Samuel the Lamanite Prophet

Samuel the Lamanite Prophet





I found this picture of Samuel the Lamanite on lds.org, and it is so simple, it made me ponder the short story of him in Helaman for a minute.

In Helaman 14-16, it says that the Lamanites were strictly observing to keep the commandments of God.  Samuel, a Lamanite prophet, came to the Nephites to preach repentance to them.  It must have been obvious to the Nephites that he was a Lamanite.  They didn't like what he had to say, so they kicked him out of the city.  

I think it would have been really easy for Samuel to leave the city and head back home, where his teaching was accepted by the people.  But, because he was in tune, he heeded the Lord and went back to teach the Nephites again.  They wouldn't let him into the city but that didn't stop him from fulfilling his assignment.  He climbed on the wall and began to tell the people what the Lord wanted them to hear.

Can you imagine having stones thrown at you and arrows shot at you for doing what the Lord wanted you to do?  Can you imagine being angry enough with the words someone else is speaking to want to kill them so you wouldn't hear them anymore?

We know that some of the Nephites repented and went to find Nephi to be baptized because of the teachings of Samuel.  We know that Samuel finished his teaching, jumped off the wall and ran home. He was never heard from again among the Nephites.

So what happened to those people who refused to hear what he said?  Did they remember, a few years later, when the prophesies were being fulfilled?  Did they just pretend that those things were unexpected and unheard of?

What are our prophets telling us now that we don't want to hear?  Will we slow down, and think about what they are saying and why they are saying it?  Will we try praying about it and getting a confirmation for ourselves, or will we 'stone and shoot at' the prophets, saying that they are just old men and they don't understand what's happening in the world today.

Whether or not we follow the prophet now may have little bearing on what happens during calamitous times in the world, but it will have a huge effect on what happens to us when this life is finished.