“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. 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

Some will say the quotes above were given decades ago. True, does that mean they are irrelevant?  You will have to make that judgment. 

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