Helaman 14

We are about five years from the Savior's birth and Samuel continues his prophecy to the people. In this chapter, Samuel tells them there will be two signs of Christ coming to the earth. I like how Samuel doesn't make it appear that just a person is coming, but he emphasizes Christ coming as God by describing Christ as the Son of God, the Father of Heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning.

Each sign contains multiple aspects. On the night before the Savior's birth, there will be such strong light that it will seem as if the day never stopped with the light continuing through the night into the next day. He says a new star will appear, one so brilliant that it will unlike any star they have ever seen. All of this is symbolic of Christ being the light and how this light will be physically among the people. The other sign is of his death and with the Light being physically destroyed, darkness will cover the earth for three days symbolizing the light being taken from the people. With this darkness will come terrible storms and massive earthquakes. Imagine an earthquake in the 8 to 10 range on the richter scale occurring simultaneously with a hurricane that is a category 6 or 7. Samuel tells the people that where they have seen solid rock, it will be filled with cracks and crevices, that mountains will crumble and new mountains created and whole cities will be destroyed and left desolate. With the resurrection of Christ, some of the righteous will be also be resurrected and appear to the people. Then he says that some people will see even greater things and I would guess that this is the appearance of the Savior to the people.

Samuel urges the people to repent, telling them that this was the message of the angel to the people. He knows that if the people will repent, they will not lose their life during this time of great destruction. I look at this symbolically for my own life. If I let the Savior and the gospel into my life, over time and as I prove faithful, it will bring great light into my mind and soul. I will then recognize signs or miracles in my life that I would not have recognized otherwise. At some point, my body will die or be destroyed and then I will come into the presence of the Savior. If I have lived righteously, this will be a time of great joy. The purpose of my life will be evident. I will see how my good works have blessed people far beyond what I could ever have dreamed. But most of all, I will be able to glory in the perfect realization of the overwhelming love that the Savior has for me and a perfect understanding of the sacrifice he made in my behalf.

But if at my death I had not been righteous but lived a wicked life, this would be a time of great sorrow, filled with guilt and the realization of how my unrighteousness has effected people far beyond what I would have ever anticipated. I would feel and understand the great love the Savior had for me, but this would be a two-edged sword because I know that I had rejected that love and the possibilities that came with it. Samuel states that the wicked will have no one to blame but themselves with these sobering words: "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free." It always comes down to our agency. Samuel finishes by saying that all of us have been given a knowledge of what is good and what is evil, it's simply a matter of what we decide to choose.