Today I read Helaman 14, Samuel's prophecy concerning the Savior's birth and his death. This chapter also has Samuel teaching the Nephite's why the Savior's death was necessary, something they should have already known since it had been taught to them before. But I have found in my life that when a person lives a life a wickedness, they forget, or lose the light and knowledge that they once had. I have seen this in my own life with a friend who was raised in the church but lived a life of sin for most of their life and then came back to the church. They had almost no knowledge of things and had to start over.
There are many, many interesting points in this chapter. For starters, the prophecy of the Savior's birth how there would be a day and a night and a day with no darkness. I have no idea how this was accomplished. Especially considering it only happened on this side of the world. The eastern hemisphere where the Savior was actually born did not experience this. So we can conclude that it was not the new star that appeared since that star was seen in Israel also.
Secondly, I don't think Heavenly Father gets nearly enough credit for the new star. Do you realize just how far in advance that star had to be created and placed into orbit for it to start shining at the exact moment of the Lord's birth? If there ever was a doubt in any believer's mind that God knows the end from the beginning, a short session of pondering on this star and what it actually represents should dispel those doubts immediately. We also don't know if that star is still around or if it only shown for a few days/years. We are not told. For all we know it could still be a star in our sky.
Another interesting thought that comes from this verse is when Samuel is talking about the Lord's death. He mentions that the earth's plates are all one at that time but they would be broken up upon his death. If this is true, it begs the question, did they have earthquakes before the Savior's death? Because earthquakes are caused by the movement of the earth's plates. Well if they were all one mass before His death, could they move? And if they couldn't move then they couldn't cause earthquakes, right? Just food for thought.
A final thought, both in the Bible and again here, it could just be the way it is written but it is very confusing to me. The way it is written in this scripture makes it seem like the graves opening up and the saints appearing unto many, happen before the three days of darkness and the Savior's resurrection. Even in the Bible it makes it sound like that is the way it happened. However, we know from the other scriptures that this is not the case. We know that the Savior was resurrected first and then the righteous who have gone before were resurrected afterwards. Just another interesting tidbit from this chapter.
This chapter really is quite neat and deserves a thorough reading because it contains so much doctrine and teaches so much. I did not delve into it in this entry because all the doctrine has been dealt with in other entries in my blog and also that is not what I felt impressed to write about this time. Perhaps the next time I read this chapter I will feel impressed to focus more on the doctrine. It will of course really depend on my frame of mind/spirit and what is needed in my life. That is the great thing about the scriptures, you can read them 100 times and they can teach you 100 different things depending on your needs when you read them. And it always makes for an interesting read. Happy reading! Until tomorrow.
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