Hero in Disguise

This week, I want to share with you the story of an incredible hero.  One who braved entering enemy territory time and time again to deliver a message of good tidings.  His name was Samuel.  He was a Lamanite.  Most people don't realize why Samuel is such a great scripture hero.  Let me tell you why I think he is so incredible:

1.     In 3 Nephi 23, Christ is visiting the Nephites after His Resurrection.  He asks if the people recall Samuel and his prophecies and they reply that they do.  The Savior then inquires why Samuel’s prophecies haven’t been recorded, and the prophet Nephi remembers that they indeed haven’t been written.  Christ then commands the people to record Samuel’s prophecies.  The only other prophet who’s writings are specifically mentioned by Christ is Isaiah, so for the Savior to specifically point out those words of scripture, they must be pretty important.

2.     Samuel, as I have previously stated, was a Lamanite.  His words are the only words of a Lamanite that we have recorded.  All of the other prophets whose words we have a record of were Nephites. 

3.     His prophecies are incredibly specific.  Most prophecies will say something like “If you don’t do this, then this might happen,” or “At one point in the near future.”  Samuel says that in five years time, the promised Messiah will be born.  He gives specific signs of His birth and then of His death.  He prophesies that in less than 400 years, the Nephites, the wicked group he has been preaching to, will be completely destroyed. 

4.     Samuel is a sort of “nobody.”  We have no idea who he family is.  For every other prophet, it was Alma, the son of Alma, or something along those lines.  We knew whom he descended from, or at least who his father was. 

5.     He gives us some very deep doctrine, especially about the Savior and His role in the Plan of Salvation. 

Now, I want to delve a little deeper on that last point.  In Helaman 14:13, Samuel says that “And 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.”  If we have faith in Jesus Christ and repent, through what He has done, not through our own efforts, we will be saved.  Back in the premortal life, Satan believed that we wouldn’t be able to use our agency to make the choices necessary to return back to Heavenly Father.  But Christ did.  Have faith in your Savior, because He had faith in you first.