The Lord speaks through his prophets. Not only did He use prophets anciently, such as Abraham, Moses, Samuel, etc., but He also uses prophets today.
Gordon B. Hinckley just passed away. He was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon church) and the Lord’s prophet. Now that he has passed away, the Lord will call another prophet to lead the children of God on the earth.
Joseph Smith was one such prophet. He restored the Lord’s church to the earth in the 1800s. The Lord spoke to Joseph Smith and this is what the Lord said. It is found in a book called the Doctrine & Covenants, a book of revelations given to Joseph Smith, the Prophet.
“I will take vengeance upon the wicked, for they will not repent; for the cup of mine indignation is full; for behold, my blood shall not cleanse them if they hear me not.
“Wherefore, I the Lord God will send forth flies upon the face of the earth, which shall take hold of the inhabitants thereof, and shall eat their flesh, and shall cause maggots to come in upon them;
“And their tongues shall be stayed that they shall not utter against me; and their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from their sockets.
“And it shall come to pass that the beasts of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them up” (D&C 29:17-20).
Ewwww. This is harsh. And yet the prophetic utterance is very reminiscent of what the Lord declared against ancient Israel when they were participating in disgusting wickedness.
And when I think of the abominable things some people on the earth are doing to innocent children, I can see why the Lord would be angry.
One of the most important parts of being prepared, in these latter days before Christ’s coming, is that of spiritual preparedness. The Lord loves all His children. He desires their happiness. But He will only allow wickedness to run rampant for so long; eventually He comes in and cleans out such wickedness.
Thus, one facet of preparedness is understanding the necessity of repentance. In other words, when we anticipate that which the Lord declared in D&C 29:17-20, we hopefully will ensure we repent of anything unpleasing to God.
All of us fall short of perfection. There was only one Perfect Man – Jesus Christ. As we follow His teachings, we will be protected when the judgments of God eventually roll forth amongst mankind on this earth.
I’ve found one of the best ways to prepare my heart for that which is to come is through scripture study. That’s why I love the online scriptures. They are free, easy to use, and even have search options so you could search a specific topic (i.e. joy, peace, Christ). Why not try reading the scriptures today at this scripture link!
