You know the Christmas story in the Bible – you know how the
shepherds near Bethlehem and wise men from the East saw the star proclaiming
the birth of the Christ child and went to see the little babe. But did you know
that far across the ocean to the west, the people in the ancient Americas also
saw the same star? And in 3 Nephi 1, we read the story! The Nephites actually had 2
signs from the heavens – 1 was the star which you already know about, and the
other was a day and night and day with no darkness, as prophesied by Samuel
the Lamanite.
Back in the book of Helaman, Samuel prophesied that the sign of Christ’s birth would
occur in 5 years, and the people haven’t counted exactly which day Samuel made
the prophecy, and now the non-believers have started to say that the time has
passed.
5 But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite.6 And they began to rejoice over their brethren, saying: Behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain.7 And it came to pass that they did make a great uproar throughout the land; and the people who believed began to be very sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass.8 But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.
I feel like this is a classic predicament of believers in any point
of history – holding on to faith with a firm resolve, even though most of the
people around them don’t believe and are even mocking them. However, these believers' predicament becomes very serious:
9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.
What?! How did the non-believers get the
authority to do that?? I don’t know! Crazy things happened back in Bible
times. And now the believers’ faith is really being put to the test.
The prophet, Nephi, is obviously very sad and concerned
about the awful situation the believers are in. He goes to the Lord in
prayer—intense prayer—and he receives this beautiful answer:
13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.
This always makes me smile. Can you imagine? The Savior of
all mankind—past, present, and future—the Son of God, the promised Messiah
since the foundation of the world will be born TONIGHT. And God just told Nephi in answer to his prayer. God is acutely aware of his children.
15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.16 And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand.17 And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth.18 For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.19 And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.20 And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.21 And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.
There’s the star! Isn’t this a remarkable story? I just love
it, and I like to review it at Christmas time – it’s another faith-building
perspective on the birth of Christ, and it demonstrates to me how God speaks to
his people in all times and in all places, not just in the Bible lands and
times.
Now on a less happy note, even though the people were so
astonished at the sign that they fell to the ground in amazement and fear,
miracles don’t create believers! Anyone can talk/rationalize/reason their way
out of believing in a miracle. And unfortunately, so did many of the Nephites.
22 And it came to pass that from this time forth there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen
So the question for you today is—have you observed a miracle
in your life (or multiple miracles!) that you have chosen to discount or
rationalize away? And the next question is, why have you chosen to reason it away?
