Ancient and Modern Calamities Foretold
Book of Mormon Notes - Thursday, December 21, 2023, 3 Nephi 8
True prophets have a knack for accurately predicting events.
Such was the case with the prophets Zenock, Neum, and Zenos for example. Recall that Nephi recorded the prophesies of Zenock, Neum, and Zenos regarding the signs of Christ’s crucifixion:
And the aGod of our fathers, who were bled out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the cGod of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, dyieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of ewicked men, to be flifted up, according to the words of gZenock, and to be hcrucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a isepulchre, according to the words of jZenos, which he spake concerning the three days of kdarkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the lhouse of Israel.
For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall avisit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his bvoice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the cthunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by dsmoke, and evapor of fdarkness, and by the opening of the gearth, and by hmountains which shall be carried up.
And aall these things must surely come, saith the prophet bZenos. And the crocks of the earth must rend; and because of the dgroanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers. (1 Nephi 19:10-12)
Just as they prophesied, so it happened, and so Mormon recorded. As Zenock prophesied, Jesus Christ was lifted up. As Neum prophesied, Jesus Christ was crucified. As Zenos prophesied, Jesus Christ was buried in a sepulchre. Then followed three days of darkness, as also prophesied by Zenos. Even more specifically, Zenos prophesied the events that Mormon recorded in 3 Nephi 8. Zenos’ prophesy was very specific, and Mormon made sure to record the very specific fulfillment of Zenos’ prophesies. Mormon also made sure that his reader would pay special attention to the fulfillment of prophesy:
And now, whoso readeth, let him understand; he that hath the scriptures, let him asearch them, and see and behold if all these deaths and destructions by fire, and by smoke, and by btempests, and by whirlwinds, and by the copening of the earth to receive them, and all these things are not unto the fulfilling of the prophecies of many of the holy prophets.
Behold, I say unto you, Yea, many have testified of these things at the coming of Christ, and were aslain because they testified of these things.
Yea, the prophet aZenos did testify of these things, and also Zenock spake bconcerning these things, because they testified particularly concerning us, who are the remnant of their seed. (3 Nephi 10:14-16)
Mormon’s account of the fulfillment of the prophesies of many prophets includes descriptions of a great storm, tempests, earthquakes, fires, whirlwinds, thunder, exceedingly sharp lightnings, cities sinking into the depths of the sea, cities buried under mountains, great and terrible destructions, highways broken up, level roads spoiled, smooth places made rough, cities burned, buildings falling, many people slain, people carried away by whirlwinds, rocks rent in twain, rocks found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, three days of thick darkness, and great mourning, weeping, and howling of the survivors. Just as Samuel the Lamanite and other prophets had prophesied, the survivors wept and howled, mourning that they had not repented before that great and terrible day so that their family members and loved ones could have been spared.
For three days of darkness after the upheavals of nature, the survivors mourned and howled. Mormon describes the utter destruction and devastation that came upon the people, just as the prophets had long prophesied. All of these things took place just after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, or in Nephite time, just after the athirty and third year had passed away. Many people earnestly looked for the sign of the three days of darkness, even though others doubted and disputed. All of the destruction began with an immense storm.
Mormon records that the awhole face of the land was changed because of the upheavals in nature. These were major cataclysmic events. And speaking of the prophesies of prophets being fulfilled in connection with cataclysmic events, I am reminded of the prophesy contained in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”:
We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.
As many modern prophets have observed, the law of chastity is not very popular in our modern world. It is no secret that families have been disintegrating. If my discernment serves me well at all, the so-called “pandemic” was only a small stress test, especially compared with the kinds of calamities that await us if we do not repent. Furthermore, because the Book of Mormon events foreshadow events in the last days, I can only imagine what kind of upheavals in nature will precede the second coming of Jesus Christ. As necessary as water and food storage and other kinds of preparation are, I wonder how helpful any of that will be when entire cities are burned, or sunk into the ocean, or buried under mountains.
The vapor of darkness that Mormon describes is particularly disturbing. The closest I’ve ever come to experiencing such darkness was the time that I was in Egypt, inside the Great Pyramid, when suddenly all of the lights went out. I’ve been in dark rooms before, but that was an indescribably thick darkness. But even then, cell phones emitted light and there was some illumination. The darkness that Mormon describes among these traumatized people was so thick that they couldn’t even light fire. It was so thick that the survivors could afeel the bvapor of darkness. That sounds awful.
This thick darkness, however, may remind us of the thick cloud of darkness that surrounded the crowd in the prison where Nephi and Lehi, sons of Helaman had been kept. This thick cloud of darkness, we now know, preceded great light. The same things is true for the survivors among the ancient Americans. The thick darkness that overwhelmed them was followed by the voice of Christ, and by the appearance of the Light of the World.
It is also worth mentioning that Mormon describes this thick darkness as “mists of darkness,” which mists of darkness, we may recall, figure prominently in the visions of Lehi and Nephi at the beginning of the Book of Mormon. The mists of darkness were symbolic, but I believe that Lehi and Nephi, in their respective vision, saw things that were both symbolic and literal. At least part of the literal fulfillment of the mists of darkness and the tree of life is found in these events that led up to Christ’s appearance.