Helaman 13:5-10- The Prophecy Begins

Samuel begins his message to the delinquent people of Nephi with a very specific warning regarding their eventual destruction. As this chapter began, it was about 6 BC. If we read in Mormon 6:15, Mormon describes how all of his people have been slain except 24 and a handful who had escaped or deserted. The beginning of that chapter is estimated to have been recorded around 385 AD. Not long after, the Nephites were extinct.

Alma, in speaking to his oldest son, Helaman, said: "I have somewhat to prophesy unto thee; but what I prophesy unto thee ye shall not make known; yea, what I prophesy unto thee shall not be made known, even until the prophecy is fulfilled; therefore write the words which I shall say. And these are the words: Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in four hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief. Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct."1

One important thing to remember regarding the council given both by Samuel as well as the leaders of our church today is that it is never simply condemnation (or at least it shouldn't be.) The message may begin, "The Lord is most displeased with your behavior and you will be punished for it..." but it doesn't end there. It continues with "...unless you repent, accept Christ as your Savior, and embrace and live his doctrines." The Lord does not wish to condemn. He wishes for men to repent, follow him and ultimately return to live with him again. One of the things that Millet/McConkie point out in their commentary on the prophecy of the future destruction of the Nephites was that "such a great length of time would pass before all these judgments came upon them attests to God's great patience and long suffering."2
____________________
1. Robert L. Millet and Joseph F. McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, p. 400
2. Millet/McConkie, p. 400