One of the most noteworthy things connected with the ancient Nephite Church was the great plainness and the detail with which the incidents of the birth, life, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ were understood and prophesied by the Nephite servants of God who dwelt on the earth before He tabernacled in mortality.
Among others things it was declared of Him, that:
God, Himself, shall come down from heaven among the children of men and shall redeem His people. (Mosiah 15:1)
He shall take upon Him flesh and blood. (Mosiah 7:27)
He should be born in the Land of Jerusalem, the name given by the Nephites to the land of their forefathers, whence they came. (Alma 7:10) (See Chapter 13, 1 Nephi.)
His mother's name should be Mary. (Alma 7:10)
She should be a virgin of the City of Nazareth; very fair and beautiful, a precious and chosen vessel.16 (Alma 7:10)
She should be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Alma 7:10)
He should be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God.27
He should be baptized by John at Bethabara, beyond Jordan. (1 Ne. 10:9)
John should testify that he had baptized the Lamb of God, (1 Ne. 10:10)
After His baptism the Holy Ghost should come down upon Him out of heaven, and abide upon him in the form of a dove. (2 Ne. 31:8)
We do not insert here the prophecies of Isaiah and other Jewish prophets that are recorded in the Bible concerning Him, and which are also included in the Book of Mormon. Neither do we include the prophecies made by His servants that appear beyond this book, (Mosiah) except those contained in Alma 7:10, which later and in their proper order we shall consider.
His mother shall be called Mary. Mary, the mother of Christ, is twice mentioned by name in the prophecies of the ancient Nephite worthies. Here, in the prophetic sermon of King Benjamin, and by Alma, the younger, in preaching to the people of Gideon (83 B.C.). Alma declared that Jesus should be born "of Mary...she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed, and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God." (1 Ne. 11:13-21)
She being a virgin. For a discussion of this term, See COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF MORMON, Vol.. I, pp. 81-83.