Helaman Chapter 14

Samuel predicts light during the night and a new star at Christ’s birth—Christ redeems men from temporal and spiritual death—The signs of his death include three days of darkness, the rending of the rocks, and great upheavals of nature. About 6 B.C.

Samuel predicts signs of Christ's Birth

• "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."(v3)
• "there shall a new ^astar arise, such an one as ye never have beheld" (v5)

And signs of Christ's death:

• behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his ^blight unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of ^cthree days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead. (v20)
• there shall be ^bthunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble (v21)\
• there shall be great ^atempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called ^bvalleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great. (v23)
• many ^agraves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many. (v25)

A great, all encompassing truth in verse 8, "And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall ^abelieve on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life." Isn't this what it is all about?

I like verse 29 because it explains what the purpose of the signs is, "And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a ^arighteous judgment might come upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation."

Verses 30-31 really sum up accountability and put the responsibilities where they belong!

"And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto ^ahimself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are ^bfree; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a ^cknowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might ^aknow good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might ^bchoose life or death; and ye can do good and be ^crestored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you."