Helaman 12

Chapter Overview

What happens in Helaman 12

Mormon pauses the narrative to deliver one of the most searching commentaries in all of scripture on human nature. He reflects on the fickleness of the human heart, the nothingness of man compared to God, the absolute power of God over all creation, and the eternal importance of repentance.

Scripture

The Unsteadiness of the Human Heart

Study note

Mormon laments the falseness and instability of human hearts. He observes that at the very moment God prospers His people with abundance, they forget Him, trample His commandments, and set at naught His counsel. Only through affliction, death, and famine will they remember their God. This is Mormon writing from personal experience, having witnessed the complete destruction of his own people. His words carry the weight of an eyewitness to the full consequences of this pattern.

1 And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

2 Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.

4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths!

6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.

The Nothingness of Man and the Power of God

Study note

In some of the most poetic language in the Book of Mormon, Mormon declares humanity 'less than the dust of the earth' because even the dust obeys God's commands while humans resist them. He catalogues God's absolute sovereignty: His voice makes mountains tremble, breaks up the earth, causes the seas to dry up, and moves the very foundations of the world. If God commands the earth to go backward, it obeys. This passage is not meant to demean humanity but to properly orient our perspective: the Creator of all things deserves our humble obedience.

7 O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.

8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.

9 Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake.

10 And by the power of his voice they are broken up, and become smooth, yea, even like unto a valley.

11 Yea, by the power of his voice doth the whole earth shake;

12 Yea, by the power of his voice, do the foundations rock, even to the very center.

13 Yea, and if he say unto the earth—Move—it is moved.

14 Yea, if he say unto the earth—Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours—it is done;

15 And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.

16 And behold, also, if he say unto the waters of the great deep—Be thou dried up—it is done.

17 Behold, if he say unto this mountain—Be thou raised up, and come over and fall upon that city, that it be buried up—behold it is done.

The Blessing of Repentance and the Hope of Salvation

Study note

Mormon shifts from the sobering reality of human weakness to the glorious hope of repentance. He explains that repentance has been declared precisely because of man's tendency toward iniquity. He prays that God would grant people the desire to repent and do good works, expressing his heartfelt wish that all might be saved. Yet he acknowledges that in the last day, some will be cast out while those who have done good will receive everlasting life. His prayer captures the heart of a prophet: grieving over sin yet always pointing toward hope.

18 And behold, if a man hide up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say—Let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him who hath hid it up—behold, it shall be accursed.

19 And if the Lord shall say—Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever—behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever.

20 And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man—Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed forever—it shall be done.

21 And if the Lord shall say—Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence—he will cause that it shall be so.

22 And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared.

23 Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved.

24 And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works.

25 And I would that all men might be saved. But we read that in the great and last day there are some who shall be cast out, yea, who shall be cast off from the presence of the Lord;

26 Yea, who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say: They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation. And thus it is. Amen.

Key Themes

Themes in Helaman 12

The fickleness of the human heartProsperity often leads to forgetfulness of GodThe nothingness of man without GodGod's absolute sovereignty over creationRepentance as God's merciful provision for human weaknessThe prophet's desire that all might be saved

Prophetic Connections

How this chapter points to Christ

Helaman 12:7-8 Isaiah 40:15, 17

Mormon's teaching that humanity is 'less than the dust of the earth' echoes Isaiah's declaration that the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as less than nothing before God.

Helaman 12:1-3 Judges 2:11-19

The cycle Mormon describes, where prosperity leads to forgetfulness of God followed by affliction and repentance, directly parallels the repeated cycle of apostasy, oppression, crying out, and deliverance in the book of Judges.

Helaman 12:25-26 John 5:28-29

Mormon's declaration that those who have done good will have everlasting life and those who have done evil will have everlasting damnation echoes Jesus' teaching about the resurrection of life and the resurrection of condemnation.

Apply This Today

Living Helaman 12

Mormon's lament in Helaman 12 is a mirror held up to every human heart. Do you forget God in seasons of ease? Do you remember Him only when trouble strikes? This chapter is not meant to crush you with guilt but to awaken you to a pattern you can choose to break. Build habits of gratitude and worship in your good days so that prosperity draws you closer to God rather than further away. And when you fail, remember: repentance exists because God knows your weakness and loves you anyway.

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