🥈 Second Coming¶
Estimated time to read: 31 minutes
The apostle Paul was pretty sure that Jesus was coming back any minute now... back in 50 - 60 CE. Much of Christianity has behaved as if the second coming were imminent. And yet, at the time of writing this note, we're at the end of 2024. I think Christ was crucified in or around 34 CE, so we're approaching 2,000 consecutive years of "any minute now, keeeeeep watching!" I'm not qualified to draw the line for all of humanity, but I will ask at what point do we stop living in fear?
Old Testament¶
... The new birth is mentioned in the Bible nine times; baptism is mentioned 52 times, repentance is mentioned 89, but the second coming of Christ is mentioned over 1,500 times in the Old Testament and 300 times in the New Testament. If God thought this subject that important, he must have wanted us to do something about it[.]”
— Quote attributed to Sterling W. Sill, in Conference Report, Apr. 1966, 19; copied from Chapter 36: The Lord’s Second Coming, Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual
I am so baffled as to why Old Testament prophets were advised at all of Jesus' second coming, when at that age, Jesus hadn't arrived for the first time yet. Jesus' prophesied birth would be well outside the lifespan of anyone to hear an Old Testament prophet talk about it. So, let's tell God's followers about the second time He'll come by, at a minimum of 2,024 years after the event you won't live to see! How is that relevant to anyone in those times? Isn't a prophet meant to communicate God's will to living contemporaries? If the value proposition of a prophet is timely guidance, we shouldn't have any Old Testament prophets talking about you and me today. If we did have prophets talking about things outside of our lifespan, that makes modern prophets irrelevant.
God seems to be revealing ambiguous information to His chosen prophets, and then getting upset when people don't uniformly agree with those prophets. God handles this inevitable disagreement by revoking priesthood authority, sending the world into apostasy. "Now nobody is right 😤" What the hell, God? If you had actually told us something comprehensible...
Really, though. If God wanted Old Testament prophets to hype up Jesus' Second Coming, don't you think God would be more proactive in preserving those documented prophecies for our modern day? No? The Bible is sometimes mistranslated, due to wicked mens' agency? Isn't a central tenant of Mormonism that people won't be punished for their ancestors' misdoings?
I recall reading about contemporaries in ancient Jerusalem refusing to believe that Jesus was the Messiah during His earthly ministry, because His humble origins didn't line up with the Old Testament prophecies about the second coming. I don't recall if it was Sadducees or Pharisees who got particularly hung up on it, but... perhaps that misunderstanding could have been avoided altogether if prophets of old hadn't skipped ahead 3,000 years? If those prophets were simply to be a mouthpiece for God, relaying divine information, then I would attribute that misunderstanding to God telling us feeble-minded mortals the wrong thing at the wrong time. What the hell, God?
When will it be?¶
We have not one, but two hard & fast time frames for Jesus' second coming. Before examining those, we'll first examine one that is a bit more nebulous:
While Joseph is a Priest¶
[Joseph Smith] washed the feet of all the Elders wiping them with the towel, his father presenting himself the President asked of him a blessing before he would wash his feet which he obtained by the laying on of his fathers hands, pronouncing upon his head that he should continue in his Priests office untill Christ come[.]
— Minutes, 22–23 January 1833, Joseph Smith Papers
If you follow that link, make sure to double-check Footnote 7:
It is unclear why Joseph Smith Sr. used this specific language or what it meant. Perhaps it referred to JS’s role as a high priest or his role as president of the high priesthood.
So... Joseph Smith Junior will be in a theologically authoritative position until Christ's coming. Maybe. Smith Senior was a high priest at this point in time, not yet the presiding patriarch. Should his words be treated as prophetic? I could see an argument made both for and against. Let's look at some more concrete examples.
1890¶
I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:
Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.
I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face.
I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time.
— D&C 130:14-17, 2 April 1843
Joseph was born in 1805, so 1805 + 85 = 1890.
One could argue that there's enough of a caveat in there; since Joseph did not live to be 85 tears old, the prophecy is invalidated. This scripture does place the outcome within a condition that "if Joseph lives to that age" he'd see the second coming. He did not live to that age.
D&C 3:1 is at odds with this idea: "The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught." Who would have guessed that the mob that killed Joseph could thwart God's plans, and overrule His machinations! It seems that Jesus was scheduled to stop by in 1890, but since Joseph got martyred (maybe) God, who is eternal and unchanging, changed His mind...? Because of a mob???
I'm not aware of any other prophetic statement that is nestled inside of an if statement like that. This places the responsibility on us mortals to influence the conditions that permit God's conditional, eternal and unchanging words to come to pass, I suppose.
Both of these passages can't be true. But if one or the other is false, we might begin to question whether or not Smith was a prophet. Also, let's not overlook God Himself telling Joseph to "trouble me no more on this matter." We're being told to stop bothering God with prayerful questions? What the hell, God?
1891¶
In a meeting on Feb 14, 1835, Joseph Smith definitively stated:
. . . and those who went to Zion, with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, it was the will of God that they should be ordained, to the ministry, and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, or the Coming of the Lord which was nigh even fifty six years should wind up the scene.
— History, 1838–1856, volume B-1, [1 September 1834–2 November 1838], p. 564
Well... 1835 + 56 = 1891. One could argue that 14 Feb & 2 April allows for some displacement of months, so it could be 1890 as the previous prophecy describes. Or, we could focus on the qualifier "should" as not being definitive enough, despite the prophet of the restoration speaking in an official capacity, he's still just speaking as a man.
Either way, that year has come and gone. It'd be odd if any church leader after 1891 were to hype up how we need to prepare for it in the non-specific future. After all, no one knows when it will be!
Some non-specific time¶
Nevermind, we won't settle on a date, but it's really going to happen, and it'll happen really soon.
Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven before the eyes of his disciples was accompanied by the promise that in like manner he would come again. The second coming of Jesus Christ is nigh at hand, as the signs of the Second Coming are being fulfilled this very day.
— “What Think Ye of Christ?” “Whom Say Ye That I Am?”, Elder Robert D. Hales, First Quorum of the Seventy, General Conference 1979 April; see also Hales use this exact verbiage again in 1994 as an Apostle
Our message to the world, which we have been proclaiming for more than 140 years, is that God lives and that Jesus was and is the living Christ; that the heavens have been opened to man; that the Father and the Son have appeared in this dispensation; that the plan of life and salvation has been restored; that the time of the Savior’s second coming is near at hand; that the Lord, through his church, is preparing the way for that appearance; and that the only way in which peace can come to the earth is through obedience to the restored teachings of Jesus Christ.
— The Living Christ, Elder Joseph Anderson, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, General Conference 1971 October
My dear brothers and sisters, in a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah. So today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ!
— The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again, President Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Conference 2024 October
... the Spirit made clear to me that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is uniquely empowered and commissioned to accomplish the necessary preparations for the Lord’s Second Coming; indeed, it was restored for that purpose.
— Preparing for the Lord's Return, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference 2019 April
There are way too many examples to draw from without bloating this page of notes. Here's an internal search and an external search. Church leadership has demonstrated that they believe this is a topic worth discussing, even when there has been no new information for 190 years. It'll be any minute now. See, look, there are wars and rumors of wars. There was an earthquake. We're in the latter days— it's in our name, after all. President Nelson uttered the words "in a coming day," which phrasing is just the right level of vague. Could be tomorrow, could be in the year 4096. Both outcomes are "in a coming day." No other church leader has uttered that combination of words before, so it must be prophetic! Now get your ass to the temple!
Signs¶
And Jesus answered, and said unto them: Take heed that no man deceive you;
For many shall come in my name, saying—I am Christ—and shall deceive many;
— Joseph Smith — Matthew 1:5-6
Bold of you, the church claiming to represent Christ, to accuse others of misrepresenting Christ.
One of my go-to responses for the "signs of the times" to validate prophetic words is "when have these things not been true?" Let's take a look at some signs described in the Gospel Principles manual.
Gospel Principles¶
Wickedness, War, and Turmoil
Many of the signs are terrifying and dreadful. The prophets have warned that the earth will experience great turmoil, wickedness, war, and suffering. The prophet Daniel said that the time before the Second Coming would be a time of trouble such as the earth has never known (see Daniel 12:1). The Lord said, “The love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound” (D&C 45:27). “And all things shall be in commotion; and … fear shall come upon all people” (D&C 88:91). We can expect earthquakes, disease, famines, great storms, lightnings, and thunder (see Matthew 24:7; D&C 88:90). Hailstorms will destroy the crops of the earth (see D&C 29:16).
. . .
Many of these signs are being fulfilled. Wickedness is everywhere. Nations are constantly at war. Earthquakes and other calamities are occurring. Many people now suffer from devastating storms, drought, hunger, and diseases. We can be certain that these calamities will become more severe before the Lord comes.
— Chapter 43: Signs of the Second Coming, last modified 2009
There will be earthquakes and thunder? Holy shit, what a novel development. There had never been earthquakes nor thunderstorms prior to this prophecy's delivery, and each subsequent lightning strike or influenza outbreak surely must have a deeper meaning now. Truly prophetic.
There will be wars and rumors of wars? Please, tell me of a time in recorded history when there have been neither wars nor rumors of wars. Take as much time as you need. Was this the case in 30 CE? Any year before 30 CE? Because if it happened before, concurrent to, and after this prophecy, then what the hell are we meant to understand from these words?
Being "certain that these calamities will become more severe before the Lord comes" sounds like it could be interpreted as a reinforcement that climate change isn't real, but Jesus' promise of "any minute now" is a more reliable explanation for why each successive summer is more unbearable than the previous.
Buy that huge SUV, subsist on beef; you deserve it. Climate change is a red herring after all, those are just indicators that Jesus is coming to fix the world for us, absolving us of any and all responsibility for His creations.
Just from cursory searching, I see that this manual has three copyright dates on the title page. I don't know that its contents have meaningfully changed since its initial publication in 1978, but... if it had changed, I would question which principle of Jesus Christ's gospel no longer applied beginning in 2009. If the manual's contents have not changed since 1978, then we're now counting a minimum of 2025 - 1978 = 47 years of human history where there have been storms, drought, hunger, diseases, wars & rumors of wars, none of which have resulted in the Second Coming of Christ as outlined in this manual.
If those events are meant to be a sign of Christ's return, but have been constantly present without His return... what conclusion should I arrive at? The interpretation I'm settling on today is that God feels that human suffering is good, cool, fine, and does not necessitate any intervention.
Thanks, God.
General Conference¶
We live, brothers and sisters, in the days preceding the Lord’s Second Coming, a time long anticipated by believers through the ages. We live in days of wars and rumors of wars, days of natural disasters, days when the world is pulled by confusion and commotion.
— Thy Kingdom Come, Elder Neil L. Andersen, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference 2015 April
Remember that the fulness of Christ’s ministry lies in the future. The prophecies of His Second Coming have yet to be fulfilled. We are just building up to the climax of this last dispensation—when the Savior’s Second Coming becomes a reality.
— The Future of the Church: Preparing the World for the Savior’s Second Coming, President Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Conference April 2020
Is there a difference between signs of the second coming, and prophecies of the second coming?
If these signs are critical to God's purposes, God's grand scheme and plan, would it be too bold of me to say that He has done a pretty shit job of selecting what signs for us to watch for? It's as if He's saying "you'll know Jesus is coming soon when things are exactly as they have been for centuries."
"There will be wars. People will be mean to each other. All things shall be in commotion." I'm not being snarky, this is not rhetorical: what am I supposed to do with this information? When have these things not been true?
I don't want to be needlessly cynical and snarky, but I'll make up some nonsensical examples that, to me, fit this same energy:
- "People will ingest food, and lo, they shall also defecate, even in the same day." — prophecy fulfilled hourly by Taco Bell
- "And the sun, yea even the very light of our heavens, will rise up from the east, and it shall thence set in the west. Even so, amen." Framing it in 16th century English makes it seem profound, so it must be special this time!
- "One land shall experience both a drought and abundance, a dearth and a flood, even amid the same hour." California shares borders with both Oregon and Arizona. It has rainy forests and deserts, and both climates exist "in the same land."
All this is to say that making any observation sound poetic and flowery can be used to instill diligent urgency. Better shape up and repent—it rained last Tuesday. That means Jesus is coming.
How many times?¶
I mean, Jesus did (reportedly) appear physically on Earth to personally tell Joseph Smith that everyone else is wrong.
The Savior will make several appearances before His Second Coming to all the world.
1. Christ will appear at Adam-ondi-Ahman (see Daniel 7:9–10, 13–14; D&C 116).
2. The Savior will appear to those in the New Jerusalem in America (see 3 Nephi 21:23–25; D&C 45:66–67).
3. The Savior will appear to the Jews in Jerusalem (see D&C 45:48, 51–53; Zechariah 12:10; 14:2–5).
4. The Lord will appear in glory to all mankind (see D&C 45:44; 101:23; Matthew 24:30; Isaiah 40:5; JST, Revelation 1:7).
— Chapter 36: The Lord’s Second Coming, Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual
I, uh... don't... I don't think that's how cardinality works.
Not found in this list is Jesus appearing in the Garden of Eden to check in on things. That's a freebie preview for all those temple secrets. Is Jesus appearing too sacred to count?
Jesus appeared once by being born of Mary, specifically outlined what will happen leading up to His next appearance, and then sneaks in up to four interim appearances. Meaning His Second Coming will actually be maybe His sixth or seventh visitation. I'm not clear if item #4 in that list (appearing in glory to all mankind) counts as an appearance before the Second Coming, or if that's the climactic event itself 🥵 The manual's verbiage seems to imply the former.
The Millennium¶
What, you mean living in your parents' basement after the avocado market crash? lmao got 'em
When Christ returns, all people will know it. The prophet Isaiah declared, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together”. This monumental event will mark the beginning of a glorious 1,000-year period, known as the Millennium, when Jesus will reign personally on the earth, Satan will have no power, and all people will live in peace and joy.
— Gospel Study Guide: Topics & Questions, Second Coming of Jesus Christ; see original for scriptural citations
I recall hearing as a seminary student that at Christ's second coming, it will be so undeniably obvious to every human on earth (1, 2, 3). We've got a flowery statement along the lines of "every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ," even those dirty, unwashed heathens who aren't white and delightsome.
I also recall hearing a fellow named Paul describing that "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." Metaphors don't translate very well across languages, so we're left with multiple possible interpretations of what this means. I might guess that it means He'll arrive unannounced, without notice or fanfare. If that were the case, I think a modern translation could many pick a more clear comparison.
If it means that Jesus will sneak in unbeknownst to the masses, then Paul's statement is at odds with Joseph Smith. Maybe this is one of those convenient times where the Bible isn't translated correctly.
The Lord’s coming will be as a thief in the night to those who are in spiritual darkness. Paul described the Saints as “the children of light, and the children of the day.” Paul gave them guidelines for living as Saints. Through God’s help, the Saints will be found blameless at the Second Coming.
— Lesson 46: 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians, New Testament Teacher Manual
Oh. It'll only be "as a thief in the night" to those in spiritual darkness, then? Thanks, that clears things right up. What the hell is spiritual darkness? Paul draws lots of comparisons between darkness of night and light of day in the following verses, but I'm not sure how much tangible meaning to pull from that contrast.
I've seen light symbolized as illumination, clarity and knowledge, and while my searches didn't land on what I'd call a definition, I guess it's synonymous with apostasy. (1.1, 1.2, 2) Still, Smith said in no uncertain terms that "all people will know it." 🤷
And again, verily I say unto you, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and it overtaketh the world as a thief in the night—
Therefore, gird up your loins, that you may be the children of light, and that day shall not overtake you as a thief.
Well... Maybe Jesus will arrive for the seventh second time and it actually will be discreet?
The wicked who are living at the time of the Second Coming of the Lord will be destroyed in the flesh. They, along with the wicked who are already dead, will have to wait until the last resurrection. All of the remaining dead will rise to meet God. They will either inherit the telestial kingdom or be cast into outer darkness with Satan (see D&C 76:32–33, 81–112).
— Chapter 44: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Gospel Principles
"Anyone who disagrees with us or our specific variation of Christianity is going to die horribly. Jesus loves you, btw. Sign up here xoxo"
Death Follows Jesus¶
There seems to be many prophecies and signs surrounding Jesus' arrival, whether for the first, "second," or Nth time. An uncomfortable number of those arrivals are accompanied by mass death and destruction.
Birth¶
At Jesus' birth, one King Herod may or may not have massacred "all the children that were in Bethlehem... from two years old and under." From what I understand, there isn't any historic, contemporary evidence of this happening, but Matthew chapter 2 sure seems insistent that it totally did happen. Seems like a good way to kneecap your own kingdom's military and economy. If everyone—soldier, peasant, noble—all had their children 2 & under murdered, how long do you think that king would remain in power? That would fuck up an entire generation. Herod doing this would have resounding effects that would have been recorded by many more sources than just this one.
This is such a preposterous response to an absurd threat. Decimating all citizen's children would have awful, resounding effects on Herod's standing as a leader. That'll effect laborers, agriculture, commerce, able-bodied soldiers, loyalty of those soldiers... But, hey, at least that prophesied messiah is out of the way, right? No chance that the target could have, you know, fled to Egypt until things cooled off.
The legend is that Herod kills all children based on the rumor that a baby might overthrow him once the prophesied messiah reaches adulthood... And then it didn't really even pan out. You might have heard that Jesus got crucified? It was kind of a big deal. ... Wasn't that also prophetically foretold? Did Herod not read that part?
Twenty years from the time of writing this note, I'll be in my mid-fifties. There is a non-zero chance that at that time, I'll befall some violent fate at the hands of someone who is, today, a baby. Should I then round up all children in the tri-state area and enact infanticide just in case the future unproven threat were valid?
I'm getting off track. Matthew 2:17-18 says that this was a fulfilment of a prophecy. I'd also like to point out verses 12 & 13 describing God arranging for this to happen. Rather than defuse the tension, God has Joseph leave, which pisses off Herod, and leads not only to all children getting murdered, but also the subsequent economic shockwaves for decades. Was this an oversight? Surely God wasn't blindsided by this development. Surely God knew how Herod would react by murdering an untold number of children. Maybe.
Now, let's celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace!
3 Nephi¶
Even though having Jesus die on the cross was part of God's Plan™ all along, He still got real pissed that it happened.
To signify that Jesus had been born and was crucified, shit was going down in America.
- Entire cities leveled
- Earth becoming deformed under intense storms
- Mists of darkness blind everyone who survived
- An omnipresent voice announces each destroyed city, rationalizing that "they were wicked."
- This same voice says, in so many words, "do I have your attention now? You gonna shape up and repent? I'm Jesus Christ, by the way. I killed everyone you've ever known or loved. Now, who wants some 𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮? 😄"
Yeah, man. You've got my attention. Don't think for a minute that I'm going to forget what you did, or that I'm doing what you say for any purpose other than abject terror.
Think back for a moment for what was happening to Jesus three days prior over in Jerusalem:
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Jesus had a reputation for being benevolent and forgiving, even as he is actively being tortured to death. He seemed like a "big picture" kind of guy, recognizing that these Roman soldiers are still spirit sons of God, and are short-sighted enough to not understand the eternal implications of what's happening... even though this was literally what God had planned to happen all along.
Contrast this observation with "fuck you, Nephites! I'm going to level entire cities because there were wicked people in them!" and ask yourself if that seems characteristic of who we read about in the New Testament.
What if those Roman soldiers hadn't been conditioned to just follow orders, though? Wasn't Jesus' conviction and crucifixion necessary (for one reason or another)? Did those soldiers need forgiving if they were an integral part of the Plan of Salvation, fulfilling prophecies from the Old Testament? Would they otherwise be condemned for not killing Jesus?
What do we do to prepare?¶
pay us money lmao
A further reward for paying tithing is a guarantee against being consumed in the burning which is to accompany the second coming of the Savior.
— Trust in the Lord, President Marion G. Romney, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, General Conference 1974 April
How Can We Be Ready When the Savior Comes?
The best way we can prepare for the Savior’s coming is to accept the teachings of the gospel and make them part of our lives. We should live each day the best we can, just as Jesus taught when He was on the earth. We can look to the prophet for guidance and follow his counsel. We can live worthy to have the Holy Ghost guide us. Then we will look forward to the Savior’s coming with happiness and not with fear. The Lord said: “Fear not, little flock, the kingdom is yours until I come. Behold, I come quickly. Even so. Amen” (D&C 35:27).
- Why should we be concerned about our preparedness rather than the exact timing of the Second Coming?
— Chapter 44: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Gospel Principles
Don't worry about the timing, just... always be ready. Wait, why is everyone getting diagnosed with anxiety disorders and religious scrupulosity?
"You'll know it's coming soon when the world is exactly as it always has been, and you can prepare by following the exact same advice we give for every scenario."
😐
Re-read that paragraph for what we mortal, lay folk can do to prepare for the second coming, but imagine it being in response to fucking anything. That's the same song & dance for how to know Joseph was a prophet, how to gain a testimony (1, 2), how to maintain faith, how to have a happy marriage, how to receive personal revelation, how to prepare for general conference, how to feel God's love when you're sad, how to overcome addiction, and how to know that one Russell M Nelson is called of God. You do what Russell says, and Russell says to pay the church money.
Ready for Jesus now?
Ten Virgins¶
This parable has been revisited and expounded numerous times. Here's a link to Matthew 25:1-13 if you'd like to see the source text for yourself. I bring this up to illustrate that verse 13 wraps it up with a nice conclusion: "watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Sounds like it's commanding constant vigilance for that anticipated "any minute now" event. D&C 45:56 says that at the second coming, "shall the parable be fulfilled[.]" Nobody knows when it will be.
I'm certain that the parable was more meaningful to Jesus' contemporaries than it is to us today. Folks excitedly gathering to meet "the bridegroom" surely had more cultural relevance back then. I also understand that one word can have different meanings depending on context, but something occurs to me now as I revisit this biblical passage: that is, the bridegroom saying "I know you not."
Again, the cultural significance here must have been more meaningful 2,000 years ago, but... we do have precedent of "Joseph knew [Mary] not," where "know" is definitively interpreted as a euphemism for "sexual relations." (1, 2) What does that imply for the parable? Must have been a wild party those virgins were missing out on. We're meant to watch for the bridegroom's arrival so he can "know" us? 😏
Reading Material¶
- Joseph Smith Papers: "second coming"; might pull some info from here later