses 5-13 -- Nephi-2 and Lehi-2 remember the words of their father Helaman

In this next section, the plot thickens a little, as we find some connections that involve more than two chapters.

For example, in verses 6-8, Nephi and Lehi recall their father's explanation for how they got their names. He tells them:

6 Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.
7 Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.
8 And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.

Of course we read about their first parents coming out of the land of Jerusalem in 1 Nephi 2, but we don't read about "how it is written that [their works] were good" until 2 Nephi 33:4

4 And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.

Let's keep going. In verse 9, Helaman invites his sons to remember the words of King Benjamin:

9 O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.

This is a clear reference to Mosiah 3:

17 And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.

In the very next verse, Helaman makes a reference to the words of Amulek:

10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

This is a reference to Alma 11:36-40.

Next, in verse 12, Helaman mentions building a foundation upon the "rock of our redeemer". This is another reference to the words of Nephi in 2 Nephi 28:28. He also mentions the "gulf of misery and endless wo", which is a reference from Lehi's words to Laman and Lemuel in 2 Nephi 1:13.

We'll finish this section off with a tenuous example, but one that has been on my mind a lot lately. In verse 13 we read:

13 And it came to pass that these were the words which Helaman taught to his sons; yea, he did teach them many things which are not written, and also many things which are written.

Compare this with the instructions given by Alma-2 to his son Helaman-1 in Alma 37:

27 And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed.

In part 2 of the this deep dive into Helaman 5, we'll take a look at the rest of the chapter, including the miraculous manifestation at the prison and its foreshadowing of Christ's visit to the Nephites.