Blogging "65 Signs of the Times Leading Up to the Second Coming" - Part 8

This is part 8 of my review of David Ridges, 65 Signs of the Times Leading Up to the Second Coming. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Part 6 is here.And Part 7 is here.

In earlier installments, I had made it through Ridges introductory comments and discussion, and the first 50 signs. This time, I will cover the next 10 signs--51 through 60.

51.  Destroying angels will be allowed to go forth upon the Earth (being fulfilled). This particular sign is from D&C 85:5-6, which expands on the parable of the wheat and the tares, as applied to these latter days. Those particular verses state:

5 Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields;

6 But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.

Ridges goes on to note an 1894 statement by Wilford Woodruff that these destroying angels had been loosed to commence their work. I will add the following on Pres. Woodruff's revelation concerning the matter. In Joseph Fielding Smith's The Signs of the Times, he notes that in June 1894, Pres. Woodruff stated:

God has held the angels of destruction for many years lest they should reap down the wheat with the tares. But I want to tell you now, those angels have left the portals of heaven, and they stand over this people and this nation now, and are hovering over the earth waiting to pour out the judgments. And from this very day they shall be poured out.  ... Great changes are at our doors. The next twenty years will see mighty changes among the nations of the earth. You will live to see these things whether I do or not. I have felt oppressed with the weight of these matters, and I felt I must speak of them here. It is by the power of the Gospel we shall escape.(Signs of the Times, pp. 115-16). 

Pres. Smith noted that it was 20 years and 1 month later that WWI began.

52.  The "abomination of desolation" will take place again. Although this refers to the besieging of Jerusalem, Ridges considers this to be in the category of "being fulfilled." His reasoning is that Jerusalem is currently under siege today, and has been for many years. Although Ridges speaks in the sense that Israel is surrounded by its enemies, I believe that this will have a literal fulfillment--an invasion of Israel with troops surrounding and finally taking the city.

53.  Wickedness will be rampant (being fulfilled). Ridges explains:

While this sign of the times may be considered a summary of several of the signs of the times already given previously in this book, it merits being discussed as a sign in and of itself. It appears that wickedness in the last days prior to the Second Advent of Christ won't just "happen" as a matter of natural deterioration of morals and values. Rather, if we understand this prophecy correctly, it will be the direct result of wickedness spread intentionally by use of mass media, which will cause an unprecedented acceleration of evil and virtual "free fall" of society.

I think of it as similar to a feed-back loop in an audio system. The media acts as an amplifier. It amplifies the wickedness, which gets broadcast, picked up again and magnified, rebroadcast, and so on, ad infinitum. Except, the system will burn out--spectacularly so.

Ridges further writes:

This intentional spread of wickedness by Lucifer and his "front organizations" is spoken of in the Bible. In the great vision given to John the Apostle ... one of the things that John was shown was that great masses of people would admire and basically worship wicked heroes in the last days. Thus, the mass "worship" of unworthy media personalities is a significant contributor to the rampant wickedness of the last days.

54.  Babylon will fall (yet to be fulfilled). Ridges indicates that "Babylon" refers to Satan's kingdom--the great body of the wicked and perverse--that will be destroyed in two broad steps. First, many will be destroyed in the wars and disasters preceding the Second Coming. Second, those that survive, will be destroyed when the Lord comes to cleanse the Earth. Ridges cites to Rev. 19:17-21 and D&C 29:21.

Some may question why we should look forward to this massive and complete destruction of the wicked. However, as Joseph Fielding Smith notes in The Signs of the Times, we are looking forward to a better world--"the earth renewed to receive its paradisiacal glory, cleansed of wickedness. For a thousand years we will have that kind of earth and there will not be any war, any turmoil, envying, lying; there will be no wickedness."

55.  A great hailstorm will destroy the crops of the Earth (not yet fulfilled). This is bluntly stated in D&C 29:16. See also Rev. 16:21. I have wondered if the "hail" referred to is literally balls of ice, or meteorites or other slag, such as the burning hail of the Exodus, particularly as this seems to occur in some connection with the great earthquake (infra.).

56.  There will be a great earthquake such as never before (not yet fulfilled). See Rev. 16:18.  and Rev. 6:12.  Ridges observes: "From these references, we understand that this earthquake will be unprecedented in the history of the earth since the fall of Adam." Although not mentioned by Ridges, the continents of the world are to be joined together again in a single landmass, so this earthquake may be related to that event.

57.  Waters will flow from the temple in Jerusalem and heal the Dead Sea (not yet fulfilled). Ezekiel 47:1-12. Ridges notes that this prophecy may be fulfilled when Christ sets foot on the Mount of Olives and it splits.

58.  The Battle of Armageddon (not yet fulfilled). This is the war described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, and Zechariah 11 through 14.

59.  The meeting at Adam-ondi-Ahman (not yet fulfilled). See D&C 116 and Daniel 7:9-14. "The Ancient of Days" refers to Adam. Ridges writes:

We learn from the above quote [from Daniel] that the meeting at Adam-ondi-Ahman, before the actual Second Coming, will be a rather large gathering, where Adam will gather his righteous posterity together. Christ will come also, and those present, who are or have been in authority, will turn their keys of power over to Him to use as He ushers in the Millennius and governs the world during the Millennium....

This meeting will be secret from the world at large.

60.  Two prophets will be killed in Jerusalem (not yet fulfilled). Rev. 11. As prophets, these two men will necessarily need to be members of the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.