9 - And it came to pass that thus did the three days pass away. And it was in the morning, and the darkness dispersed from off the face of the land, and the earth did cease to tremble, and the rocks did cease to rend, and the dreadful groanings did cease, and all the tumultuous noises did pass away.
So in what time frame did the voice of Christ speak to the Nephites? Did this happen in Israel? Why not? What about the other other sheep that Christ visited, would this have happened there as well? What happened on the morning of the third day after Christ's crucifixion? Why would the earth have been trembling and groaning during those three days? Did the earth, as a being, recognize what had happened better than mankind upon the face of the earth? Was the earth mourning death of the only being who did not have to die, but was now dead? Was the earth confused, or just sad? Why did the earth stop all of this when the sun came up? Had the earth witnessed a particular event upon the face of it that would have stopped its sadness?
10 - And the earth did cleave together again, that it stood; and the mourning, and the weeping, and the wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease; and their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer.
Why did the earth cleave together again? Did it have a new brightness of hope? A perfect brightness of hope? Why did the people who were left alive stop mourning? Did they realize what the passing of the three days and the ceasing of the trembling of the earth meant? Remember that they had received many invitations from the voice of Christ in the previous verses. Remember they had stopped weeping and wailing for several hours to ponder the words and teachings that they had heard. Undoubtedly, at some level, they realized that the realization of the promises extended to them by invitation would be contingent upon the completion of Christ's earthly mission. At the time they were given, Christ was not resurrected yet. Do you think that they were able to match the prophecies of prophets to the events that they were living in? Did the three days mean anything to them? Did they realize that Christ was now resurrected and that they would be able to for sure seek after those promises they had been given by invitation from Christ himself? Would that cause them to change from mourning to praise and thanksgiving for the Redeemer? Notice one particular word used by Mormon, "their" vs "the". What does this imply that those people knew/realized at that time?
11 - And thus far were the scriptures fulfilled which had been spoken by the prophets.
Why did Mormon use the particular wording "And thus far..."? Which prophets are being refered to here? Just New World prophets or also Old World prophets?
... Great things 2 ponder upon.
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