“Did Not Believe in the Words of Samuel Were Angry with Him”

Helaman 16 records the ways the wicked reacted to the prophet Samuel and his message. President Ezra Taft Benson spoke of how the wicked react to prophets of our day:

“The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.

“As a prophet reveals the truth it divides the people. The honest in heart heed his words, but the unrighteous either ignore the prophet or fight him. When the prophet points out the sins of the world, the worldly either want to close the mouth of the prophet or else act as if the prophet didn’t exist, rather than repent of their sins. Popularity is never a test of truth. Many a prophet has been killed or cast out. As we come closer to the Lord’s second coming, you can expect that as the people of the world become more wicked, the prophet will be less popular with them” (“Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet,” in 1980 Devotional Speeches of the Year [1981], 29; see also The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 133).

The following list includes some reasons why the people in Helaman 16:2–21 refused to heed the words of the prophet:

1. Personal anger (see verse 2)
2. People trust more in their own strength and abilities (see verse 15)
3. Prophets just guess right occasionally with their prophecies (see verse 16)
4. Teachings are often not reasonable (see verse 18)
5. Teachings of the prophets are confused traditions and cannot be proved (see verse 20)
6. Prophets trick and deceive us rather than doing real miracles (see verse 21)
7. Personal anger (see verse 2)
8. People trust more in their own strength and abilities (see verse 15)
9. Prophets just guess right occasionally with their prophecies (see verse 16)
10. Teachings are often not reasonable (see verse 18)
11. Teachings of the prophets are confused traditions and cannot be proved (see verse 20)
12. Prophets trick and deceive us rather than doing real miracles (see verse 21)