Gospel Doctrine: Signs of Destruction

by Nola Redd | More from this Blogger

04 Jun 2007 10:00 AM

This week's lesson talks about signs of the second coming. The apostles ask Jesus about the signs for three events - the destruction of the temple, the Second Coming of Christ, and the end of the world (JS-Matthew 1:4). The Savior provides His answer in the remainder of the chapter.

The chapter, incidentally, is the Joseph Smith translation of Matthew 24. I digress because I had an absolutely horrible time finding the chapter, and grew very frustrated - not a good attitude to have just before scripture study. It is not located with the rest of the Joseph Smith translations; nor is it found in the New Testament, both places where you might expect to locate it. Instead, you can find the chapter at the end of the Pearl of Great Price, just before the Joseph Smith History. Interestingly enough, it begins with the last verse of Matthew 23, which proves the point made earlier about chapter and verse breaks in the Old and New Testament.

In JS-M 1:12, Christ speaks of the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel (Daniel 11:31, 12:11). According to the Bible Dictionary, these conditions were to be twice fulfilled: once by the Roman legions under Titus in A.D. 70, and again during the last days. Some of the signs given by the Savior were:

• False Christs • Afflictions of the righteous (including being hated and killed) • People offending, betraying, and hating one another • False prophets • Iniquity abounds • Love of many waxing cold

Christ goes on to list signs of His Second Coming. Many of the same signs are repeated. They include:

• False Christs and false prophets who show signs and wonders to deceive the elect • Wars and rumors of wars; nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom • Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places • Love of men shall wax cold • Gospel preached to all the world (finally, a good sign!) • Day of abomination and desolation spoken of by Daniel seen again • Sun and moon darkened, stars shall fall, powers of heaven shaken • Sign of the Son of Man appears in Heaven

Many of these signs are negative, but some, such as the gospel being preached and the sign of the Son of Man appearing, are quite positive. We can see that some of these are taking place in the world today. The most notable, the one that pins it down to this dispensation, is the preaching of the gospel of Christ throughout the world. I would hazard to guess that a larger percentage of the world population has had some exposure to the Savior and to the gospel than ever before, and that number is growing. The church's missionary program is growing and expanding. The gospel is being preached to more and more people. And the day of the Second Coming draws closer every hour.

For other blogs on this week's Sunday school lesson, click on the Gospel Doctrine link at right.

Related Articles:

RS/EQ: Serving God Through Eternity

Gospel Doctrine: Christ's Eternal Mission

Gospel Doctrine: Prepare His Ways and Make His Paths Straight

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Freelance writer Nola Redd is a stay-at-home mom to three kids, with a fourth on the way.

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