Question
Gramps,
In Doctrine & Covenants 63:51-52, it makes it sound like men will die before getting twinkled, but I had previously been taught that when you get twinkled, you don’t die. So, will we die before we get twinkled?
Capri
Answer
Capri,
From the earliest days of restored Latter-day Saint doctrine, the Millennium has captured the imagination of believers. Described as a thousand-year period when Christ personally reigns on earth, the Millennium represents the fulfillment of God’s promises to the faithful: “there will be no disease, and there will be no death. When people become old, they will not die as we do now. They will change in an instant from the way we are now to an immortal condition, which means they will never die again.”
This cryptic “change in an instant”—often referred to by members as being “twinkled” alludes to scriptural language about being “changed in the twinkling of an eye.” But what does this moment actually look like for those living during this millennial period? How will it affect married couples who may be of different ages, or families waiting to be reunited? And what are the scriptural and doctrinal anchors beneath these beliefs?
The notion of being “twinkled” is deeply scriptural. In the Book of Mormon, Christ promises three Nephite disciples: “And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father.” (3 Nephi 28:8)
In modern revelation, the Lord explained, “Children shall grow up until they become old; old men shall die; but they shall not sleep in the dust, but they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye.” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:51)
Bruce R. McConkie said:
Physical bodies of those living on earth during the millennium will not be subject to the same ills that attend us in our present sphere of existence. Men in that day will still be mortal; children will be born to them; spirits coming into the physical or natural bodies born in that day will then go through their mortal probation as we are now going through ours. Those born during the millennium will not be immortal, that is, their bodies and spirits will not be inseparably connected as is the case with resurrected beings. But their bodies will be changed from conditions as they now exist so that disease cannot attack them, and death as we know it cannot intervene to cause a separation of body and spirit. (Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966], 497.)
This transition does not represent the end of existence but a direct translation from a refined, physical mortal state to a perfected, immortal one without experiencing the pain, separation, and sorrow generally associated with death.
What does this mean for resurrection? Traditionally, resurrection is the reuniting of body and spirit after physical death—yet, for “translated beings” (such as Enoch, Moses, Elijah, John the Beloved, and the Three Nephites), the pattern is unique. They are preserved on earth, “never taste of death,” and are only changed to immortal beings at the coming of Christ.
This suggests that during the Millennium, righteous mortals will experience a similar change: The righteous who live during the Millennium have been promised that…they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye.
Anxiety or curiosity naturally arises around the logistics of this “twinkling.” How will such a process work for families, particularly for married couples who may have different ages and backgrounds? Will there be disparities or awkwardness if one spouse is changed before the other?
The teaching provided in response is both practical and compassionate: Married couples need not worry about a younger spouse being “twinkled” before them. The pattern appears to be that individuals will undergo a significant change “in an instant” at a specific age. While some Church members have proposed the age of seventy-two (citing 3 Nephi 28:3 as a possible scriptural basis), the overarching idea is that the Lord’s timing and wisdom will prevent disruptive disparities. Older spouses will ‘change in an instant’ and older spouses will wait patiently for the time their younger spouse reaches the age for their body to be changed in an instant. Since the veil is so thin during the millennium, spouses who are twinkled before their spouse will still be able to visit with their spouse.
Another facet of this mortal change is health. The Millennium will be marked by a period in which there will be no disease and no death. This change is reportedly so profound that death as currently understood ceases, and “we will not experience sickness, nor pain, as our mortal bodies experience now.
Scriptures clarify that “he that liveth in righteousness shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and the earth shall pass away so as by fire” (Doctrine & Covenants 43:32). There is widespread consensus among Latter-day Saint interpreters that not only will death as we know it be removed, but so will the major causes of suffering and disease for those living during the Millennium.
One of the most dramatic moments prophesied in scripture is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the associated “cleansing by fire.” Questions naturally arise: What will happen to the righteous at that moment? Will they be safe? Will they be changed immediately?
The basic outline is as follows:
The wicked will be burned as stubble, as foretold: “For the hour is nigh and the day soon at hand when the earth is ripe; and all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that wickedness shall not be upon the earth” (Doctrine & Covenants 29:9).
A. Theodore Tuttle said:
For those who say “We’re not going to burn,” it would be prudent to remember that it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark! (Conference Report, April 1970, Afternoon Meeting 86.)
The righteous dead will be resurrected, returning to their bodies as glorified beings to meet Christ: “But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud” (Doctrine & Covenants 45:45).
Regarding this, Joseph Smith said:
When I contemplate the rapidity with which the great and glorious day of the coming of the Son of Man advances, when He shall come to receive His Saints unto Himself, where they shall dwell in His presence, and be crowned with glory and immortality: when I consider that soon the heavens are to be shaken, and the earth tremble and reel to and fro; and that the heavens are to be unfolded as a scroll when it is rolled up; and that every mountain and island are to flee away, I cry out in my heart, What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness! (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 29.)
The righteous who are alive will be lifted up off the earth to meet the resurrected host: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, …Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Sterling W. Sill said:
“At Christ’s coming a great number of very exciting things are going to take place. He is not coming alone; as Paul says, he will come with his mighty angels. (See 2 Thes. 1:7-8.) At his coming a great many of the faithful dead will be resurrected and caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And some of the righteous who are then living upon the earth will be changed from mortality to immortality in the twinkling of an eye to join that impressive company in the air. Certainly this is something to look forward to.” (Conference Report, April 1966, First Day-Morning Meeting 20.)
This moment is not merely figurative, but according to Church leaders, it should be taken seriously. Joseph Fielding Smith wrote, “It is not a figure of speech that is meaningless, or one not to be taken literally when the Lord speaks of the burning… Surely the words of the Lord are not to be received lightly or considered meaningless.”
In this way, the process of being changed “in the twinkling of an eye” is positioned as particularly significant for the righteous. They will not suffer or be destroyed in the cleansing but will instead experience a glorious transformation concurrent with the burning away of wickedness.
Church members sometimes confuse the concept of “twinkling” or translation with resurrection. The distinction matters for understanding God’s plan and our role in it.
Translation is a temporary state where someone bypasses normal death and is preserved until their mortal mission is completed (as with John the Beloved or the Three Nephites). Eventually, these translated beings will also undergo a final change from mortality to immortality, coinciding with Christ’s return.
Resurrection always follows a period in the spirit world (after death), when body and spirit are reunited permanently in a perfect, immortal state.
During the Millennium, the vast majority of righteous mortals will experience translation. At the conclusion of the Millennium, the earth and all its inhabitants will “be quickened into a celestial world.”
Gramps
