Day 255 Helaman's Introduction: Patterns for Christ's Return

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. Welcome to day 255 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Today, you're going to be reading Alma chapter 63, verses 11 through 17, and Helaman chapter 1, verses 1 through 12. Now this is a great transfer of records here going on and really a lot of the verses today are kind of administrative in nature as we find out about who's passing records on and such. Although something of note that's worth keeping in mind is here in just a few verses we have the passing of Captain Moroni, we have the passing of Helaman, we have the passing of Helaman's brothers, and we have the passing of Pahoran, who was the chief judge of the Nephites.

Those are incredible leaders all passing about the same time. And so that's something just to keep in mind as we get into the Book of Helaman, because Helaman, boy, does it just go kind of crazy, actually. Our verse for today is a little bit of a modification.

I consider it a verse, although there's not a number associated with it. Because if I understand correctly, I believe this was in the original plates themselves as Joseph Smith is translating the Book of Mormon. What we're going to look at today is actually the introduction paragraph to the Book of Helaman.

This is what it says. An account of the Nephites, their wars and contentions, and their dissensions. That's an interesting addition there.

And also the prophecies of many holy prophets before the coming of Christ, according to the records of Helaman, who was the son of Helaman, and also according to the records of his sons, even down to the coming of Christ. And also many of the Lamanites are converted. An account of their conversion.

An account of the righteousness of the Lamanites and the wickedness and abominations of the Nephites, according to the record of Helaman and his sons, even down to the coming of Christ, which is called the Book of Helaman, and so forth. Now I picked this one today because there's an interesting thing that clearly is happening here. First of all, we see that this is leading to the coming of Christ.

It's referenced three times in this header here. These are the chapters and verses. Here's the record of what it looked like in the land of the Nephites and the Lamanites before the coming of Jesus Christ.

And as we sit here today expecting the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, I think it's applicable for us to pause and say, Wow, wow, here's what was happening right before Christ came the first time. Perhaps there's something we can pull out of here to help us be prepared for Christ coming the second time. The other thing that is interesting to note here is we are going to get in the Book of Helaman a flip-flop of sorts.

The Nephites that have been kind of broad paintbrush stroked as the good guys. The Lamanites are going to turn to righteousness and conversion. And so these are interesting patterns that we're going to pick out as we dive into the Book of Helaman.

I hope that this sets us up to be looking with our magnifying glasses through the Book of Helaman. What can we find inside of here that can help us in our preparation for the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? I'll let you think into that as you dive into your reading today.

That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow, and I hope you are too.