Cut Short in Righteousness

I’ve been wondering lately about the phrase “cut short in righteousness” that we see in a few places in scripture.  The first occurrence is in Paul’s writings to the Romans when he said, “For [the Lord] will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth” (Romans 9:28).  It seems that he was quoting something from the ancient prophets since in the surrounding verses he quoted Isaiah twice and Hosea once, and this verse is right in the middle of the Isaiah quotations.  At any rate, the Lord validated the phrase when He repeated it in modern revelation.  He said, “For thus saith the Lord, I will cut my work short in righteousness, for the days come that I will send forth judgment unto victory” (D&C 52:11).  He then repeated the phrase again a year later when He warned, “And plagues shall go forth, and they shall not be taken from the earth until I have completed my work, which shall be cut short in righteousness” (D&C 84:97).  Finally the Prophet Joseph used the phrase in the canonized dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple when he used these words: “We ask thee to appoint unto Zion other stakes besides this one which thou hast appointed, that the gathering of thy people may roll on in great power and majesty, that thy work may be cut short in righteousness” (D&C 109:59).  So what exactly does the phrase mean? 

                 It appears that the phrase was a commonly used one for the early Church leaders, and the sense of the way they used it seems to be the same idea as our modern emphasis that the Lord will “hasten [his] work in its time” (D&C 887:73).  In other words, the Lord is coming quickly and will hasten and shorten the time so He can return.  The Prophet Joseph pleaded after lamenting the wickedness on the earth, “O, come, Lord Jesus, and cut short Thy work in righteousness” (see here).  Wilford Woodruff said, “The minds of the Saints are expanding, and they are coming to understanding.  This certainly should be the case as we advance, for the Lord will make a short work in the last days; and there is but little time, if I may be allowed the saying, to have the words of the Prophets fulfilled” (see here).  The phrase then it seems is meant to give us a sense of urgency about the coming of the Lord and the preparation needed on our part.  Brigham Young used the phrase in a similar way: “Yet, in the latter days, God will cut short his work in righteousness.  Do you understand that what the Lord will perform in the latter days will be done quicker than in the former days? …  On account of the work's being hastened in our time, I have good reason to urge upon the people the necessity of their living their religion every moment—of their increasing in faith, in wisdom, in knowledge, and in power to forsake all bad habits” (see here).  So knowing that the Lord is not doing His work slowly and not going to draw out the time before His coming, we must feel the need to live our religion “every moment” and be prepared always for the day that He returns.  Franklin D. Richards put it this way: “It is fitting that we should labor with diligence and faithfulness and with our mights to bring to pass the purposes of God, inasmuch as they are rolling upon us rapidly, and seeing that He has promised that He will cut His work short in righteousness” (see here).

                One of the more recent uses of the scripture by modern prophets comes from President Joseph Fielding Smith.  He said that the Lord “will cut his work short in righteousness and will hasten his purposes in his own time.  It is only necessary to try with our might to keep pace with the onward progress of the work of the Lord; then he will preserve and protect us and will prepare the way before us” (see here).  So this scriptural phrase along with the other similar verses that tell us that the Lord is “[coming] quickly” and “[hastening His] work” and that the “season speedily cometh” all sound the warning that the day for preparation for the Second Coming is now (D&C 35:27, D&C 88:73, Jacob 5:71).