3 Nephi 1:9-14

⁸ But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain. 

⁹ Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet. ¹⁰ Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful. ¹¹ And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.

3 Nephi 1:8 – 11 (Emphasis mine)

The unbelievers set a date that, if the sign of a day, night, and a day with no darkness had not occurred, they believers would be put to death.

About this, Hugh Nibley observes:

It was the overwhelming majority of unbelievers who actually set a date for a general massacre of those who expected the coming of Christ (3 Nephi 1:9, 16). Fantastic as this may seem, it has many parallels in history: the slaughter of the Magi in Lehi's day, the Sicilian Vespers, the liquidation of the Mamlukes, St. Bartholomew's, the slaughter of the Donatists, the Bloodbath of Stralsund, etc., most of them attempts at the complete wiping out of large unorthodox minorities, and most of them engineered by devout intellectuals.[1]

Hugh Nibley points out that this was illegal.  There was only one way the death penalty could occur.  “Now there was no lawyer nor judge nor high priest that could have power to condemn any one to death save their condemnation was signed by the governor of the land” (3 Nephi 6:22).  The wicked ignored their laws when they condemned the believers to death.[2]

Nephi₃ saw this wickedness of the people and he was saddened.  He “bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people” (v. 11).

¹² And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:

¹³ Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.  ¹⁴ Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh.  And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.

3 Nephi 1:12 – 14 (Emphasis mine)

When Nephi₃ prayed, he spent the entire day pleading with the Lord.  There are times when a simple prayer is enough.  More is required.

Enos recorded, “I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.  Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.  And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens” (Enos 1:2 - 4),

Alma₂ taught, “Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God.  Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself.  And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me” (Alma 5:46).

Nephi₃ received his answer. “Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world” (v. 13).

John Welch explains this part of the record.

The book of 3 Nephi begins, not with information about the writer's childhood and education, but with a very sacred revelation. It came at a critical time when Nephi cried mightily to the Lord for an entire day on behalf of his people, who were about to be killed because they believed the words of Samuel the Lamanite. I envision the word of the Lord coming to Nephi in his temple or some other holy place where a high priest would likely go to make such an earnest and urgent intercessory prayer.³ There, Nephi heard the holy voice of the Lord saying, "Be of good cheer; … on the morrow come I into the world" (3 Nephi 1:13).[3]

Christ told Nephi₃ that He has come to “to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world” (v. 14).

During His mortal ministry, Christ taught:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Matthew 5:17 - 18

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Luke 24:44

Alma₂ told his son, Corianton, “And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world.  And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery” (Alma 42:26).

In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord revealed:

And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—

The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.

And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.

D&C 93:3 – 4; 14

He closed His answer to Nephi₃ by telling him, “the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given” (v. 14).

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[1] The Way of the "Intellectuals", Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed September 21, 2012.

[2] See Good People and Bad People, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed September 21, 2012.

[3] Seeing Third Nephi as the Holy of Holies of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed September 21, 2012.