By Frank M. Keele

After reviewing the previous post and pondering upon the nearness of the Lord’s appearance to His elect, I feel the desire to expound upon the sequence that will follow just after the abomination of desolation upon the wicked gentiles of this nation.

Much of that sequence has been revealed in the standard works and statements of the prophets and thankfully a central theme of that sequence is the preservation of the elect according to the covenant. As the events of the second coming unfold the church will see exponential growth and will need an army of missionary and ordnance minded workers… so we need to stay involved in building the kingdom because the Lord will have need of such individuals. And as the world is falling apart it’s nice to know that you are a valued member of the winning team!

Central to the Lord’s first appearance are the events that are to unfold at Adam Ondi Ahman and although there have been differing views as to who shall be there, I find the following description given by Elder Bruce R. McConkie to be in complete harmony with the standard works, said he:

“The Father called all spirits before Him at the creation of man, and organized them.” This was the grand council in heaven of which we so often speak. “He (Adam) is the head, and was told to multiply.” He, under Christ, was at the head in preexistence; and he, under Christ, is at the head so far as all things pertaining to this earth are concerned. “The keys were first given to him, and by him to others. He will have to give an account of his stewardship, and they to him.” And as all the spirits of men attended the grand council in preexistence, so all the righteous shall attend a like council at adam-ondi-ahman before the winding up scenes. (The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p.578-588)

I find the above to be perfectly in harmony with scripture, however, it does raise the question as to how the elect, still scattered among the nations of the earth will make their way to the location of this great assembly… do we find an answer in the standard works? We go to JS Matt and 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.

We find the answer to our inquiry in verse 37 where we learn that angels “shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” And we need to make note that the Lord “shall send his angels before him” so that those so gathered will arrive in time to participate in the business of this great assembly which this author believes will unfold during the feast of Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles if you will receive it. Joseph Smith said of this great assembly:

“Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of Days; he means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael, he [who] will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the human family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. This may take place before some of us leave this stage of action. The Son of Man stands before him, and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding the keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 157).

As mentioned above, I believe that the events of Adam Ondi Ahman will unfold in conjunction with the fall feasts or Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles of this year (from Oct 3 to Oct 23) and that the sign of the Son of Man or Zion, the city of Enoch, the New Jerusalem or God’s tabernacle will return during Tabernacles. See the Wandle Mace quote below:

“Wandle Mace, a trustworthy Church member in Nauvoo, reported that he heard Joseph Smith ‘speak of the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which all should see’ and that it would be ‘the return of the City of Enoch to the earth.’ [Sayings of Joseph Smith as reported by those who claimed to hear him make the statements, LDS Church History Library]

And since we have brought the sign of the Son of Man into the discussion, it’s only fitting that we refer to Joseph Smith’s statements regarding the Lord’s appearance, we read:

The Prophet Joseph Smith stated: “Then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, etc. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 252–53).

“How are we to see it Ans. As the lighting up of the morning or the dawning of the morning cometh from the east and shineth unto the west—So also is the comeing of the Son of Man. The dawning of the morning makes its appearance in the east and moves along gradualy so also will the comeing of the Son of Man be… it will be small at its first appearance and gradually becomes larger untill every eye shall see it. Shall the Saints understand it Oh yes. Paul says so… It will be small at first and will grow larger and larger untill it will be all in a blaze so that every eye shall see it.” (Joseph Smith, General Conference, April 6, 1843)

So, are we really so close to the Lord’s return that we need to be looking for “a planet, a comet, etc”? With our modern technology we are able to locate and predict the arrival of heavenly bodies many months ahead of their arrival… do we have reports of any such heavenly bodies due to arrive near the time of the feast of Tabernacles this year?

The answer is a resounding yes! Comet C2023 A3 Tsuchinshan ATLAS is due to make it’s nearest approach to the earth in mid October of this year… please see the following video titled ”THE BIGGEST COMET in decades”which was posted nine months ago:

From Wikipedia we read… C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet from the Oort cloud discovered by ATLAS South Africa on 22 February 2023 and independently found in images by the Purple Mountain Observatory taken on 9 January 2023. The comet will pass perihelion at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million mi) on 27 September 2024,[1][3] when it is expected to become visible by naked eye.[5][6][7] As of May 2023, the comet is currently 6.7 AU (1.00 billion km; 620 million mi) from the Sun, approaching at 16.3 km/s, with an uncertainty region of ±20,000 km.

Remember what Joseph Smith said above… “It will be small at first and will grow larger and larger untill it will be all in a blaze so that every eye shall see it.” Wikipedia expects C/2023 A3 to become viable to the naked eye by Sept 27 of this year… that’s just 20 days before the feast of Tabernacles will commence… kind of sounds like Joseph Smith and Wikipedia are on the same page, doesn’t it?

The signs of the second coming are mounting all around us… evil in the world has reached it’s climax, the satanic, lying, evil, woke, anti-Christ, anti-freedom, anti-constitution, king makers are about to find out what the Lord means when He says… “he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish… Wherefore, he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female, shall perish; for they are they who are the whore of all the earth”.

We close this post with the words of Russell M. Nelson  (Oct 2022 general conference, Overcome the World and Find Rest)

“As I have stated before, the gathering of Israel is the most important work taking place on earth today. One crucial element of this gathering is preparing a people who are able, ready, and worthy to receive the Lord when He comes again, a people who have already chosen Jesus Christ over this fallen world, a people who rejoice in their agency to live the higher, holier laws of Jesus Christ.

I call upon you, my dear brothers and sisters, to become this righteous people. Cherish and honor your covenants above all other commitments. As you let God prevail in your life, I promise you greater peace, confidence, joy, and yes, rest.”