By Frank M. Keele

And again… what is the final sequence leading up to the second coming? We find it in JS Matthew, we read:

32 And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled.

33 and immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken…

36 And, as I said before, after the tribulation of those days, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, 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;

37 And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

So there we have it… the final sequence leading up to the Lord’s first appearance when He will gather the elect via what we might call the angel express. However, I think many Latter-day Saints have a difficult time understanding how the abomination of desolation will unfold here in America because they have been conditioned to think this is something that is to repeat at Jerusalem, right?

Well, lets just take a moment to see whet the Lord has had to say about this… we go to D&C 84 and read:

114 Nevertheless, let the bishop go unto the city of New York, also to the city of Albany, and also to the city of Boston, and warn the people of those cities with the sound of the gospel, with a loud voice, of the desolation and utter abolishment which await them if they do reject these things.

115 For if they do reject these things the hour of their judgment is nigh, and their house shall be left unto them desolate.

116 Let him trust in me and he shall not be confounded; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed.

117 And verily I say unto you, the rest of my servants, go ye forth as your circumstances shall permit, in your several callings, unto the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days.

So, what the Lord says here becomes the working definition “the desolation of abomination in the last days” regardless of what anyone else may have to say about it… unless of course New York, Albany and Boston have been moved to Israel when we weren’t watching.

We will not see the Lord’s first appearance here in America until just after the abomination of desolation upon the wicked gentiles of this nation!