2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. [ The phrase, thief in the night, is a Hebrew idiom, and refers to the practice mentioned in Leviticus 6:8-13 which stated that the priest who was in charge must wear linen clothing and must keep the fires of the altar burning: “The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, . . . The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” The priests were assigned to constantly watch over the altar fire and over the Menorah and were never to fall asleep during their night of service. In order to insure that the priest(s) stayed awake, the High Priest (or the Captain Of The Guards) would walk around the Temple looking for the priest(s). If a priest was found sleeping during a surprise visit, the High Priest (or Captain) would take hot coals from the altar fire, place some of the hot coals in a fire pan and take them over to the sleeping priest. He would then gently place the pan and hot coals under the sleeping priest’s clothing. The priest’s linen clothing would soon be ignited in flames – clothing in those days did not have flame retardant chemicals imbedded into the cloth as do modern clothes. The guilty priest would have no choice but to leave his burning clothes and run burnt, naked, and ashamed back home. Quite a lesson not to fall asleep on the job or to be un-alert! It was this practice of surprise visits that according to Jewish tradition got the High Priest (or the Captain) nicknamed the “Thief In The Night”! This provides a symbolic teaching for us that we like the priest's of old are not to fall asleep while we are waiting for the Lord to return as the Lord taught in Matthew 24:42-44. Unexpectedly and without warning - but only to those who do not understand the signs of the times. what are some of the signs that will happen before he comes? 1)Total apostasy - the dark ages 2) A time of restoration during which the fullness of the gospel will be had on the earth 3)Preaching of the gospel will go forth to the entire earth 4)THe timers of the gentile will come to an end 5) Elijah will come again 6) Another messager will come to prepare the way for the Second coming of the Lord 7)The Lord will make various preliminary appearances in his temples 8)Desolations, evil, abominations, wars...both in heaven and in the earth 9) Jews will begin to be assembled in Jerusalem 10) Great battle at Armageddon THe list goes on, - so while the day and the hour are unknown the season is better known. Discourses of Wilford Woodruff we read p253 "

I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:

Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.

I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face.

I believe the coming of the son of Man will not be any sooner than that time. (D&C 130:14-17.)

Four days later, April 6.1843 at General conference of the Church, while the spirit rested upon him, the Prophet Joseph Smith said; "Were I going to prophesy, I would say the end would not come in 1844, 5 ,6, or in forty years. There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death until Christs comes."

Let's do the math - First what is the rising generation? It would be all children who were born to parents that were there on April 6,1843 . Assuming that some of the youngest parents there (we will take men for this example) could have been in their later teens. The men could have fathered children up to some 70 years later if they married a younger woman. Then add up to 100 years to the age of the of those that could have been born as late as 1843 + 70 = 1913 + 100 years = approx. 2013 - 2023. So while we may not know the day we might know that the season is much closer than it once was. ]