It seems a fact of life and human nature that, as pertaining to faith in God, an unbelieving heart, a lack of perceptiveness and a short memory sometimes go together.

Consider the events among the Nephites incident to prophecies about the birth of the Messiah.

In the face of violent resistance, the Lamanite prophet Samuel had foretold the imminent advent of the Christ into mortality, detailing the cosmic phenomena the people would witness that would signal the divine birth half a world away.

As recounted in Helaman 16, some believed the words of Samuel and were baptized. But most rejected his words and, in the ensuing years, inflicted persecution upon the believers, this despite the abundance of signs and wonders in the heavens, including the appearance of a new star.

The oppression grew so severe that the persecutors designated a day on which the believers would be slain if the prophesied sign had not come to pass. Then followed the occurrence foretold by Samuel: a day, a night and a day with no darkness. (See 3 Nephi 1:8-19.)

Despite the efforts of Satan to harden the hearts of the people, the sign had a chastening effect upon most, and they were converted. But the people became gradually hardened to the signs and wonders from heaven, until great wickedness prevailed by the time the signs of Christ's crucifixion, prophesied by Samuel, appeared some 32 years later.

What resulted, of course, was the cataclysmic destruction of much of the Nephite society, occasioned by the immense physical upheavals Samuel prophesied would take place.

Two millennia later, there are lessons to be drawn from this sad saga.

Like the Nephites in 6 B.C., the covenant people of the Lord today look forward to the coming of Christ as foretold by prophets. In contrast to His mortal advent, however, His coming this time will be in glory and power to reign personally over all the earth for a thousand years. (See Doctrine and Covenants 29:11; Joseph Smith — Matthew 1:36; Articles of Faith 10.) The duty of His servants in latter days is to prepare the way for His coming. (See Doctrine and Covenants 34:6.) They do so by inviting all to come unto Christ and making the ordinances of salvation available to everyone, living or dead.

As in former days, great signs and wonders have been prophesied and have occurred preceding the coming of the Lord in glory. These began with the restoration to the earth of the gospel of Christ in its fullness and power, including, of course, priesthood authority and the numerous gifts of the Spirit that benefit the faithful.

The prophecies include the gathering of Israel, wars and rumors of wars, abundant iniquity, the love of men waxing cold and the gospel of the kingdom being preached in all the world. (See Joseph Smith — Matthew 1:27-31.)

The scorn heaped by the naysayers upon the believers regarding the prophecies of Samuel sounds strikingly familiar today. We read in Helaman 16:15-16 that the unbelievers "began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom, saying: Some things they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass of which has been spoken."

It is common in some quarters to try to explain away the fulfillment of prophecies, including, for example, the remarkable prophecy on war given through Joseph Smith (Doctrine and Covenants 87) that has had fulfillment in the U.S. Civil War and subsequent events.

Unbelievers among the Nephites argued: "It is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, as it has been spoken, why will he not show himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem?" (Helaman 16:18). Also, they imputed false motives to the servants of God, accusing them of working "some great mystery which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend upon them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives" (Helaman 16:21).

In a similar vein, some today reject the doctrine of prophecy and priesthood authority and even go so far as to make false accusations against prophets and apostles who speak the mind and will of God. In so doing, they ignore scriptural teachings that "the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7), and that to act or speak for God, one must be duly called by Him and ordained by one having authority. (See Hebrews 5:4.)

When prophecies are uttered by the power of the Holy Ghost, they are always vindicated, though mortals become impatient or doubtful, perhaps even scornful and oppressive. Through it all, however, the faithful, like the believers among the Nephites and Lamanites, will look forward with faith to the grand and glorious fulfillment of God's work.