The specificity of this prophecy is absolutely unique in the canon of scripture. Even when there have been other time-specific prophecies, such as the 600 years time from the departure from Jerusalem to the time of the Atoning Messiah, and the 400 year prophecy that Samuel just pronounced, they have been such long time frames that no one in the sound of the prophets voice would have been witness to their fulfillment. The 600 year and 400 year prophecies are also in round numbers, and therefore easily susceptible to interpretation as generic rather than absolute. This prophecy, however, if absolute, finite, and testable within the lifetime of virtually all who heard it.
The specificity of these dates underscores the detail of the first Nephi’s prophetic vision of the Savior recorded in 1 Nephi 11-12. These details are more elaborate and firm than any other recorded prophecy from the Old World. Why are these Nephite (and now Lamanite) prophecies so qualitatively different than those from the Old World? Ultimately, we do not know. We may speculate, however, that the significant difference behind many of the more detailed prophecies of the New World is that twofold. The first is that they have been translated after-the-fact. Perhaps there was some greater ambiguity in the original that we do not see because Joseph so clearly understood those fulfilled prophecies and therefore couched them in their fulfilled understanding rather than ambiguous foresight.
While this might be a partial explanation for some of the detail, it cannot be the complete explanation, as we have Samuel’s very specific five-year prophecy in front of us. The Nephites (and righteous Lamanites) did have a greater specificity in their prophecies. A plausible reason for this difference is the very separation of the hemispheres. The events in Jerusalem that would alter the world took place in the same Jerusalem where the earlier prophets had walked and talked. The Messiah was coming to them, and the nature of agency required that Jesus have the opportunity to become the Messiah through his own actions, not the expectations of those around him. In a very real sense, he became the Messiah in spite of the Messianic expectations of the people.
This requirement for the operation of Jesus’ agency did not exist in the New World. Of course the people in this New World required their own agency, but the specificity of prophecy never denied that. As we will see, even this dramatic five-year prophecy has but a short effect on faith, and ultimately serves as a condemnation rather than a salvation for many Nephites.