The Lord Promises His People That If They Will Repent, He Will Forgive Them
Joel 2:11–13
11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
“Joel, one of our ancient friends in whose prophetic renown we rejoice, one who wrote with power and insight of our day and of the second coming of that Lord in whom the saints of all dispensations delight, the prophet Joel said: ‘And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great’—he speaks of the day of Armageddon—‘for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible.’ Of all this we have made ourselves somewhat aware. The great and dreadful day of the Lord is all that the prophets have said and more; mere words cannot describe the horror of the coming holocaust nor the terror that will take hold of the wicked in that day. Having so reminded us, Joel asks: ‘And who can abide it?’
“Who indeed? Who among us shall qualify to remain in the flesh and enjoy the blessings of the new heavens and the new earth that are to be? As all those with sense and knowledge and discernment know, it will be those who believe and obey. ‘Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.’ Come, worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth. ‘And rend your heart, and not your garments.’ Let the substance be more than ritual. ‘And turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil’ (Joel 2:11–13). These words are addressed to Israel, to gathered Israel, to Israel of the last days. We are they.”
(The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [1982], 540.)
