Another Perspective on the Nativity - An American Christmas Story

 

Most people are aware of the story of the Nativity from Luke 2 in the Bible.  However, unless you are LDS, you may not be aware of the Nativity as it was experienced half a world away in ancient America.

Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, had testified of the coming of Jesus Christ to atone for the sins of the world.  He was an interesting prophet because he was called to preach to the Nephites rather than his own people.  The group of converted Lamanites had stayed true to their covenants with God, but their brethren, the Nephites, had not.   Samuel called them out on their wickedness and promised them the Savior would come.  He gave them a sign of a day and a night and a day in which there would be not darkness and a new star would appear, brighter than any star in the heavens.

Those who were Believers clung together in worship and in anticipation of the great day in which the sign would be given.  The prophet to the Nephites was a man named Nephi, a descendant of the original Nephi who was led out of Jerusalem and into the new promised land around 600 B.C. Now, 600 years later, the majority of the Nephites no long worshiped God.  In fact, they had become so wicked that they began to persecute that handful of faithful who did. There were many examples of violence and persecution against the Believers, who fasted an prayed that the sign would be given and that their brethren would cease to oppress.

Finally, after the prescribed number of years noted by Samuel the Lamanite, the non-believers began to say that the time had passed and since the sign hadn't come, it wasn't true - proof that the believers were deceived and deceivers and deserved a to die!  A day was set apart as their execution day.  If the sign were not given by that day, the believers would be put to death.

The Prophet Nephi was beside himself with grief and the attitudes of the people and at the threat that hang over those who believed and sustained him as prophet.  He went off by himself to pray and cried mightily to the Lord all day. God answered his prayers. and gave comfort that the sign would be given and the believers saved.  The first chapter of the Book of 3 Nephi records the following: 

And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying: 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 fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.  Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfill all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.

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. (3 Nephi 1: 12-15)

The promise was kept.  The sign was given and even the non-believers fell to the earth with astonishment. Here is a link to a lovely little song written about the new star, sung by three sweet children who might well be descendants of those original people:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-_JjlI4ImQ 

O Star Star Bright.

May your Christmas Eve be blessed with the peace and assurance that Jesus Christ came and did all that He promised to do.  Through Him, we are saved from both physical death and spiritual death.

© Gebara Education, December 24, 2017 All rights reserved