D&C45:43-75

45:43-53 - The Lord describes his entrance during the second coming “and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels.” But before that “an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud. Wherefore, us ye have slept in peace blessed are you; for as you now behold me and know that I am, even so shall ye come unto me and your souls shall live, and your redemption shall be perfected; and the saints shall come forth from the four quarters of the earth.” That’s pretty incredible, gives a great eternal perspective. It says if we have “slept in peace” which DJR says means “if you died righteous and faithful, worthy of celestial glory.” I think that when tribulations arise, and persecutions more specifically, because we are talking about the end of times, which I assume is going to be complete chaos and madness, the ultimate consequence is death, that’s the worst, most permanent form of persecution, but really even facing death, this tells us that the manner in which we die is nothing compared to the manner in which we live. Speaking of the Jews gathered in Jerusalem, the Lord will come to them and will “set his foot upon this mount, and it shall cleave in twain, and the earth shall tremble, and reel to and fro, and the heavens also shall shake.” The IM comments on the phrase “then shall the Lord set his food upon this mount,” saying, “’This mount’ refers to the Mount of Olives on which the Savior was sitting when he gave this great discourse. Parley P. Pratt described in a pamphlet the great events depicted here: ‘Zechariah, chapter 14, has told us much concerning the great battle and over throw of the nations who fight against Jerusalem, and he has said, in plain words, that the Lord shall come at the very time of the overthrow of that army; yes, in fact, even while they are in the act of taking Jerusalem, and have already succeeded in taking one-half the city, spoiling their houses, and ravishing their women. Then, behold, their long-expected Messiah, suddenly appearing, shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, a little east of Jerusalem, to fight against those nations and deliver the Jews. Zechariah says the Mount of Olives shall cleave in twain, from east to west, and one-half of the mountain shall remove to the north while the other half falls off to the south, suddenly forming a very great valley into which the Jews shall flee for protection from the enemies as they fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah; while the Lord cometh and all the saints with Him. Then will the Jews behold that long-long-expected Messiah, coming in power to their deliverance, as they always looked for him. He will destroy their enemies and deliver them from trouble at the very time they are in the utmost consternation, and about to be swallowed up by their enemies. But what will be their astonishment when they are about to fall at the feet of their Deliverer and acknowledge him their Messiah! They discover the wounds which were once made in his hands, feet, and side; and on inquiry, at once recognized Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, the man so long rejected. Well did the prophet say that they shall mourn and week, every family apart, and their wives apart. But, thank heaven, there will be an end to their mourning; for he will forgive their iniquities and cleanse them from uncleanness. Jerusalem shall be a holy city from that time forth, and all the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon. She shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place, and men shall swell there. There shall be no more utter destruction of Jerusalem, ‘And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.’” The Lord describes his personal reunion with the Jews saying, “And then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet? Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God. And then shall they weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament because they persecuted their king.”  I have to be honest, this is all really confusing for me, so I’m not going to comment to much on that.

45:54-55 - Here we get to a concept that has been kind of complicated for me, but this explains it much better, and it’s the concept of the resurrection, the first and second, who, where, when, and why. The Lord says, “and then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection; and it shall be tolerable for them.” DJR explains it best saying, “We are taught that those who have died and are worthy of terrestrial glory will have part in the first resurrection. The major resurrection at the beginning of the Millennium will take place in two parts- celestial and terrestrial. The righteous dead, who are worthy of celestial glory, will be resurrected first. This is sometimes referred to as ‘the morning of the first resurrection.’ Then a major terrestrial resurrection will take place. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘afternoon of the first resurrection.’ Remember, this all takes place at or near the beginning of the Millennium.” First comes the righteous who are already worthy of the celestial kingdom, I would assume that that means those who died without a knowledge and then were converted in the spirit world and had their baptismal ordinances done for them vicariously and accepted them. Then those who died not knowing the law will be resurrected a time later along with those who were kind of righteous but not valiant and are worthy of terrestrial glory at that time. I don’t know if this means those who died without a knowledge and didn’t accept the gospel in the spirit world, or those who died without a knowledge and accepted the gospel in the spirit world but didn’t have their ordinances done for them, or maybe those who haven’t been preached to yet, or members who were kind of righteous, but not overly so, but can still repent and eventually become worthy of celestial glory. This is kind of complicated, I guess I can only look at it with the knowledge that God loves us so much and suffers when we are suffering, even if we cause it ourselves by our unrepentant hearts and that he desires to enforce the law of justice allowing us to be punished only as much as is absolutely necessary for us to repent. To be kept from your resurrected body and spend the Millennium as an unembodied spirit would be painful, that would be pretty intense punishment, and knowing that you couldn’t be resurrected until the second resurrection no matter what, would be painful for Heavenly Father as well, but he’ll do it if we won’t accept the atonement and repent. Who gets resurrected when and why can only be looked at through this lens of infinite love and mercy and justice.

45:56-62 - The Lord now comes to the fulfilling of the parable of the ten virgins. The wise virgins “have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived… And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation. For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their kind and their lawgiver.” The IM teaches, “though many people think the Olivet Discourse is limited to Matthew 24, the three parables in chapter 25 (the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and the goats) were part of the same discourse. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the Key to the symbolism of the parable of the ten virgins. The oil represents spiritual power derived from the Holy Ghost. Elder Spencer W. Kimball explained: ‘I believe that the Ten Virgins represent the people of the Church of Jesus Christ and not the rank and file of the world. All of the virgins, wise and foolish, had accepted the invitation to the wedding supper; they had knowledge of the program and had been warned of the important day to come. They were not the gentiles of the heathens or the pagans, nor were they necessarily corrupt or reprobate, but they were knowing people who were foolishly unprepared for the vital happenings that were to affect their eternal lives. They had the saving, exalting gospel, but it had not been made the center of their lives. They knew the way but gave only a small measure of loyalty and devotion. I ask you: What value is a car without an engine, a cup without water, a table without food, a lamp without oil? Rushing for their lams to light their way through the blackness, half of them found them empty. They had cheated themselves. They were foods, these five unprepared virgins. Apparently, the bridegroom had tarried for reasons that were sufficient and good. Time had passed, and he had not come. They had heard of his coming for so long, so many times, that the statement seemingly became meaningless to them. Would he ever come? So long had it been since they began expecting him that they were rationalizing that he would never appear. Perhaps it was a myth. Hundreds of thousands of us today are in this position. Confidence has been dulled and patience worn thin. It is so hard to wait and be prepared always. But we cannot allow ourselves to slumber. The Lord has given us this parable as a special warning. At midnight, the vital cry was made, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.’… At midnight! Precisely at the darkest hour, when the least expected, the bridegroom came. When the world is full of tribulation and help is needed, but it seems the time must be past and hope is vain, the Christ will come. The midnights of life are the times when heaven comes to offer its joy for man’s weariness. But when the cry sounds, there is no time for preparation. The lamps then make patterns of joy on the hillside, and the procession moves on towards the house of banqueting, and those without lamps or oil are left in darkness. When they have belatedly sought to fulfill the requirements and finally reach the hall, the door it shut. In the daytime, wise and unwise seemed alike; midnight is the time of test and judgment- and of offered gladness… The foolish asked the others to share their oil, but spiritual preparedness cannot be shared in an instance. The wise had to go, else the bridegroom would have gone unwelcomed. They needed all their oil for themselves; they could not save the foolish. The responsibility was each for himself. This was no selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity, or the experience of a mission? How can one share temple privileges? Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself. The foolish virgins were not averse to buying oil. They know they should have oil. They merely procrastinated, not knowing when the bridegroom would come. In the parable, oil can be purchased at the market. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures- each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity- these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps. Midnight is so late for those who have procrastinated.”

45:63-75 - The Lord continues to urge the saints to “gather ye out from the eastern lands, assemble ye yourselves together ye elders of my church; go ye forth into the western countries… And with one heart and with one mind, gather up your riches that ye may purchase an inheritance which shall hereafter be appointed unto you. And it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God.” The Lord says that his glory will be there, and he will protect the city and that the saints living there “shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another.” The IM teaches about “Zion: A place of defense and refuge” saying, “in the scriptures four words seem closely related to the concept of  Zion: gathering, preparation, defense, and refuge. The tribulations and jugdments that will be poured out upon the world prior to the Second Coming will be so extensive and devastating that if the Lord did not prepare a means of preservation, His people too would perish. But He has prepared a means for His people to escape those terrible times; that means is Zion. Enoch was told that the Lord would preserve His people in the tribulations of the last days by gathering His elect to Zion where they could gird up their loins (prepare themselves) and look forward to His coming. In an earlier revelation in the Doctrine and covenants, the Savior called the elders of the Church to gather the elect so their hearts could be prepared for the day of tribulation. In 1838 the Lord explained that the gathering to Zion and her stakes was to be for defense and refuge from the coming storm that will be poured out on the earth. These commands and promises are found also in section 45. The Saints are to gather to Zion, a place of safety, peace, and refuge. Even though the rest of the world is in a state of horrific warfare there will be peace and joy. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: ‘Without Zion, and a place of deliverance, we must fall; because the time is near when the sun will be darkened, and the moon turn to blood, and the stars fall from heaven, and the earth reel to and fro. Then, if this is the case, and if we are not sanctified and gathered to the places God has appointed, with all our former professions and our great love for the Bible, we must fall; we cannot stand; we cannot be saved; for God will gather out his Saints from the Gentiles, and then comes desolation and destruction, and none can escape except the pure in heart who are gathered.’”