D&C 45:26-33

45:26-33 - The Lord continues with the signs of the last days, “shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them.” The IM quotes President Ezra Taft Benson as teaching, “We live in an age when, as the Lord foretold, men’s hearts are failing them, not only physically but in spirit. Many are giving up heart for the battle of life. Suicide ranks as a major cause of the deaths to college students. As the showdown between good and evil approaches with its accompanying trials and tribulations, Satan is increasingly striving to overcome the Saints with despair, discouragement, despondency, depression. Yet, of all people, we as Latter-day Saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic. For a while we know that ‘peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion,’ we are also assured that ‘the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst.’” This is interesting, it’s really difficult to be optimistic all the time, or even some of the time, honestly, it’s a learned trait, I’m a pessimist by nature, very cynical, and it’s difficult, and I have to work on it all the time. I definitely haven’t mastered it yet, but I’m trying. The Lord continues, “And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound.” This is also an interesting and incredibly accurate statement, again, because this is the only life I know, I don’t relate to a time when people didn’t hack other people to death mercilessly, and to be honest, according to history, it seems like that has always been the case. The IM comments, “the expression is the same as that found in Matt. 24:12, where we read (translated literally), ‘And because lawlessness has abounded, the love of the many (this indicates more than a few) shall wax cold.’ ‘Love’ here means Christian unity, harmony. Where… does that love, that oneness, prevail? There is an abundance or co-operation based on self-interest, or family connections: but where is there genuine Christian love, true, unselfish, constant? Its absence in the majority of men is one of the signs of the end.” The Lord mentions a “desolating sickness” that will “cover the land.” I work in medicine and so this is always a topic of interest, a decade ago it was SARS, then it was swine flu, now it’s Ebola. I’ve come to the point where I have a “whatever happens, happens” attitude, I try my best to be healthy and righteous and if I get sick, then it’s meant to be. DJR has an interesting take on it saying, “Many have suggested different possibilities as to what the ‘desolating sickness,’ spoken of in verse 31, above, might be. Some thing that it is AIDS. Some think it to be antibiotic-resistant strains of germs. Yet others speculate that it could be an especially deadly form of flu, causing a worldwide plague. The most ‘desolating’ and destructive ‘sickness’ of all is personal wickedness, which causes moral and spiritual darkness and the destruction of individuals and nations. We are seeing this now throughout the world. While we have not been told specifically what this ‘desolating sickness’ is, we are left to wonder if it might be more spiritual than physical.” The IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie warning: “Be it remembered that tribulations lie ahead. There will be wars in one nation and kingdom after another until war is poured out upon all nations and two hundred million men of war mass their armaments at Armageddon. Peace has been taken from the earth, the angels of destruction have begun their work, and their swords shall not be sheathed until the Prince of Peace comes to destroy the wicked and usher in the great Millennium. There will be earthquakes and floods and famines. The waves of the sea shall heave themselves beyond their bounds, the clouds shall withhold their rain, and the crops of the earth shall wither and die. There will be plagues and pestilence and disease and death. An overflowing scourge shall cover the earth and a desolating sickness shall sweep the land. Flies shall take hold of the inhabitants of the earth, and maggots shall come in upon them. ‘Their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from their sockets.’ Bands of Gadianton robbers will infest every nation, immorality and murder and crime will increase, and it will seem as though every man’s hand is against his brother. We need not dwell more upon these things. We are commanded to search the scriptures where they are recounted with force and fervor, and they shall surely come to pass.” That is pretty overwhelming and terrible and scary, but the Lord tells us how to protect ourselves from this “desolating sickness” saying, “But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die.” This indicates to me that it is more of a spiritual nature, because physical disease, contagious disease doesn’t spread like that. We’ve been taught that holy places isn’t always a specific place but DJR gives some examples, “righteous homes, temples, church meetings, family history centers, seminaries and institutes, scripture reading, Church magazine, general conference, etc.” The IM quotes President Harold B. Lee as teaching, “In these days of our generation, many of your are asking: Where is safety? The word of the Lord is not silent. He has admonished us: ‘But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die.’ The Lord has told us where these ‘holy places’ are: ‘And it shall come to pass among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee until Zion for safety.’ Where is Zion? During the various periods of time or dispensations, and for specific reasons, the Lord’s prophets, his ‘mouthpieces,’ as it were, have designated gathering places where the Saints were to gather. After designating certain places in our dispensation, the Lord then declared: ‘Until the day cometh when there is found no more room for them; and then I have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall be called stakes, for the curtains of the strength of Zion.’ Thus clearly the Lord has placed the responsibility of directing the work of gathering in the hands of his divinely appointed leaders. May I fervently pray that all Saints and truth-seekers everywhere will attune their listening ears to these prophet-leaders… As one studies the Lord commandments and attending promises upon compliance therewith, one gets some definite ideas as to how we might ‘stand in hold places,’ as the Lord commands- if we will be preserved with such protection as accords with his holy purposes, in order that we might be numbered among the ‘pure in heart’ who constitute Zion, as I have read from the Lord’s own words.” I have a friend who was the emergency preparedness coordinator for our ward and it was a daunting task that he took very seriously. I could only imagine the weight of responsibility that falls of those who we are supposed to turn to in the times of trial such as those described here, it must be a crushing burden. The disciples who Jesus was talking to on the Mount of Olives “were troubled” when they heard these prophecies, well, yeah! But the Lord tells them “Be not troubled, for, when all these things shall come to pass, ye may know that the promises which have been made unto you shall be fulfilled.” DJR gives some applicable advice saying, “Perhaps you have attended classes or been involved in discussions concerning the signs of the times in which the prevailing sentiment and feeling was that of fear and even an element of panic. If we follow the Savior’s counsel, we will avoid approaching these prophecies with fear and trepidation and instead will look at them as faith and testimony builders, as instructed by Jesus in the last part of verse 35.” The IM quotes Elder Marion G. Romney, who also has an interesting take on these verses, saying, “the fact that the Lord recounted these predictions to the Prophet Joseph In 1831 surely emphasizes their importance to us. And since the disciples were troubled when they were but being told of these calamities to come far in the future, it is no wonder that we are troubled as we witness their occurrence… It was in the light of Christ’s foreknowledge… that he said to his disciples, ‘be not troubled…’ I hope we are all familiar with these words of the Lord and with his predictions concerning other coming events, such as the building of the New Jerusalem and the redemption of the old, the return of Enoch’s Zion, and Christ’s millennial reign. Not only do I hope that we are familiar with these coming events, I hope also that we keep the vision of them continually before our minds. This I do because upon a knowledge of them, and as assurance of their reality and a witness that each of us may have part therein, rests the efficacy of Christ’s admonition, ‘be not troubled…’” The IM also quotes President Jedediah M. Grant as asking: “Why is it that the Latter-day Saints are perfectly calm and serene among all the convulsions of the earth- the turmoils, strife, war, pestilence, famine and distress of nations? It is because the spirit of prophecy has made known to us that such things would actually transpire upon the earth. We understand it, and view it in its true light. We have learned it by the visions of the Almighty.” I heard a quote once that I really liked, it said, “It doesn’t matter who is President, Jesus is king.” This made sense to me because I was learning that nothing else mattered except being righteous, because that meant God’s protection and rule in your life, so no matter what happens, God is in charge of our lives. The IM also quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “We do not know when the calamities and troubles of the last days will fall upon any of us as individuals or upon bodies of the Saints. The Lord deliberately withholds from us the day and hour of his coming and of the tribulations which shall precede it- all as part of the testing and probationary experiences of mortality. He simply tells us to watch and be ready. We can rest assured that if we have done all in our power to prepare for whatever lies ahead, he will then help us with whatever else we need… We do not say that all of the Saints will be spared and saved from the coming day of desolation. But we do say there is no promise of safety and no promise of security except for those who love the Lord and who are seeking to do all that he commands. It may be, for instance, that nothing except the power of faith and the authority of the priesthood can save individuals and congregations from the atomic holocausts that surely shall be. And so we raise the warning voice and say: Take heed; prepare; watch and be ready. There is no security in any course except the course of obedience and conformity and righteousness.” Pretty intense stuff right there.