The Excitement of the Last Days

Years ago, I wrote a note in the margin beside 2 Nephi 21: "This chapter leaves me excited about the last days." Reading it again, I discovered I still feel the same way.

I also discovered something else: excitement has a short shelf life. It is so sad to see the excitement wane  for so many who for a time seemed rock solid in their faith and realization that the Lord has a Plan — a plan for them.

The concerns of daily life crowd in. Responsibilities pile up. The news cycle changes. Even spiritual impressions can fade if they aren't revisited. Yet every time I return to this chapter, the excitement returns.

The opening verses describe the Savior's Second Coming. Isaiah lists the qualities that accompany Him: 

• wisdom, 
• understanding, 
• counsel, 
• might, 
• knowledge, and 
• the fear of the Lord. 

What a contrast to the confusion of our day. Christ will not judge by appearances or popular opinion. He will judge the poor in righteousness and the meek with equity. Truth will finally prevail.

Then Isaiah turns our attention to the Millennium. We often picture the lion lying down with the lamb, but the chapter paints an even larger picture. 

• Children will no longer fear harmful creatures. 
• There will be no shedding of blood. 
• Satan will be bound. 
• Darkness and deception will be gone. 
• The whole earth will become a place where the knowledge of God is everywhere.

One phrase especially catches my attention:

"The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

I've stood on a ship as I viewed the ocean before me. Its size stretches beyond what my eyes can take in. The horizon seems endless. Isaiah's image is perfect. God's knowledge won't exist in scattered pockets. It will cover the earth completely.

Perhaps that is why there will finally be peace. Nations will no longer prepare for war because the world will know the Lord. That's a big leap and the imagination goes wild with the "how".

The chapter also speaks of the gathering of Israel. One note in my scriptures says that the miracle of the gathering will make the parting of the Red Sea pale in comparison. At first, that sounds impossible. Few miracles are more dramatic than Moses leading Israel through the sea on dry ground.

Yet the gathering is happening across the entire earth. Hearts are changing. Covenants are being made. People are finding their way back to Christ, and becoming covenant children. He is creating a highway home, just as surely as He once opened a path through the sea.

The gathering of Israel is not something happening somewhere else. It is happening now.

And that leaves me excited about the last days all over again.