2 Nephi 23 Conclusion

[pam]

This is, of course, a dual prophecy, detailing the fall of Babylon, but warning also of the destruction of the cruel and the wicked in the last days. Most impressive to me is how thoroughly and completely the glorious city of Babylon is not only conquered, but leveled to the dust, leaving hardly a trace that it ever existed. Elder LeGrand Richards remarked that “when Brother [Howard W.] Hunter and Brother [spencer W.] Kimball came back from the holy Land after Christmas 1961, I asked Brother Hunter if he saw Babylon. He said he saw what there was left of it (in Conference Report, October 1966, 42).

That same king of annihilation will come upon the pride and arrogance of mankind in the last days. The message for the latter days is a warning to each of us to be sure we are standing with both feet in Zion. Elder David R. Stone of the Seventy taught:

Seduced by our culture, we often hardly recognize our idolatry, as our strings are pulled by that which is popular, in the Babylonian world….

We do not need to adopt the standards, the mores, and the morals of Babylon. We can create Zion in the midst of Babylon. We can have our own standards for music and literature and dance and film and language. We can have our own standards for dress and deportment, for politeness and respect. We can live in accordance with the Lord’s moral laws. We can limit how much of Babylon we allow into our homes by the media of communication.

We can live as a Zion people, if we wish to. Will it be hard? Of course it will, for the waves of Babylonian culture crash incessantly against our shores. Will it take courage? Of course it will….

…Our homes can be places which are a refuge and protection, as Zion is.

We do not need to become as puppets in the hands of the culture of the place and time. We can be courageous and, walk in the Lord’s paths and follow His footsteps. (“Zion in the Midst of Babylon,” Ensign, May 2006, 92-93

Babylon must be forsaken by covenant Israel. Living in Zion most of the time, while making weekend getaways to Babylon or while downloading Babylon or viewing entertainment on the Babylon cable network, will not protect us from the great and terrible day of the Lord to come. Or, to use terms from Lehi’s Dream, spiritual Babylon, like the great and spacious building has been scheduled for demolition, and it would be wise to vacate the premises.

John Bytheway, Isaiah for Airheads, p. 152-153