A Prophecy Proven

Helaman 8:21 And now will you dispute that Jerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem? But behold, this is not all—

At this point in Nephite history, it had long been prophesied that Jerusalem had been destroyed (for the umteenth time) shortly after Lehi had been commanded to leave it. Once Lehi and his family arrived in the Promised Land, they received a revelation indicating that Jerusalem had, in fact, been destroyed. At this point, it was too late for them to go back and check, so they had to take that revelation on faith, and I imagine that some of them didn't. Some of the sons of Lehi didn't believe the prophecy that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and they probably didn't believe the revelation that it had. Yet, after Jerusalem was destroyed, some of the survivors were led to the same Promised Land, and they met with the Nephites and confirmed the destruction of Jerusalem. They bore witness that the prophecy had come true and the revelation had been correct.

We don't always get that luxury. We don't always get proof that a prophecy came true or that a revelation was right. But on those rare instances when we are given proof, it should strengthen our faith in the other prophecies and revelations we've been given, so we can more firmly believe in the prophecies and revelations that haven't been proven yet.

The prophets ask us to take a lot on faith, but in their defense, they've got a decent track record of getting things right. Perhaps we ought to give them the benefit of our faith, even as we patiently wait for the evidence that will prove that they were right all along.