Signs Given of Savior’S Birth and Death

Event 147

Reference: Hel. 14:1-31; 15:1-17

AND now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, didprophesy a great many more things which cannot bewritten. 2 And behold, he said unto them:MormonWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, andbehold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shallbelieve on his name. 3 And behold, this will I give unto you for asign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be greatlights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh thereshall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if itwas day. 4 Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day,as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be untoyou for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and alsoof its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shallbe two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not bedarkened; and it shall be the night before he is born.Samuel5 And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye neverhave beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you. 6 And beholdthis is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven. 7And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder,insomuch that ye shall fall to the earth. 8 And it shall come to passthat whosoever shall believe on the Son of God, the same shallhave everlasting life. 9 And behold, thus hath the Lordcommanded me, by his angel, that I should come and tell this thingunto you; yea, he hath commanded that I should prophesy thesethings unto you; yea, he hath said unto me:Cry unto this people, repent and prepare the way of the Lord.The Lord10 And now, because I am a Lamanite, and have spoken unto youthe words which the Lord hath commanded me, and because it washard against you, ye are angry with me and do seek to destroy me,and have cast me out from among you. 11 And ye shall hear mywords, for, for this intent have I come up upon the walls of thiscity, that ye might hear and know of the judgments of God whichdo await you because of your iniquities, and also that ye mightknow the conditions of repentance; 12 And also that ye mightknow of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father ofheaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning;and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intentthat ye might believe on his name. 13 And if ye believe on hisname ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have aremission of them through his merits.Samuel14 And behold, again, another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign ofhis death. 15 For behold, he surely must die that salvation maycome; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth,to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord. 16 Yea, behold, this deathbringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind fromthe first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall ofAdam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are consideredas dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual. 17 Butbehold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, evenall mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.18 Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, thatwhosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into thefire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into thefire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, asecond death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining torighteousness.SamuelWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.19 Therefore repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things andnot doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come undercondemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death. 20But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign ofhis death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shallbe darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also themoon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of thisland, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space ofthree days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.21 Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there shall bethunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and theearth shall shake and tremble; and the rocks which are upon theface of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath,which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is onesolid mass, shall be broken up; 22 Yea, they shall be rent in twain,and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in brokenfragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above theearth and beneath. 23 And behold, there shall be great tempests,and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, andthere shall be many places which are now called valleys whichshall become mountains, whose height is great. 24 And manyhighways shall be broken up, and many cities shall becomedesolate. 25 And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield upmany of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.26 And behold, thus hath the angel spoken unto me; for he saidunto me that there should be thunderings and lightnings for thespace of many hours. 27 And he said unto me that while thethunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these thingsshould be, and that darkness should cover the face of the wholeearth for the space of three days. 28 And the angel said unto methat many shall see greater things than these, to the intent that theymight believe that these signs and these wonders should come topass upon all the face of this land, to the intent that there should beno cause for unbelief among the children of men— 29 And this tothe intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might comeupon them; and also if they are condemned they bring uponthemselves their own condemnation.SamuelWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoeverperisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity,doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted toact for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you aknowledge and he hath made you free. 31 He hath given unto youthat ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto youthat ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and berestored unto that which is good, or have that which is goodrestored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evilrestored unto you.1 AND now, my beloved brethren, behold, I declare unto you thatexcept ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you desolate.2 Yea, except ye repent, your women shall have great cause tomourn in the day that they shall give suck; for ye shall attempt toflee and there shall be no place for refuge; yea, and wo unto themwhich are with child, for they shall be heavy and cannot flee;therefore, they shall be trodden down and shall be left to perish. 3Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephiexcept they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs andwonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they havebeen a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath heloved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of theiriniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.4 But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated becausetheir deeds have been evil continually, and this because of theiniquity of the tradition of their fathers. But behold, salvation hathcome unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and forthis intent hath the Lord prolonged their days. 5 And I would thatye should behold that the more part of them are in the path of theirduty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they doobserve to keep his commandments and his statutes and hisjudgments according to the law of Moses. 6 Yea, I say unto you,that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving withunwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of theirbrethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are manywho do add to their numbers daily.7 And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it,that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth,and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of theirfathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, theprophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeththem to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith andrepentance bringeth a change of heart unto them— 8 Therefore, asmany as have come to this, ye know of yourselves are firm andsteadfast in the faith, and in the thing wherewith they have beenmade free. 9 And ye know also that they have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any meansthey should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for beholdthey will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain bytheir enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and thisbecause of their faith in Christ.SamuelWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.10 And now, because of their steadfastness when they do believe inthat thing which they do believe, for because of their firmnesswhen they are once enlightened, behold, the Lord shall bless themand prolong their days, notwithstanding their iniquity— 11 Yea,even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolongtheir days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of byour fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many otherprophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, theLamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of theLord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; andnotwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, andnotwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face ofthe earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad,having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them.13 And this is according to the prophecy, that they shall again bebrought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of theirRedeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numberedamong his sheep. 14 Therefore I say unto you, it shall be better forthem than for you except ye repent. 15 For behold, had the mightyworks been shown unto them which have been shown unto you,yea, unto them who have dwindled in unbelief because of thetraditions of their fathers, ye can see of yourselves that they neverwould again have dwindled in unbelief. 16 Therefore, saith theLord:I will not utterly destroy them, but I will cause that in the day ofmy wisdom they shall return again unto me, saith the Lord.The Lord17 And now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of theNephites:SamuelIf they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterlydestroy them, saith the Lord, because of their unbeliefnotwithstanding the many mighty works which I have doneamong them; and as surely as the Lord liveth shall these thingsbe, saith the Lord.The Lord