Saturday, October 6, 2018

Isaiah on Hope in the Midst of Destruction -- 2 Nephi 16

What Happens

"Isaiah sees the Lord—Isaiah’s sins are forgiven—He is called to prophesy—He prophesies of the rejection by the Jews of Christ’s teachings—A remnant will return—Compare Isaiah 6."
2 Nephi 16 Chapter Heading


Commentary

In our last episode, we were reading some Isaiah that Nephi wanted to share with us, mostly about the parable of the vineyard, and its relation to real life at the Second Coming.  It involved a lot of corruption and destruction.  In this chapter, we continue reading Isaiah, and there are still some references to destruction, but there is definitely some hope interlaced in here as well.

At the beginning of this chapter, Isaiah is seeing the Lord.  He says that he is on a throne, and also sees seraphim praising God.  Some of the description (for instance, multiple wings) seems symbolic, but since I haven't seen what Isaiah saw, I just don't know.  The Bible dictionary says "probably fiery beings." :) At seeing God, Isaiah is concerned that he is unworthy, and (again, likely symbolically), one of the seraphim gives him a live coal, which cleanses his iniquity (verses 6-7).

Isaiah seems to gain some confidence at this point, which I think that we all do when we are clean, and confident in our relationship with God.  When God asks "Whom shall I send" in verse 8, Isaiah volunteers.  What the Lord asks Isaiah to do sounds almost cruel the way that it is worded here (verse 10), but luckily we also have this passage quoted in the New Testament (Matthew 13:14-15; Acts 28:25-27), which helps us clarify that God was asking Isaiah to help the people, but that even though he wanted to heal them, he knew they would choose otherwise.

Seeing the sad things that are going on with the earth, and knowing that despite his efforts, at least the majority of the people wouldn't listen to God, Isaiah asks "how long?" (verse 11). This could mean how long will the earth be this wicked, or how long until people will listen, or the earth is cleansed, but all of those things kind of spiral into one.  God's answer here is kind of bleak, talking about a time when the cities will be empty and the land desolate.

And yet, even when talking about all of this destruction and death and judgment, there is hope, as God explains "yet there shall be a tenth, and they shall return" (verse 13).  The Lord explains symbolically here that even though the tenth will go through this same time of ignorance and destruction, and look dead (like a tree without any leaves), they will still be alive, and potentially able to bloom and thrive after the harsh season.  It kind of reminded me of the idea of a forest fire, which burns, but in the burning provides nourishment to new trees, and also new life to the trees that survive... something seemingly bad actually being or becoming something good with a longer perspective, just as God promises us elsewhere that all things will work together for good (Romans 8:28), even though we can't always see how that is working right away.

I think this idea is similar to some of the things that we go through in life as well.  We have to weather harsh seasons and mists of darkness that might cause others to be lost, but as we read previously in Lehi's dream (1 Nephi 8:24), if we hold onto the rod of iron, which is the word of God, then we can get through those times and find that peace and joy and love that God offers us.

Tune in next time as we continue reading the Isaiah selections that Nephi chose for us, and perhaps see even more hope springing forth. :)

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