Helaman 2
2:1-5 - Moronihah has driven the Lamanites out of the Nephite lands and allowed them to return home in peace instead of slaughtering them all, which is what pretty much every other military leader would have done. But his respect for life is an exceptional show of faith, because what's the main reason for killing every one of your enemies? To make sure they don't come back to war against you again. But by doing that you are telling the Lord, "hey thanks for all your help, but I'm going to take matters into my own hands to prevent any future attack." But by allowing his enemies to live and return to their homes he told the Lord, "I trust you to deliver us if our enemies come to battle against us again." If we remember the biggest part of the contention was who would be the chief judge of the land, and we went through Pahoran the second who was murdered by Kishkumen while he was sitting on the judgment seat, Pacumeni who was killed during Coriantumr's invasion, and his brother Paanchi was executed for treason after he tried to start a rebellion to over throw the democracy of the people. Now "Helaman, who was the son of Helaman, was appointed to fill the judgment seat, by the voice of the people." And it would seem to me that this position of chief judge was no less precarious now than it was before, seeing that the last 2 were violently murdered, and one of their killers was still at large. It's interesting because truly there was the threat of violence against Helaman as well because "Kishkumen, who had murdered Pahoran, did lay wait to destroy Helaman also." Apparently, Kishkumen is the self appointed assassin, and we are now introduced to Gadianton who "became the leader of the band of Kishkumen... Therefore he did flatter them, and also Kishkumen, that if they would place him in the judgement seat he would grant unto those who belonged to his band that they should be placed in power and authority among the people; therefore Kishkumen sought to destroy Helaman." It's an interesting concept, the Gadianton Robbers (GR from now on,) because logically, all the people would need to do is stop supplying them with new recruits and eventually people would be righteous enough to resist the GR and they would die out. I mean really, it makes no sense that the GRs should last for generations. Interestingly enough, it's an article from the August 1995 Friend magazine entitled "Nephi Receives Great Power" that teaches us this great lesson saying, "The Nephites tried to destroy their enemies- who had become Gadianton Robbers- but could not because they themselves had become wicked again." Honestly, it's not the GRs who cause the down fall of the Nephite society, it's the wickedness of the people, it's the fact that many of the people flocked to the GRs to join them and their life of wickedness, the GRs were just the vehicle in which the wicked rode themselves down to destruction.
2:6-14 - We now encounter a very interesting character, we don't get his name but he is apparently a very resourceful servant of Helaman, because he "having been out by night, and having obtained, through disguise, a knowledge of those plans which had been laid by this band to destroy Helaman. And it came to pass that he met Kishkumen, and he gave unto him a sign; therefore Kishkumen made known unto him the object of his desire, desiring that he would conduct him to the judgment seat that he might murder Helaman. And when the servant of Helaman had known all the heart of Kishkumen, and how that it was his object to murder, and also that it was the object of all those who belonged to his band to murder, and to rob, and to gain power, (and this was their secret plan, and their combination) the servant of Helaman said unto Kishkumen: Let us go forth unto the judgment seat." Apparently, this servant of Helaman was a "secret agent" for the good side. It says that he had "been out by night," which can mean any number of things but speculating on the fact given, he must have been close enough to know the plan, to see the detail of the sign, and to know that Kishkumen would be looking for a servant to give him access to the judgment seat. I don't know if he was able to accomplish that by just watching closely or if he had to be personally known to the GRs. But his next move is the most interesting to me because as he was leading Kishkumen to the judgment seat to murder Helaman, "the servant of Helaman... did stab Kishkumen even to the heart, that he fell dead without a groan. And he ran and told Helaman all the things which he had seen, and heard, and done." Now if I had been spying around and had some valuable information about an evil threat to my government and if I knew that someone was coming to kill the man I worked for, I don't know if my best bet would be to kill the only other person who could collaborate my story. Because really, after all that, why would anyone believe the servant and now just assumed that he has killed Kishkumen and tried to get away with it. I guess it would have to come down to if Helaman really trusted this servant, or maybe Helaman was in on it the whole time, which would have made more sense. But I find it kind of far fetched for some random servant to run up to Helaman and be like "ok, so I was spying and I found out that this guy had killed Pahoran and he wants to kill you and when he came to kill you I killed him first." That just doesn't make very much sense, and it would seem that this servant was very brave while trying to gather information about the GR, it doesn't seem that he would be naive or stupid enough to go about it that way. I guess one lesson we can learn from this is the value of being aware of your surroundings, and as a leader to be informed on all fronts, even the less reputable ones, it's like Garth Brooks says, "I've got friends in low places." As we've watched the various military and governmental leadership issues, so many times wise decisions are made through the gathering of accurate and useful intelligence, including prophetic guidance directly from the Lord, and we've also seen quite a few stupid decisions made because the proper intel wasn't gathered, like a ready, fire, aim type of strategy, relying on brute force, and that's not the Lord's way, that's not the smart way that's for sure. Because if we honestly think about it, if that servant of Helaman hadn't known about the plan, then Helaman very well could have been murdered on the judgment seat as well. Another lesson that we might draw from this, even if abstractly, is the importance of being trust worthy. If in fact the servant of Helaman had done all these things without anyone else's knowledge, it might be a hard sell for someone to say "ok yeah, I believe everything you say," unless the servant was known to have impeccable character. So after that big shake down, "Helaman did send forth to take this band of robbers and secret murderers, that they might be executed according to the law," but Gadianton was nervous when Kishkumen didn't come back and so he took his band with him "and they took their flight out of the land, by a secret way, into the wilderness; and thus when Helaman sent forth to take them they could nowhere be found." So we are told that this isn't the end of the GR but instead just the beginning and that in the end of the record we shall see "that this Gadianton did prove the overthrown, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi." And would that be because he's super powerful? No. Is it because he serves Satan and Satan is more powerful than God? Of course not. But Gadianton will be so successful because the wickedness of the people feed into the perpetuation of his cycle. Take away the wickedness of the people and the GR would have no power over them.
2:6-14 - We now encounter a very interesting character, we don't get his name but he is apparently a very resourceful servant of Helaman, because he "having been out by night, and having obtained, through disguise, a knowledge of those plans which had been laid by this band to destroy Helaman. And it came to pass that he met Kishkumen, and he gave unto him a sign; therefore Kishkumen made known unto him the object of his desire, desiring that he would conduct him to the judgment seat that he might murder Helaman. And when the servant of Helaman had known all the heart of Kishkumen, and how that it was his object to murder, and also that it was the object of all those who belonged to his band to murder, and to rob, and to gain power, (and this was their secret plan, and their combination) the servant of Helaman said unto Kishkumen: Let us go forth unto the judgment seat." Apparently, this servant of Helaman was a "secret agent" for the good side. It says that he had "been out by night," which can mean any number of things but speculating on the fact given, he must have been close enough to know the plan, to see the detail of the sign, and to know that Kishkumen would be looking for a servant to give him access to the judgment seat. I don't know if he was able to accomplish that by just watching closely or if he had to be personally known to the GRs. But his next move is the most interesting to me because as he was leading Kishkumen to the judgment seat to murder Helaman, "the servant of Helaman... did stab Kishkumen even to the heart, that he fell dead without a groan. And he ran and told Helaman all the things which he had seen, and heard, and done." Now if I had been spying around and had some valuable information about an evil threat to my government and if I knew that someone was coming to kill the man I worked for, I don't know if my best bet would be to kill the only other person who could collaborate my story. Because really, after all that, why would anyone believe the servant and now just assumed that he has killed Kishkumen and tried to get away with it. I guess it would have to come down to if Helaman really trusted this servant, or maybe Helaman was in on it the whole time, which would have made more sense. But I find it kind of far fetched for some random servant to run up to Helaman and be like "ok, so I was spying and I found out that this guy had killed Pahoran and he wants to kill you and when he came to kill you I killed him first." That just doesn't make very much sense, and it would seem that this servant was very brave while trying to gather information about the GR, it doesn't seem that he would be naive or stupid enough to go about it that way. I guess one lesson we can learn from this is the value of being aware of your surroundings, and as a leader to be informed on all fronts, even the less reputable ones, it's like Garth Brooks says, "I've got friends in low places." As we've watched the various military and governmental leadership issues, so many times wise decisions are made through the gathering of accurate and useful intelligence, including prophetic guidance directly from the Lord, and we've also seen quite a few stupid decisions made because the proper intel wasn't gathered, like a ready, fire, aim type of strategy, relying on brute force, and that's not the Lord's way, that's not the smart way that's for sure. Because if we honestly think about it, if that servant of Helaman hadn't known about the plan, then Helaman very well could have been murdered on the judgment seat as well. Another lesson that we might draw from this, even if abstractly, is the importance of being trust worthy. If in fact the servant of Helaman had done all these things without anyone else's knowledge, it might be a hard sell for someone to say "ok yeah, I believe everything you say," unless the servant was known to have impeccable character. So after that big shake down, "Helaman did send forth to take this band of robbers and secret murderers, that they might be executed according to the law," but Gadianton was nervous when Kishkumen didn't come back and so he took his band with him "and they took their flight out of the land, by a secret way, into the wilderness; and thus when Helaman sent forth to take them they could nowhere be found." So we are told that this isn't the end of the GR but instead just the beginning and that in the end of the record we shall see "that this Gadianton did prove the overthrown, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi." And would that be because he's super powerful? No. Is it because he serves Satan and Satan is more powerful than God? Of course not. But Gadianton will be so successful because the wickedness of the people feed into the perpetuation of his cycle. Take away the wickedness of the people and the GR would have no power over them.
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