At the urging of Nephite dissenters, the Lamanites attack again. This time, they take possession of nearly all Nephite territory before being pushed back by Moronihah’s army, which regains control of half of the Nephites’ land. Mormon emphasizes the role of personal behavior in this tragedy. The Nephites have become weak through wickedness, and they regain land only when they repent.
Chapter Outline
- Spurred by Nephite dissenters, the Lamanites attack and take possession of most Nephite territory (v. 1-8)
- Moronihah regains half of Nephite lands (v. 9-20)
- The Nephites have become weak because of wickedness (v. 21-26)
My Takeaways
- We have a duty to share with those in need.
- If you brag about how amazing you are on your own, you may be left alone and learn by experience how weak you really are.
- We need God’s strengthening and protecting power, so we should open our hearts to His influence.
Featured Blog Posts
❖ Moronihah regains half of Nephite lands – Helaman 4:9-20
Withholding Their Food from the Hungry – Helaman 4:12
12 And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying…
They Were Left in Their Own Strength – Helaman 4:13
13 And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; 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. (Helaman 4:13) Talk about a natural consequence! If…
Inasmuch As They Did Repent… – Helaman 4:14-15
14 But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, 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…
❖ The Nephites saw that they had become weak – Helaman 4:21-26
The Spirit of the Lord Did No More Preserve Them – Helaman 4:23-25
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; and the judgments of God did stare them in the face.24 And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that…
How Can I Avoid Being an “Unholy Temple?”
Four times in the Book of Mormon, we are taught a fundamental principle: God doesn’t dwell in unholy temples. If we make choices which make us unholy, we cannot have His Spirit with us. Today, I examined these four passages looking for insights on how I can avoid cutting myself off from the Spirit of…
Old Testament Foundations
Joshua and the Book of Mormon
This week, I reviewed the book of Joshua, summarizing the content of each chapter and identifying related Book of Mormon passages. The book can be divided into four parts: The children of Israel prepare to enter the promised land (chapters 1-5) With divine intervention, they conquer various cities in the land of Canaan (chapters 6-12)…
All Posts Referencing Alma 4
- Alma: Receiving God’s Image (1/17/2026)
- Settling Up My Business (10/12/2025)
- After the Holy Order of God (8/13/2024)
- “He Caused That His Sons Should Be Gathered” (7/27/2024)
- Awakened (6/9/2024)
- Testimony of Jesus = Spirit of Prophecy (12/30/2023)
- Being Governable (10/5/2023)
- That Good Part (4/22/2023)
- The Voice of the People (6/15/2022)
- Abram and Lot: No Strife (2/10/2022)
- Duty (9/21/2021)
- Equal (7/14/2021)
- “Seek Not to Be Cumbered” (6/18/2021)
- Declare Repentance (2/18/2021)
- No Inequality (6/21/2020)
- “Highly Favored” – Alma 9:20-24 (6/14/2020)
- “Will Ye Persist in Supposing That Ye Are Better One Than Another?” – Alma 5:54 (6/4/2020)
- “They Were Awakened to a Remembrance of Their Duty” – Alma 4:3 (5/31/2020)
- What Is a “Remission” of Your Sins? (4/23/2020)
- What Is an Elder? (11/10/2019)
- What Is the Priesthood? (11/5/2019)
- How Can I Teach My Children to Be Resilient? (9/19/2019)
- What Is Pride? (9/2/2019)
- How Can I Manage Time More Effectively? (8/21/2019)
- What Does It Mean to Consecrate Something? (5/4/2019)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About the Resurrection? (4/21/2019)
- Why Are “Envyings” Associated with “Strife?” (4/19/2019)
- What Should I Do About Economic Inequality? (4/5/2019)
- What’s Wrong with “Costly Apparel?” (4/3/2019)
- What Does It Mean to “Succor” Someone? (2/27/2019)
- To Stir Them Up in Remembrance of Their Duty – Alma 4:19 (11/19/2018)
- Nevertheless, the Spirit of the Lord Did Not Fail Him – Alma 4:15 (2/11/2017)
- Lifted Up in the Pride of Their Eyes – Alma 4:6-9 (2/10/2017)
- The Spirit of the Lord Did Not Fail Him – Alma 4:15 (9/19/2016)
- He Delivered the Judgment-Seat unto Nephihah – Alma 4:18-20 (8/29/2016)
- The High Priesthood of the Holy Order of God – Alma 4:20 (6/27/2016)
- And This He Did That He Himself Might Go Forth – Alma 4:18-19 (6/1/2015)
- Alma 4:12-13 He Saw Great Inequality Among the People (10/28/2014)