Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
It’s The Season to Watch

It’s The Season to Watch

Last updated on: January 15, 2018 at 8:16 pm by Delisa Hargrove

It’s The Season to Watch 2018-01-15T20:16:06-10:00 Delisa Hargrove

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

During whale season, I perch on a vantage point and scan the horizon. I wait and watch, fully anticipating a reward for my efforts—a burst of air and water from a spout, a pectoral slap, and the ultimate reward, a breach.

Humpbacks migrate to the islands every winter to give birth and breed again before the trek back to Alaska. They frolic off shore. Last year, my cousin Valerie and I climbed a path, sat on the side of the mountain, and watched pods of very animated whales enjoy the sea. We lost track of how many whales we saw breech or the number of rolls and slaps. It was a dream. We sat and watched until we needed to leave.

Every time I’m near the sea, I’m searching, watching, waiting.

Watch Therefore

As I watched the other day, a scripture filled my mind

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

The pattern appeared in my mind (because I’m visual).

I know what season whales come to Hawaii
During that season, I find a place to watch for whales
Sometimes I don’t see any whales
More often, in the right place at the right time, I see whales

Also as I stared at the sea, I imagined the disciples asking Jesus about His second coming. He’d said He would come in glory! Would they be alive to see it? How would they know when it would be?

And Jesus answered, and said unto them: Take heed that no man deceive you…

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another;

And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many;

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold;

But he that remaineth steadfast and is not overcome, the same shall be saved.

The Lord described the season when He would return. I recognize so many of the signs He indicated today!

False Christs

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Here’s some folks from the 20th and 21st centuries associated with a claim to be Jesus Christ.

John Hugh Smyth-Pigott, Haile Selassie, Lou de Palingboer, Ernest Norman, Krishna Venta, Ahn Sahng-Hong, Sun Myung Moon, Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, Yahweh ben Yahweh, Laszio Toth, Wayne Bent, Ariffin Mohammed, Mitsuo Matayoshi, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, Inri Cristo, Thomas Harrison Provenzano, Shoko Asahara, David Koresh, Hogen Fukunaga, Marina Tsvigun, Sergey Torop, Apollo Quiboloy, Alan John Miller, David Shayler, Maurice Clemmons, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez

Wars

And they shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars.

Behold I speak for mine elect’s sake; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;

This image depicts ongoing world conflicts as of January 13, 2018.

By Futuretrillionaire and many others (see File history)Futuretrillionaire and many others (see File history) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Ongoing conflicts around the world.
Major wars, 10,000+ deaths in current or past calendar year
Wars, 1,000–9,999 deaths in current or past calendar year
Minor conflicts, 100-999 deaths in current or past calendar year
Skirmishes and clashes, fewer than 100 deaths in current or past calendar year
Only the locations where the conflicts are taking place, not the warring parties, are coloured. For example, for the war in Afghanistan only Afghanistan itself is coloured.

Rumors of Wars

Until January 13, 2018, I just assumed rumors of wars meant precursors to wars. However, because of a mistaken button pushed by someone in Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency, a viral rumor of war panicked an entire state.

Famines, Pestilences, Earthquakes

There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Famine

The UN considers famine a technical term, to be used sparingly. The formal famine declaration in South Sudan means people there have already started dying of hunger.

More specifically, famine can be declared only when certain measures of mortality, malnutrition and hunger are met. These are:

at least 20% of households in an area face extreme food shortages with a limited ability to cope;

acute malnutrition rates exceed 30%;

and the death rate exceeds two persons per day per 10,000 persons.

Other factors that may be considered include large-scale displacement, widespread destitution, disease outbreaks and social collapse.

Previous famines include southern Somalia in 2011, southern Sudan in 2008, Gode in the Somali region of Ethiopia in 2000, North Korea (1996), Somalia (1991-1992) and Ethiopia (1984-1985).

The possibility of three further famine declarations in Nigeria, Somali and Yemen would be an unprecedented situation in modern times.

Pestilence

Washington Post Article discussing infectious diseases

(Courtesy National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Earthquakes

(Courtesy of VolcanoDiscovery.com)

Love Shall Wax Cold

And again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of men shall wax cold; but he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved.

Homicide rates seem like a good way to measure love for fellow man. This visual of global homicide rates surprised me.

(Map created by Kuang Keng Kuek Ser for PRI)

Gospel Preached

And again, this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked; And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled.

Red outlines the missions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each mission across the world brings Jesus Christ’s prophecy that the Gospel will go to all the world one step closer to completion. I believe that at some point, missions will encompass every country. That season is drawing closer.

Gospel being preached to all the world

Created at LDS.org

Then Shall They See the Son of Man

And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And, as I said before, after the tribulation of those days, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory;

The Second Coming, by Harry Anderson

Jesus Described the Season

Jesus shared a visual lesson with the disciples. Just like I know that whales come to Hawaii during the winter season, Jesus reminded His disciples that they knew that summer was nigh when they saw a fig tree’s leaves.

So likewise, mine elect, when they shall see all these things, they shall know that he is near, even at the doors….

And what I say unto one, I say unto all men; watch, therefore, for you know not at what hour your Lord doth come.

Previous Post

January 14, 2018

Missile False Alarm

Next Post

January 21, 2018 Receiving Covenant Blessings Now

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Discovery How Tos Realization Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 November 2025 October 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz