And so it was prior to the actual birth of Jesus
Christ. Unlike for anyone ever born to
the family of Adam, the birth of the Savior was foretold again and again for
thousands of years prior to the event, with signs to encourage the believers of
the marvelous day when the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would come to live
among men. As Adam and Eve were expelled
from the Garden of Eden, Eve was promised that while the serpent (Satan) would bruise the heal of her seed (the Savior), He would bruise
the serpent’s (Satan’s) head. During the
exodus of Israel from Egypt to the promised land the advent of the Savior was
linked to the appearance of a star as a sign to Jacob (see Numbers 24:17). Isaiah comforted King Ahaz by reminding him
of the birth of Christ, giving him as a sign that “a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Micah foretold that the Messiah would come
from Bethlehem, a prophecy so well known that King Herod directed the wise men
from the east to go there to find the Christ child (see Micah 5:2 and Matthew
2:1-8).
Across the oceans, on another continent, the Americas,
ancient prophets similarly foretold of the birth of Christ. The prophet Alma declared,
For behold, I say unto you there be
many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance
than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant
that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people. (Alma 7:7)
Another ancient American prophet, Nephi, had lived in the
Old World before he and his family were led by God to the New World. He was given a vision in which he saw “A
virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins . . . bearing a child
in her arms.” An angel
told Nephi that this child was “the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal
Father!” (see 1 Nephi 11:14-21)
More than 400 years later yet another American prophet, a
righteous king named Benjamin, reported to his people the testimony from an
angel of the coming birth of the Redeemer:
And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
Father
of heaven and earth, the Creator of all
things from the beginning; and his mother shall be
called Mary. (Mosiah 3:8)
These and many other signs of the advent of Jesus Christ to
the earth, announced for the encouragement of all who through many ages looked
with hope and joy to the birth of the Savior, were predicted and fulfilled as
prophesied. The scriptural record could
confirm, “it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the
words of the prophets.” (3 Nephi 1:20)
Today we stand thousands of years after that event. Looking back, the signs and their completion
are clear to see. But we need not only
look back, for we also can look forward to the return of Christ, not as a
humble little baby but as the resurrected and glorified Messiah.
We too are living in the midst of a season of advent, expectantly looking to the promised arrival of Christ to rule and reign on earth. As with the Savior’s birth there are many predicted signs of the second coming of Christ, signs that are appearing in greater number and urgency. For those who watch and are ready, it is a time of joy and happiness, even in a darkening season of the world. Just as surely as all of the prophecies of Christ’s birth were fulfilled, so can we look with confidence to all that God’s prophets have foretold of His return. For there will come a day, and not far off, when we, too, can declare, “it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.”
May our Christmas celebration of Christ be enriched by
looking to His arrival in the past as the Babe of Bethlehem and forward to His return as King
of kings and Lord of Lords.
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