And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have told you before.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days 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:
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.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:18 "For then, in those days, shall be great tribulation on the Jews, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, such as was not before sent upon Israel, of God, since the beginning of their kingdom until this time; no, nor ever shall be sent again upon Israel."
Classification: The Church of the Future - The Second Coming
Narrative: The apostles asked the Lord for a more specific time as to when He would come again, He, of course, couldn't give a specific date but told them of these signs to watch for.
Interpretation: Just as the tree begins budding in the spring, these signs begin in the spring. The Second Coming will not happen until the end of the summer and harvest time, but these signs give a good indication of when it is spring and when the summer is drawing close to an end.
Application: After reading these verses I feel like spring has come and gone. I feel like we are in the middle of the heat of summer. I find verse 22 interesting where it says the days will be shortened for my elect's sake. I'm sure we all feel like the days are flying by so fast. Even my children have noticed this. Who remembers being 14 years old and thinking time was going too fast? My 14 year old does (15 now).
Honestly, I hope the Savior's second coming is soon. The world is so scary with the amount of filth so easily available. I remember when I was a young girl pondering on these days and wondering what life would be like as a mom during this time. Back then I thought I would be worrying about my children's physical safety. Here I am and it turns out I don't worry about their physical safety. It's their spiritual safety that keeps me up at night. I appreciated so much President Boyd K. Packer's talk from last October: "The Key to Spiritual Protection".
He says, "Parents today wonder if there is a safe place to raise children. There is a safe place. It is in a gospel centered home. We focus on the family in the Church, and we counsel parents everywhere to raise their children in righteousness. The Apostle Paul prophesied and warned that 'in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.'
Paul also prophesied, 'Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.' These verses serve as a warning, showing which patterns to avoid. We must be ever watchful and diligent. We can review each of these prophecies and put a checkmark by them as being present and of concern in the world today."
President Packer goes on to say, "The scriptures hold the keys to spiritual protection. They contain the doctrine and laws and ordinances that will bring each child of God to a testimony of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer.... Children taught an understanding of the scriptures early in life will come to know the path they should walk and will be more inclined to remain on that path....Paul and others warned about the trials of our time and the days yet to come. But peace can be settled in the heart of each who turns to the scriptures and unlocks the promises of protection and redemption that are taught therein."
"The Leaves are Commencing to Show on the Fig Tree" by Bernard P. Brockbank, April 1976
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