1 Ne 22:13 that
great and abominable churchˇ¦they shall war among themselves
Nephi
makes it clear that the destruction that comes upon the great and abominable
church will come as a result of wars among the nations which support that
church. Joseph Smith helps us to understand which wars are part of the wars
attending the last days. In the 87th section of the D&C, he
records that the time will come that war will be
poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place (DC 87:2). This
statement is made in the section in which he prophecies of the Civil War. So
the wars to be poured out upon all nations begin with the Civil War. The many
wars since, including WWI and WWII, are those wars which were prophesied to
come in the last days. These are the wars and rumors of wars of the last days.
There is no reason to think that these wars will stop until the fullness of the wrath of God (v. 16) has been
poured out and Satan is bound for a millennium. D&C 88 says that the final
destruction of the great church directly precedes the coming of the Lord:
And another angel shall sound 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.
And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an
hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a
scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be
unveiled; (DC 88:94-5).