9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.

10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.

11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily 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.

12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:

13 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.

14 Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.

Why did God force Nephi to wrestle all day in mighty prayer for the very thing that God was willing to give him all along?  I mean, 10,000 miles away, Mary’s gotta carry that child the full 9 months to term, and barring her going into labor slightly premature or late, there’s really not a lot either she or the Christ child can do to make sure he’s born just in time to save from massacre a bunch of diasporic Israelites they know nothing about on the opposite side of the globe.

Clearly Heavenly Father had orchestrated the whole shebang down to the last far-flung detail–inspiring Augustus Caesar to announce the Roman census and tax just in time to ensure the baby is born in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, during the same time that religious tensions in Pre-Colombian America are coming to a breaking point, while also ensuring that the Immaculate Conception occurs just in time to resolve said crisis exactly 9 months later, while causing a nebula to either undergo cold fusion millions of years ago or some star to go nova, at just the right moment for its light to become visible from Earth’s surface to the naked eye circa AD 1, and doubtless a million billion other variables we can’t even comprehend–all to make sure that everything synchronizes across creation at just this right moment.

My point is, in retrospect, Nephi had nothing to worry about.  God could’ve told Nephi at any single moment to chill out, be of good cheer, don’t worry about it, everything’ll be fine.  So why did God make Nephi sweat it?

I of course don’t know for sure, but my hunch is that God did it precisely to make Nephi wrestle for it!  Because in wrestling with God for assurance at his moment of most dire peril, Nephi grew closer to God than he ever had before.  I suspect that after Christ’s birth, that God and Nephi had an understanding, a relationship, that they hadn’t had before that day.

By way of further example, I think God wanted to bless Jacob and make him Israel all along–but he also knew Jacob wouldn’t have the faith to become Israel till he’d wrestled with the Almighty all night long, so he forced the Patriarch Jacob to wrestle for the very blessing that God himself wanted to give him!  In like manner, God made Nephi son of Nephi wrestle for the blessing that God wanted to him all along, so that they would be closer as well.  God could’ve given Nephi the answer he wanted right from the start, and thus they would’ve had no closer relationship than between, say, us and an ATM.  But God wanted him and Nephi to be closer than that.

Remember that Christ came to this Earth to effect an Atonement (a William Tyndale word, meaning quite literally to make At-One, to join together), to reconcile us with God.  So how appropriate, perhaps, that God helped Nephi draw closer to God the very night of Christ’s birth. 


My old guitar teacher in Idaho once said that D&C 4:4, “If ye have desires…ye are called” refers not just to missionary work, but to anything we feel desire to do, from learning guitar to our careers to our schooling, or to anything really.  If you have desires to do anything, then God has called you specifically to do it.  But as any athlete or musician can testify, you don’t become good at something until you wrestle with it, with your instrument, with your opponent, with your own body, with yourself.

God has also arranged all things to work together for our good, and stands prepared to give us that which you most desperately desire I think, but he still wants us to wrestle for it, because we are his children, and he want us to have a closer relationship with him.  Merry Christmas.

15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came…

 19 And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.

20 And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.

21 And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.