What Happens
"Isaiah speaks messianically—The people in darkness will see a great light—Unto us a child is born—He will be the Prince of Peace and will reign on David’s throne—Compare Isaiah 9."
2 Nephi 19 Chapter Heading
Commentary
In our last episode, we were reading some Isaiah that Nephi wanted to share with us, largely about the different ways we see the world, and what sharing God's perspective can do for us. In this chapter, we continue reading Isaiah.
The beginning of this chapter leads into predictions of the appearance of Christ, both during his first ministry and his second coming (Isaiah seems to do that a lot, with layered meanings). I like the image of walking in darkness and then seeing "a great light" which seems to be not only to people that are alive, but also to the dead, which is talking about the resurrections that are associated with Christ's coming (again, both times).
Verses 3-4 talks about multiplying nations and increasing joy, because Christ has freed us from sin and death and the oppression of Satan. I think verse 5 is referring to the destructions that are usually associated with the coming of Christ as well, for instance as in 3 Nephi, but also in prophecies about the Second Coming.
Verse 6 mentions a child, which is a reference to Christ's mortal ministry, but even in this set of verses, it talks about things that Christ is in general and will be, but not necessarily who he was, at least from an earthly perspective, before he was crucified, which is why I think there is some confusion about his prophecies. He is the government spiritually always, but was never in the government during his mortal ministry. He will be the government on earth during the millennium, after his Second Coming, which is when judgement and justice that last forever will be established.
Around verse 8 this chapter takes a downward turn. It's not really clear exactly why, but as far as the previous verses talk about Christ's coming, the following verse might be about Christ's death, in terms of his appearance in Jerusalem, and / or his rejection in so many places and lives since. Christ came and changed everything, but of course not everyone accepted that, or accepts it now, and considering the reality of God, *especially* while he was on earth and the reality was there in front of people, that's almost like saying that the sun doesn't shine just because you won't open your eyes to look at it. ... I think we should probably also be concerned about a similar condemnation. We tell ourselves sometimes that we don't know for sure when God is talking to us, but on some level we know a lot more than I think we admit. We have to let go of our doubt and have faith in order to move forward in understanding the spirit and the witness of Christ, which we can all have.
Verses 12 and 13 can sound almost cruel if you are thinking about a normal everyday situation, as though God expects people to turn to him because he is smiting them. However, in the context of sin and the pride cycle, it makes a lot of sense. We often start doing bad things when things are going well, because we are filled with pride, thinking that we made everything good happen, and that we are better than other people and nothing can tear us down. And then, when we get wicked like that, things start falling apart... we aren't protected by God anymore, and so our enemies start winning, and God's hand is often outstretched because we need that reminder to switch back into humility mode. Thus, instead of cruelty, these verses are actually just God trying to reclaim and save us... as always, and I think the rest of the chapter reflects this same cycle. We are righteous when we are close to Christ, and then we drift away, which leads to destruction, and to return to goodness we always need Christ again, either through another visitation (on a global scale), or hopefully, on an individual scale, through prayer and repentance.
I don't really know who is being referred to here if the ancient and the false prophet are specific people, but the idea of "the leaders of this people cause them to err" is definitely something that we can relate to in the modern world, and something that we need to ward against in our lives, to make sure that we are following God first and being super careful about who else we are listening to.
Verse 17 is pretty extreme because God advocates throughout the scriptures for the fatherless and for widows. He has a huge soft spot for both of those groups. In this case though, it says that he won't have mercy on them, because even they are evildoers: "every one of them" meaning I think that this group of people is so far gone that even those two groups are corrupted.
Verses 18-19 paint a further picture of how bad things are--wickedness compared to a forest fire, completely out of control with the people as the fuel. "No man shall spare his brother" is probably figurative and literal. None of them will refrain from passing on the evil even to their own families, and they are so evil that they likely won't physically spare their lives either.
Verse 20 seems to me to be the obvious and constant consequences of sin. We always think that sin is going to fill us or satisfy us, and instead, no matter how hard we try to fill ourselves with sin we are left empty. In essence, we are trying to survive by eating the acid of sin, and not only creating a deeper and deeper void in ourselves spiritually, but often eating ourselves alive physically as well with stress and emotional pain, etc.
The last verse returns us to some of God's favorite people, but instead of being widows and fatherless this time, it is tribes of Israel, which he also has a huge soft spot for. These too are just fighting each other though, and so God's arm remains outstretched. He can use it to destroy or to save, but it isn't really looking good for repentance at the point that the chapter ends.
Tune in next time as we continue reading the Isaiah chapters that Nephi picked out for us.
"Isaiah speaks messianically—The people in darkness will see a great light—Unto us a child is born—He will be the Prince of Peace and will reign on David’s throne—Compare Isaiah 9."
2 Nephi 19 Chapter Heading
Commentary
In our last episode, we were reading some Isaiah that Nephi wanted to share with us, largely about the different ways we see the world, and what sharing God's perspective can do for us. In this chapter, we continue reading Isaiah.
The beginning of this chapter leads into predictions of the appearance of Christ, both during his first ministry and his second coming (Isaiah seems to do that a lot, with layered meanings). I like the image of walking in darkness and then seeing "a great light" which seems to be not only to people that are alive, but also to the dead, which is talking about the resurrections that are associated with Christ's coming (again, both times).
Verses 3-4 talks about multiplying nations and increasing joy, because Christ has freed us from sin and death and the oppression of Satan. I think verse 5 is referring to the destructions that are usually associated with the coming of Christ as well, for instance as in 3 Nephi, but also in prophecies about the Second Coming.
Verse 6 mentions a child, which is a reference to Christ's mortal ministry, but even in this set of verses, it talks about things that Christ is in general and will be, but not necessarily who he was, at least from an earthly perspective, before he was crucified, which is why I think there is some confusion about his prophecies. He is the government spiritually always, but was never in the government during his mortal ministry. He will be the government on earth during the millennium, after his Second Coming, which is when judgement and justice that last forever will be established.
Around verse 8 this chapter takes a downward turn. It's not really clear exactly why, but as far as the previous verses talk about Christ's coming, the following verse might be about Christ's death, in terms of his appearance in Jerusalem, and / or his rejection in so many places and lives since. Christ came and changed everything, but of course not everyone accepted that, or accepts it now, and considering the reality of God, *especially* while he was on earth and the reality was there in front of people, that's almost like saying that the sun doesn't shine just because you won't open your eyes to look at it. ... I think we should probably also be concerned about a similar condemnation. We tell ourselves sometimes that we don't know for sure when God is talking to us, but on some level we know a lot more than I think we admit. We have to let go of our doubt and have faith in order to move forward in understanding the spirit and the witness of Christ, which we can all have.
Verses 12 and 13 can sound almost cruel if you are thinking about a normal everyday situation, as though God expects people to turn to him because he is smiting them. However, in the context of sin and the pride cycle, it makes a lot of sense. We often start doing bad things when things are going well, because we are filled with pride, thinking that we made everything good happen, and that we are better than other people and nothing can tear us down. And then, when we get wicked like that, things start falling apart... we aren't protected by God anymore, and so our enemies start winning, and God's hand is often outstretched because we need that reminder to switch back into humility mode. Thus, instead of cruelty, these verses are actually just God trying to reclaim and save us... as always, and I think the rest of the chapter reflects this same cycle. We are righteous when we are close to Christ, and then we drift away, which leads to destruction, and to return to goodness we always need Christ again, either through another visitation (on a global scale), or hopefully, on an individual scale, through prayer and repentance.
I don't really know who is being referred to here if the ancient and the false prophet are specific people, but the idea of "the leaders of this people cause them to err" is definitely something that we can relate to in the modern world, and something that we need to ward against in our lives, to make sure that we are following God first and being super careful about who else we are listening to.
Verse 17 is pretty extreme because God advocates throughout the scriptures for the fatherless and for widows. He has a huge soft spot for both of those groups. In this case though, it says that he won't have mercy on them, because even they are evildoers: "every one of them" meaning I think that this group of people is so far gone that even those two groups are corrupted.
Verses 18-19 paint a further picture of how bad things are--wickedness compared to a forest fire, completely out of control with the people as the fuel. "No man shall spare his brother" is probably figurative and literal. None of them will refrain from passing on the evil even to their own families, and they are so evil that they likely won't physically spare their lives either.
Verse 20 seems to me to be the obvious and constant consequences of sin. We always think that sin is going to fill us or satisfy us, and instead, no matter how hard we try to fill ourselves with sin we are left empty. In essence, we are trying to survive by eating the acid of sin, and not only creating a deeper and deeper void in ourselves spiritually, but often eating ourselves alive physically as well with stress and emotional pain, etc.
The last verse returns us to some of God's favorite people, but instead of being widows and fatherless this time, it is tribes of Israel, which he also has a huge soft spot for. These too are just fighting each other though, and so God's arm remains outstretched. He can use it to destroy or to save, but it isn't really looking good for repentance at the point that the chapter ends.
Tune in next time as we continue reading the Isaiah chapters that Nephi picked out for us.
