How Imminent is the Lord’s Coming?
Last Conference, President Dieter Uchtdorf admonished, “Brothers and sisters, we are charged with studying the word of God and heeding the voice of the Spirit, that we may ‘know the signs of the times, and the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.’” We read in the word, (JST Gen. 1:18)
And I, God, said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years, and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth; and it was so.
Further, the Lord says, “…all things are created… to bear record of me… things… which are in the heavens… and which are in the earth beneath…” (Moses 6:63). I find it fascinating that the Lord uses signs in the heavens because Satan can’t duplicate those or use them to deceive.
The Total Eclipse
Some of the current “signs” in the “heavens” are most interesting. The 21 August 2017 total eclipse crossing the whole of the continental United States, the Promised Land and peaking at the place of the New Jerusalem, on the 1st day of Teshuvah in the Hebrew Calendar, which in Hebrew means “to repent or to turn back.” In the Talmud, the Rabbis taught that the black sun (total eclipse) was a “bad omen” for the Gentiles and their Idolatry. Teshuvah is a 40 day repentance period ending 30 Sept.
It was a surreal experience for us to witness totality in the little town of Alta, WY. As the 70 mile wide umbra raced across the Idaho farm lands toward us at 1,700 mph, it was an enormous manifestation of the energy of the sun or the lack thereof as that 70 mile circle was totally blocked from the sun’s rays. I calculated the energy blocked and it is about 8 Tera-watts, which is more than is produced by all the generators in the world. Hence, the temperature dropped 18 degrees F to 48 degrees where we were.
Christ is the creator of this marvelous solar system and the heavens that provide for all our needs as the sun’s rays bathe the earth to provide life giving energies from which we derive food, clothes, and shelter. As promised in scripture, He also produces signs in the heavens and on earth to encourage us in our path to eternal life. He is the light of the sun, and that energy-black-hole, lacking this light, sweeping toward us at over three times super-sonic speeds was indeed surreal. See my facebook for videos.
Heavenly Numbers
Seven is an important number in the Lord’s arithmetic and the 21 August umbra swept across seven cities by the name of Salem, which means peace in Hebrew. In other words, the Lord is saying to us, if we will repent, we can have peace. Then in another seven years (2024) another total eclipse will again sweep across this land of the free – coming up from Mexico through Texas and crossing the 21 August path in Missouri passing through New Madrid, MO, where the greatest earthquake in recorded history took place in 1811-1812 with 2,000 quakes over six months and making the Mississippi River run upstream. Are we paying attention to what the Lord is telling us? Is this nation repenting?
The Great Heavenly Sign
Then, this September 23rd, we have a major heavenly sign as Revelations 12 is played out in the heavens – similar to when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
“And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And the woman being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and his throne. And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon… And the dragon stood before the woman which was delivered, ready to devour her child after it was born. “(Rev. 12:1-4)
Notice, the signs in the heavens are in likeness as it is on earth. President Benson said the woman is the Church in labor to bring forth Zion (the man child). On the 23rd, the sun will be at the shoulder of the woman (Virgo) and a crescent moon will be at her feet. Above her head is Leo Minor representing the Lion of Judah in anticipation of the Lord and His Second Coming; it is made up of nine stars plus the planets Mars, Venus, and Mercury are the Twelve stars in her crown. Jupiter, the King planet, is positioned as if being born of the woman and on the 23rd will have just completed nine months of retrograde motion – having gone up to the womb and back down as if being just born after her gestation period. The pain of her delivery is the purging necessary for those that will not repent.
Below the crescent moon is Michael (Ophiuchus) fighting off the dragon (Satan as Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda in the constellations), and Satan knows he has “but a short time.” During this purging time, the Church flees (verse 14) “into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time” – denoting a year, two years, and half a year = 3 ½ years. This corresponds to verse 6, “And the woman fled in into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days.” (3 ½ years)
It is fascinating that all these signs in the heavens on the 23rd of September were constructed in statuary in a cathedral in Brussels, Belgium, in 1699. The beautiful message is that Michael, the woman (Church), and the “Man child” finally subdue Satan and we move into the millennial epoch, where the Lion of Judah (Christ) reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords for a thousand years.
Other Signs
Adding to the above 3 ½ years we have the two prophets in Jerusalem who hold off the warring nations of the earth before the Savior comes on Mount Olivet. 3 ½ + 3 ½ = 7, and Joseph’s seven fat years and seven lean years seem to fit as the Lord saves Israel – gathers them home in the last days. Who is Israel? Those who put their trust in and are totally centered in the Lord – Jew or Gentile makes no difference. They have repented of all their sins and have exercised pure faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. (see Ether 13:1-12) When does all this happen? Let us be watchmen on the tower and share the glorious message of the gospel (the good news, which is the BEST NEWS) at every opportunity. It will happen.
David W. Allan
P.S. I wish to thank Val Brinkerhoff and Anthony F. Stephan for the use of their slides and for some of the information here. The awesome Brussels, Belgium picture is Val’s.
There is a “Skyview” app that will allow you to view these constellations with an i-phone. Since the sun is at the woman’s shoulder, something like this is necessary to capture the picture of Revelations 12 played out in the heavens.