I have been interested in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ since I was a child. I was taught that He would return, and I understood that it would be about the year 2000. I remember worrying that He would come before the year 2000 and wondering if I would have the opportunity to marry and have children before He came. As it happened, I did marry and have children, and now I am a grandmother with grandchildren old enough to marry and have their own children.
The year 2000 came and went with
nothing out of the ordinary happening. As I matured, my understanding of the
gospel of Jesus Christ grew, and I was no longer panicked about the Second
Coming. However, I look at the signs all around me, and I continue to wonder
how much more time will pass before He returns. I believe that the Second Coming
is close, but I have no idea how close. It is definitely closer than it was
when I was a child or even the year 2000.
I recently purchased a book written
by Gerald A. Lund. It is his second book about the return of Jesus Christ to
earth. His first book was titled The Coming of the Lord and was
published in 1971. It is only fitting that his second book is the titled The
Second Coming of the Lord. The second book was published in 2020, nearly
fifty years after the first one and contains more recent statements of the
prophets and apostles.
I read a small portion of the book every day
because I want to ponder and understand what I am reading. Today’s portion was
in Chapter 6 “It is Nigh, even at the Door.” When Christ met with His disciples
for the last time, they asked the question that people have been asking for the
past 2000 years: When will Jesus Christ return?
Lund reminded his readers that the angel
Moroni came to visit Joseph Smith in the fall of 1823. Moroni gave instructions
concerning a record that was written on gold plates, and then he cited
prophecies from the Bible. This is what Joseph Smith wrote in his history about
the visit:
He quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah,
saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter
of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, … He said that that prophet was
Christ; but the day had not yet come … but soon would come. He also
quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He
also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he
further stated that the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in” (Joseph
Smith-History 1:40-41).
Moroni told Joseph Smith four times
that the Second Coming was close but not yet. However, Moroni was not the only
heavenly visitor to bring this message. After the Kirtland Temple was
dedicated, Moses, Elias, and Elijah came to bring additional priesthood keys to
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. While he was there, Elijah gave the following
message: “By this [the coming of the three messengers] ye may know that the
great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors” (Doctrine
and Covenants 110:16). The Lord said that His coming was near about fifteen times
in the scriptures, according to Lund.
In the parable of the ten virgins, Christ
taught that the bridegroom who represents Christ, comes “at midnight” (Matthew
25:6). In a revelation given in October 1830, the Lord declared that it was “the
eleventh hour” [Doctrine and Covenants 33:3], a seeming reference to the
parable. The Lord added that this would be the last time He called
laborers into the vineyard [Doctrine and Covenants 33:3; see also Jacob
5:62-63; Doctrine and Covenants 24:19; 43:28; 95:4].
In the preface to the Doctrine and
Covenants the Lord tells us that “the days speedily cometh; the hour is
not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth [Doctrine
and Covenants 1:35]. The Savior personally declares in numerous places that “I come
quickly” [Doctrine and Covenants 33:18; 34:12; 35:27; 39:24; 41:4; 49:28;
and multiple others]. He also says, “Behold, I will hasten my work in
its time” [Doctrine and Covenants 88:73). Early in the history of the Church
the Lord said, “The day soon cometh that ye shall see me, and know that
I am” [Doctrine and Covenants 38:8]. The phrase “soon cometh,” referring to His
coming, is found in nine other places.
So it seems we have a dilemma. Over and
over the Lord has indicated that the time of the end is near and that the day of
His coming will be soon. And yet most of those scriptural passages are now
almost two hundred years old, but we are still waiting for their fulfillment.
So how are we to interpret words like “close,” “quickly,” “soon,” “hasten,” and
“speedily”? …
So, how do YOU interpret those words?
It appears that Jesus Christ and His messengers have a different meaning for
the words that mere mortals do. When someone tells me that they will be to my
house soon, I expect them in a few minutes if they are locals, or in the
near future if they are from out of state. I would not expect them to use the
word soon if their visit would take place a few months later or years
later.
There is one thing that we know for
sure. No one, not one single person on earth or in heaven – except Heavenly
Father – knows when Jesus Christ will return to earth. This means that we should
not listen to anyone who claims to know when He will come. President Russell M.
Nelson made the following statement:
People often ask the Apostles, “When is
the Second Coming going to be? “I’ve got the answer. “I don’t know.” It won’t
be today or tomorrow, because there is much work that needs to be done before
that can come. All I know for sure is that we are a day closer today than we
were yesterday. (Teachings, 351)
The current prophet of the Lord does
not know when Jesus Christ will return. I expect that he will have more
information prior to the coming of the Lord because “Surely the Lord God will
do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos
3:7). I have no idea how the prophet will know, but I believe that he will know
at some point. It may be a simple announcement from the Lord, such as “The work
is complete.” Right now, we know that there is much work to do before the
Savior returns, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must
work quickly to get it done. The world must be prepared for the Second Coming
of the Lord.
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