Those who destroy will be gone. The great “military-industrial complex,” as President Eisenhower called it, will be dismantled.
No-one will come to “fell trees,” and as a result the trees will rejoice; predatory conduct will end. Those who exploit and consume others will be removed. Instead of the exploitation of capitalism, we will find the kindness and caring of consecration and the United Order. No member of society, however weak or vulnerable, will be exploited.
We tend to think in terms of the Millennium cleansing the earth of the wicked; but then fail to realize just how far spread the wickedness is. It will not just be violent crime that ends, but white-collar crime as well. Behavior considered “good business,” but which exploits the weak, will end. Neither the predatory banker, nor the registered sexoffender will be left. Because those who are left will treat each other honestly and fairly, there will be little need for lawyers and no need for either prosecutors or defenders in that day. Therefore the whole earth will rejoice. We will also see an end to repossession agents, debt collectors, infomercials hocking trinkets, noisy politicians, political parties, economists, bankers, and many other parasitic professions. Babylon’s modern strongholds of Wall Street and Hollywood will no longer control the thoughts of mankind. Who can wonder at people relieved of such oppression breaking out in celebration and song! The mere contemplation of such a thing makes one want to sing now.
Even hell itself is moved with fear in contemplation of that day. When the Lord returns, the resurrection will commence. In the world of Spirits, the thought of resurrecting will no longer provoke the dread of returning to a fallen and wicked planet. Instead, spirits will long to return to life and join Zion, where there is peace, equity and joy. Therefore, hell will no longer enjoy its temporary victory over mankind, and the dead will return from their graves.
Great oppressors of mankind become “fallen” and weak. They can no longer hold contemptuous sway over the earth. Men will be liberated from the fear and oppression we live with today. Tyrants will no longer be able to rule with blood and horror. Corrupt political organizations, business combinations, religious institutions and educational establishments will all collapse. The great allegory of Lucifer’s fall from heaven becomes an apt symbol for the destruction of all the haughty and oppressive:
All they shall speak and say unto thee: Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave; the noise of thy viols is not heard; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and shall consider thee, and shall say: Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms? And made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, yea, all of them, lie in glory, every one of them in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and the remnant of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned. (2 Nephi 24:10–20.)
These words persuasively show the “fall” of the “world” with all its pomp. Just as Lucifer fell from heaven and was cast out to the earth to free heaven from his ambitious, self-glorifying, selfish schemes, the earth will at last be freed from those who, like him, urged us to live lives filled with greed, envy and jealousy. Look at Lucifer’s words: “I will ascend!” “I will exalt my throne!” “I will sit also upon the mount!” “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds!” “I will be like the Most High!” This reckless ambition and self-promotion is the stuff from which modern success stories are built. We see it everywhere. In sports, from Mohammed Ali to Terrell Owens, modern sports figures exult in their own self-promotion. Businessmen, media personalities, popular radio hosts, Hollywood starlets, and newspaper columnists are all following Lucifer’s formula of self-aggrandizement for getting ahead. Dressing for success, looking the part, and having the right publicist are critical to getting noticed in this world.
The Lord has never been interested in such things: “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (1 Sam. 16: 7.) Just as Lucifer fell, so too will his system of success based on selfishness, which now reigns on earth. The faithful followers of Christ have always been a persecuted minority. Even as the final days mature to judgment, the Saints will remain a comparatively tiny assembly. After the destruction of the wicked, however, the roles will be reversed. The persecutors will be so diminished, and their numbers so few, that it will be asked: “Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave; the noise of thy viols is not heard.” The reversed roles will be so glaring a change, everyone left will muse over it.
The symbol of the “worm” is used by prophets to describe the agents of decay, or engines of destruction. The “worm” degenerates, decays and destroys. The primary world order of our day will find “the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.” Whatever remains of this “great mother of abominations” (1 Ne. 14: 12–13), will then decay into ash. Or, in other words, any surviving people who were not part of the “Church of the Lamb” (id.) will be taught the truth and converted. Over time, the grip of the modern world will lessen, until it exists no more. From the river to the ends of the earth, the world will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. No person will need say to another: “Know ye the Lord,” for all that remain will know Him.
The great demigods of the last days; the leaders of nations, movie stars, opinion leaders, newsmakers, and “who’s whos” will all fall into disrepute as the Lord shows us all what comprises real glory. His meekness, love, kindness and pure knowledge will stand in such contrast to the current world order that we will all be able to see the true from the false.
The high and haughty roles of modern opinion leaders will not be needed anymore. In the Millennium, men and women will worship the Lord, and have little need for these false demigods. It will rival the lament: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Here is an appropriately descriptive picture of a “son of the morning” who occupied a position of respect and authority, reduced to “the pit.” Instead of being exalted above “the stars of God,” these false heroes have earned for themselves a fall into “hell.” We will no longer envy the glamour and power of Beverly Hills and Park Avenue. Instead, we will look to have “oil in our lamps” and the light which comes from obedience to the Gospel. We will find a new pantheon of heroes from our scriptures instead of People Magazine, and from the testimonies declared by converts to the truth. We will rejoice in brotherhood and sisterhood, as we have all things in common. When all things are held in common, there is no basis for envy, jealousy and greed. The fall of this “Lucifer” will become complete, and his influence will be entirely gone.
History lessons in that day will look back in astonishment at the inordinate wickedness of the last days in which we live now. Children in schools will wonder how we managed to mangle things so completely. As they do: “They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and shall consider thee, and shall say: Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms? And made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, yea, all of them, lie in glory, every one of them in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and the remnant of those that are slain.” Or, in other words, they will ask, “How could such foolish devotion to these false principles have been so widespread; how could people have fallen for that nonsense?” They will look upon our day with the eager, astonished judgment with which we now look back at the Third Reich. We wonder at how they could kill Jews on a massive, even industrial basis; they will wonder how we could kill babies in an abortion industry. We wonder at how Hitler’s Reich could be so cruel, herding the persecuted into Ghettos; they will wonder how we could be so cruel in tolerating great poverty of our own Ghettos beside the great wealth in our suburbs. We wonder how the Third Reich could devote their great national priority to the engines of war and misery; they will wonder the same about us. Our own blindness, just like the Third Reich’s, will be the subject of endless school essays. If we could but read a few of the essays the school children of that day will write about us, we would be less pompous, more contrite, and live our lives strongly disjointed from our current cultures. And the Saints, as uber-Americans, participate in these cultural excesses without apparent sensitivity to the foul currents underway.
It will be a good thing the “worm” removes all vestiges of the current false world order. For even the very best of us have embraced and accepted much of the world’s perversions. We think it inevitable. Perhaps is it for the moment, but when it is no longer so we should not look back with nostalgia, but with horror and contempt on this vile time. On the other side of the Lord’s return, we will confess out loud how astonishingly wicked our day was.
We will see then how the current conditions needed to change. How we desperately needed to rid ourselves of the remaining influences of Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and other decadent historic remnants. Then, as the “stone cut out of the mountain without hands” rolls forward to “fill the whole earth,” we will live through what Daniel prophesied. We will then understand how necessary the complete removal of all these things had become. We see that future time foreshadowed in Nephi’s words: “Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquities of their fathers, that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of Hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of Hosts. The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand—That I will bring the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot; then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations.” (2 Ne 24:21–26.) While we are to be the beneficiaries of this future, it is the Lord who will deliver us and make it all possible. The Lord will take advantage of our own wickedness to bring about the final destruction. Since nations hate each other, religions hate each other, and armies and terrorists are prepared to unleash violence and death, the Lord will use these poised predators to do His will. He will let the work of killing the wicked begin by the wicked, themselves.
The destruction may seem natural enough as it progresses, but in the end we will realize the hand of the Lord was directly involved in permitting this great final destruction. For the faithless, however, it will just be another international upheaval arising out of ethnic, religious, economic, political and tribal resentments. It will seem a natural progression from historic wrongs into the coming violence and destruction. But it is not. Instead, it will be the will of God being played out by the wicked. They will act in conformity with their natural impulses. As they do so, they will be fulfilling God’s will and removing themselves from the earth. As more people strap suicide belts on themselves and pass out of this life in a final act of savagery, they will, in fact, be doing God’s will. Not as they suppose it, but instead, as part of the greater plan to remove the wicked, try the righteous and prepare the earth for a Millennial Day of peace and security where they would not belong.
Thus we see how Nephi can record: “For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (2 Nephi 24: 27.) Nephi saw God’s hand moving in these latter-day events. Nephi was a man of faith. We ought also to see these turbulent latter-days as the work of God. Others living without faith, however, will curse God even as they disbelieve in Him. Nephi’s apocalyptic record reaffirms the themes of all those who have been shown the same things. They are discomforting, but they show the ultimate triumph of a higher will, leading at last to the Millennium. Clearing out the remnants of a decadent and disobedient world order is necessary. It would not be possible to have a Millennium of peace if such people were not first removed. We can see how fittingly the Lord compared it to childbirth. After struggle, pain, blood and difficulty, a new life will begin. The joy associated with that new life will make us forget the trouble we endured to get there.
Nephi’s use of Isaiah for this purpose is singularly fitting. It is as timely as today‘s headlines and tomorrow’s news events. Nephi saw our day. We have the privilege of living in it. As the events unfold, they should not test our faith, but should reaffirm it. All this was foreseen. It is as it should be; as it must be. And it is leading to something much better.
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.“ The work will proceed globally. It will result in all ”four corners of the earth“ being searched to locate and return these scattered ”outcasts.“ They are ”outcast“ because they lack any identification with Israel. They are ”dispersed" because they are everywhere, in all nations, among all peoples. They do not know they have anything to do with the blood of Israel. Until they are converted again, their own bloodlines remain a mystery to them.
Just as they have been scattered, so they must be gathered. When Moses returned to restore keys in the Kirtland Temple, he conferred the authority to bring Israel back “from the four parts of the earth.” Any map has four directions. The gathering must reach to all four. Moses’ return gave back to mankind the key to do this work of gathering. It began immediately upon his return, and continues to this day. This is why today there are over 50,000 full-time missionaries in every nation of the earth that will receive them.
One of the Restoration‘s great symbols is in the Temple’s baptismal fonts. Beneath every font in every Temple are twelve oxen, symbolic of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. They point in all four directions of the compass, because Israel has been scattered throughout the world; from Africa (“Cush”), to Asia (“Shinar”), to Europe (“Elam”), and the Americas ("isles of the sea). Nephi foresaw the time when the hand of the Lord would be extended into all four directions, gathering again through conversion and baptism the scattered remnants of Israel. The Temple baptismal font symbolizes these latter-day events. They are currently underway. Nephi and Isaiah overlap each other, each telling us to recognize this as the Lord’s hand.