Donald W. Parry - Understanding the Signs of the Times

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Parry, Donald W.

Understanding the signs of the times / Donald W. Parry and Jay A. Parry.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-57345-588-1

1. Second Advent. 2. Mormon ChurchSacred books. 3. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. I. Title. II. Parry, Jay A.

BX8643.S43 P37 1999
236.9 21dc21

99-043431

Printed in the United States of America 72082-6559

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The lesson which the signs of the times should teach us is one of patience, endurance, and calm reliance on the Lord. The result will be that we shall be stronger, wiser, purer, happier, for the experience gained, and the work of the Lord ... will yet triumph gloriously over all its foes, and the infinite atonement of the Redeemer will accomplish its perfect work. The final victory of the Saints is certain; after the trial come the reward.

John Taylor, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph F. Smith
Epistle of the First Presidency, 301

PREFACE

In preparing this work, we have based our understandings and commentary primarily on scripture, both ancient and modern, rather than on interpretations found elsewhere. We first systematically searched the four standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and identified hundreds of passages dealing with the last days, the Second Coming, and the Millennium (these passages are all listed in Appendix 4). We then closely studied these scriptures, scores of which, followed by discussion and notes, are presented in this volume. We also studied the words of our latter-day prophets, who have provided much revelation for our day on these important topics, and include many quotations from them in our discussion.

The primary reason we have gone to the standard, the scriptures, for our understanding of the signs of the times is that our prophets themselves have cautioned us to refer to the scriptures for our understanding of Church doctrine and principle. Elder Harold B. Lee explained the pattern this way: All that we teach in this Church ought to be couched in the Scriptures. We ought to choose our texts from the Scriptures, and wherever you have an illustration in the Scriptures or a revelation in the Book of Mormon, use it, and do not draw from other sources where you can find it here in these books. Now we call these the Standard Church Works because they are standard. If you want to measure truth, measure it by the four Standard Church Works.

President Gordon B. Hinckley added: There are many books among us and many preachers, and I find virtue in the words of all. But the truest source of divine wisdom is the word of the Lord in these sacred volumes, the standard works of the Church. Here is found the doctrine to which we must hold fast if this work is to roll forth to its divinely charted destiny.

President Wilford Woodruff specifically pointed us to the standard works when studying the signs of the times: If you want to know what is coming to pass, read the revelations of God in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon and in the book of Doctrine and Covenants.

In an effort to be true to these principles, we have drawn our understandings of passages of scripture from other scriptures whenever possible. We have sought to follow the guideline given by Elder Harold B. Lee to let our teaching be couched in the scriptures and to choose our texts from the scriptures. Of particular value in such a study are the scriptures of the Restoration. President Marion G. Romney gave us this valuable truth: In each dispensation, from the days of Adam to the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord has revealed anew the principles of the gospel. So that while the records of past dispensations, insofar as they are uncorrupted, testify to the truths of the gospel, still each dispensation has had revealed in its day sufficient truth to guide the people of the new dispensation, independent of the records of the past.

I do not wish to discredit in any manner the records we have of the truths revealed by the Lord in past dispensations. What I now desire is to impress upon our minds that the gospel, as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, is complete and is the word direct from heaven to this dispensation. It alone is sufficient to teach us the principles of eternal life. It is the truth revealed, the commandments given in this dispensation through modern prophets by which we are to be governed.

We believe in the words of Isaiah, Zechariah, and John the Revelator, and we are grateful for them. They provide us with invaluable insight, understanding, and detail about the events of the last days, and in this volume we look at those prophetic words through the lens of latter-day revelation. This effort, we hope, will bring together the vision of former dispensations with the revelation that has been given specifically for our day.

We would like to thank all those who have helped us to bring this volume together. We express gratitude to Suzanne Brady of Deseret Book for her excellent editorial contributions, to Ronald O. Stucki for the cover and interior design, to Patricia J. Parkinson and Tonya-Rae Facemyer for the typography, and to their colleagues at Deseret Book Company for their assistance in turning a manuscript into a finished book. We thank Vicki Parry for her searching review of the manuscript and Marian H. Brady, Celeste Howard, and Ruth B. Howard for their painstaking proofreading of sources and galleys. We extend appreciation to Mindy J. Anderson and Erin F. Stamper for assisting us in researching and creating Appendix 4 and to Leslie Stitt for writing the subject index. Thanks goes to Kent J. Hunter and J. Max Young, instructors at the Orem Utah Institute of Religion at Utah Valley State College, for their review of parts of the manuscript for doctrinal accuracy.

Despite the helpful support others have given, this work represents our own thinking and our own understanding of what the Lord has said about the signs of the times. We have not been able to say all we would like to have said, for the last days, the signs of the times, and the second coming of Christ are subjects too broad to cover adequately in one volume. Nor is this study to be viewed as the last word on any of the topics we consider. The restoration of the gospel is a continuing process, both for the Church and for us as individuals, and further light will help us to see more clearly things that before were less clear. Further light also gives us deeper understanding of things we earlier thought we thoroughly understood.

This book, then, represents our understandings as of the day they were written. Our hope is that the reader will find truth here to increase his or her spiritual enlightenment, thus heightening a desire to be prepared for the great day of the Lords coming. We hope further that this book will serve as a beginning point for continuing prayerful study and meditation on the significant and wonderful truths of the Lords plan for us in these last days.