They Did Watch Steadfastly

3 Nephi 1 contains a powerful story about the Nephites who were awaiting the sign of the birth of Christ.  Samuel the Lamanite who had made the prophecy had disappeared, and the prophet who had led them at the time of the prophecy, Nephi, had likewise “departed out of the land” and vanished (v3).  It had been about five years since the prophecy that in five years there would be “one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night” (Helaman 14:4).  Despite other prophecies being realized, “Satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land” and many believed this one would not come to pass (Helaman 14:23).  Mormon recorded that as the righteous waited for the fulfillment of the prophecy, the wicked did “make a great uproar throughout the land” telling them that the words of Samuel were not going to be fulfilled (3 Nephi 1:7).  Not unlike today, the wicked spoke out loudly against the words of the prophets to try to cause embarrassment and shame among the believers. 

What is most surprising to me about this story is that the unbelievers were preparing to resort to extreme violence.  We read, “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” (3 Nephi 1:9).  It seems unlikely that this was a plan sanctioned by the government since Lachoneus, a righteous man, was the chief judge and governor.  Likely the Gadianton robbers had arranged it and the word of the planned event spread at least to Nephi so that he was compelled to go to the Lord to petition His saving hand.  But what was their motivation for punishing people for simply believing in some miraculous event?  Logically it simply doesn’t make sense, but neither has most persecution through the ages by those who want to punish people who have different religious views.  These perpetrators were perhaps a type of the wicked rulers of the Jews who would three decades or so later put Jesus to death.  Jesus, though He worked mighty miracles and did countless good works and humbly served the people, was a great threat to them because He put in question their own righteousness and standing.  The chief priests and scribes felt vulnerable because of His power, and therefore they sought to get rid of He who pricked their conscience to the core.  These unbelievers among the Nephites may have been looking to solidify the justification of their wickedness, and they decided this act against the believers would provide that.  In the Nephite story, though, the believers were miraculously delivered by the Savior; like Abraham and Isaac they were spared the final act of sacrifice, but Jesus was not.  His day set apart by the unbelievers indeed came.   

Perhaps the message of this story for us today is to hold fast, no matter what, to the words of the prophets.  We read that the believers “did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night” (3 Nephi 1:8).  Samuel and Nephi were both gone, and yet they clung to the prophecies and did not let the taunting of the wicked dissuade them from belief.  Though they did not have sure knowledge, they had sure faith that helped them endure the mocking of the world.  Like the lame man who was healed in Acts 3 afterwards “held Peter and John” so too we must hold fast to the words of the prophets no matter how the world around us mocks them (Acts 3:11).