1 AND it came to pass in the *fifty and fourth year there were many dissensions in the church, [ Why was there dissention or people falling away from the church? Answer is found in Helaman 3 - PRIDE! Pride can be a two way street as well. It is not always the one who is looking down on others that is judging. Does not the person who maybe feels that someone else was judging them also judging? Are they not labeling the one tha they say is judging them? Is that judgement that they are leveling against another always just? Do they keep themselves out of the church, they do not go back because they were offended; maybe by mistake? Is that not a form of pride as well? Is there a message for us here, something that we as members need to be careful of? If we get offended we need to make sure how we act. If we use that offense to drive us away from the church we are the one who looses out. ] and there was also a contention among the people, [ The people brought the contention into the church, or they could not set aside their differences to at least recognize that they were supposed to be of one purpose and mind. Spiritually minded. How does Satan use contention to disrupt the Gospel? 1) If we are contending then usually we are not looking out for each other, we are looking out for ourselves, or to prove our point. 2) We there is the spirit of contention then we usually do not have the spirit; or at least not to the point that we otherwise could have. If ye are not one ye are not mine. How would that apply here? ] insomuch that there was much bloodshed.

2 And the rebellious part were slain and driven out of the land, [ Does that not seem pretty harse, if they were contentious they were killed or driven out? Have you ever noticed that some people will continue to push and push and push, to the level of obnoxious and even anger in an effort to get their way. I suppose that maybe there had come a time when the people just could not take it any more, it was their only option if they were to have any kind of peace. ] and they did go unto the king of the Lamanites.

3 And it came to pass that they did endeavor to stir up the Lamanites to war against the Nephites; but behold, the Lamanites were exceedingly afraid, [ So the Lamanites remember the results in the past few conflicts and were not eager to fight again, especially when it seemed like someone elses problem. ] insomuch that they would not hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] to the words of those dissenters.

4 But it came to pass in the fifty and sixth year of the reign of the judges, [ Two years after they the first group of dissenters went to the Lamanites to stir them up. ] there were dissenters who went up from the Nephites unto the Lamanites; and they succeeded with those others in stirring them up to anger against the Nephites; [ Anything to be learned here? Satan will not give up, people that feel like they have been wronged will not give up - they just keep trying, especially when they are doing it out of anger. Anger is a very strong emotion and when we let it run or guide our life we better be very careful, becuase usually the Lord does not opperate by anger. ] and they were all that year preparing for war. [ So the Lamanites are now inflamed as a result they begin to prepare for war. Why do you suppose that they took a year to prepare? Because they had been badly beaten in their last attempts; so if you are going to war now you need to have prepared and feel that you have a good strategy before you begin it. ]

5 And in the *fifty and seventh year they did come down against the Nephites to battle, [ The battle begins 3 years after the first dissenters start to stir things up. ] and they did commence the work of death; yea, insomuch that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in obtaining possession of the land of Zarahemla; [ The battles continue for another year until the Lamanites take over the land from the Nephites. ] yea, and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the land Bountiful.

6 And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of Bountiful; [ The Nephites retreat to a place where they can defend their position from. ]

7 And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, [ so was it a longer or shorter journey for a Lamanite? ] on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.

8 And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the Nephites which was in the land southward. And all this was done in the fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the judges. [ So in a matter of 2 plus years since the wars began the Lamanites have overtaken all of the land to the south.]

9 And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies in obtaining many parts of the land; [ Under Moronihah the Nephites take the offensive and began to take their land back ] yea, they regained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.

10 And it came to pass in the *sixty and first year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in regaining even the half of all their possessions. [ After 2 years of counter offensive batlle 1/2 of the original land is obtained back. ]

[ Now we are going to get a commentary by Mormon as to why this has happened. We should pay particualr attention as Mormon under the spirit is summarizing what is important for us to learn from this. ]

11 Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for [ Mormon provides us with why the great loss occurred among the Nephities. It is a direct result of their turning from the Lord As outlined in verses 11-12] [1]their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed [ What is he suggesting here? What is the difference between professing and actually doing? ] to belong to the church of God.

12 And it was [2]because of the pride of their hearts, because of [3]their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of [4]their oppression to the poor, [5]withholding their food from the hungry, [6]withholding their clothing from the naked, and [7]smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, [8]making a mock of that which was sacred, [9]denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, [10 then the rest as one big conglomorate] murdering, [ How does murder weaken a people? First there are fewer people around, it also casts your attitude toward others - their life is not worth much. ] plundering, [ How plundering does weaken a people? If your attitude is to take what you want then you did not have to work for anything, How much does something mean to you if you just took it? Will you work or fight harder for something that you worked for verses something you just took beciuse it was there and you wanted it. ] lying, [ How does lying weaken a people? You never know who you can trust. How important is trust in battle? ] stealing, [ How does stealing weaken a people? ] committing adultery, [ How does adultry weaken a people? ] rising up in great contentions, [ How does contention weaken a people? ] and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites—

13 And because of this their great wickedness, and [11] their boastings in their own strength, [The result ] they were left in their own strength; [ Or the Lord was not going to fight their battles for them as he had in the past. ] therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.

14 But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, [ Maybe because of their wickediness there was alot that needed to be taught, they had been living in darkiness too long. ] and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people, yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins. [ so what do we recognize about the Nephites right now? They are at lease humble enough to begin listening. And What are they taught? That their future depends on their decisions, that if they do not repent they will not survive. That tthe Lord will bless them if they will seek him out and come to him. They are not only instructed - but they are promised what will happen with which ever choice that they make. So kind of like an apostalic blessing that defines what the future will look like with either choice that thye make. Again God does not take away agency - but what he does do over and over again is protect those who righteous ask; maybe not always. But if you do not ask many times his hands are tied, and we do not ask when we do not believe that he has any power to help us. ]

15 And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper. [ Or the Lord saw fit to bless them as they kept the commandments. They begin to see a direct coorealation between obedience and blessings. At least it was from Mormons point of view. Why do some see the hand of the Lord in their lives and others do not? ]

16 For when Moronihah saw that they did repent [ Why was it important to Moronihah to see that they were willing and had begun the repentance process? He knew that if they did not repent they would continue to loose in battle. So there would be no need to try and take back there land only to loose further. ] he did venture to lead them forth [ When he sees that they are willing to repent and turn to the Lord Moronihah has the confidence that the Lord will now bless them so he leads them out to take back what is theirs. ] from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all their lands.

17 And thus ended the sixty and first year of the reign of the judges. [ At the end of the year - seven years from when all the problems started they are now in possession of one half of what they once had. How do you think they viewed life at this point? They were more humble; they were thankful for what they did have. Their attitude between one another was more likely one of helpping each other since they had sufferred so much together. Bonded. ]

18 And it came to pass in the *sixty and second year of the reign of the judges, that Moronihah could obtain no more possessions over the Lamanites.

19 Therefore they did abandon their design to obtain the remainder of their lands, [ There comes a point in life were the risk is not worth the reward - to that point you are just satisified and grateful for what you do have. Note also that the tactic has now changes as well. Where they went after things - getting their land back by force; they now become more focused on the gospel. They end up taking the gospel to the Lamanites and as they become converted they end up getting all of their lands back in Hel 5:51-52] for so numerous were the Lamanites that it became impossible for the Nephites to obtain more power over them; therefore Moronihah did employ all his armies in maintaining those parts which he had taken. [ He was wise and not greedy he knew when to say when. ]

[Mormon provides an editorial which is contained in verses 20-26 ]

20 And it came to pass, because of the greatness of the number of the Lamanites [ Let's review what has happened to cause the numbers to get so out of balance so quickly. 1) War - they Nephites lost people during the battles, and we cann assume that since they were loosing the battles that they were the one's who were loosing the greatest number of people. 2) Many of the Nephites desserted to become Lamanites - how many we are not told but every little bit counts 3) some of the Nephites have left to join the Gaddiantion robbers 4) some Nephites are part of the mass migration to the north which would appear to be a pretty substancial number of Nephites (see 3:1-12) ] the Nephites were in great fear, lest they should be overpowered, and trodden down, and slain, and destroyed. [ What do you think their mindset was like? It appears as if they are fairly well convinced that if the Lamanites decide to they will crush the Nephites, and finish them off. Do you suppose that turning to God was their last resort? Kind of why not - nothing else is working? Or were they feeling the spirit and looking for the inner strength that they would get from following the Lord? Which would you be? Either way the Lord has accomplished his design - to get them to humble themselves, repent, forsake their evil ways and come back to him where he can help them. something to think about. If the Nephites would have been Gentiles and not Israel, the Lord wouldn't have been obligated to preserve a remnant per the Abrahamic Covenant. We can see the covenant blessing of Abraham being fulfilled once again. Without such covenant blessing they well could be destroyed as were the Jaredites. But, the Israelite covenant which they were under requires the Lord to preserve at least a remnant. Thus, the Lord has to keep working on the people to get them to repent, rather than allowing them to be destroyed or allowing them to self-destruct.]

21 Yea, they began to remember the prophecies of Alma, and also the words of Mosiah; and they saw that they had been a stiffnecked people, and that they had set at naught the commandments of God;

22 And that they had altered and trampled under their feet the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the people; and they saw that their laws had become corrupted, and that they had become a wicked people, insomuch that they were wicked even like unto the Lamanites.

23 And because of their iniquity the church had begun to dwindle; and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of revelation; [ What happens when the people loose the belief in revelation? They begin to place themselves above God - after all God has no power that they do not have, then the future begins to be whatever you can make of it through unrighteous and decietful means. ] and the judgments of God did stare them in the face. [ Their disobedience was called to their attention. ]

24 And they saw that they had become weak, [ What kinds of weakiness do you suppose he is suggesting? Weak physically? How does disobedience to Gods commandments make us weak physically? ] like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples—

25 Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they should cleave unto the Lord their God they must unavoidably perish.

26 For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years.