Doctrine and Covenants 133 opens with a prophecy from Malachi about “the Lord who shall suddenly come to his temple” (Malachi 3:1). Jesus was a frequent visitor to the temple in Jerusalem during his mortal ministry, but this prophecy is undoubtedly referring to a more grand and glorious appearance. The section says that Christ will “make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God” (D&C 133:3; Isaiah 52:10), referring to the Savior’s return in glory to the earth. Elder Orson Pratt taught, “We read in the scriptures of divine truth that the Lord our God is to come to his temple in the last days . . . it is recorded in the 3rd chapter of Malachi that ‘the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple.’ This had no reference to the first coming of the Messiah, to the day when he appeared in the flesh; but it has reference to that glorious period termed the last days, when the Lord will again have a house, or a temple reared up on the earth to his holy name.”¹

The prophecy says that the Lord will appear in His temple in the latter days. This appearance may refer to the temple in Jerusalem, built again, or to the temple that will be built in the city of Zion (D&C 84:2). The prophecy may also have multiple fulfillments. In a sense, the prophecy is fulfilled every time a temple is dedicated and the Savior offers His acceptance of the new house owned by Him. One of the most important things taught within the prophecy is that the temple will still be the focal point of worship in the last days. The Lord’s house is intended for the benefit of the men and women who follow Him. Qualifying for the blessings of the temple is an important part of “go[ing] . . . out of Babylon” (D&C 133:5).

1. Orson Pratt, in Journal of Discourses, 14:274.

The Lord never allows a calamity to come upon the earth without first warning His people. An essential part of the work of the Church in the last days is to warn and gather together as many people as will leave Babylon and come to Zion. The proclamation on the family issued in 1995 ends with a powerful statement from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve: “We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”²

People in the latter days are gathering to safety through entering into sacred covenants and making changes in their lives that free them from the destructive influence of the world. At the time Doctrine and Covenants 133 was received, fleeing to Zion was a literal act. Most people who joined the Church in those days began preparations to physically gather to a Church center in Ohio or Missouri and live with the Saints. Later revelations explained that Zion was also “the pure in heart” (D&C 97:21). People can come to Zion as they abandon the empty and harmful practices of the world to embrace the commandments of God. In this way the borders of Zion are enlarged one heart at a time, as men and women choose a higher life of service and joy.

2. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Doctrine and Covenants 133:17–35 speaks of the grand and glorious day when the house of Israel will eventually be reunited. These verses contain the first mention of the Savior standing “upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written on their foreheads” (D&C 133:18). A revelation given just a few months after Joseph received Doctrine and Covenants 133 clarified that the 144,000 mentioned in verse 18 are “high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn” (D&C 77:11).

When the Lord issues His call for Israel to return to the two great millennial capitols, Jerusalem and Zion, the new Jerusalem built on the American continent (Ether 13:1–8), the lost tribes of the house of Israel will begin their march to return home. While some may interpret Doctrine and Covenants 133:26–27 to mean that a large group of Israelites will return physically as a group to their homeland, it also possible that these passages may be symbolic in nature. Multiple passages in scripture declare that the lost tribes of Israel are scattered among the nations of the earth. Nephi declared, “he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture” (1 Nephi 22:25). Similar passages that speak of gathering the lost members of the house of Israel are found in Isaiah 56:8; Jeremiah 16:15–16, 31:10; Matthew 23:37; 1 Nephi 10:14, 19:16; 3 Nephi 5:24–26; and Doctrine and Covenants 110:11. The passages listed here are just a sampling of the scriptural commentary on the gathering of Israel from its lost and scattered condition. Based on these passages, it does not seem that the lost tribes of Israel will physically be together in a unified body prior to their return, but they will be gathered by the Church’s missionaries in the latter days.

The reference to those in the “north countries” (D&C 133:26) appears to be a symbolic reference to a loss of cultural identify that the Israelites suffered when the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered and its people were deported to the north by the Assyrian Empire. This supposition seems to align with other information in the scriptures about the location of the lost tribes, but we currently do not have enough information to state with absolute certainty how these prophecies will be fulfilled. One thing that is stated for certain is that the other tribes of Israel will receive blessings and glory from the tribe of Ephraim. Most of the Israelites gathered into the Church so far in this dispensation have been from the tribe of Ephraim. They are either Ephraimites by lineage or by adoption; no distinction is made between the two. But the statement that the other tribes of Israel will “fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim” (D&C 133:32) is undoubtedly a reference to the blessings of the priesthood and the temple, which are offered by the Lord’s Church in the latter days.

Doctrine and Covenants 133:36–40 directly refers to a prophecy recorded by John in the book of Revelation, in which he writes, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6). Latter-day Saints have traditionally interpreted this angel to be Moroni, of whom the Lord said, “I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel” (D&C 27:5). The figure of Moroni, which often adorns the spires of Latter-day Saint temples, has become a beloved and well-known symbol of the Restoration.

Because both the book of Revelation and Doctrine and Covenants 133 are apocalyptic and highly symbolic, the figure of the angel mentioned in verses 36–40 not only represents Moroni but all the angelic messengers who played a role in restoring the gospel. Doctrine and Covenants 27:5–13 and 128:20–21 are the two most extensive lists provided by Joseph Smith of the angels who appeared to him and restored priesthood keys and authority. Those listed include Michael or Adam (D&C 27:11, 128:20–21); John the Baptist (D&C 13, 27:7); Peter, James, and John (D&C 27:12, 128:20); Elias (D&C 27:6, 110:12); Moses (D&C 110:11); and Elijah (D&C 110:13–16), as well as Gabriel and Raphael (D&C 128:21).

In an 1879 discourse, President John Taylor added further to the list of angels who ministered to Joseph Smith:

The principles which he [Joseph] had, placed him in communication with the Lord, and not only with the Lord, but with the ancient apostles and prophets; such men, for instance, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Jesus and the Father, and the apostles that lived on this continent as well as those who lived on the Asiatic continent. He seemed to be as familiar with these people as we are with one another. Why? Because he had to introduce a dispensation which was called the dispensation of the fulness of times, and it was known as such by the ancient servants of God.³

3. John Taylor, in Journal of Discourses, 21:94.

Doctrine and Covenants 133:41–51 captures the paradoxical nature of the “great and dreadful” day of the Lord’s return (D&C 2:1). For those who have ignored the warnings found in the scriptures in favor of their own carnal desires, the day of the Lord’s coming will be dreadful. For those who have heeded the words of the Lord and lived faithfully, it will be a time of wonder and rejoicing. These two types of feelings about the Savior’s Second Coming are described throughout the Doctrine and Covenants. For example, the Lord has said, “the time is soon at hand that I shall come in a cloud with power and great glory. And it shall be a great day at the time of my coming, for all nations shall tremble” (D&C 34:7–8). In another passage the Lord declares, “For when the Lord shall appear he shall be terrible unto them, that fear may seize upon them, and they shall stand afar off and tremble. And all nations shall be afraid because of the terror of the Lord, and the power of his might” (D&C 45:74–75).

A potent image of the conflicting feelings the righteous and the wicked will feel at the time of the Savior’s Second Coming is found in the description that “the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat” (D&C 133:48). Given the description of the resurrected Savior’s appearance to the Nephites (3 Nephi 11:8), some Latter-day Saints visualize the Savior in white robes at His Second Coming. However, Doctrine and Covenants 133 states that Jesus will be adorned in red robes. The Lord Himself states the reason for his red clothing, saying, “I have trodden the wine-press alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none were with me. And I have trampled them in my fury, and I did tread upon them in mine anger, and their blood have I sprinkled upon my garments, and stained all my raiment; for this was the day of vengeance which was in my heart.” (D&C 133:50–51). The Savior’s red robes will represent both the blood of the wicked and the blood of the righteous, as well as the Savior’s own blood, shed from every pore as He struggled under the weight of the sins and pains of the world (D&C 19:16–19; Alma 7:11–12).

Verses 52–56 speak of the overwhelming gratitude that will be in the hearts of all those who took advantage of the Savior’s grace to assist them in the trials they faced in their lives. The redeemed, as they are called in verse 52, will speak of the Savior as a companion in the challenges and adversity they faced in their lives. “In all their afflictions he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them; and in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and bore them, and carried them in days of old” (D&C 133:53). This beautiful reunion serves as a powerful reminder that salvation in Christ comes not only after this life when we will rest from our trials but also during this life when we are in the midst of our trials.

Verses 52–56 also confirm that the citizens of the city of Enoch, as well as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the prophets from Elijah to John, “were with Christ in his resurrection” (D&C 133:55). These ancient disciples and prophets are now resurrected beings. Enoch and those of his city were already translated beings (Moses 7:69), and so they must have been resurrected “in the twinkling of an eye” (D&C 63:51). The resurrection of these righteous saints at the time of the Savior’s resurrection means the number who have already overcome death is much higher than we may think. There is not just a handful of resurrected angels who assist in the Lord’s work but millions—potentially billions—of souls who have moved on to the next phase of their eternal glory.

Doctrine and Covenants 133:57–74 returns to a theme emphasized by its sister section, Doctrine and Covenants 1, which was received at the same time as section 133. In both sections the Lord speaks of mighty miracles that will come to pass in the last days as the “weak things of the earth” become the instruments of the great work of the latter days (D&C 133:57–59; compare D&C 1:19–23). Those seen as weak and simple by the rest of the world will carry forth the gospel message that will separate the righteous from the wicked. This great separation of the covenant keepers from those who will rebel and fight against the work of God is a vital part of the “threshing” that will take place in the latter days (D&C 133:59; see commentary for D&C 35:13–16).

This theme of ruin and reward found throughout section 133 is emphasized again by the Savior in verses 62–63. For the righteous, His message is that men or women “that repenteth and sanctifieth [themselves] before the Lord shall be given eternal life” (D&C 133:62). For the wicked and unrepentant, the message, sadly, is “there are none to deliver you; for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not my servants, and when they were sent unto you ye received them not. Wherefore, they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness” (D&C 133:71–72). Thus, the message of the latter days becomes both great and terrible depending on the hearts of the listeners and their heed to the words of the Lord.