Excerpt from Birth of the Messiah by Paul Thomas Smith.
(reading only)
Thousands of miles to the west, Israelites in the Western Hemisphere were about to witness the miraculous phenomenon prophesied five years earlier by Samuel the Lamanite. Yet, as the time drew near for his prophecy to be fulfilled, Nephite dissenters prepared to murder all believers "except the sign should come to pass" (3 Ne. 1:9). The prophet Nephi "cried mightily [all that day] to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.
"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 fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets" (vv. 11—13).
That night, Nephites in the New World witnessed an astonishing sight in the heavens, "for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness" (v. 15)—the prophesied sign of the Messiah's birth.
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