Signs of the Second Coming

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For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion.
And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon Idumea, or the world.
Description of some events around the time of the second coming. It is not entirely clear that all of these events occur before the second coming. There appears to be room here that some or all of them may occur after Christ arrives, but before the thousand years of peace begin. Nevertheless there is some similarity between some of the events described here and events that John described in Revelation when the trumpets are sounding, which clearly occur before Christ appears.
Christ describes the times of the gentiles and events to come after.
22) And again, verily I say unto you, that the Son of Man cometh not in the form of a woman, neither of a man traveling on the earth.
23) Wherefore, be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness, looking forth for the heavens to be shaken, and the earth to tremble and to reel to and fro as a drunken man, and for the valleys to be exalted, and for the mountains to be made low, and for the rough places to become smooth—and all this when the angel shall sound his trumpet.
24) But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose.
25) Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and shall be assembled together unto the place which I have appointed.
87) For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree.
88) And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.
89) For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.
90) And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
91) And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.
92) And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
93) And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together.
94) And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That great church, the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea—behold, she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it.
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;
Stone cut out of the mountain without hands.
28) ¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29) And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30) And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
32) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
5) ¶ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Were I going to prophesy, I would say the end [of the world] would not come in 1844, 5, or 6, or in forty years. There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.
I was once praying earnestly upon this subject, and a voice said unto me, “My son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years of age, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man.” I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this; and I took the liberty to conclude that if I did live to that time, He would make His appearance. But I do not say whether He will make his appearance or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written—the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old. Then read the 14th chapter of Revelation, 6th and 7th verses—”And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come.” And Hosea, 6th chapter, After two days, etc.,—2,520 years; which brings it to 1890. The coming of the Son of Man never will be—never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are commenced. Paul says, “Ye are the children of the light, and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night.” It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to His servants the prophets.
Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, &c.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance. There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east.
  • Gordon B. Hinckley, "Living in the Fulness of Times", Ensign, Nov. 2001
Joel 2:28-32 fulfilled
Malachi 4:5-6 fulfilled
Christ shall return in glory.
Various signs and conditions to precede the Second Coming.
  • Wilford Woodruff, "The Channels of Communication, Etc.", Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22, pp. 332-333
Wilford Woodruff describes a vision in which he sees the signs to precede the Second Coming and other things.
Moroni predicts a number of signs to come about during "this generation".
Sermon also noted in Kent P. Jackson's "Joseph Smith,s Commentary on the Bible"
Joseph prophesies that before the second coming, a time would come where there would be a year without the rainbow being seen. This would accompany famine and pestilence.
  • Enoch 100:11-12;101:2
In the last days the rain and dew will be called away (there will be a drought). (When the moisture returns, it will cause destruction.)
Description of the last days.
Description of the last days.
A vision from a Journal entry of Wilford Woodruff's recorded Dec 16 1877. Another version of this vision exists, but, lacking an authoritative facsimile of the source, this one "seems" to be correct. (The other one may be from a different telling, or from somebody's poor transcription of a telling.)
I cite this one as most authentic because I have found statements by those discussing this vision, which say that this version matches publications of the journal in their posession.
While Wilford Woodruff records the vision, he seems to leave the vision unattributed (space is left near the beginning, seemingly for a name/attribution). John Taylor is often attributed as the author, and based upon my reading, this seems to be due, primarily, to the fact that John Taylor knew French, while Wilford Woodruff didn't, and the receiver of the vision had been reading scripture in French.
Anyhow, while there is some reason to doubt the value of this vision, I think it worth keeping in mind, as it does not seem to conflict with scripture, and even appears to harmonize some points.
  • Wilford Woodruf cited in Kenney, Scott G., ed. "Wilford Woodruf's Journal 1833-1898", 9 vols, Midvale, Utah, Signature Books, 1983 8:420-421
Kenney, Scott G., ed. "Wilford Woodruf's Journal 1833-1898", 9 vols, Midvale, Utah, Signature Books, 1983 8:420-421
Cited in B. Carmon Hard, "Self-Blame and the Manifesto", Dialogue, vol. 24, No. 3, Fall 1991, p. 45
Upon approval of the Edmunds-Tucker Act 1887:
Congress had "turned the last key that seals their condemnation and lays the foundation for the overthrow & final destruction of the United States Government."
This is particularly interesting to consider in light of Ether 12:35-37

Apocryphal Prophecies

As apocryphal prophecies, these prophecies are of uncertain or dubious origin, but are nonetheless culturally important. I do not wish to endorse them, but rather, to simply document them.

George Albert Smith - World War III

A dream that George Albert Smith is reported to have shared privately.

One individual claims to have had a discussion with David Hughes Horne about the prophecy.

Joseph Smith, Jr. - White Horse Prophecy

Cross-References

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