Soon in the Lord's Time

In scriptures that speak of the last days, the Lord or His prophets often used language to suggest that once the Restoration began, the time until the Second Coming would be short.  In 1830 for example, the Savior told the Prophet Joseph, “For the hour is nigh and the day soon at hand when the earth is ripe; and all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that wickedness shall not be upon the earth” (D&C 29:9).  A few months later He also said, “For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, the time is soon at hand that I shall come in a cloud with power and great glory” (D&C 34:7).  In another revelation around this time the Lord encouraged us that we should be “looking forth for the time of my coming, for it is nigh at hand” (D&C 35:1).  He said similarly in 1831, “Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand” (D&C 43:17).  Also in 1831, the Lord included in His preface to what is now the Doctrine and Covenants, “Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh” (D&C 1:12).  He said in 1834 to “prepare my people for the time when I shall dwell with them, which is nigh at hand” (D&C 104:59).  When Joseph received many necessary Priesthood keys in 1836 Elijah said, “Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors” (D&C 110:16).  The phrases “the hour is nigh,” “the time is soon at hand,” “nigh at hand,” “the Lord is nigh,” and “near, even at the doors” all suggest that the Second Coming of the Lord will be very soon. 

That said, it was about 180 years ago when He said those things—it certainly wouldn’t seem like it was imminent if it has been that long.  But, as we learn from the Book of Mormon, “All is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men” (Alma 40:8).  God certainly views time differently than we do, and “soon” to Him may be a very long time for us.  I think it’s useful to look at some examples in the scripture in which the Lord used this kind of “nigh at hand” language and for which we know when the thing came to pass.  For example, the angel told King Benjamin about 124 years before the birth of Christ, “For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men” (Mosiah 3:5).  Alma said something similar around 83 B.C.: “For behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people” (Alma 7:7).  Later Amulek told the wicked people of Ammonihah, “His fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the time is soon at hand except ye repent” (Alma 10:23).  We know that this was told to them after the “commencement of the tenth year of the reign of the judges,” and the prophecy was fulfilled “in the eleventh year of the reign of the judges” (Alma 8:3, 16:1).  So in this case, “soon at hand” meant less than a year.  In our dispensation the Lord told the prophet Joseph Smith, “Ye hear of wars in foreign lands; but, behold, I say unto you, they are nigh, even at your doors, and not many years hence ye shall hear of wars in your own lands” (D&C 45:63).  The Lord also told him less than a year later, “Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls” (D&C 87:1).  Those prophecies were given about 30 years before the Civil War began; so if we interpret their fulfillment as the Civil War, then “nigh, even at your doors” and “shortly come to pass” meant 30 years in this case. 

These passages of scripture I think indicate that we can’t put a timetable on what the Lord will do in our lives and in the world at large.  When He says that something is soon to happen, that may or may not mean the very near future as we would consider it, but it does mean that we should prepare for it.  Whether we wait less than a year like the people of Ammonihah or more than 100 years like the Nephites awaiting the Savior’s coming after King Benjamin’s words, preparation and repentance now is always the best course of action.  The Savior’s Second Coming will be as a “thief in the night;” whether that’s tomorrow or yet decades to come, we don’t want to be found spiritually asleep when He comes.