No Cause For Unbelief [Hel. 14:28-29] (Part 1)

When Samuel the Lamanite stood upon the wall of Zarahemla he gave three very important reasons for the signs that would follow his prophecy,

Hel 14:28-29
28 And the angel said unto me that many shall see greater things than these, to the intent that they might believe that these signs and these wonders should come to pass upon all the face of this land, to the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men--
29 And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation.

Reason one, these signs were given for the intent that the people would believe his warnings.

Reason two, these signs were given for the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men.

Reason three, those who refused to believe the signs, a righteous judgment would come upon them, and they would bring upon themselves their own condemnation.

In other words when the Lord comes to destroy the wicked, He does not want anyone saying, "Who is this? Why is he so upset? Why is he destroying everything? Why am I in trouble? Why didn't anyone warn me?"

In order to warn the people the Lord first sent prophets to call them to repentance. When they rejected the prophets he promised to send signs and wonders by the mouth of the prophets as a second witness to the necessity of repenting and being prepared for His coming.

We know from our reading of the Book of Mormon that after the signs began rolling forth in abundance some repented while others rejected these great signs and wonders.

However, the overall affect of these signs and wonders was impressive,

3 Ne 1:17-18
17 And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth.
18 For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief. (emphasis added)

Again, later in the Book of Mormon we have this account,

3 Ne 5:1-3
1 AND now behold, there was not a living soul among all the people of the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets who had spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be fulfilled.
2 And they knew that it must be expedient that Christ had come, because of the many signs which had been given, according to the words of the prophets; and because of the things which had come to pass already they knew that it must needs be that all things should come to pass according to that which had been spoken.
3 Therefore they did forsake all their sins, and their abominations, and their whoredoms, and did serve God with all diligence day and night. (emphasis added)

You would think that when the Lord came they would all be righteous and anxiously looking forth to His coming. However, He did not come right after all the signs had been given. He gave them time to prove their faith and dedication to His cause. Some did continue faithful but others "turned from their righteousness, like a dog to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire (3 Nephi 7:8)."

The important thing to remember is that when the Lord came there was "no cause for unbelief", therefore those who were destroyed had "brought upon themselves their own condemnation (Helaman 14:29."

The question that we must ask is, "Will the Lord be as thorough in His warnings to us (the world) concerning His second coming as he was to the Nephites and Lamanites?" "Will we (the world) have no cause for unbelief and bring upon ourselves our own condemnation?"

Read the next post for the answers.