D&C 87: What the Prophecy on War Means for Us Today

I have been thinking about the foundation slab in my garage. It is about four inches of concrete poured over compacted gravel, and I have never thought much about it. It just sits there, level and quiet, holding up the workbench, the table saw, the lumber rack, and whatever project I have going. I do not notice it until something goes wrong with it.

Then everything goes wrong with it.

I was reading D&C 87 on a cold morning this week, and that slab kept coming to mind. The revelation is about war. It is about how conflict starts and spreads and pulls everything down with it. But the last verse is not about war at all. It is about what holds steady when everything else does not.

Explanation of the South Carolina Prophecy in D&C 87

Joseph Smith received this revelation on December 25, 1832. The Church was less than three years old. The members were scattered and under pressure. And the Lord gave them a prophecy about a war that would start with the rebellion of South Carolina.

The Civil War was twenty-eight years away. Most people in 1832 had no reason to think about South Carolina in particular. But the revelation named the state and described the sequence. War would start there and spread until it poured out upon all nations.

The specifics are worth reading:

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.

That is not a prediction a person would make on his own. It is too specific about the starting point and too broad about the ending point. It reads like someone describing a storm he can already see.

Meaning of Stand Ye in Holy Places D&C 87

Verse 8 is the part I keep coming back to. After the prophecy about war and bloodshed and famine, the Lord says:

Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come.

The instruction is not to stop the war. It is not to fix the world. It is to stand where you are supposed to be and hold still.

I have a bolt in the workbench that holds the leg to the frame. If I tighten it another quarter turn, the joint locks solid. The whole bench does not move. That is what this verse sounds like to me. You find the place where the Spirit is, and you lock yourself into it.

How to Find Peace During Global Unrest LDS Perspective

There is a natural tension in D&C 87. The chapter describes terrible things: wars, famine, plagues, earthquakes. The whole world in a bad way, and then it tells you to stand still. Those two things do not sit together easily.

I have thought about this while reading the news. There is a lot to worry about if you let yourself go there. I read 2 Corinthians 9 earlier this week and it was a different register entirely. Paul talking about cheerful giving, God providing seed for the sower. That is a quiet chapter. D&C 87 is the opposite.

But the two fit together. The cheerful giving is not naive. It happens in the same world where the war is prophesied. The standing still happens in the same world where the earth shakes. The peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of something solid.

Biblical and LDS Teachings on Wars and Rumors of Wars

The language in D&C 87 echoes what Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 24 about wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, with famines, pestilences and earthquakes in the mix. He told them not to be troubled. Then he said the same thing D&C 87 says: the one who endures to the end will be saved.

I do not think the point of these prophecies is to scare anyone. I think the point is to tell you what is coming so you are not surprised when it gets here. If you know the storm is coming, you board up the windows. You fill the gas cans. You make sure the foundation is solid.

The foundation is the holy place. That could be a temple, a home, or a quiet corner of your bedroom where you read your scriptures. The place is less important than the standing. The standing is a choice.

What Does D&C 87 Teach About Preparation

My son asked me once what I would do if a real emergency happened. I told him I would check the foundation first. If the house is still good, everything else can be rebuilt. If the foundation is cracked, nothing else matters.

That is how I think about D&C 87. The emergency is coming. The question is whether you are standing or leaning. Standing means you have done the work ahead of time. You have made your home a place where the Spirit can stay. You have made your heart a place that will not panic.

I read D&C 86 last week and it fits the same picture. The wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest. You do not pull the tares out. You let them grow and you stay where you are planted. That is the same command as standing in holy places. Do not try to fix the whole field. Just stay in your spot and grow.

The revelation does not promise that the war will stop. It does not promise safety from every bad thing either. But it promises something better. It says if you stand in the right place, you will not be moved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does D&C 87 specifically mention South Carolina

The revelation names South Carolina as the starting point of the war. When it was given in 1832, South Carolina was already in conflict with the federal government over tariffs. Twenty-eight years later, it became the first state to secede, and the Civil War started at Fort Sumter in Charleston. The specificity of the prophecy is one of the strongest evidences that Joseph Smith was speaking under inspiration.

What are holy places in a modern context

A holy place is wherever the Spirit of the Lord is welcome. That can be a temple, a chapel, your home, or even a quiet corner of a room. The important thing is not the location. It is the intention. You make a place holy by inviting God into it and protecting it from the things that push him out.

If war is inevitable according to this prophecy, why bother striving for peace

The prophecy is not a reason to give up. It is a reason to prepare. Striving for peace in your own life and your own home is how you build the holy place you will need when the rest of the world is loud. The goal is not to stop the war. The goal is to be steady when it comes.

I thought about the foundation slab again after I closed the book. It was still there, still level, still holding up the bench. I poured it fifteen years ago and I have not thought about it since. But it is doing its job. I think that is what D&C 87 is asking us to do. Pour the foundation, let it cure, and stand on it. Do not move.

— D.