For some seven or eight years the people served the Lord, but it was not long until they were once again engrossed in doing evil. At this point Mormon paused in the historical narrative to insert one of his most powerful prophetic insights into the nature of man and history.
It is important for students of the Book of Mormon to remember that Mormon’s work is an abridgment from numerous records he had at his disposal. Mormon was exceedingly selective in what he gave us, as is evidenced by the statement that he did not record “a hundredth part” of all he had access to (see Helaman 3:14).
It appears that Mormon selected certain materials because of the particular lessons they conveyed. Lest we miss the impact of the lesson conveyed in the preceding chapters, Mormon drew our attention to it with great care in Helaman 12 by means of phrases such as “thus we see” and “thus we can behold.” Note particularly verses 1–3. Clearly Mormon intended that we should not miss his message. Helaman 12 contains one of the greatest summaries of a basic human tendency found anywhere in the scriptures (see also Mosiah 11:24, Judges 10:13–14, Isaiah 1:15).