Fulfilling of the Promises

I was touched by the simple commentary by Mormon in 3 Nephi 1:20.  Looking back on the events surrounding the fulfilment of Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecies about the signs of the birth and death of Christ, he said, “And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.”  A few verses later when discussing the Law of Moses he made a similar statement: “It must be fulfilled in every whit; yea, the word came unto them that it must be fulfilled; yea, that one jot or tittle should not pass away till it should all be fulfilled” (3 Nephi 1:25).  Mormon, looking back several centuries later, had the records of the prophecies of Samuel and other prophets, and at the same time had the records of the fulfillment of those prophecies.  He wanted us to understand that the word of God had indeed been fulfilled—we can trust the promises of the Lord and His prophets.  He had lived among a people who did not believe the prophecies of the Lord, and he had to watch their entire destruction because of it.  Similarly, Coriantumr, the last of the Jaredites, lamented when “he began to remember the words which had been spoken by the mouth of all the prophets, and he saw that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit” (Ether 15:3).  He had been promised by Ether that if he didn’t repent, his people would be destroyed and he would “live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies” (Ether 13:21).  And he did.  So for us the message is that we can have faith that the prophecies in the scriptures concerning the last days are true, and we should be led to have more trust in the words of living prophets who make promises to us in every general conference.  These are not usually the “doom and destruction” type promises, but ones that are meant to prepare us for the Second Coming.  For example, Elder Scott said this in the last conference: “I add my voice with this promise: as you dedicate time every day, personally and with your family, to the study of God’s word, peace will prevail in your life.  That peace won’t come from the outside world.  It will come from within your home, from within your family, from within your own heart.”  The question for us is whether we truly believe that promises like this will also be fulfilled “every whit, according to the words of the prophets.”  If we do, then we will heed the counsel even when, like at the time of Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecies, there are “lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe” (3 Nephi 1:22).