The Real Danger of Becoming Less and Less Astonished at a Sign or a Wonder from Heaven

We live in an interesting time. We have had several signs and wonders in the heavens come to pass. The tetrad of blood moons that happened on 4 significant Jewish holidays in a row (2014 Passover and Feast of Tabernacles, 2015 Passover and Feast of Tabernacles), the solar eclipse of August 2017, the fulfilling of Revelation 12 (JST Rev. 12:1-17), September 2017, and many more signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. In the Book of Mormon, the unbelievers set a date to kill the disciples of Christ who believed in the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite and in the sign of the day and a night and a day as if it were one day, if it didn’t come to pass (3 Nephi 1:9). Nephi cried unto the Lord and the voice of the Lord came unto him, assuring him the sign would be fulfilled that very night (3 Nephi 1:12-14). All these prophecies were fulfilled and Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and the new star appeared as prophesied. One would think that this fulfilling of prophecy would motivate the people to lasting repentance or change, but in large measure, it did not. For a time many were converted but lasting conversion did not last. I wonder if this was because they only believed because of the signs. The scriptures give us some clues about signs. Signs follow those that believe but we are also taught not to have our faith centered in signs, rather to put our faith in Jesus Christ.

We read:

“And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a sign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words” (Alma 30:43).

“An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matt. 12:39).

“And he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:7).

“But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:9).

“Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:12).

So, are signs always negative or does the Lord use them to bless His children?  What is His purpose for signs?

Again, the scriptures give us some insight:

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” (Genesis 1:14).

“And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years;” (Abraham 4:14, see Moses 2:14).

“And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.
And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath.

And they shall behold blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke.
And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:39-42).

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17-18).

“And the angel said unto me that many shall see greater things than these, to the intent that they might believe that these signs and these wonders should come to pass upon all the face of this land, to the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men--
And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation” (Helaman 14:28-29).

“And these signs shall follow him--he shall heal the sick, he shall cast out devils, and shall be delivered from those who would administer unto him deadly poison;
And he shall be led in paths where the poisonous serpent cannot lay hold upon his heel, and he shall mount up in the imagination of his thoughts as upon eagles’ wings.
And what if I will that he should raise the dead, let him not withhold his voice” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:98-100).

“And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith” (Mosiah 27:14).

“But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

“...because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired.
And behold this thing shall be given unto thee for a sign, that after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit which thy father tasted, thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven, and him shall ye witness; and after ye have witnessed him ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God” (1 Nephi 11:6-7).

“But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:9).

“And he that believeth shall be blest with signs following, even as it is written.
And unto you it shall be given to know the signs of the times, and the signs of the coming of the Son of Man” (Doctrine and Covenants 68:10-11).

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:17-21).

“And these signs shall follow them that believe--in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover;” (Mormon 9:24).

“Therefore, repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall follow them that believe in my name” (Ether 4:18).

So, we must be faithful and diligent in recognizing the purpose of signs but not let our faith become dependent upon them. One of the reasons it is so is because God’s ways are not our ways and neither are His thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Some have seen these signs and been discouraged because things haven’t progressed the way they envisioned them happening. Hopefully their faith is in Christ and the timing of God, not in their own personal interpretation of what should have happened by now after the fulfillment of these signs. These signs should encourage to continue to seek after God and His righteousness. If your faith isn’t centered in Christ, then these signs can actually result in more unbelief, one of the great sins uncovered in the Book of Mormon over and over again. This leads to one of the main purposes of this post.

Within 3 years of the day and a night and day appearing as one day, the people began to forget the signs and wonders they had seen. It reads,

“And it came to pass that thus passed away the ninety and fifth year also, and the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen--
2 Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing.
3 And it came to pass that the people began to wax strong in wickedness and abominations; and they did not believe that there should be any more signs or wonders given; and Satan did go about, leading away the hearts of the people, tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land” (3 Nephi 2:1-3).

There is a huge list of horrible things that happen as they forget the signs and wonders of God in their lives. Not only would this be applicable to the signs and wonders in the heavens but also in our lives. As we forget the miracles God has wrought in each of our own personal lives, the same wicked fruits listed above can and will take place within us; less and less astonished at a sign or wonder from heaven, hardness of heart, blind in the mind, disbelieving of that which one has heard and seen, imagining that these things were done by men or the devil, waxing strong in wickedness and abominations, disbelieving in future signs and believing the doctrine of Christ to be a foolish and vain thing.

What a list of gross wickedness. Satan gets possession of one’s hearts as they disbelieve in the signs that God has given us in our lives. Ultimately disbelieving in the doctrine of Christ is the final nail in the coffin as a result of disbelief, or unbelief.

I have noticed that there are several groups and levels of faith in a church or organization. One of these groups are those that believe that the scriptures are true and the miracles happened to people in the past. They love to share the experiences of the faithful from the scriptures and their family histories. They are generally faithful in trying to do good works and be good. The interesting thing is they still fall into the category of the unbelieving. They don’t believe these miraculous things could ever happen to themselves. So they do a lot of good things but they really don’t believe they are as good as God knows they are. They don’t dare ask for the blessings God has promised to all the faithful, mainly of coming to know Him intimately and personally in this life, not just after death beyond the veil but piercing the veil and coming into His presence as is promised over and over in scripture. Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, Alma, the Brother of Jared etc, all testified that they saw Jesus Christ. We gain faith in Christ because we believe their testimonies and this motivates us to be good disciples of Him. This is why we are encouraged to study the scriptures that testify of Him. The Book of Mormon testifies of Him over and over and over again.

The other group of people believe the scriptures and believe that if these marvelous experiences happened to people in the scriptures then they truly can happen to themselves if they meet the qualifications to do so. They seek to do and to BECOME true followers of Jesus Christ and enter into His presence. Believing, believing, believing is the key. I could share scripture after scripture, quote after quote. I will share just one and let you search the scriptures to find out if this is true. I’ll point you to a few verses to start your search. Once you find out what is written is true, I would encourage you to humbly and boldly speak with your Father and let Him know you want this fruit of faith in Christ. Ask Him “what lack I yet?” And He will tell you over and over again until you come unto Christ and are perfected in Him.

“This principle ought in its proper place to be taught, for God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, 'Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him who, remain from the least to the greatest” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 149).

Genesis 12:7

Exodus 19:10-11

Exodus 20:22

Exodus 24:10-11

2 Chronicles 7:14

Matthew 11:27

JST Matthew 7:14-15

JST Matthew 25:11

John 14:23

1 Nephi 2:16

2 Nephi 2:4

1 Nephi 15:11

2 Nephi 32:6

Alma 19:13

Ether 3:13

Ether 3:17

Ether 3:20

Ether 12:9

Ether 12:39

Doctrine and Covenants 50:45

Doctrine and Covenants 67:10-11

Doctrine and Covenants 84:22-23

Doctrine and Covenants 88:68

Doctrine and Covenants 93:1

Doctrine and Covenants 97:16

Doctrine and Covenants 101:38

Doctrine and Covenants 107:19

Doctrine and Covenants 130:3

Moses 1:1

As you come to believe these scriptures, your faith will increase in Jesus Christ and His promises. You’ll find an intense drive to come unto Him and be perfected in Him. You will become a true disciple because the closer you become to Him, the more you’ll feel the longing to have any darkness or evil rooted out of your heart and mind. You will become a new creature in Christ, truly born again.

So, what is the real danger of unbelief? It is not fulfilling the purpose of our creation, to become as God is (see Moses 1:39, John 17:3, King Follett Discourse by Joseph Smith Jr.).