Merry Christmas, according to Samuel, Helaman, Nephi, and Luke!
In the Book of Mormon:
Helaman 13:2 and Helaman 14:2-8
Samuel the Lamanite comes, prophesies 5 years before it happens- the coming of Jesus... Christmas!
3 Nephi 1:5-17 (note verse 13!!)
Those who believed in Samuel's prophesy were threatened with death.. and the Sign came the night they were to be killed. Note verse 13: "On this night, the sign shall be given..."
Then move to the Bible:
Luke 1: 26-37
The angel Gabriel (Noah?) came to tell Mary she would have a son.. The Son of God. Note verse 37: "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Luke 2:1-20
Verse 5- "Espoused" is a step between our modern "engaged" and "married" where they still had the expectation of complete social and physical fidelity, but they were not to live together or have sex with each other yet. This stage of the relationship was often 6 months to a year long.
Verse 7- Many people were in Bethlehem because of Caesar's order for taxes. The prospect of not being able to find a place to stay was very real. At that time, no room at the inn wasn't about not having enough private rooms. An inn was a home, usually, with one great room. Each guest at the inn would lay a blanket down to identify their space. If Mary and Joseph had been in the inn, she would not have had any privacy for giving birth. Some speculate that the innkeeper saw she was super-pregnant and sent them to the stable (a cave where animals were kept) so that she would have privacy (and probably so her labor and delivery would not disrupt the other guests!).
Verse 12- The shepherds in the field were keepers of very special flocks, being so close to town. Part of what they did was identify first-born lambs so they could be kept for temple sacrifices. When a first-born male lamb was born, they'd wrap him up in swaddling clothes to keep him clean and unspotted so he would be fit for sacrifice. They were called by the angels to witness the first born Lamb of God, wrapped in swaddling clothes!
Isaiah 9:6
Good lyrics if you know the tune!
