Not to minimize the value and importance of the Isaiah chapters of 2nd Nephi, I decided to cover them all in one post. (By the way, I know I've slowed down in making entries in this blog; I am forging ahead, however. My reading has taken me almost to the end of 2nd Nephi, and I would like to catch up a little).
There can be no doubt that Nephi wanted his future readers - his posterity and us - to learn specific things from these chapters. Isaiah held a special place in Nephi's heart. He must have, to take the time to inscribe upon metal plates all these chapters. I think that Nephi saw himself to be like Isaiah... he identified with him, especially since he grew up in Jerusalem (perhaps the fact that Nephi left his homeland made reading Isaiah more poignant to him. When I saw the movie "Jeremiah Johnson" I lived in New Jersey. The movie was filmed in the Wasatch mountains of Utah, not far from where I grew up. Seeing and recognizing those mountains struck a chord with me). As I read these chapters, I picked a few things to discuss, which I will do below. First, though, I want to give you my overall observation of these passages.
In these 11 chapters we find the message stated and restated: Israel has gone away from Lord. Israel would be punished for their wanton abandonment of the Lord and His commandments. Although they were to be punished and suffer great calamities due to their wickedness, the Lord would remember the promises He made to their fathers, and in the last days He would restore them to their inheritance. What lesson can we gain from this repeated message? Nothing, if not this: Without the Lord in our lives, we are nothing but mortal people and are subject to the whims of the flesh. Without God we become carnal, sensual, devilish. With God, we become Kings and Queens, children of the Heavenly Promise. That's the sum total of what I read in these chapters, and I think it is a vitally important lesson to learn. We have promises from our Heavenly Father which will be kept if we keep our covenants. That's it, period.
The other thing interlaced in these chapters, like gold amid sand, are the prophecies of the coming of the Savior... classic verses that can inspire us, and did inspire the likes of George Frederic Handel to write one of the greatest oratorios known to man!
A couple of interesting thoughts as I read the Isaiah chapters of 2nd Nephi:
Chapter 12: "in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord's house will be established in the top of the mountains... ...people shall go up and say Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord...". Last days? Mountains? Mountain of the Lord? Again with the Wasatch mountains, huh? After all, this is where modern day Zion was established, right? I'm not sure we fully appreciate that we are living the fulfillment of prophecy.
Chapter 13 gives an example of the predictions of punishment that would be meted out upon errant Israel. "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes... ...the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion and will discover their secret parts... ...instead of sweet smell there shall be stink...". What a mental picture. Here's a question: Is it just for this kind of punishment to befall this wayward people? Is it too harsh? If we truly read these passages and listen to the Spirit I think the answer can only be yes. A better question: Imagine that, after we've been given the great gift of a testimony, of spiritual manifestations, of living witnesses of God's love; Imagine that we were to turn away to complete abject rejection of God; if we were to not just "go inactive" but were to reject the things we had received spiritual witness of and totally turn to worldly, earthy beings. Would we be worthy of the Lord's condemnation? The road to this is slipperier than one would think.
Chapter 14: Isaiah describes the depth that Israel has sunk to: "... my people are gone in captivity because they have no knowledge [of the Lord]... their honorable men are famished and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth wihthout measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp , and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.". How pompous men are throughout the ages! Continuing: "Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness fo rlight and light for darkness...". That doesn't happen in these days, right? Right?? Yeah, right.
Chapter 19: Messianic prophecy... "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." It gives me chills an waters my eyes just to read these words!
Chapter 20 contains a warning to refrain from puffing ourselves up because we may have been instruments in God's hands: "Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up... ...Therefore shall the Lord... send among his fat ones, leaness...". Who does the Lord's work? We are instruments in His hands and we are rewarded, not for our achievements, but for our willingness.
As I said, there are many lessons to be learned from these chapters. Isaiah is said to be hard to understand, but I think that in reading each verse for meaning, rather than skimming them to get through them, we can obtain much!
Don
I don't remember seeing Jeremiah Johnson in NJ...I thought I saw it in Utah. Did we really see it in NJ?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to appreciate that we are living in the "mountain of the Lord" - maybe that is just figurative. After all, I think the church was actually established in the east!
I used to hate reading the Isaiah part of the Book of Mormon but one day I read how much Joseph Smith loved that part and after that I was able to look at it with different eyes. While I can't say I understand all I read there, I do enjoy the Isaiah sections a lot more now.