Fire and Vapors of Smoke

In this dispensation the Lord prophesied about the last days, “And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath. And they shall behold blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke. And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:40-42). This is the only scripture that I know of which lists fire as one of the signs of the times (besides those many references to the fire that will burn up the wicked at the time of His actual coming). The description here of fire and smoke certainly comes to mind as wildfires rage across California and Oregon with the smoke in the air at unprecedented levels. Certainly for the people in these areas the sun has been darkened, if only temporarily, and the red glow in the sky has given the heavens an appearance like blood. These fires, along with so many other recent natural disasters, remind us that these types of events have been prophesied by the Lord and our true safety lies only in Him. As He told His disciples, “See that ye be not troubled, for all I have told you must come to pass; but the end is not yet” (JSM 1:23). We pray for those in harm’s way and trust in His power knowing that He foretold all these difficulties.

I believe our best response to these prophesied calamities in the last days is to turn to the Lord and repent. Each time we see extreme forces in nature wreaking havoc, we can be reminded that His voice is calling us to repent: “Also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. And all things shall be in commotion.” And what are those voices meant to tell us? “Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:90-92). And of course preparation for His coming means repentance. In the same revelation in which fire and vapors of smoke were prophesied, we read, “Go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the inhabitants to repent” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:64). Repentance is always the best answer for help and protection when we face terrible challenges. As the Nephite understood after their miraculous deliverance from the Gadianton robbers: “They knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction” (3 Nephi 4:33). Alma exhorted the Nephites, “Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion” (Alma 5:50). That was in preparation for His first coming, but the same message applies to us today: we must repent in preparation for the coming of the Son of God. When the Nephites in Moronihah’s day were in extreme difficulties, after the Lamanites had taken over their cities in the land southward, the prophets recognized that their only salvation was in repentance: “Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people, yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins” (Helaman 4:14). The people did start to repent and Moronihah was able to successfully recapture some of their lands because of it. Surely the solution for safety and protection has not changed in our day: no matter what the difficulties we face—whether from fires or earthquakes or individualized storms of life—our greatest security comes in repentance and trust in the Lord.