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NAWAL - in 3 nephi 1:13 we read about how nephi the prophet went to cry unto God so that he may have mercy and bring forth the signs that will show the birth of the saviour as predicted by Samuel the lamanite else the believers will be put to death since the time was due...now we read that the Lord answered his prayers and spoke to him to be of good cheer for on the morrow he comes into the world...now my question is this...we know that all this while mary was heavy with child even him Jesus Christ,and was going to born him the next day.if Jesus was the one speaking to nephi then does it mean that the baby in mary's stomach had no Spirit? if yes then how was that same spirit speak to nephi ? please help clarify me on this topic which is important to my understanding.
JOEL - First of all people have different opinions about the moment that the spirit of a mortal enters the body before birth. Some believe it happens at conception, some at the moment of birth and others somewhere in between. Writings and teachings of President Brigham Young and others, taught that the spirit enters the body at the time of "quickening", whenever that is, and remains in the developing body until the time of birth. In a formal doctrinal statement the First Presidency of the Church (Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, and John R. Winder) have said: "The body of man enters upon its career as a tiny germ or embryo, which becomes an infant, quickened at a certain stage by the spirit whose tabernacle it is, and the child, after being born, develops into a man." (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed., p. 17.)
So in all likelyhood the spirit of Jesus entered His body sometime long before He was born. However Jesus is all-powerful eternal God, posessing power over life and death and as such has the ability to do whatever He wants or needs to do, including communicating with Nephi just before His birth; whether while still in the body or outside His body. It is also quite possible the one actually uttering the words to Nephi was someone else speaking in the first person as though he were Christ, in accordance with the law enabling others to act and speak for Deity on the principal of divine investiture of authority. If not Jeus himself it could have been an angel, the Holy Ghost, or even God the Father. The bottom line is that there has been no "official" doctrine or explanation on how Jesus communicated with Nephi the night before his birth.
NAWAL - we read from the BOM about the three nephite who never will taste death until the coming of our lord jesus christ,and we also read that the highest way to gain exaltation is when a man get married and is sealed... how do we know if the three nephite were married and if not how can they be exalted ?
JOEL - Because they were three of the twelve disciples that Jesus chose to lead His church on the western hemisphere, we can assume they were adults and according to their Jewish Heritage were probably already married at the time they were chosen. In 3 Nephi 19:4 we learn that Nephi had a son named Jonas, and both of them were among the twelve disciples which Jesus chose.
Also consider what Jesus said to them after He proclaimed they would never die:
"And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;" (3 Nephi 28:10)
Sounds to me like Jesus Christ guaranteed their exaltation because of the work they would do. So we have to assume that they were either already sealed to their spouses or that they would be sealed to someone, perhaps during the Millennium after the second coming of Christ.
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