Day 55 - 3 Nephi 1-4

Spiritual Thought:

“Spiritual deafness describes the state of those who are lacking in spirituality, whose spirit ears are not attuned to the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit. Similarly, spiritual blindness is the identifying mark which singles out those who are unable to see the hand of God manifest in the affairs of men. Such have ‘unbelief and blindness of heart’ (D.& C. 58:15); they are ‘hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds.’ (3 Ne. 2:1.)”

(Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 184)

Daily Focus Scriptures to mark and ponder:

–the disappearance of Samuel the Lamanite. (Helaman 16:7,8)

–the departure of the great Prophet Nephi. (3 Nephi 1:2,3)

–some began to say the time was past. (3 Nephi 1:5)

–unbelievers began to “rejoice over their brethren.” saying “Your faith concerning this thing hath been in vain.” (3 Nephi 1:5,6)

–(3 Nephi 1:7) There was “A great uproar throughout the land.”

–(3 Nephi 1:7) “People who believed began to be very sorrowful.”

–(3 Nephi 1:9) A day was selected to put to death all believers.

3 Nephi – 2:9-19 - TWO IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS

1.  The converted followers of Jesus Christ had to unite together for their personal safety (vs. 12).

2.  The Converted Lamanites had their curse removed from them (separation from God) - and the mark removed and their skin became white.  (vs. 15).

Daily Questions: 

How many times had their hopes fallen as the darkness came again? How strong their faith must have been to ignore the ridicule of neighbors and other unbelievers night after night! How would you have done in those circumstances? Are you faithful even when logic and experience tell you that your hopes cannot be realized? Even when the fulfillment of your hopes and dreams seems impossibly remote?  What if your life and the lives of your loved ones were at stake? 

What circumstances described in 3 Nephi 1:1-10 would make this a particularly difficult trial for those who believed Samuel’s words and waited for the birth of Christ?

For Kids/teens/adults:
Click to listen to video of song, "Jesus was no Ordinary Man"

Food for Thought: 

"I can envision a sophisticated skeptic leaning over the fence, watching his neighbors retreating to the house in accumulating darkness after another evening of unrewarded watching. I can almost hear him: “My friend, give it up! There are only seven days left. Think of your children and your beautiful wife. Come with us. Save them! You cannot really believe that some night this week the sun will go down and you will still be able to sit in your yard and read your scriptures. It gets dark when the sun goes down. It always has. It always will.”

The sorrowful appeals of family prayer and personal pleading must have filled the darkened rooms of the homes of the devoted. How hard it must have been to be faithful to the words of Samuel when it kept getting dark! No one had seen him for five years (Helaman16:8). For that matter, the great prophet Nephi, the son of Helaman, had disappeared as well (3 Nephi 1:2). What a test to believe in

absent prophets and ancient scriptures when the lives of loved ones were at stake!

Those who remained faithful watched steadfastly (3 Nephi 1:8). On the night it happened, how many minutes passed after the sun went down before people began to wonder? How long did they wait before they were sure? And in those first stunning moments of awareness, what must those with murder in their hearts have been thinking, waiting hopelessly for the darkness to come?  They seem to have been paralyzed by their fear. And every time those infidels regained their senses and opened their eyes, it was light! That brightness was a powerful physical witness of a brilliant spiritual reality. The sun had set, but another Son had risen, in a stable, in a manger, in an obscure village in Judea. And that Son would never set. In fact, because of the light of that night, believers knew, it would never be absolutely dark again.     (--Ted Gibbons)

      

BOMING Picture:      Are you ready for Christ to come?