This article is for my fellow Christian believers, though truth is applicable to all people. I ask you, fellow believer in Christ, what in all the scriptures suggests that things in the world will get better before the Second Coming of the Savior? I ask this question on the eve of the important midterm election in the United States. So many people believe that life will improve after this election, or, at least, after the presidential election in 2024. Why do they believe that? Does scripture warrant such a hope? I submit it does not. 

Let me be clear, without fraud like in 2020, Republicans are going to win tomorrow. But does it matter much? Elections do matter and can change policies – simply observe the Biden regime’s growing nightmare of the past two years. However, in the grand scheme of things, will an election save the world? Will an election change the course of human history? Will an election keep wars, plagues, famine, natural disasters, and evil at bay? Will an election change the hearts of men and cause them to usher in the Millennial reign of the Messiah? 

Though elections can help change policies here and there and can materially impact how we live, they don’t change our hearts, heal our societal wounds, blot out our sins, vanquish wickedness, squelch animosity, prevent hatred, eliminate greed, or do anything to affect those things which are the true cause of society’s problems. As important as government is, government does not cause all our problems; we cause our problems through our wickedness, ignorance, and apathy. It is wicked, ignorant, and apathetic people who allow demagogues and despots to get into sensitive positions of power and do their damage. 

John Adams remarked: 

“The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. They will only exchange tyrants and tyrannies” (John Adams to Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776). 

A close associate of John Adams, Caleb Strong, made this similar observation: 

“[W]e are generally apt to ascribe too much to the efficacy of laws and government, as if they alone could secure the happiness of the people; but no laws will be sufficient to counteract the influence of manners which are corrupted by vice and voluptuousness; and it is beyond the power of any government to render the circumstances of the citizens easy and prosperous, if they want the habits of industry and frugality. – Government is necessary, to preserve the public peace, the persons and property of individuals; but our social happiness must chiefly depend upon other causes; upon simplicity and purity of manners; upon the education that we give our children; upon a steady adherence to the customs and institutions of our ancestors; upon the general diffusion of knowledge, and the prevalence of piety and benevolent affections among the people.  

“Our forms of government, are, doubtless, like all other institutions, imperfect; but they will ensure the blessings of freedom to the citizens, and preserve their tranquillity, so long as they are virtuous; and no constitution, that has been, or can be formed, will secure those blessings to a depraved and vicious people” (Caleb Strong, January 17, 1806, in Patriotism and Piety, 138). 

John Witherspoon agreed with his fellow Founders, stating: 

“Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue. On the other hand, when the manners of a nation are pure, when true religion and internal principles maintain their vigor, the attempts of the most powerful enemies to oppress them are commonly baffled and disappointed” (John Witherspoon, “The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Man,” May 17, 1776). 

Finally, President George Washington admonished: 

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens” (George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796). 

These noble souls were right. We will only change one tyrant for another until we become virtuous and good. If we are rotten, it doesn’t matter how good our system of government is – we will fall. Our Constitution, as amazing and inspired it is, can’t hold together a nation whose people lack self-discipline and morality. It doesn’t matter how much we wave the flag, show our outward patriotism, and pretend to be pious, if, inwardly, our immoral lives “subvert these great pillars of human happiness.” 

At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter how good, brilliant, or resourceful the statesmen we elect are if we are corrupt, amoral, greedy, decadent, and prideful. We could elect George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Andrew Jackson and they could do but little to staunch our national wounds. We could have the apostles walking among us preaching pure principles of eternal truth and our situation wouldn’t be any better; if we reject their words in writing, it would be no different if they were here in person. 

At the end of the day, we have to sincerely make the choice to be better and do better. We have to choose to care enough to change. We have to do what is right, not what is expedient, popular, or easy. We have to repent and reform. We have to pay the price to educate ourselves and our loves ones. We have to sacrifice to regain the Liberty we have lost. We have to fight as our Founding Fathers fought to restore the Republic. 

None of this is easy and it requires a full-spectrum approach. One election won’t move the dial far enough; fixing things will require a radical reformation of our faith, our families, our communities, our election system, our education system, our entertainment choices, our public and private morality, our free speech laws, our health choices, our preaching, our discipline, our work ethic, and so forth. 

Prophecy is given so that we can heed it and change the prophesied unpleasant outcome. Jonah was sent to preach to Nineveh so they would repent. And they did! They repented in sackcloth and ashes and the Lord spared them at that time. We may similarly avert the outcomes decreed for our wicked world if we will repent in sackcloth and ashes. 

Retaining our same bad habits, guarding our ignorance, and cultivating our apathy on the other 364 days of the year, won’t be changed by an election. It requires so much more! I ask again, what in scripture suggests to our minds that quick political fixes can protect us from the prophesied consequences of sin, unbelief, and immorality? 

The Savior Jesus Christ gave us a master class on the conditions that would prevail on earth before His return in glory. Among other things, He foretold: 

“Take heed that no man deceive you. 

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

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. . . . 

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 

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

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. . . . 

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those adays shall be shortened. 

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 

“For there shall arise falseChrists, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. . . . 

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 

“And 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 (Matthew 24:4-7, 11-13, 21-24, 29-30). 

Please note that the Lord said “all these things must come to pass.” Though they could be averted by repentance, they won’t be. The Lord is often called a Prophet; and He was performing the function of a prophet here when He foretold these things. He didn’t say that all would be peachy before His return. He didn’t say that we would have political or economic stability. He didn’t say that we would avoid wars and destructions. 

Quite to the contrary, the Lord said that wars would rage, the hearts of men would become cold and hard, false Christs would appear, deception would abound, even some of the elect followers of Christ would fall by the wayside, famine would take its toll, plagues would ravage nations, earthquakes would topple cities, suffering would be universal, and the whole earth would exterminate itself if He did not return to cut short the madness. Moreover, He said that these ghastly happenings would only end when He returns to stop them. Please tell me how this factors into the “everything will be different after the next election” mindset. 

The Lord is not a silent God. He did not speak in the past only to remain silent today. That is an anti-Biblical heresy. Rather, revelation continues to this day. In modern times, the Lord has added more ominous judgments to the list He anciently gave in His ministry. For instance, speaking of the time preceding the Resurrection and Judgement, He has forewarned us: 

“I say unto you that before this great day shall come the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall be turned into blood, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and there shall be greater signs in heaven above and in the earth beneath; 

“And there shall be weeping and wailing among the hosts of men; 

“And there shall be a great hailstorm sent forth to destroy the crops of the earth. 

“And it shall come to pass, because of the wickedness of the world, that I will take vengeance upon the wicked, for they will not repent; for the cup of mine indignation is full; for behold, my blood shall not cleanse them if they hear me not. 

“Wherefore, I the Lord God will send forth flies upon the face of the earth, which shall take hold of the inhabitants thereof, and shall eat their flesh, and shall cause maggots to come in upon them; 

“And their tongues shall be stayed that they shall not utter against me; and their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from their sockets; 

“And it shall come to pass that the beasts of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them up. 

“And the great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall be cast down by devouring fire, according as it is spoken by the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet, who spoke of these things, which have not come to pass but surely must, as I live, for abominations shall not reign” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:14-21). 

Does that sound pleasant? No, it will be horrific! The fact that these horrors are conditional is confirmed in the line “if they hear me not.” However, the fact that many will not hear Him or follow Him is confirmed in the same verse in these words “I will take vengeance upon the wicked, for they will not repent.” 

Unless we repent, we will all suffer God’s wrath. We are a wicked world. We have, collectively, rejected Him. Even Christendom as a whole has rejected His Gospel light, opting to cling to man-made theories, traditions, and creeds instead of divine wisdom and revelation. 

This gross unbelief, wickedness, and rebellion are spurred on by “the great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth.” This entity, Satan’s counterfeit church and kingdom, was foreseen by numerous ancient seers. The Apostle John foresaw the destruction of Babylon, which is the same “great and abominable church” mentioned here, and said that its devotees – specifically those who profited from its beastly global system – would mourn its sudden and thorough collapse:  

“And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. . . . 

“And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 

“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 

“And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 

“For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 

“And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! . . . . 

“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all” (Revelation 18:11, 14-18, 21). 

Will this total collapse of Babylon and its sprawling economic system happen peacefully? Evidently not. It will happen “with violence.” It will be a cataclysmic event that will rock the world. There will be a cascade of side effects, including famine, rioting, and near universal despair. Wealth will evaporate and all the “precious” worldly things will “come to nought.” Does it sound to you like our upcoming election will stave off this foreseen collapse of Babylon and everything associated with it? 

One final prophecy of the destructions promised for our day seems appropriate. The ancient Israelite prophet Nephi learned the following circa 600 B.C. from an angel: 

“And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil. 

“And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. 

“And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. 

“And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. 

“And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God. 

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. 

“And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth. 

“And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold, thou seest all these things— 

“And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel” (1 Nephi 14:9-17). 

There is a lot to unpackage here, but we can boil it down to two major points: 1) There are only two options, the Devil’s team or the Lord’s; and 2) if you choose the Devil’s side, you are guaranteed to reap the wrath of God. 

It should be noted that the “house of Israel” referred to is not the nation-state of Israel. In fact, Israel is one of the nations fighting against the Lord’s work at the present time. Because of the Abrahamic covenant and the promises the Lord made to His ancient seers, however, after they are chastened and come to learn and love the Lord, they will be supernaturally protected and the Lord will appear to them and make them the holy nation they were always destined to be. However, through the Lord, all may become part of the House of Israel through entering into sacred covenants beginning with baptism. 

What awaits mankind from now until the Lord returns is “wars and rumors of wars among all the nations” and all the other judgments mentioned above. It is delusion to believe that the next election will solve everything or that reelecting Donald Trump will fix our problems or that joining international bodies like NATO or the UN will help or that giving billions of dollars to the state of Israel will curry favor with God. Mark my words, though there may be a momentary sigh of relief if the Republicans are allowed to win without having the election stolen, the international situation will go from bad to worse. 

We haven’t seen the end of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, droughts, and fires; what we’ve seen so far is just the beginning. We haven’t seen the end of wars; the last major world war is coming. We haven’t seen the global famines or hailstorms predicted; those are in the not-too-distant future. We haven’t seen the fall of Babylon and its economic system; economic collapse is still coming.  

Please, go vote. Please, vote for principle over party. Please, support our divinely inspired Constitution. Please, be actively engaged in defending truth and promoting Faith, Families, and Freedom. However, don’t be deluded. Don’t put your faith in politics. Don’t believe an election will change everything. Don’t put your faith in men – Donald Trump or otherwise – who ultimately can’t stop the judgments that have been decreed by Heaven. 

Prepare for natural disasters; have an earthquake plan. Prepare for economic collapse; have a food storage set aside. Prepare for nuclear war; it is very possible to survive. Prepare temporally and also get yourself right with God. Learn to pray and use discernment. Study the scriptures. Heed the words of the prophets. Repent. Honor the Lord’s Sabbath. Pay tithing. Be charitable. Respect your physical bodies as temples. Cultivate the Holy Spirit. And follow the Master with total trust that He will fulfill all His promises and deliver His Saints. 

No, we won’t have an easy go of it, fellow Christian. Things will get much worse, regardless of who wins tomorrow’s election; be ready for it and don’t lose faith. We’ve barely entered the danger zone and the worst is yet to come. However, John told us what to do when we see Babylon tremble and fall. Said he: 

“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her” (Revelation 18:20). 

When things become hard and oppressive and depressing, as they will regardless of which corrupt political party rules in Washington, remember the Lord’s promise: 

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). 

I testify of Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah. He has overcome all things and stands with open arms to receive us and make us victorious with Him. He doesn’t want the world to suffer, but, rather, has provided a way for all who will believe in Him and act on His commands to avoid the brunt of the judgments He is preparing to send. He is the Lord, the Savior, the King of kings and He is returning to the earth soon. No matter the results of tomorrow’s election, brace yourself; earth will be in a crescendo of insanity, turmoil, and darkness until the glorious day when the King will return. 

Zack Strong, 
November 7, 2022