Zion – Last Days Decoded

A Feast of “Fat Things”

When we think of the coming events of the Last Days, how many of us think it will be a “Feast of Fat Things”? Not many – if any – but the book of Isaiah is clear about the Lord’s promises to His faithful:

Isaiah 25: 3-4, 6, 8-9:
1 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
6 ¶ And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people A FEAST OF FAT THINGS, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 ¶ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

But aren’t these amazing promises? They’re echoed a little differently in D&C 58:1-21, but with still powerful reassurance. This doesn’t mean that the phrase “Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord” is only GREAT. It will also be DREADFUL and we can see many signs of those times coming at a gallop. The reason for this dichotomy is that Satan and God/Christ are at war, have very different methods, and provide us with opposition in all things (2 Nephi 2:11).

Satan works by FEAR and the Lord works by FAITH (see related BLOG). The Lord creates boundaries for how far Satan can go in each of our lives and nations, although it doesn’t usually feel like it. If people who experience near-death experiences can be believed, we all at least agreed to the adversities we would face in this life and some probably even volunteered for them, for added glory in the next life (implied in Revelation 20:4). And if you carefully study God’s “appointed times,” you will see how He also regulates the flow of history to create a beginning and end to global adversities. See my related blog posts: God’s “Appointments” With Man and God’s “Appointments” For Great Events. If the Lord could exactly time the events of the last week of Christ’s life to match the 3 celebrations around Passover, how much more can He orchestrate events and their timing in our lives?

To reiterate from my recent talk, Approaching Adam-ondi-Ahman, at the Book of Mormon Evidence Conference on April 6, 2023, we in America only get to the “Feast of Fat Things” at Adam-ondi-Ahman, grace for grace just as Christ did in His early life (D&C 93:18-20). At the last minute, the Spirit directed me to the image below, which speaks powerfully about our climb from the darkness of the Telestial world up our own individual progression to the Celestial glory in the Church of the Firstborn (D&C 76:52-54). We then end up qualified to be there when Christ comes to the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. With each victory, we stand on higher ground, in greater light.

We are symbolically in an enclosed stone tower and, if we’re lucky, we’ll have a few small windows looking out on the promised glory, to keep us going in this relatively drab and often very scary world. So I want to share some of the “dishes” that will be served up to us at the final feast – hopefully for you to store away and trot out when you need a dose of hope!

Our Symbolic *Upward* Journey to Adam-ondi-Ahman
Inside the **Arc de Triomphe**, Public Domain Image

When we finally get to the top, we find where our own personal tower of growth and suffering ends: in a high place of glory, and literally at the coming of Christ at Adam-ondi-Ahman (D&C 88:95-98). In that promised glory, we will witness and assist in the great gathering of the 12 Tribes, symbolized by the 12 roads leading to this Paris landmark, the renowned Arc de Triomphe, and where this dark stairway actually goes, up onto its roof:

Aerial view of Arc de Triomphe, Paris – Licensed for use by shutterstock.com

Compare the long climb up that dark tower with the wonder and glory of emerging on top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, built to commemorate France’s great military victories of the past, symbolic of our own personal triumphs.

Not only will you be crowned with deliverance, glory, and eternal rewards at Adam-ondi-Ahman, but you will be in a spiritual leadership position to see the entire gathering of the 12 Tribes of Israel, to participate in the building of the New Jerusalem, and then watch Zion spread out across America, then North America, safe in God’s protective care. While the rest of the world battles it out during Armageddon and is pummeled by the Abomination of Desolation, faithful seekers are rescued out of them by the 144,000, then brought to us, their nursing mothers and nursing fathers (1 Nephi 21:22-23). It’s hard to imagine a more glorious ending to our mortal Telestial struggles. Then read how an early Patriarch, Charles D. Evans describes Life in Zion:

The light of the gospel, which had but dimly shown because of abomination, now burst forth with a luster that filled the earth.
Cities appeared in every direction, one of which, in the center of the continent, was an embodiment of architectural science after the pattern of eternal perfections, whose towers glittered with a radiance emanating from the sparkling of emeralds, rubies, diamonds and other precious stones set in a canopy of gold and so elaborately and skillfully arranged as to shed forth a brilliancy which dazzled and enchanted the eye, excited admiration and developed a taste for the beautiful, beyond anything man had ever conceived.
Fountains of crystal water shot upward their transparent jets in the brilliant sunshine . . . .
Gardens, the perfections of whose arrangement confound all our present attempts at genius. . . .
Schools and universities were erected, to which all had access; in the latter Urims were placed, for the study of the past, present and future . . . .
All learning was based on eternal certainty.
Angels brought forth the treasures of knowledge which had lain hid in the womb of the dumb and distant past.
(published in The Contributor magazine in 1894; full version at www.NoFearPreps.com and in her book, The Great Gathering, pp 50-52)

Under Christ, Ephraim will manage the world’s government from the New Jerusalem and in spiritual partnership with tribe of Judah in the old Jerusalem – 2 capital cities. Finally the abuses and excesses of “wickedness in high places” will be vanquished, and one Mighty and Strong will lead us:

Isaiah 2:3 – 2 Capitals during the Millennium:
. . . Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
(See also Micah 4:2 and 2 Nephi 12:3)

D&C 85:7:
7 And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God;

We have this and many other promises of eternity to anticipate:

From the Prophet Brigham Young:
Let me here say a word to console the feelings and hearts of all who belong to this Church. Many of the sisters grieve because they are not blessed with offspring. You will see the time when you will have millions of children around you. If you are faithful to your covenants, you will be mothers of nations. You will become Eves to earths like this, and when you have assisted in peopling one earth, there are millions of others still in the course of creation. And when they have endured a thousand million times longer than this earth, it is only as it were at the beginning of your creation. Be faithful and if you are not blessed with children in this time, you will be hereafter. (Deseret News, Vol 10, p 306, Oct 14, 1860)
And guys, you will be needed too . . . creating whole worlds, together with your own Eve!

For more inspiration, watch Michael Rush’s wonderful video on YouTube: Reality is Not What You Think It is . . . FYI: The second half contains most of the meat.

Finally, remember the words of an old man who suddenly stood up at the back of his Sunday School class that was criticizing the Willey and Martin Handcart companies for “foolishly” leaving for Utah so late in the year: You know nothing about it. What I experienced to come to know my Savior was WORTH IT, and I would do it again. That silenced the critics, and are “words to remember” when times look extra dark. God’s purpose is to refine us enough to qualify for all His promised blessings.

So onward and upward – Listen to some of my favorite music to put some pep in your step when you feel down, then add your own links in the Comments section:

Savior, Redeemer of My Soul – Dallyn Bayles and Jenny Oaks Baker
The Prayer – Tabernacle Choir with Katherine Jenkins and intro by composer David Foster
Come Go With Me – Kenneth Cope
Ye Elders of Israel – Priesthood Conference choir
Hope of Israel – Sung by us ordinary singers in General Conference
Nearer, My God, to Thee – Vocal Point
Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus– The Romanian Foundation for Excellence in Music, International Music Festival 2014 – a reminder that we have many brothers and sisters not yet gathered – and a benediction on you all!

The Half Hour of Silence

In the past year, I’ve discovered a new toy, a Gospel toy. Instead of relying on other spiritual teachers almost exclusively, I’ve learned to search my Church’s website, then learn directly from the scriptures – by topic. The Half Hour of Silence referred to in scripture has prompted a lot of theories about when it occurs and its length in real time. Here’s are the scriptures directly referencing it:

Revelation 8:1
Introduction: John sees fire and desolation poured out during the seventh seal
and preceding the Second Coming.
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:95-98
95 And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled;
96 And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him.
97 And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—
98 They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 38:9-12
9 Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared. Behold, the kingdom is yours, and the enemy shall not overcome.
10 Verily I say unto you, ye are clean, but not all; and there is none else with whom I am well pleased;
11 For all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven;
12 Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined.

What do we learn in these scriptures?

The Half Hour of Silence begins right after the Seventh Seal is opened (Revelation 8:1).
The heading to Revelation 8 clearly states that the Seventh Seal is opened before the Second Coming and the beginning of the Millennium. This is supported by the fact that the rest of this chapter describes the “dreadful” events preceding Christ’s final Second Coming, but after the Seventh Seal is opened.
Christ comes immediately after the Half Hour of Silence, as well as those resurrected or translated at that time (D&C 88:95).
The Silence reigns because of wickedness on the Earth, and the angels in heaven are restrained from “reaping down the Earth” (D&C 38:12). My thought on why the angels are restrained: Satan and his minions must have their day, so that their final judgment will be just. FYI, the entire Chapter 38 is well worth reading and digesting.

And here’s a final tidbit, found embedded in those same search results, with the link to the scriptural topic, “Silence, Silent” and it provides counsel to “the prudent” that we might well remember when the time comes:

Amos 5:12-15:
12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right [the wicked, distinguished from “the prudent” below].
13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph [that’s us, folks].

Now we come to the ongoing discussion about how long this Half Hour lasts. I have encountered two theories:

Option 1: Quoting Jst 2 Peter 3:8: But concerning the coming of the Lord, beloved, I would not have you ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
If we figure this out in a literal sense, this is the math:
1 day = 24 hours; 48 “half hours” = 1 day; 1,000 years ÷ 48 half hours = 20.83 years
Option 2: Quoting Daniel 9:27: And he shall confirm the covenant with many for ONE WEEK [here, one hour]: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
[NOTE that the Lord will “confirm the covenant” for the whole week (7 years), but the Antichrist will put a stop to public religious worship halfway through it. I take this to mean that neither he nor Satan himself can stop our inner spiritual growth – it’s beyond their power – even if they shut down all Christian worship services.]
Here One Week is “the Hour” which = 7 of something. It could be 7 days in the literal sense of a week, as in Revelation 3:10 and John 2:4 where Christ’s “Hour” = 7 days of the last week of His life. He came to Jerusalem on a Monday, was crucified on Friday, and resurrected “3 days and 3 nights later” on the next Monday, or over the course of 1 week.
Since we don’t think our time of severe tribulation will last only 3 1/2 days, we then consider that “the Hour” can also = 7 Years of Tribulation, foreshadowed by Pharoah’s dream of 7 years of plenty, followed by 7 years of famine.
So a Half Hour = 3 1/2 years, with this logic. This also lines up with some numbers in Daniel and Revelation: 1260 or 1290 days, 42 months or time, times, and half a time. These numbers paired with meaningful Hebrew Feast days are major ways the real timeline is defined, and this Half Hour of Silence fits into its progression of events perfectly.

A fuller explanation of these two options is given in Farrell Pickering’s video, Daniel’s Hour and the 1/2 Hour of Silence or available on a DVD at propheticappointments.com. He also makes the point that if 20.83 years was really the length of this very destructive time, no one would survive. So I agree with his analysis that 3 1/2 years is the actual time span, and that the Lord buried His messages even deeper in the scriptures than the scripture in 2 Peter, so that future religious leaders wouldn’t omit or alter it in the scriptures, as has been done with many other doctrines. This is also comparable to the Savior’s style of teaching in parables so that only those spiritually prepared to hear that truth and be accountable for living it would understand His message.

Where this fits in a sequence of events is shown clearly on Brother Pickering’s full timeline, and I’ll be addressing it in my upcoming book, hopefully finished by June this year. But this Half Hour (3 1/2 years) will be the time of The Great Tribulation where God’s true followers will be refined in their own personal fire of tribulation and then, if one stays faithful, he or she will emerge with their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God. . . (Alma 13:12). And this is when we all can belong to the Church of the First Born and enjoy the Lord’s Feast of Fat Things in Zion preparing for the glorious Millennium where missionary work and a fuller gathering of Israel continues, with Eternity beckoning beyond that. See the end of my previous post for a preview of this this coming glory.

Buckle your seatbelts, keep the faith, stay in the boat, and hang on for the ride!

The Day & The Hour No Man Knoweth

Everyone in the Christian world is familiar with this scripture:

Matthew 24:36:
But of that day and hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

And it frequently put the brakes on research into the timing of the Second Coming, until recently. What changed? Two things:

I’d been taught by my church educators that there are at least three Second Comings – NOT JUST ONE:
(1) Adam-ondi-Ahman in America,
(2) The Mount of Olives splits in two, rescuing the Jews during Armageddon, and
(3) The final coming in the clouds, in power and great glory – this is the one we hear about in Sunday School, etc.

$64,000 Question: So does that scripture in Matthew refer to all three?

And many in and outside of our church are studying how the ancient Hebrew Feasts Days are connected to the events of Christ’s life and death, as well as events of the Restoration. What’s really new, and even thrilling, is that they also seem to be deeply entwined with Last Days events. Here’s just one example, connected to Christ coming to the Mount of Olives [EMPHASIS added].

Zechariah 14:3-4, 16-19:
3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations,
as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof
toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley;
and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north,
and half of it toward the south. . . .

16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem
shall even go up from year to year to worship the King,
the Lord of hosts, and to keep THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will NOT come up of ALL the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts,
even upon them shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go NOT up, and come NOT, that have no rain;
there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen
that come NOT up to keep THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt,
and the punishment of all nations that come NOT up
to keep THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
[EMPHASIS added]

The Feast of Tabernacles is not a casual connection to this appearance of Christ to the Jews – this is a “Sheep and Goats” sifting event. It gets even more interesting when we see that Christ’s Second Coming is likened to the Wedding Feast, practiced in ancient Israel to celebrate mortal weddings. Invited guests are expected to attend, and those who don’t incur social consequences that mirror the spiritual consequences of failing to accept the Lord’s invitation to the Wedding Supper of His son to His Bride, the Church. See Matthew 22:1-14 and the Elder Bednar talk referenced below, for the Parable of the Marriage of the King’s Son. Coincidentally, Hebrew weddings were celebrated for 7 Days, and so is the Feast of Tabernacles.

Further background: Seven Hebrew Feast Days (or Holy Convocations) are described in Leviticus 23 and this BLOG POST, grouped with 3 in the spring, 1 in summer, and 3 in the fall. The fall feasts were especially sacred, relevant to the above description:
The Day of Trumpets (on the month of Tishri 1) which calls Israel to 10 days of repentance, preparing for:
The Day of Atonement (Tishri 10), the only day of the year they believe that God would forgive sins, then 5 days later culminating in:
The Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15-21) which originally celebrated God’s providential shelter for the Israelites: living in tents during the Exodus from Egypt and 40 years in the Wilderness of Sinai, as well as the miracles of sustenance He provided. The Lord also wants to dwell in our tabernacles now, with us, enjoying the life of the righteous. This is a week of great joy and celebration, and is likened to the marriage feast or wedding supper celebrated by mortal Hebrews for centuries.

How does this wedding tradition relate to any of those Second Comings? Read below:

Revelation 19:7-9:
[refers to war on enemies of Israel right after Mt of Olives]
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him:
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he saith unto me, Write,
Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb
[or the Feast of Tabernacles to all left on Earth].
And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
(See Elder David A. Bednar talk, Put On Thy Strength, O Zion, Oct 2022)

Pair these two scriptures above (Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19), and you can see the important connection between the ancient rituals and how they gain new life in the critical days and events to come.

But we now come to one more day connected to these fall feasts that help unlock the scripture in Matthew 24: The 8^th Day of Tabernacles, called the Hidden or Great Day (Tishri 22). The ancient Jews did not know what it represented, but we can see it matches The Day and the Hour No Man Knoweth, or the FINAL SECOND COMING IN THE CLOUDS because:

The first reason can be ascertained from WHO will experience the prior 2 Second Comings:

(1) Christ comes to THE GENTILES, especially Ephraim, at Adam-ondi-Ahman in America, which ultimately becomes ZION. This is a private appearance to God’s faithful, first to our current leaders, then to the heads of all dispensations of time meeting with Christ our Lord, and finally all the faithful both living and dead, see:

D&C 116:1:
Spring Hill is named by the Lord Adam-ondi-Ahman,
because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people,
or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet.
D&C 88:96-98:
96 . . . And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive,
shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him.
97 And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth,
for their graves shall be opened;
and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—
98 They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first . . .

(2) Christ then comes to the Mount of Olives, only to THE JEWS, after Christ defeats their enemies from the War of Armageddon:

Zechariah 14:3-5:
3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations,
as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 ¶ And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof
toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley;
and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north,
and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye [the Jews] shall flee to the valley of the mountains; . . .

After that, we know Christ comes to all the rest of the world – His final Second Coming – the one in the clouds with power and great glory. See the scriptures listed above in Zechariah 14:16-19 which essentially describes all others in the world after Armageddon. And all of them, who had been fighting against Israel, will have been invited to the Feast of Tabernacles, in a grand gesture of forgiveness and inclusion.

The final scriptural clue that Christ’s final coming is the one described in Matthew 24: 29-30 – and is the antecedent to verse 36:

29 Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days
[days of Armageddon]
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

The verse 36 that follows: But of THAT day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

“Antecedent” is the technical word for the idea or topic that a later description applies to. In this case, verse 36 applies to verse 30, which clearly describes only the final coming in the clouds, in power and great glory, words always used to describe this. This isn’t definitive by itself, but when paired with the other evidence above, it’s compelling.

FINAL CLUE: The more detailed explanation of our Matthew 24:36 scripture is contained in the Hebrew Marriage Traditions and Rituals and which was always intended as a PARABLE of this final Second Coming, summarized here:

A betrothed couple signs a contract, as binding as the upcoming wedding ceremony.
The bride then returns to her father’s house to prepare her clothes and household goods, always keeping a lit candle or oil lamp in the window to show fidelity to her intended.
The bridegroom also returns to his father’s house, to build a dwelling for his bride. He regularly sends a “friend of the groom” to let his bride know all is progressing and to see if she has remained faithful. The bridegroom cannot go get his bride until HIS FATHER gives the final approval to the dwelling or “mansion” the groom has prepared. No one else knows when it’s deemed complete, only his father.
Once that permission is given, the Friend of the Groom goes ahead to give the bride and their guests just enough warning to don their wedding finery and assemble for the Wedding Feast.
Then the groom appears, they all go in to the wedding supper, and the doors are shut and locked. Those who fail to appear, come late, or without the designated wedding garment are not admitted (see Parable in Matthew 22).
These traditions were practiced in ancient Israel for hundreds of years, and not just by the Tribe of Judah, but all 12 Tribes observed them, perhaps without knowing their symbolic representation of the Coming of their Messiah in the End Times.
SOURCE: Beloved Bridegroom: Finding Christ in Ancient Jewish Marriage and Family Customs, by Donna Nielsen, available on Amazon, and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING)

In the Last Days, the “Hidden Day,” or 8th Day of Tabernacles, symbolizes this last Second Coming only and is the event Matthew 24:36 refers to. It’s timing is truly hidden from our sight. And why?

After the Gentiles and the Jews have been gathered, only the Father knows each individual person, and when their “mansions” or hearts are ready. He will not send his Son, the Bridegroom to get the remainder of His church, His Bride, until the Father deems every last soul on Earth to have chosen either the Church of Christ or the Church of Satan, using their sacred gift of Free Agency (see 1 Nephi 14:10). He may even know what and when each person will choose, but He holds back until they make a clear decision, so He cannot announce this event to anyone before its time and violate anyone’s Free Agency.

Then the righteous are taken up into heaven while the wicked are destroyed by fire (and to be sent to Spirit Prison for yet another possible chance to repent and ascend higher in God’s kingdom during the Millennium):

Matthew 24:41-42:
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:
for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

In our day, Christ’s church will be “adorned” with righteousness, not jewels or fancy clothes, and the Bridegroom is Christ coming to get his Bride, the Church. Only those waiting and watching, with oil lit in their lamps, will be admitted to the Wedding Supper, fulfilling Isaiah 61:10:

Isaiah 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

But can we know the timing of Adam-ondi-Ahman and Christ’s return to the Mount of Olives or are they part of Matthew 24:36?

That’s a topic for another day – see my book coming by Nov/Dec 2023. This analysis at least makes it possible.

FOR FURTHER STUDY and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:

Living in the Millennium, by Robert L. Millet, book published by Deseret Book, with a detailed description of 4 Second Comings (extra one I didn’t include above = Christ suddenly comes to His temple in Malachi 3:1)

FAQ Paper by Rhonda Pickering on www.propheticappointments.com, and her video, The Day and the Hour No Man Knoweth. In it she also gives a second meaning to the 8th day of Tabernacles, with its alternate name of The Great Day – which foreshadows the 8th “day” or an additional period of 1,000 years when the Earth is celestialized after the Final Judgment at the end of the Millennium (the 7th day).
– We normally describe the history of the Earth as lasting 7,000 years from creation, or 7 “days,” each lasting 1,000 years. This 8th day prophetically follows after that and can also symbolize The Hidden Day or the final coming of Christ in the clouds – the true day and hour that no man knoweth.

Beloved Bridegroom: Finding Christ in Ancient Jewish Marriage and Family Customs, by Donna Nielsen, available on Amazon.

My blog post: God’s “Appointments” with Man

Fallen Petals: Who Will Be At Adam-ondi-Ahman?

I bought a house in Middleton, Idaho, in 2016 and could at last fulfill my dream of having a rose garden. My five bushes flourished, and I had roses from June to early November. I gave them away to neighbors, friends, and to the darling boy who mowed my lawn – to give to his deserving single mother.

One fall I took a photo of the last bouquet, noting the frost damage on the petal edges. I posted it on Facebook with this message: The “Last Rose of Summer” from my front garden. We’ve had several nights of frost and my roses are showing its damage along the edges of the petals. Just like their owner, they are past their prime. But I’ve discovered over the summer that roses smell their sweetest as they ripen and wilt. I hope I can share the fragrant fruits of a long life with those around me before the last petal drops from my soul….

My granddaughter and I couldn’t bear to toss these blooms when they were finally dead “as a doornail” so we didn’t! They live on in my kitchen completely dry and many petals gone. But there’s still a macabre beauty in what remains, and the Fallen Petals speak poignantly of summer days gone by and hopefully life well lived.

*Dead Roses, Fallen Petals*, Author’s Photo

As I reflect on this life-and-death cycle, I see that people are a lot like roses. We emerge as buds, bloom while sending out wonderful scent, only to finally drop our petals and die as all mortal creation must. Those petals are the scent of what we leave behind, the legacy for others to build on.

My parents left a rich heritage of talent, deep integrity, and great love for their six children, many grandchildren and now great grandchildren. After my mother’s funeral in 2005, I saw her vibrant energy flowing through all of us in various ways. My Dad’s solid work ethic and absolute honesty lives on in both my children and their other descendants.

Many others have left petals of legacy in my life. Here are two:

Helen was my parents’ neighbor in Iowa City and was a Professor of Russian at the University of Iowa. Here she is sitting on their patio in a characteristic pose of peace and attention turned outward, but eyes tinged with sadness. Her father was ousted from his university position during the Bolshevik Revolution. She was lucky to escape the Siege of Leningrad with her two sons during WWII. (Her books, including Siege and Survival, are well worth reading.) After working as a waitress in Paris, she finally emigrated to America, teaching Russian to American servicemen, then finally landing a stable faculty position in Iowa. Her youngest son was later killed in an earthquake while traveling in Eastern Europe, and she told us she had been reduced to what she could take in one suitcase four times in her life. But carrying on, she took in boarders, kept in touch with former students all her life, and made continual lemonade from the lemons life handed her. She loved people, and oh, how we loved her!

Alma was a wonderful Menonite woman who came to work for my mother to cook large batches of food about once a month. I loved to come home after school and banter with her. She didn’t brook any nonsense but always had a twinkle in her eye and love in her voice. My mother later told me she was the child the family designated to stay home and take care of their aging parents, denying her a family of her own. She never complained and just got on with it. Far more than the tasty cookies she made is the lingering taste of her good humor, devotion, and service.

The petals of memory from these treasured people have never lost their fragrance. The longer I live, the more indebted I feel to those who’ve gone before but aren’t really gone. I can hardly wait for the great reunion beyond the veil, but until then I’m tending my own petals, nurturing their scent, and hope it falls on many souls.

I wrote this in 2019 and am updating it here for my current audience who, with me, are preparing for “The End Times” when Christ returns to rule and reign during a thousand years of peace. To help bolster our courage and faith for the trials ahead, I’d like to quote from Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle in my church who passed on some years ago. He comments about who will be at the glorious appearance of Adam/Michael, then all the heads of dispensations from him until now, and then capped by an appearance of our Savior at Adam-ondi-Ahman:

. . . . before all these [Second Comings], there is to be a secret appearance
to selected members of his Church.
He will come in private to his prophet and to the apostles then living.
Those who have held keys and powers and authorities in all ages
from Adam to the present will also be present.

And further, all the faithful members of the Church then living
and all the faithful saints of all ages past will be present.
It will be the greatest congregation of faithful saints ever assembled on planet earth. And it will take place in Daviess County, Missouri,
at a place called Adam-ondi-Ahman.
(Elder Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p. 578-579.

All my dear ones described above have had their temple work done, and I know they are among the faithful. What a great goal: to be worthy to reunite with them there, and it’s a hope we all have if we just remain faithful!

A Breaking Wave

I don’t know how many of you know the back story of the House of Israel. You’ll know something if you’ve seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat where Pharaoh is portrayed by an Elvis look-alike. The show takes off from there: It’s imaginative, hilarious, and energetic but it’s still also based on the true story of the 12 sons of the ancient Patriarch Jacob (from multiple wives). The older sons were jealous of the younger, favored one, Joseph. They conspired to throw him into a pit and kill him but in the end chose to sell him into slavery in Egypt instead. There he makes lemonade out of those nasty lemons, but you’ll have to read the Old Testament for the rest of his story.

Sadly, the sibling rivalry doesn’t end there. Later the nation of Israel is ruled by a greedy king who discovered, as many have since, the great wealth to be had through heavy taxation. The tribe of Ephraim took great offense, picked up their marbles and huffed off to Samaria, just northwest of their homelands around Jerusalem. Nine other tribes went with them and formed a new nation specifically called Israel (as opposed to the more general use of the term). They ultimately became The Lost Ten Tribes as they were scattered by the idolatrous kingdom of Assyria because of their apostasy and wickedness.

Remaining in their first homeland were the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, presided over mostly by Judah’s priestly class. Christ was born there, launched His three-year ministry, then was condemned for blasphemy, and executed by the people He had come to save from sin and death. Why did the priests not recognize the Messiah they had long prayed and sought for? The short answer is pride in their own learning and expecting Him to come as a great warrior and free them from the oppressive rule of Rome, but Christ brought spiritual salvation, not political, at least not then.

Christ left behind many dedicated converts and so was born Christianity whose followers hid and scattered. Another great schism began between blood brothers: Christianity and Judaism, really just more sibling rivalry in ecclesiastical garb.

Fast forward almost 2000 years. Those same divisions exist today: Judah is increasingly centered in Israel with Jerusalem at its head and Joseph’s son Ephraim’s descendants making up a large portion of the membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Book of Isaiah says:

And many people shall go and say,
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths:
for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:3 (also Micah 4:1-2, and Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 12:3)

This scripture refers to revelation given to our LDS prophets that Zion (Ephraim as leader) will be built in America and be one of two spiritual capitals in the world during the prophesied Millennium of 1000 years of peace and goodness – the other being in Jerusalem headed by the tribe of Judah. And many people are still watching for the Messiah to return and for the Restoration of the Ten Tribes “from the land of the north”:

In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel [Ephraim],
and they shall come together out of the land of the north
to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
(Jeremiah 3:18)

Jeremiah goes on to describe the greatness of this event – so great it will eclipse the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt:

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said,
The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north,
and from all the lands whither he had driven them:
and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
(Jeremiah 16:14-15)

Many of us in the Christian world are awaiting the return of our Messiah to unite these two tribes with the 10 others, but I’m here to testify that, on a small scale, it has already begun! My introduction to this came by listening to some deep LDS gospel scholars who have discovered the connections between events of my church’s history with Hebrew “Feast Days.” Two articles in our church magazine started them on this journey, entitled:

(1) Symbols of the Harvest: Old Testament Holy Days and the Lord’s Ministry, by Lenet H. Read. Read it HERE, but be aware that other scholars align the Passover Feasts with the last week of Christ’s life somewhat differently.
(2) The Golden Plates and the Feast of Trumpets, by Lenet Hadley Read, HERE.

Many Jewish people are accepting that Jesus Christ is their long-awaited Messiah. Many Christians are recognizing the tribe of Judah as brothers with a common heritage and are also mindful of the greatness of this particular tribe of Israel, long leaders in religion, business, the arts, and more. They have laboriously climbed out of the deep pit of the condemnation they incurred because of their role in the death of their Messiah, and have embraced growing goodness and devotion to God which, I believe, will be crowned by reclaiming their leadership position in the House of Israel, restored.

So, the title of this blog originally comes from my summer in Ocean City, Maryland where I worked as a waitress and enjoyed leaning to swim in the ocean. It was salty, no mystery there, but the big learning experience was being knocked down by breaking waves and ground into the sandy beach, an experience I wanted to learn from quickly! I then learned to watch a wave approach and dive right into the middle of it as it broke over my head. Cowabunga – success! In the blink of an eye, I was on the other side and feeling more like a dolphin than a human volley ball. Next I started to look farther out to sea and watch the slight swells on the water’s surface – waves in their infancy. Often, one would be bigger and more powerful looking than the others. I would wait for that one and it never disappointed me – it was extra big and extra thrilling to dive into.

I liken this small swell of interest building between Christians and Jews with those long ago oceans swells, and I have the same confidence that this will be even more thrilling to dive into someday as it breaks upon an amazed people. Just like a fractured family, old wounds will be discussed, grieved over, then healed by the overarching love of God – the same God for all! And do we want to be like the girl above, not seeing the wave breaking out of our immediate sight or do we want to turn around and watch this wonderful time unfold?

We can then enter the glorious world of the promised Millennium, working together for the good of all mankind and not just a privileged few. It will be a wholesome world where love and fairness reign, and creation steps into endless fulfillment, “worlds without number.”

Billions of Stars in a Single Galaxy Courtesy Pixabay.com Image 10995

For some quick inspiration listen to the Tabernacle Choir sing Jerusalem, the Holy City and imagine singing that with our Jewish siblings, from both “Jerusalems”! Stanford Olsen could hardly keep it together as he sang and neither can I, although a later version with the Choir was more “performance perfect”! Pick your fav . . .