1 AND now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written.

2 And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, [ This a bold prophecy as it has a fixed date, a timeline that he can be held to. ] and behold, then cometh the son of God [ He is not the son of Joseph. He is not the son of a man. This title the son Of God means that his Father is literally God our Father in Heaven ] to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.

3 And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.

4 Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; [ Note the contrast of light at his birth and lack of light or darkiness at his death (see vs 20). ] and this shall be unto you for a sign; [ This is the sign, a new star, as a sign that there is a newness of light in the world of darkness, there is something that will overcome the darkness and that I Jesus Christ. ] for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; [ While you will know that it should be the darkest part of the night, it will not be so because a new light will provide a light in the darkest part of the night, one that dispels darkness. ] and it shall be the night before he is born.

5 And behold, there shall a new star arise, [ A new light will come into the world - Jesus Christ - the one who is bringing light to a darkened world. ] such an one [ Likening this light to Jesus Christ - like unto one who will be the light of the world. ] as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.

6 And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven.

7 And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall fall to the earth.

8 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall believe on the son of God, the same shall have everlasting life.

9 And behold, thus hath the Lord commanded me, by his angel, [Why do angels visit men? see Moroni 7:30-31] that I should come and tell this thing unto you; yea, he hath commanded that I should prophesy these things unto you; yea, he hath said unto me: Cry unto this people, repent and prepare the way of the Lord.

10 And now, because I am a Lamanite, [ Or don't discount the message just because I am not one of you, I am a Lamanite. This is good council, we should not discount the message just because of the messenger. Whether it be race, or sex or whatever, God will use whomever he pleases. So here Samuel is suggesting that it might be that they are hesitant to accept the message because of the nationality of the messenger but he will not stop there as he will also include that they are hesitant to receive the message because it is hard against you. He is not shying away from the message because he is a Lamanite, as a matter of fact he calls it out - a cursed Lamanite is calling out the Nephites who think they are without curse. ] and have spoken unto you the words which the Lord hath commanded me, and because it was hard against you, ye are angry with me [ Why do we take the truth to be hard when we are in a state of disobedience? No one likes to be told what to do; as carnal men we want to be what seems to be easy, we by nature what that which is against God. We have to work to put ourselves in line with our Father in Heaven; as we aline the way we live our life with him then we become like him, and the more we become like him the more we want to be like him; and the more that we become like him the less we think about what we want - the more we think about what he wants. We then submit our will to his and then the real miracles begin to happen. ] and do seek to destroy me, and have cast me out from among you.

11 And ye shall hear my words, for, for this intent [ I will tell you the reason why I am teaching you these things. To fortify our faith. ] have I come up upon the walls of this city, that ye might hear and [ 1 This is the reason why the Lord is giving signs through Samuel. ] know of the judgments of God which do await you because of your iniquities, [ 2] and also that ye might know the conditions of repentance; [ Which are what? “sorrow for sin. Study and ponder to determine how serious the Lord defines your transgression to be. That will bring healing sorrow and remorse. It will also bring a sincere desire for change and a willingness to submit to every requirement for forgiveness. . . . “Abandonment of sin. This is an unyielding, permanent resolve to not repeat the transgression. By keeping this commitment, the bitter aftertaste of that sin need not be experienced again. . . . “Confession of sin. You always need to confess your sins to the Lord. If they are serious transgressions, such as immorality, they need to be confessed to a bishop or stake president. Please understand that confession is not repentance. It is an essential step but is not of itself adequate. Partial confession by mentioning lesser mistakes will not help you resolve a more serious, undisclosed transgression. . . . “Restitution for sin. You must restore as far as possible all that which is stolen, damaged, or defiled. Willing restitution is concrete evidence to the Lord that you are committed to do all you can to repent. “Obedience to all the commandments. Full obedience brings the complete power of the gospel into your life with strength to focus on the abandonment of specific sins. It includes things you might not initially consider part of repentance, such as attending meetings, paying tithing, giving service, and forgiving others. . . . “Recognition of the Savior. Of all the necessary steps to repentance, I testify that the most critically important is for you to have a conviction that forgiveness comes because of the Redeemer. It is essential to know that only on His terms can you be forgiven” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 102; or Ensign, May 1995, 76). ]

12 And also [3] that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name.

13 And [4] if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits. [ Or what it takes for man to repent and gain forgiviness. So God is doing everything that he can to bring us back to him, to be able to strengthen our faith. ]

14 And behold, again, another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign of his death. [ Samuel has been talking about the signs that will proceed the birth of Christ up to this point and now he will talk about the death of Christ. ]

15 For behold, he [ Jesus Christ. ] surely must die that salvation may come; [ Or the atonement is based on the absolute (it must happen) fact that one who is free of sin must act as a intermediary for those who have sinned by giving his life selflessly for them. ] yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, [ He had to lay down his life in order to conquer death, he had to submit to death and then should that he had power over death by taking up his life again. He had to descend below all things in order to ascend beyond all things. ] to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord. [ This is the reason why Christ did what he did. He did it so that he might bring us back to his presence again. ]

16 Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; [ Alma 42:9 When somone is cut off from the presence of God. President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) explained that both of these deaths are the result of the Fall of Adam and Eve: “Our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God. By eating the forbidden fruit, they became mortal. Consequently, they and all of their descendants became subject to both mortal and spiritual death (mortal death, the separation of body and spirit; and spiritual death, the separation of the spirit from the presence of God and death as pertaining to the things of the spirit)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1978, 7; or Ensign, May 1978, 6). For us, this spiritual death occurred when we left God’s presence and were born into mortality. Samuel the Lamanite called being cut off from His presence “the first death” (Helaman 14:16). Samuel the Lamanite taught that all of Heavenly Father’s children who lived in mortality will overcome physical and spiritual death through the powers of the Atonement of Jesus Christ (see Helaman 14:17). Many other scriptures also attest to this fact (see 2 Nephi 2:9–10; 9:15, 22, 38; Alma 11:43–44; 12:12–15, 24; 42:23; 3 Nephi 26:4). ] for all mankind, by the fall of Adam [ Symbolic of man or mankind; in the council in heaven we agreed using our agency to be bound by the consequences of any action of Adam who was to be our first parent – just as we are bound by any actions of any other of our parents – some are born into the church others are not…] being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.

17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, [ Repeating the doctrine that Alma had taught before. (Alma 42) ] yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.

18 Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, [ This is the qualifier here - repentance - did you exercise it or not. ] that whosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, [ So another way to look at this is that everyone will be brought one day to the judgement seat of God. At that time a judgement will be rendered. So we might look at this as all mankind will be redeemed from physical death by the atonement, and all mankind will be redeemed of sin because of the atonement. That judgement will take place and the books will be settled once and for all. Those that have applied repentance will have the atonement take effect toward that redemption, but make no mistake those who did not apply repentance will still be judged, and whatever the sin is it will be squared and answered with God. Either the sword of justice or the arms of mercy, but that day will happen. We get to chose which will apply to each of us. It is whether we will have the second death , the one that applied to Adam and Eve, the one that was brought forth in the garden, whether we will overcome it through the atonement, or whether we will have the second death then applied individually to us(it was applied to all mankind aas a result of the fall, but the second time it is based on our individual choice) because we did not accept the atonement and repent. ] yea, a second death, [ The second death is an ultimate or final spiritual death that comes because of unrepented personal sin. The Savior has also provided help to overcome this second spiritual death. By suffering for our sins, He offers us the opportunity to repent. But to those who do not repent, there “cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness” (Helaman 14:18). ] for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness. [ This means that a person with unresolved sin cannot remain in God’s presence after he or she is brought back to Him for judgment. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described this condition: “If physical death should strike before moral wrongs have been made right, opportunity for repentance will have been forfeited. Thus, ‘the [real] sting of death is sin’ (1 Corinthians 15:56). “Even the Savior cannot save us in our sins. He will redeem us from our sins, but only upon condition of our repentance. We are responsible for our own spiritual survival or death (see Romans 8:13–14; Helaman 14:18; D&C 29:41–45)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1992, 102; or Ensign, May 1992, 73) ]

19  Therefore repent ye, repent ye, [ This si Samuels warning that we must renent to reverse the fall. ] lest by knowing these things [ I have taught you here, so take this as your warning, act accordingly. ] and not doing them [ If you will not repent. ] ye [ Individually. ] shall suffer yourselves [ Each of you will suffer for your own sins. ] to come under condemnation, [ You will then be held accountable for your own sins. Satans plan was thrown out and the reason in part was that no man would or could learn and grow without accountability. You can see Gods plan all over in life and in politics by looking at this one principle - accountability. Without accountability there is no responsibility, no growth, no real care, no reason to not do exactly what YOU WANT, no reason to even try to become like God by changing your character to be like him - no reason at all. ] and ye are brought down unto this second death. [ The everlasting death pof the spirit, the one that you personally own. ]

20 But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, [ As compared to light when he was born vs 4. We have the opposite happening here. ] to the time that he shall rise again from the dead. [ What symbolism is there in the fact that since the Savior is the light of the world - there is no light in or on the world during the crufixiation and the resurrection? ]

21 Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there shall be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble; and the rocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be broken up; [ Notice what he does not say - he does not make any reference to the destruction of the wicked in the natural disasters. The actual events are recorded in 2 Ne 26:3-6 ]

22 Yea, they shall be rent in twain, [ We can look at this symbolically as well. As communities leave a Christ centered focus they become divided. The gospel of Christ is one of love and taking care of each other verses loving oneself and getting as much for yourself as you can, greed, pride, better than thou. The list goes on and the division continues to grow. ] and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath.

23 And behold, there shall be great tempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great. [ Symbolically the world is turned upside down. There is not truth or what is truth, It cannot be found anymore. What was true yesterday is not true today, men are woman, women are men or cats or dogs or whatever, and they all believe it because they have gone so far from Christ. ]

24 And many highways shall be broken up, and many cities shall become desolate.

25 And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many. [ Referenced from 3 Ne. 23:11 when the Lord asks why they did not have written this prophecy about the graves yielding up their dead, and those from the grave appearing to the saints. ]

26 And behold, thus hath the angel spoken unto me; for he said unto me that there should be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours.

27 And he said unto me that while the thunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be, and that darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days.

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 [ or the reason fo rte signs ] that whosoever will believe might be saved, [ The first sign is given as a symbol that all men must repent. ] and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come upon them; [ The second sign given at his death represents the fact that all me will die and therefore be judged. Since the judgements of God will all be in righteousness; we are forwarned that all will be judged. ] and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation.

30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; [ Why doe he perish unto himself? Because it does not have to be this way, it is self inflicted. ] and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; [ How are we free? we are permitted to act for ourselves - no one including God makes or forces us to choose a specific way. ] ye are permitted to act for yourselves; [ Is says that we are permitted - it was part of the grand plan - to permit us to choose. We do need to remember however that while we are free to choose the associated consequences and the fallout of those decisions will be borne by us. This message has a direct reference to how the Nephites were living at this time. they were caught up in secert combinations as a result were trying to avoid taking responsibility for anything that they did as an individual. see Hel 6: 21-24. We also read in Alma 41 that when the body and spirit are restored that the responsibility for those acts will be restored as well. So they are not freed of responsibility through death but become bound to it in death. ] for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.

31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.