Today I read Helaman 5, one of my favorite chapters. In this chapter, Nephi gives up the judgment seat as did his great-grandfather, Alma, before him so that he can spend the rest of his days declaring repentance unto the people. With his brother Lehi, they went to all the Nephite lands in the south and did convert many of those who had fallen away from the church and been excommunicated. They also helped 8000 Lamanites in the land of Zarahemla convert.
But the majority of the chapter is about their travel to the Lamanites in the land of Nephi. They were taken and put into prison and when the Lamanites came to put them to death, something miraculous happened. Now, I want to spend some time discussing what happened because we all know that miracles do not bring true conversion. We see ample evidence of this in the New Testament and in the early days of the church. People who "convert" based upon a miracle do not stay true through their trials generally speaking. I am sure there are some exceptions. However, these Lamanites are given a very miraculous experience and they not only convert, but stay true for the rest of their lives as far as we are aware.
So why the difference? We are taught that faith precedes the miracle, so why did these Lamanites get to behold something like this and why were they able to stay converted through thick and thin afterwards? Of course I only have my opinions and the feelings I get from the Spirit but I have some answers. First, I believe the miracle at first was not directed at the Lamanites, rather I think it was to give Nephi and Lehi courage based on the way the scripture reads. They DID have faith already and it seems based on what is written that they were a little discouraged and maybe a little afraid of what was going to happen to them. So I do think that this miracle was as much for their benefit as it was for the Lamanites benefit if not more so.
Secondly, and this is most important, the miracle did not covert the Lamanites, the Spirit did. A careful reading of this chapter and this section will reveal that the Lamanites were not in fact converted by the miracle, they were in fact, from the way I read it, terrified by it. As I would be! I mean, think about what is happening here? You go in to your prisoners and the room is on fire but they are standing in the middle of it with nothing wrong, then all of the sudden the room is covered in darkness and they hear a voice speaking to them but can't see anyone. That honestly sounds pretty terrifying to me.
But it is NOT what converted them. The voice does tell them to repent and by the way they describe the voice, as a still voice that pierced them to the center, we know that they are feeling the Spirit at this point. But that is not all. There is one among them who has an idea of what is going on, a man named Aminadab who is familiar with the church and its teachings. He looks over at Nephi and Lehi and sees them conversing with angels and points it out to the other Lamanites who then ask what is going on. His answer is the key: "You must repent, and cry unt the voice, even until you have faith in Christ".
THAT is what converted them. They prayed and asked for faith to be given to them. In the last General Conference, Bishop Richard C. Edgley taught that faith must be sought after and developed. That is why Alma taught the Zoramites that even if all you can do is a have a desire to believe it is enough to start. These men were given the miracle, to get them to act, and ask for faith in Christ so that they might repent of their sins. And they did! That is why they were converted, not because of the miracle, but because they asked for faith in Christ and afterwards they repented of their sins.
And that is why it is so hard to become converted from a miracle, most people do not put in the effort afterwards to develop that faith. That is why it generally works the other way around, that faith comes first, then the miracle after the faith is sufficient. It CAN work the other way around as evidenced in this chapter, but it is really rare. Another really cool thing from this chapter is Aminadab references Alma's mission to the Zoramites years and years before to the Lamanites and he specifically mentions Zeezrom. To me that is very cool to see Zeezrom was so converted and turned his life around so completely that he is remembered 40 years later by descendants of those he once taught. We never really hear about him again after his conversion except to know that Alma took him with them to the Zoramites to preach, and it is nice to know that his conversion was not a fleeting thing but it was genuine. I like hearing that. It makes me happy.
So, faith does precede the miracle, however, in certain circumstances, miracles can also precede faith, but it is so hard to develop faith from a miracle, apparently, that it doesn't happen very often and generally if the miracle happens first, the individual does not take the time to develop the faith necessary. I'm personally glad I was able to develop faith before I started seeing miracles in my life. I have never seen anything like what is described in this chapter, but miracles happen quite often if you know where to look for them. We just for some reason ascribe them to coincidence or medicine these days. We should really be giving God His due for how much He does for us. I try to and I hope you will too. Try and see His hand all around you. It can make all the difference in the world. Until tomorrow.
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