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21

The Righteous are Avenged

The Fall of Babylon finally avenges the righteous who have been slain by the wickedness of the church of the devil that was introduced into the world with the death of Abel, the first martyr. All those who have suffered persecution and death for the glory of the Lord and his gospel are, somehow, justly avenged with the fall of Babylon. This has been a promise of the Lord to the righteous from the beginning, for justice will be without measure upon the wicked who fight against Zion and the servants of the Lord (see Deut. 32:39-43). The Doctrine and Covenants, reveal the day of "wickedness and vengeance" (Moses 7:60) in these words:

6 And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations;

7 That the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.

8 Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen. (D&C 87:Verse 6- 8).

The chapter following the fall of Babylon begins by speaking of the righteous who have suffered for the sake of the Lord, and the rejoicing in the heavens at the fall of Babylon: "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous [are] his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand" (Revelation 19:1-2). The Book of Mormon records the words of the Savior as he taught the truths of the Sermon on the Mount to the "more part of the righteous" that were spared after the great destructions. Perhaps this same event will introduce the thousand years of peace in the last days, just as it did for the Nephites in the Book of Mormon.

10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;

12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. (3 Nephi 12:Verse 10-12).

The prophets and apostles have prayed for and questioned as to how long the earth and the Lord would allow wickedness to reign upon the face of the earth. Enoch seeing our time weeps at the wickedness that he views as the earth morns because of the evil that has come from her, the mother of men.

48 And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?

49 And when Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept, and cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, wilt thou not have compassion upon the earth? Wilt thou not bless the children of Noah? (Moses 7:48- 49).

54 And it came to pass that Enoch cried unto the Lord, saying: When the Son of Man cometh in the flesh, shall the earth rest? I pray thee, show me these things.

55 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Look, and he looked and beheld the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, after the manner of men;

56 And he heard a loud voice; and the heavens were veiled; and all the creations of God mourned; and the earth groaned; and the rocks were rent; and the saints arose, and were crowned at the right hand of the Son of Man, with crowns of glory;

57 And as many of the spirits as were in prison came forth, and stood on the right hand of God; and the remainder were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day.

58 And again Enoch wept and cried unto the Lord, saying: When shall the earth rest? (Moses 7:54-58).

The apostles question Christ about the destruction of the wicked asking, "Tell us when shall these things be which thou hast said concerning the destruction of the temple, and the Jews; and what is the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world, or the destruction of the wicked, which is the end of the world?" (Joseph Smith Matthew 1:4). The destruction of the wicked has concerned the leaders of the church throughout all the ages of the earth. The righteous are avenged, their prayers are answered, and the heavens rejoice as the fall of Babylon takes place.

Those who are proud and filled with enmity toward God and man, comprise Babylon and are considered the "tares of the earth" that must be gathered together for burning.

1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares:

2 Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed;

3 And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign--behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.

4 But behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender--

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.

7 Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned. (D&C 86:1-7).

Speaking of this passage, President Wilford Woodruff declared that these angels have been loosed (M.S. 56:643-644) and the reaping has begun. The missionary forces are gathering the wheat of Israel to the stakes of Zion, while Satan gathers his forces to fight against all that is good.

The Doctrine and Covenants speak clearly about the destruction and fall of Babylon, and the saints who are alive and the righteous dead. Section Eighty-eight reveals many of the elements of the last days that the righteous "souls may escape the wrath of God, the desolation of abomination which awaits the wicked, both in this world and in the world to come" (D&C 88:85). This section continues with the devastations that come from the earths' natural revulsion of wickedness which prepares Babylon for burning. The angel sounds his trump, saying:

"That great church, the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their blood--she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea--behold, she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it" (D&C 88:94).

Following the above passage, Section Eighty-eight continues, speaking of the saints "that are upon the earth" and "they who have slept" and how they will be caught up to be with the Savior as he returns. The fall of Babylon is announced by the angels in verses 105, and 106 and the blessing of the saints who have been avenged is seen in verse 107.

105 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the sixth angel, saying: She is fallen who made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; she is fallen, is fallen!

106 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the seventh angel, saying: It is finished; it is finished! The Lamb of God hath overcome and trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.

107 And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with him. (D&C 88:105-107).

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