Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 130:14-17

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 130:14-17
"I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:
Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.
I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face.
I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time."

The reminded me of another quote of Joseph Smith, Jr.

"Of the Savior’s words that no man knows the day or the hour of the coming of the Son of Man (see Matt. 24:36), the Prophet asked: “Did Christ speak this as a general principle throughout all generations? Oh, no, He spoke in the present tense. No man that was then living upon the footstool of God knew the day or the hour. But He did not say that there was no man throughout all generations that should not know the day or the hour. No, for this would be in flat contradiction with other scripture. For the prophet says that God will do nothing but what He will reveal unto His servants the prophets. Consequently, if it is not made known to the prophets, it will not come to pass.”
(Grant Underwood, "The Prophet Joseph Smith's Use of the Old Testament", Aug 2002 Ensign)

President Nelson also spoke of not knowing the hour or day of the second coming.

"Regular worship in the house of the Lord increases our capacity for both virtue and charity. Thus, time in the temple increases our confidence before the Lord. Increased time in the temple will help us prepare for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We do not know the day or the hour of His coming. But I do know that the Lord is prompting me to urge us to get ready for that “great and dreadful day.”
(Russell M. Nelson, "Confidence in the Presence of God", Apr 2025 General Conference)

Then in General Conference we have at least 4 talks that spoke of the parable of the ten virgins. You know what I find interesting? That in Jesus' time the bride and the virgins didn't know the day or the hour that the bridegroom was coming, but they knew the season. It would be after the harvest and the father of the bridegroom said it was time. The reason the virgins are waiting is because they knew the time was close the harvest was ending. Like a woman with child, they knew the month and the year the child is coming.

Another interesting thing about Matthew 24:36 is what comes after it.

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
(Matthew 24:36-37)

I asked myself how long was Noah building the ark? I find that some scholars say it between 55 to 75 years. Other scholars consider it was up to 120 years. Now how long has The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint been restored and waiting for the second coming? The 200th anniversary is in 2030. We've been preparing longer than it took Noah to build the ark. What also happened to Noah before the rain came? The Lord told Noah to take all his house into the ark. (It was their temple.) The Lord shut the door, and it was seven days later that the rains started. You cannot tell me that a prophet of God won't know how close we are to the second coming, if the Lord told us it would be like the days of Noah.

Day 3719