Nine Takeaways from an intense study of the Last Days

I recently undertook an intense study of the Abrahamic Covenant. I learned a lot! It put nearly every doctrine and principle I’ve learned in a global context. I now see that everything in the gospel of Jesus Christ relates to the covenants the Father made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I see that God is very interested in Abraham’s posterity and in protecting them.

Later I became curious how those covenants pertained to the Last days, and the Millennium. I have read and reread the books of Isaiah, 1st and 2nd Nephi, key Doctrine and Covenants chapters, and a bunch of general conference quotes. Not surprisingly, I realized the Abrahamic Covenant has everything to do with the Millennium. There were a few other significant lessons I learned along the way. Here are my takeaways from this interesting study:

1. The difficult to understand scriptures are often most critical. The chapters I have often skipped in scriptures due to their difficulty of interpretation, like Isaiah, the Allegory of the Olive Tree by Jacob (quoting Zenos), and many of the 3rd Nephi chapters when the Savior quoted Isaiah, are essential to understanding the Abrahamic Covenant, and the Last Days. 
2. The difficult to understand scriptures are very simple (usually). The more I read those difficult scriptures, the more I understand (and understand clearly) what they mean. I can truly say with Nephi now that I rejoice in the writings of Isaiah. As a side note, the Savior put us under command to search Isaiah. Curious.
3. The four standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) create an absolutely solid foundation of doctrine. Each provide important aspects of a single concept, and studying them together is essential in gaining true understanding.
4. There are SO many prophets who have seen these last days. Why did the Lord see fit to bless each of them with visions of the end times? Because they eagerly wanted to see the wicked Israelites turn to the Lord in righteousness, and serve God, and be blessed of him. Those blessings are fulfilled only in The Last Days. 
5. The Days of Tribulation are not necessarily upon us yet. Yes, we are beginning to see signs fulfilled, but in my understanding of the scriptural intent behind the phrase, Days of Tribulation, we haven’t seen anything yet. The Days of Tribulation have a pretty distinct beginning some point in the future, and have a relatively abrupt end.
6. Non scriptural sources strongly suggest the end of the sixth seal is this very year, 2015. Jewish calendars which reference blood moons and eclipses reveal this year is astronomically significant. If this has any doctrinal significance, it is likely the days of tribulation will begin at the end of this year, or early in 2016. There is a subtle danger in following these sorts of non-scriptural signs, so, while it is interesting and could have true implications, I don’t hang my hat on this one.
7. The Abrahamic Covenant is not fulfilled yet, and won’t be until Christ returns. Abraham struggled with the wickedness of his fathers. He was disappointed that they had abandoned the true faith, their covenants, and had thus broken the line of sealing. He wanted to live in a righteous land (like the City of Enoch many years before him). He wanted the covenant sealing lines to be restored, and to ensure those sealings would go on through his posterity. Only in these last days, and the days immediately before the 2nd Coming will he get that righteous land he always wanted (The new and old Jerusalems, and the lost tribes will gather in their covenant lands as well.) Sealings will bind his family and posterity together throughout the Millennium.
8. At the onset of the Days of Tribulation, the righteous will be led out from among the wicked (not the other way around). This will be  an actual physical separation. The wicked will then destroy one another while many of the righteous are spared.
9. Above all, I now see that the Lord is bound to protect his covenant people in these last days, and this is because Abraham was faithful to God. He will also be merciful to those who have not entered into covenants with him (by his authority), but who still do their best to follow him. I love this doctrine, and there are many scriptures that support it (like 1 Ne. 14:14).