Sabbath Devotional :: Christmas Season

During the Christmas season, I usually reread the different gospels’ accounts of the Savior’s birth in the New Testament, but this week I have been thinking about and rereading the accounts of the Book of Mormon regarding the Savior’s birth and His coming. The Book of Mormon account is quite different in nature, and I think there is some really beautiful metaphorical meaning held embedded it.

In Helaman 13-15, Samuel the Lamanite prophesies to the Nephites. He foretells the celestial signs that will signal the Savior’s birth. He also shares some amazing promises of the Savior’s atonement. His message is generally not well-received by the people, who threaten his life and run him out of town (a sad reality for all too many prophets in the scriptures).

Samuel says that in five years: “[T]his will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.

“Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born” (Helaman 14:3-4). He also says a new star will appear.

In Helaman 16 and the beginning of 3 Nephi we see this story play out as the five years elapse. In 3 Nephi 1:9 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.” The account continues, with Nephi who cries to the Lord and receives confirmation that Christ would be born and the signs prophesied by Samuel fulfilled on the following day. In the following verses, the sun sets, it remains light, and those who did not believe Samuel’s prophesy are humbled by this revelation.

What stands out in this account to me is the great remove at which the people are from the Savior and from the physical location of His birth and the experience of those who were able to witness and worship in proximity to the Savior. I am really inspired by the steadfastness of Nephi and the other believers, whose faith and conviction remained firm in what they had been promised. Their faith in a Savior they could not see, in the face of great social and societal pressures, is instructive. It is a reminder that the object of our religious belief, faith, and conviction, is not always on ready display to those around us; it is often deeply held, the result of an accumulation of personal experience, personal action and dedication, and personal revelation — things not easily distilled for the easy consumption of others.

I think often of Alma’s words in Alma 32: “And now as I said concerning faith — faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” I am grateful for the Christmas season and the opportunity to ponder at length the role of the Savior in my life. It is a time when the object of my faith and belief becomes a bit more visible to the world around me, and I am grateful for it.

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Elizabeth VanDerwerken is the proactive root director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

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