DAY 205 --- Samuel's Prophesy

I just read 3 Nephi chapter one.  It contains in it the scripture that I wrote a book about entitled, "On The Morrow."  It is when the bad guys said that on a certain particular date, if they did not experience the promised sign of Samuel, that of a day and a night and a day with no darkness, they would all be killed.  Five years earlier, the Lamanite Prophet Samuel said that this would be a sign of the birth of the Savior.

For years I have wondered how it would be to be threatened with death if a sign from the prophet didn't happen.  I can imagine that they were wondering when exactly Samuel promised that the sign would happen within five years.  I would imagine they questioned if it had been exactly five years, were they certain of his words, were they certain of the five years, etc.? 

I wonder how the believers felt.  It records, "..the people who believed began to be very sorrowful..."  Wouldn't we?  As the sun went down every night and it slowly got dark, what a trial of faith it must have been.  Would we have remained faithful because of a promise from a Prophet from the land of the Lamanites?  It would have been a challenge, I am sure.

I wonder if the same type of things will happen before the Second Coming of Christ?  I have heard a few church leaders promise that Third Nephi prophesies of the events before his coming to this world was a sample of what we would experience in the Second Coming.  Will we become sorrowful fearing that something might have gone wrong, was He really coming, and would He come to save us? 

I can imagine fearing, being concerned as the sun goes down every night, wondering if we could sacrifice our life, or would we be saved?  Many will lose their lives, but death is not to be feared, for if we do lose our life, we will still be involved with the Second Coming, say the prophets.

If we are prepared, we should not fear.  Father is in charge, right?  I just often ponder how it would have been to be alive during those days, threatened with death based upon the words of a prophet, even one from the nation that has most often been their enemy.  Interesting! One day I will ask the Prophet Nephi how it was, what they did, if many left the church because their testimony was not strong enough, etc.