Isaiah on Cleansing and Protection -- 2 Nephi 14

What Happens

"Zion and her daughters will be redeemed and cleansed in the millennial day—Compare Isaiah 4."
2 Nephi 14 Chapter Heading


Commentary

In our last episode, we were reading some Isaiah that Nephi wanted to share with his posterity and with us, mostly about punishment and destruction.  In this chapter, we continue reading Isaiah.

The previous chapter was referring to the tragedy of the people (specifically the daughters of Zion), but in this chapter things definitely turn around.  Instead of destruction, we see hope.  The women are working to improve their lot, and perhaps build back up a broken people, and everyone that is escaped, or left after the destructions seem to have hope and goodness ahead of them.

Verse 4 seems to say that the destructions that we just read about have cleansed the people, seemingly by getting rid of the most wicked among us.  The chapter heading tells us that this is referring to the millennium, so presumably this is the transition from the "end of the world" destructions to a thousand years of awesome: "beautiful and glorious" (verse 2), everyone still alive is called "holy" (verse 3), and it refers back to the cloud by day and the fire by night which is the way that the Lord traveled with the children of Israel in the days of Moses.

One difference is that the cloud and fire here aren't just in one place.  Verse five says that they will be "upon every dwelling-place."  That could be symbolic of the Lord being with the people wherever they are, but I think this likely also refers to something literal because the end of the chapter talks about Zion being a defence, and mentions a tabernacle that provides shadow and protection from the elements, and which is a place of refuge, so at least the protection from the heat and rain would be a physical place.

This chapter is a nice refuge for us as well from the destructions of the previous chapter, and I think encourages us to be the holy people that will escape and be around to see the amazing aftermath.

Tune in next time as we read more of the Isaiah verses that Nephi chose for us.

Isaiah on Punishment and Pleading -- 2 Nephi 13

What Happens

"Judah and Jerusalem will be punished for their disobedience—The Lord pleads for and judges His people—The daughters of Zion are cursed and tormented for their worldliness—Compare Isaiah 3."
2 Nephi 13 Chapter Heading


Commentary

In our last episode, we were reading some Isaiah that Nephi wanted to share with his posterity and with us, mostly about the Second Coming.  In this chapter, we continue that reading.  Although a lot of this is likely about the Second Coming, Isaiah's prophecies are not always linear progressions.  The destruction here could be from the past and from the future, or even symbolically talking about the future by talking about the past.

In the beginning of this chapter the people are being punished for wickedness.  It gets sounding pretty bad, but one thing that I find really interesting is in verse 9 where it says "Wo unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves!" ... This seems to be something that God is sad about, not just arbitrary lightning bolts from the sky, sent because God is really angry.  When we are punished, in so many ways, we are punishing ourselves.  Verses 10 and 11 tell us, basically, that our lives usually go wrong when we go wrong, and when we go right, our lives start getting back on track.

Now, of course, not all tragedy happens because of sin.  Sometimes righteous people are the victims of other people's sin, and sometimes there are just natural disasters and trials that happen in the world.  Part of the tragedy of sin I think is that God could make things better for us, no matter how bad things are, but when we aren't doing the right things then our spirits and attitudes won't let him in at all, and we can't be provided with the extra strength and endurance that he would offer us if we were willing to accept it.  When we don't, God has to watch the natural consequences of really, really bad choices even down through many generations.

In this case, thinking of the history of Jerusalem and of geographical Zion, God miraculously supports his people, helping them to triumph over their enemies, but when they go against him, they are still in the midst of those enemies, but now they aren't righteous enough to have God supporting them, so they suffer.

In verse 13 "The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people."  This is interesting to me, because in order to avert these disasters, God needs *us* to change.  Even during the flood, presumably if he was willing to mess with free agency he could have just snapped his fingers and made everyone behave... but because he values our freedom and won't force us to do anything, he had to start over instead.  No one was left in that society, save Noah, to stand up and be an example and teach anything but evil to future generations.  He works with us through faith and each other, and when there is no faith and no other good people to help us, that's when (as he did with so many prophets in the scriptures), he leads us away rather than allowing us to be killed.  Presumably, that is why the 12 tribes were led away and scattered... in order to preserve them.

The chapter continues its sadness at the punishment the people are going through, because they have done bad things, including beating his people to pieces and grinding the faces of the poor (verse 15) and haughtiness (verse 16), which sounds like many of the problems then (as now) may have been sparked by pride and inequality.

The city and the people have gotten to the point where there is just tragedy everywhere: "burning instead of beauty" (verse 24), and desolation (verse 26). Tune in next time to continue reading Nephi's selections from Isaiah and to see the hope, even after the devastation. :)

Isaiah on The Second Coming -- 2 Nephi 12

What Happens

"Isaiah sees the latter-day temple, gathering of Israel, and millennial judgment and peace—The proud and wicked will be brought low at the Second Coming—Compare Isaiah 2."
2 Nephi 12 Chapter Heading


Commentary

In our last episode, Nephi bore his testimony of Christ and urged us to remember that we need him in our lives.  In this chapter, he shares with us some of Isaiah's prophecies of the Second Coming to further illustrate our need for Christ.

I like the phrase "the mountain of the Lord's House."  Mountains are symbolic of temples and of being high and close to God.  In this case, verse two tells us that "all nations shall flow unto it," which expands the idea of purity and revelation and individual, face to face communication with God to everyone, in all nations.  That is a cool idea, since we too often think about religion and the gospel in an exclusive way, only open to people like us.  God makes it clear that there are people willing to be like him all over the place, which is pretty much the point of all of it. :)  What a great day that will be.  Verse three tells us that we will have the opportunity to learn of God and walk in his paths, which we already can do, but still the whole idea of gathering to God to do it makes it all better and more awesome somehow.

At the Second Coming God comes not just as a teacher, but as a ruler and a judge, which it talks about here as well.  That's appropriate and God's right, but I also think that it will be such a relief.  No matter where we live on the earth we see corruption and bias; injustice and inequality.  With God as not only our spiritual guide but our ruler we won't see any of that.  We'll certainly be rebuked and have to change our outlook and our behavior, as it mentions in verse 4, which definitely isn't always easy, but for the result of no more war, that seems more than fair.

I like how it makes clear that the house of Jacob has *all* gone astray.  This chapter doesn't talk about God coming back and raising one group up and condemning another.  It says that we need to all come and walk in the light of the Lord and stop worshipping the work of our own hands.  Probably some things that we can start doing now, in addition to the largest suggestion in the rest of the chapter which is to be humble.

The idea in verse 11 that "the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day" is an interesting one.  Does that mean no movie stars, no sports figures, no YouTube sensations, or just that we won't be addicted to those things like we are as a society now? :)

After this Isaiah talks more about humility, but he starts sounding like he isn't just talking about emotion, but actual calamity.  He talks about not just people that are lifted up being brought low, but trees, and mountains, and hills, and nations, towers, walls, ships, and even pictures.  Then, in verse 19, it says that the Lord will arise to "shake terribly the earth."  That totally sounds like a massive earthquake to me, but who knows.

The end of the chapter warns us against idols which will be utterly abolished, but it is also mentioned that people will throw them to the moles and the bats, likely just to get rid of them since idols don't sound like a good thing to be in possession of at the Second Coming... which really also begs the question, what exactly *are* our idols?  A good thing to think about.

Isaiah sums everything up by saying "Cease ye from man," basically advising us to stick with God and not turn to society's wisdom... or our own, or other people's.  Only God's.

Tune in next time as we continue to  read some Isaiah chapters that Nephi thought we should know about.