approaching and to behave accordingly: since they can only be saved from extermination in God’s mass genocide by being His perpetually active witnesses, they preach His word and the impending TEOTWAWKI each and every day in His service.
The Mormons: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In the book of Matthew, chapter 24, verses 35-36, Jesus says:
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knowest no man, no, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
That biblical passage may be the reason why some religions, including the Latter-day Saints, believe in the inevitable Second Coming of Christ and the ensuing end of the world but avoid predicting the exact date or year when it will happen. In the case of the Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons, they teach that we’re now living the last days of life on this earth, and that our only way to prepare is to watch for but not be afraid of the signs that Armageddon is at hand.
According to Mormon history, it was 1823 when an eighteen-year-old Vermont boy named Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni, who told him about the existence and location of a series of Golden Plates. The plates, written in a form of hieroglyphics and translated by Smith with Moroni’s help, became the Book of Mormon. In 1830, at the age of twenty-five, Joseph Smith, with his published Book of Mormon in hand, founded what would become the Mormon Church and settled with his followers in Kirtland, Ohio, and subsequently in Nauvoo, Illinois.
In June of 1844 Joseph Smith was killed, attacked by an angry mob in Carthage, Illinois, who disapproved of his claim of having contact with the dead. Brigham Young, a member of Smith’s Council of Twelve Apostles, succeeded Joseph Smith as the leader of the Mormon Church and, in 1846, led the
Mormons west from Illinois to a site in Utah that became Salt Lake City.
The Latter-day Saints believe that their church leaders are prophets, and that those prophets are given ongoing information from God. Included in that information is the concept that God gave the earth seven thousand years to survive when He created it, and that we’re currently existing in about its six thousandth year. Preceding the Second Coming of Christ in the seven thousandth year, the earth will be plagued by wars, earthquakes and other natural disasters, global epidemics, and economic collapse.
The Mormon temple in Salt Lake City features two large doors facing east, which are considered sacrosanct and are never used. Mormons believe that when Jesus comes to Earth again he will enter through those hallowed doors, initiating a thousand years of peace called the Millennium. During the Millennium the wicked will be destroyed, while the righteous, led by Jesus, will live in peace on this earth. The righteous who have died throughout the ages will be resurrected, or, in the language of the Latter-day Saints, “caught up to meet him.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) In fact, by the end of the Millennium, everyone including the wicked will be resurrected. Only those who insist on denying the sanctity of Christ will be denied their place in heaven. Instead, they’ll be banished to a place called the Outer Darkness, which is the ultimate destination of Satan.
According to the Latter-day Saints, among the specific signs that will indicate the impending return of Jesus are the darkening of the sun and moon, with resulting darkness covering the earth; Israel gathering power; all nations gathering to do battle against Jerusalem; two prophets being killed and then resurrected in Jerusalem; and Babylon rising and falling.
It’s worth adding that more than thirteen million Mormons around the world are currently keeping an eye out for the signs of the Second Coming, and there’s every reason to believe they’ll be compassionate enough to warn the rest of us when the time comes.
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