The scattering of the Nephites would be determined by whether or not they repented of several things. First, it was more serious for the Nephites because they had been given more knowledge (v. 24; see also Alma 9:15–16). “Unto whom much is given much is required” (D&C 82:3; Luke 12:48). Secondly, the Nephites had united with the Gadianton band (Helaman 7:25). Thirdly, they were guilty of pride because of their great riches (v. 26), a recurring problem in the Book of Mormon. What they had worked so hard to regain a few years before was threatened to be lost again, their lands (v. 28).
Nephi now gives us a third characteristic of a prophet, his message is not his own, but comes from the Lord (v. 29). Again, it is the same for Old and New Testament prophets. Amos was sent to northern Israel to call them to repentance. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel sent Amos away but Amos responded.
7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
8 And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. [Amos 7:4–15]
The high priest in Jerusalem commanded Peter and the apostles not to teach in the name of Christ. They answered: “We ought to obey God rather than man,” and continued their message, which had been commissioned to them by Jesus (Acts 4:27–32).
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared: “I am a rough stone. The sound of the hammer and chisel was never heard on me until the Lord took me in hand” (TPJS, 307). The Prophet had previously compared himself to “a smooth and polished shaft [of the arrow] in the quiver of the Almighty,” a symbol used by Isaiah, as a servant of the Lord in the latter days (Isaiah 49:2; 1 Nephi 21:2; TPJS, 304). The Prophet’s message was certainly from the Lord, as was Nephi’s, the son of Helaman.