Samuel gave five signs of the coming of Christ: (1) the five-year prophecy, (2) no darkness for two days and one night, (3) a new star, (4) signs and wonders, and (5) people will fall to the earth (see Figure 2). As the time neared for Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecies to be fulfilled, Nephi witnessed the growing skepticism of the people concerning the predicted earthly advent of Jesus Christ. This skepticism led to the persecution of those who believed in Christ’s coming by those who felt the time of his birth had already passed. These skeptics threatened to kill the believers, unless the sign of Christ’s birth appeared before a certain date. Possibly because the very lives of the believers depended on the fulfillment of those prophecies, Nephi paid careful attention to documenting Samuel’s precise wording as well as their exact fulfillments (see 3 Nephi 1:13, 15, 16–17, 21; 2:1).
Book of Mormon Central, “Why did Samuel Rely so Heavily on the Words of Past Prophets? (Helaman 14:1),” KnoWhy 185 (September 12, 2016).
John W. Welch and J. Gregory Welch, “Samuel the Lamanite’s Prophecies,” in Charting the Book of Mormon, (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999), chart 48.