Adam-ondi-Ahman — The Final Council Before the Second Coming
Every dispensation head returns their keys to Christ — and we know where it happens.
What Is Adam-ondi-Ahman?
Most Christians who read their Bibles encounter the phrase “Ancient of Days” in Daniel 7 and assume it refers to God the Father — a majestic throne-room vision of heaven. That reading is not wrong about the majesty of the scene. It is wrong about who the Ancient of Days is and where the event takes place.
Latter-day revelation identifies the Ancient of Days as Adam — the first man, the father of all living, who holds a position in the priesthood that no other person holds. And the gathering described in Daniel 7 is not a past event. It is a future one. It is the council that must happen before Christ can return.
Adam-ondi-Ahman is the name of the place. It means, in the pure language, the valley where Adam dwelt. It is in Missouri. And it is where this council will happen.
The Ancient Gathering — D&C 107
Before Adam died, he called his righteous posterity together. This was not simply a family reunion. It was a priesthood council — the most significant meeting in human history to that point.
D&C 107:53–56
“Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel. And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.”
This event happened. It is recorded in scripture. Adam — Michael — gathered the patriarchs at Adam-ondi-Ahman, the Lord appeared, and Adam was confirmed as the presiding patriarch of the human family. That past gathering established the pattern. The future gathering will complete it.
The place where Adam blessed his children before his death is the same place where the final priesthood council before the Second Coming will be held.
The Future Gathering
Daniel's vision describes a scene that has not yet occurred — a great council where the Ancient of Days sits, thrones are set up, and dominion is given to the Son of Man.
Daniel 7:9–14
“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire… I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him.”
The Son of Man — Christ — comes to the Ancient of Days — Adam — and receives dominion. This is not Christ ascending to the Father in the resurrection. This is a specific future event: a formal transfer of priesthood authority, the returning of keys, the preparation for the public Second Coming.
Joseph Smith taught that all who have held dispensation keys — every prophet who held the authority of God in their era — will return those keys to Adam, who then returns them to Christ. The stewardships of all ages are reconciled. The accounting is complete. Then Christ comes.
Why This Must Happen Before the Second Coming
The priesthood is not simply power — it is authority administered under accountability. Every man who has ever held a dispensation key was given a stewardship. God is an orderly God. Before the final dispensation closes and Christ takes His rightful throne, those stewardships must be reported, those keys returned.
The Adam-ondi-Ahman council is that accounting. It is not a public event — the world will not notice it when it happens. It will be a sacred, priesthood gathering, not announced on the news. But when it is complete, the way is clear for the Second Coming.
Key References
- D&C 116 — The Lord designates Adam-ondi-Ahman as the gathering place
- D&C 107:53–57 — The ancient gathering and Adam's role as patriarch
- Daniel 7:9–14 — The vision of the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man
This is one of the few doctrines in Latter-day Saint theology that gives a specific sequence of events before the Second Coming — and grounds it in an Old Testament text that most readers have never connected to it.
Where Is It?
In 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith was directed by revelation to identify the location of Adam-ondi-Ahman:
D&C 116:1
“Spring Hill is named by the Lord Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet.”
Spring Hill, Daviess County, Missouri. The Lord named it. The revelation identifies it as the place where the Ancient of Days will sit. Whether this location is literal or serves as the center of a broader gathering, the point is clear: this event is specific, geographically grounded, and prophetically identified. It is not vague eschatology. It is a named place and a named event.
What This Means for Our Generation
We live in the last dispensation — the dispensation of the fullness of times. Joseph Smith held keys that no prior dispensation head held: the fullness of the priesthood, the sealing authority, the keys to gather Israel from all nations. Those keys are held today by the President of the Church.
At Adam-ondi-Ahman, those keys will be returned. Adam will receive them all — from Noah, from Abraham, from Moses, from Peter, from Joseph Smith — and lay them before Christ. The dispensation of the fullness of times will be fulfilled in that council.
This doctrine teaches something that no other Christian tradition can offer: a specific, scripturally grounded account of the sequence of events before Christ's return. Not vague signs. Not general tribulations. A council. A place. A transfer of authority. An accounting before God.
God is orderly. The restoration is not finished. The last chapter has a structure, and we are living inside it.