“Prepare For The Troubles And Desolations Which Are About To Be Poured Upon The World Without Measure”
The scripture teach that Latter-Day-Saints have a rendezvous with the last days. The Lord has provided a great deal of information about the events that lead up to the second coming of Christ. None of it is very appealing to those who enjoy living in Babylon[1], because the time is coming when the world as we now know it, will fail, and great will be the fall. Out of the ashes of Babylon will emerge the city of Zion. The 10th Article declares:
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
The death of Babylon will be tumultuous for all who live in that day. Gone will be the legislated and regulated evil, decadence, and lasciviousness of Babylon, but in addition the collapse of the economy will bring misery to all, including the saints. Gone will be the availability of the seemingly endless supply of goods and services that modern society thrives on. The result will be much suffering and death due to starvation, disease, and exposure. The absence of medical wonders will leave us vulnerable to causes of death that were nearly conquered while Babylon flourished-stroke, heart attack, and appendicitis to name a few. The surviving saints will need to learn the skills of the pioneers to provide for themselves and reacquire the gifts of the Spirit we've lost as a people by relying on the arm of flesh.
Fleeing to Zion
The Lord warns us that a time will come that, "every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety" (D&C 45:68). This leaves the impression of the terrible violence that will ensue after a breakdown of society-a Mel Gibson Mad Max world.
The heart of today's Zion is Salt Lake City. I imagine that even in Salt Lake the initial violence and mayhem could be unbelievable if the necessities of life became unavailable for enough people. How long it would take to restore order is anybody's guess. I would hope Stake and Ward leaders would be prepared for such conditions and the saints could unite and prepare in a way that would prevent mayhem.
If Ye are Prepared Ye Shall not Fear
The word "if" looms large in this promise. This brings me to the point of my first post for 2009. I hope that all of the saints who read this post will be prepared as the prophets and apostles have told us to be. If the current conditions that exist in the world don't motivate the saints to prepare, then maybe many are "past feeling" as the Book of Mormon teaches (1 Nephi 17:45).
Following are a few quotes regarding preparedness from those whom the Lord has called to speak His mind and will in our day:
"We encourage families to have on hand this year's supply and we say it over and over and over, and repeat over and over the scripture of the Lord where He says, 'Why call ye me, Lord, and do not as I say?'... We also hope that you are maintaining your year's supply of food, clothing, and where possible, some fuel and cash savings." Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference, April 1976
"I ask you earnestly, have you provided for your family a year's supply of food, clothing, and where possible, fuel? The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah." Ezra Traft Benson, General Conference, Oct 1987
"I stand before the Church this day and raise the warning voice. It is a prophetic voice, for I shall say only what the apostles and the prophets have spoken concerning our day. ...It is a voice calling upon the Lord's people to prepare for the troubles and desolations which are about to be poured upon the world without measure. For the moment, we live in a day of peace and prosperity but it shall not ever be thus. Great trials lie ahead. All of the sorrows and perils of the past are but a foretaste of what is yet to be. And we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually." Bruce R. McConkie, General Conference, April 1979
Final Thought
In October when the stock market was crashing I called reliable sources for silver and gold coins, and for additional food storage. Silver coins (junk silver) were not available, gold coins were in short supply. Food storage orders were backed up for better than a month.
I relate this to make the point that when things are scary shortage result. It is best to prepare when times look good. Please don't wait and hastily prepare because availability and prices work against you.
I hope the current financial crisis will pass as the others have in my life time. However, the time is coming, and may be now, when the crisis will not pass, but will only deepen and catapult out of control and the result will be unlike anything we can imagine as the woes of the last days descend on mankind and there will be few men left.
I'll close these thoughts with a message to us (the Gentiles) from the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi:
Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God.
For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other-either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken. 1 Nephi 14:6 - 7
[1] "Babylon the great is the church of the devil; it is the world with all its evil and carnality; it is every organization of every kind, sort and form-whether religious, civic, political, fraternal, or otherwise-which espouses a philosophy or promotes a cause which leads men away from salvation and toward the kingdoms of lesser glory in the eternal world." "Understanding the Signs of the Times" by Jay A. Parry, Donald W. Parry P. 291
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January 6th, 2009 - 12:37
My understanding of the prophecies is that the above statements are incorrect.
1st, Zion (the New Jerusalem) will (and must) be established before Babylon falls, not after it falls.
2nd, Salt Lake City is not Zion. The people are not purified: they have not seen God. They are not sanctified: they have not come into His presence. They do not live His laws: the law of Zion (D&C 42) remains unfulfilled and no one consecrates. We do not live in cities of Zion, nor is the city of Zion (the New Jerusalem) redeemed. The high council at Zion has been disbanded for years, thus the church is in a scattered, not a gathered state. We are scattered among the gentiles and our lives are Babylon-lite. That is the reality.
However, on a more positive note, the parable of the wheat and the tares will have an end. Although our place in that parable has been during the time that the tares and the wheat grow together and mature, the time is finally now upon us, I believe, when the reapers will start to bind up the tares and gather the wheat into barns, and a remnant of saints (the wheat) will establish Zion, while the rest of the saints (the tares) will be bound up in bundles. Only after that will Babylon be destroyed. (In the meantime, though, Babylon will be shaken from time to time to get the elect out.)
So, although all seems gloomy now with the current economic picture, it is actually quite a hopeful time (as long as you are wheat, that is!)
January 6th, 2009 - 22:06
Hi LDS Anarchist,
I’ve always thought that when the saints go back to Jackson County, Mo. that that part of the US will be “sweep clean”. See JD 9:270
Orson Pratt stated that before the Saints return to Jackson County, God will visit that area “in judgment, and there will be no owners left to occupy the country”. Prophecy Key to the Future, P. 45.
Regarding SLC as Zion—the brethren have used this term for many years to refer to SLC, the home of the saints. I agree with your point that we didn’t establish the Zion the Lord sought to give to us, but He did point out that Zion, as He intends for it to be, will be established some day by church members. Notice the use of the word “transgressions”, same word used to describe the fall—instead of sin in the following scripture.
Therefore, in consequence of the transgressions of my people, it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season for the redemption of Zion— D&C 105:9
Until the full blown Zion is redeemed, I don’t see any harm in using the word Zion to describe the modern day church wherever there are covenant making saints, SLC, or wherever.
Yes, the wheat and tares, the 10 virgins are all present. The process you referred to appears to be underway where there will be a separation. I’m leaving that up to God. My part is to repent of all my sins and receive and maintain the gift of the Holy Ghost. He will show me all things I need to do.
I also look forward to the day when the apostles and prophets will lead the saints back to Jackson County and build the New Jerusalem. However, it will be both great and terrible day.
January 11th, 2009 - 19:16
Jared,
I would suggest that the Lord’s statement regarding the redemption of Zion is a conditional statement. The saints may or may not be allowed to redeem Zion. Joseph Smith made this statement regarding the ability of the saints to achieve this goal:
“…for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved in all things, in His sight, He will seek another people, for His work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will no hear His voice, must expect to feel His voice. (TPJS, p. 18)
No people, including those of the restoration, have a ‘lock’ on being chosen. It will only come to those who have been purified and sanctified. As a people, I don’t see the significant majority fitting that definition.
Given that the definition of Zion is the ‘pure in heart,’ I would be careful how it is used. I don’t think that it is appropriate to refer the church and its members, in general, as Zion. That seems to be jumping the gun since the Lord told Joseph that it was not to be redeemed until certain conditions were met.
As to who will build New Jerusalem. I suggest you read chapter 21 of 3rd Nephi. The Gentiles of the restoration, if they repent will assist “the remnant of Jacob as as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem.”
I believe the Gentiles, who represent the restored church, will only be able to assist the remnant of Jacob and the house of Israel to build New Jerusalem. I assume assist means that they will be under that direction of the remnant of Jacob. The same body that was scattered by the unbeleving of the Gentiles.
January 11th, 2009 - 22:55
spektator–I think your analysis is well thought out. I understand the point you’re making.
I also feel that the Lord is with the church leaders in our day and that there are many members who are on time to build the New Jerusalem. The events that will transpire before that day comes will sanctify those who survive.
January 23rd, 2009 - 19:25
Jared, I was referring to the world-wide destruction of Babylon. I agree that Independence, Missouri will be swept clean while Bablyon will still be established in other parts of the world.
spektator, I find it interesting that you mentioned 3 Nephi 21. Just today I completed a blog post entitled, “3 Nephi 21 expounded” in which I expounded verse by verse that entire chapter. (I’ll publish it over the next couple of days.) Your comment of the 11th of January must have floated around the ether during this time and then lodged in my head today, impelling me to write. Then it must have inspired me to come back into the LDS Alive in Christ blog to see your comment today, completing the circle. (Or maybe it is just that the Spirit has been turning both our minds to that chapter during this time for some…strange…reason…)