Confronting Fearful LDS Second Coming Predictions
The LDS Church is increasing its warnings of fearful Second Coming predictions. Some report their children and grandchildren are anxious about the scary signs of the end times, which include
Wars, rumors of wars, and great commotion.
Famines, diseases, and earthquakes.
Signs in the heavens (including the sun, the moon, and the stars) and on earth (including fires, tempests, storms, and vapors of smoke).
Wickedness, pride, and cold-heartedness.
In October 2024, General Conference President Russell M. Nelson, prophet of the Church, said: “Brothers and sisters, now is the time for you, and for me, to prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.”
In 2019 General Conference, he warned people to go to the temple and complete their temple work, saying, “I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the Church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior’s Church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out.”
Although LDS leaders are increasingly speaking about the imminence of Jesus’ return to the earth, this language is nothing new.
Joseph Smith said, “The coming of the Lord is nigh; it is at the doors.”
Brigham Young proclaimed, “The Latter-day Saints who dwell in these valleys have left their all to gather with the Saints, and for the express purpose of preparing for the coming of the Son of Man.”
Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “The Second Coming of the Lord is near. We must prepare ourselves.”
Even St. Paul expected Jesus to return in his lifetime.
LDS scripture is repleat with horrifying warnings about the events that will procede Jesus’ return to the earth. We read that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is a “great and dreadful day,” with joy for the righteous and terrible destruction for the wicked. The wicked, who are spiritually unprepared, will face the “fiery indignation of the wrath of God” at the Savior’s return, according to LDS prophecies.
These scriptures can foster pride and complacency in LDS members who assume they are the Lord’s chosen people and fear and trepidation in those who believe they aren’t fully obedient the the Church’s ever-increasing list of rules, requirements, and commandments.
To prepare for the Second Coming, the LDS Church is building lots of temples and urging members to visit them often. It is also hoarding billions of dollars in hedge funds and real estate, and reminding members to store food, water, and money. Although it is wise for anyone to have extra food and savings on hand, many have thrown away a lot of food storage that was ineffectively rotated.
LDS leaders’ end-time rhetoric has motivated some Mormon “preppers” to store vast qualities of food, guns, and survival gear. Others are preparing to return to Independence, Missouri, where they believe Jesus will return to rule and reign on the earth.
Some of my relatives and neighbors are obsessed with “Visions of Glory,” a book about an LDS therapist’s supposed near-death experience when he claimed to see the events preceding the Second Coming. Thom Harrison also claims to have also seen Jesus Christ in one of his near-death experiences. His book, formerly sold at Deseret Book and touted by some BYU and Institute teachers, is now found online. Prepper groups are fascinating by this book and others that warn of upcoming calamities.
Harrison, an active LDS member, has been connected to folks like Tim Ballard, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell and Jodi Hildebrant and Ruby Franke, to name a few.
Alarmed by LDS leaders’ Second Coming warnings, increasing numbers of LDS members are hoarding food, money, and weapons as they anticipate political upheavals and natural disasters precluding the arrival of Jesus Christ. Some say they will use the weapons to destroy anyone who asks for food assistance.
Recently, a neighbor was disposing of her mother’s personal effects after her death and discovered that her Mormon mother had spent all of her retirement income in food storage which had passed its expiration date and was now moldy and inedible.
A neighbor’s LDS father who died suddenly from a heart attack had used all of his savings to purchase guns, survival gear, and food which he hoarded in a huge basement cache.
An LDS businessman sold his businesses and cashed out his retirement savings to buy a bunker home. For Christmas, he gave each of his married children handcarts to return to Missouri.
Some LDS folks have suggested members move to supposed safe locations to prepare for the Second Coming. Some are moving away from friends and family to live in locations where preppers claim they will be protected during the last days.
Some are leaving their jobs and selling their homes to move to Independence, Missouri, to await the Savior’s return.
LDS leaders warn of the destruction of the wicked upon the Savior’s return and the protection of righteous tithe-payers. Joseph Smith said, “I would advise all the Saints to go to with their might and gather together all their living relatives to this place [the temple] that they may be sealed and saved that they may be prepared against the day that the destroying angel goes forth.”
In a Church-affiliated magazine, BYU professor Donald Parry quotes Joseph Smith, who explained that “the servants of God will not have gone over the nations of the Gentiles, with a warning voice, until the destroying angel will commence to waste the inhabitants of the earth…”
Moreover, “four destroying angels holding power over the “four quarters of the earth until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, which signifies sealing the blessing upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling and election sure.”
The four horsemen of the apocaylpse, warfare, bloodshed, famine, and death are still described in LDS curricula. The references of the four destroying angels and horsemen are found in the Book of Revelation.
Many Biblical scholars question the authenticity of the Book of Revelation, saying that the author was not John, Jesus’ apostle, and that Revelation refers to events that occurred in Rome in the first century C.E. However, the LDS Church believes that John the apostle wrote the book, and its end times prophecies hinge on many of those apocalyptic visions.
As the Church focuses on temple attendance and wealth accumulation, it too often condones and even supports some doomsayers who advocate for fear. Thom Harrison has been promoted to serve on the General LDS Missionary Committee after making terrifying end-times predictions that include a world financial collapse and “marauding bands of people plundering and stealing in every major city,” and the complete collapse of society. Harrison was also called to serve as a LDS bishop after making many horrifying end-time prophecies.
Chad Daybell, LDS doomsday writer and speaker, attended the temple regularly and his books had been sold by Deseret Book store, an affiliation of the LDS Church. Daybell owned a publishing company, and his own writing focused his own near-death experiences and the end times.
Any church that claims its members will be spared calamity at the Second Coming while others suffer God’s wrath because they do not follow their rules should ask whether it worships a God of love and compassion or a God of vengeance and hate.
End-time fears cause some to believe that because the earth is ending, they need not advocate for peace, wise use of natural resources, or humanitarian aid for those who are staving because they assume war, famine, and political upheavals are part of God’s plan. Rather than speaking up for justice or helping those in need, it is easier for some to sit beneath $200,000 chandeliers, awaiting the Lord’s return and assuming Jesus will solve all earthly problems.
Whether or not Jesus returns in my lifetime, I refuse to live in fear or believe that anyone who thinks differently will be destroyed. Instead, I trust that Jesus will welcome all people with open arms, healing the sick and feeding the hungry as He did during His mortal ministry. I seek to love as He loved and serve as He served, offering small and simple help to those who suffer. I choose to live with kindness, compassion, and charity, trusting that God loves all creation more deeply than we can imagine.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Viktor Vasnetsov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Blog Photo by Pixels
