By Frank M. Keele
OK, so if you’ve read the previous post and have pondered or wondered what will follow AOA, that’s what this post is going to be about. We’ll start with a reference that was used in the previous post but with a bit more context, we go to 3 Nephi 21 and read:
25 And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst.
26 And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.
27 Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name.
28 Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance.
29 And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.
From verse 25 we learn that “the power of heaven” will “come down among” us and the Lord Himself will be “in the midst” of His saints. This is not just a short term visit, in fact, I believe it’s what the Lord told Enoch about, from Moses chapter seven we read:
62 And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.
Again we have the repeating theme, “And righteousness will I send down out of heaven”, right? And then next in the sequence we read, “and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth”.
And so, would we be justified in concluding that the great day of gathering, of which President Nelson has spoken so often, is post-AOA? Well, I’m going to say that I think we would be, and the above quote from 3 Nephi 21 gives us the exact same sequence!
“And then shall the power of heaven come down among them… at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem… And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.”
And so, we conclude that the mission of gathering Israel, which Russell M. Nelson says is a mission for which the youth of the church today were foreordained, will not reach it’s apex until after “the power of heaven” shall “come down among” us and the events surround Adam Ondi Ahman are fulfilled
The great day of the gathering of Israel will surely be accomplished before the Lord sets His foot on the Mount of Olives, devastates Gog’s army of 200 million and manifests Himself to the Jews as their Messiah. However, it apparently will not unfold until the “power and great glory” of the Lord is manifest when He appears to those of the covenant at Adam Ondi Ahman!
If this be correct it should cause us to ponder, think of it this way, we are not waiting for Israel to be gathered so that the Lord can appear to us as the Bridegroom, we’re waiting for the Bridegroom to appear so that Israel can be gathered, and that’s what the above scriptures teach us, right?
If you have found this information to be edifying and of value, please take a moment and subscribe to the blog or to share this post, thanks for reading!
To share this post or any of my other posts, please go here. Also, I’ve started The Bridegroom Cometh Facebook group and would like to invite any who would be interested to join. Please be sure to answer the three questions in order to gain admission.
May the Lord’s blessings abide with us as we prepare for an amazing future! You are invited to download and share the free pdf version of The Bridegroom Cometh, just click on the image of the book below.