What Happens
"The destruction of Assyria is a type of the destruction of the wicked at the Second Coming—Few people will be left after the Lord comes again—The remnant of Jacob will return in that day—Compare Isaiah 10."
2 Nephi 20 Chapter Heading
Commentary
In our last episode, we were reading some Isaiah that Nephi wanted to share with us, including prophecy of the coming of Christ and subsequent wickedness. In this chapter, we continue reading Isaiah.
The chapter starts out warning of sin, specifically unrighteous decrees, which seems to point to corruption in government. God lets us know that he doesn't want his needy, poor, widowed, or fatherless people to be targeted or to suffer because of the "grievousness" that is written.
God next asks, perhaps as a consequence of the corruption, what we will do without him. When desolation comes, we will have no place to flee, and we will fall. In verse 5 God talks of the "Assyrian" as the "rod of mine anger," perhaps referring to a specific event in the Old Testament, but also symbolically (since this is a prophecy for the last days as well) that he will use another nation to strike at the corruption that is harming his people with the aforementioned "grievousness." He will send this group against "a hypocritical nation" (likely the same one(s) harboring corrupt governments) and have them take the spoil and "tread them down like the mire of the streets" (verse 6). Doesn't sound very pleasant.
We then switch in verse 7 to the inner thoughts and motivations of the king of Assyria (or other symbolic nation) who is comparing his people to the Lord's people who are being punished for corruption and disobedience. He thinks about how his people and his cities are just as good as they are, and can't he destroy Jerusalem just as easily as he just destroyed Samaria?
God, who used the Assyrian as a rod to punish his people, then tells us that when he is done with his work, he will punish the King of Assyria for pride, specifically mentioning in verse 13 "For he saith: By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things" to which the Lord says in verse 15 "Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" ... Basically saying, hey... I used you as a tool to accomplish something, and now you are taking this way too far. And to show that the Assyrian doesn't have power to go beyond God's boundaries, the Lord "shall burn and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day" (verse 17), and "the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them" (verse 19).
In verse 20 things start turning positive. We are told that "the remnant of Israel" (presumably the people who are left after the big war with the Assyrian) "shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord" which is a really cool idea. This might sound weird, but what it reminds me of is overcoming an abusive past, where you can finally change the way you look at the world from fear and avoiding conflict to seeing that there is more out there, and being free to pursue life without that constant fear.
... Of course the idea here is complicated by the fact that the Lord used the Assyrian to smite in the first place, and the the people strayed from God in the first place as well, so definitely not a perfect analogy... but maybe it works if you look at it with another analogy that the Lord uses for his people sometimes: a married couple. In that case, God's people would be the wife who left him for the Assyrian, and God allows her to stay long enough to understand what a bad choice she made, and that things are now way worse than they ever were for her before. Then, when she wants to leave and go home to her husband, the Assyrian stops her and beats her. So, God confronts him. The Assyrian waves his big gun and God turns him to dust with a thought, and then welcomes his wife back. Or, in other words, "the remnant shall return . . . unto the mighty God" (verse 21).
At this point we pull back, reminded of our perspective of people reading about this before it happens, and God tells us that these things will happen, and that it is determined (verse 23). It is part of what we are going to see at the Second Coming. However, he also tells us "O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. / For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease" (verses 24-25). In other words, yes, this is going to happen, and it might get as bad as when you were slaves in Egypt, but please don't be afraid. It will be scary, but it will not last. I will come and save you.
I love the imagery in verse 27 of removing burdens. God won't only lift our burdens and take off the yoke, but he will destroy the yoke.
Verses 28-32 seem to go back to the Assyrian getting closer and closer to his goal: "he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem." But then the Lord stops him, hewing down the high and the haughty (verse 33).
Lopping the bough in verse 33 also reminds me of the parable of the olive trees in Jacob 5, and the idea that God will improve his vineyard by removing the evil as the good grows. And the terror part reminds me that "the righteous need not fear" in 1 Nephi 22:17. I think the rest seems to all be about pride, literally as in the haughty, and also figuratively as in trees, which are also sometimes symbolic of idol worship. Basically, all of this destruction at the end seems to be symbolic of the destruction of the wicked, but God still promises to save the righteous. We just need to choose which group we want to be in. :)
Tune in next time as we continue reading the Isaiah chapters that Nephi picked out for us.
"The destruction of Assyria is a type of the destruction of the wicked at the Second Coming—Few people will be left after the Lord comes again—The remnant of Jacob will return in that day—Compare Isaiah 10."
2 Nephi 20 Chapter Heading
Commentary
In our last episode, we were reading some Isaiah that Nephi wanted to share with us, including prophecy of the coming of Christ and subsequent wickedness. In this chapter, we continue reading Isaiah.
The chapter starts out warning of sin, specifically unrighteous decrees, which seems to point to corruption in government. God lets us know that he doesn't want his needy, poor, widowed, or fatherless people to be targeted or to suffer because of the "grievousness" that is written.
God next asks, perhaps as a consequence of the corruption, what we will do without him. When desolation comes, we will have no place to flee, and we will fall. In verse 5 God talks of the "Assyrian" as the "rod of mine anger," perhaps referring to a specific event in the Old Testament, but also symbolically (since this is a prophecy for the last days as well) that he will use another nation to strike at the corruption that is harming his people with the aforementioned "grievousness." He will send this group against "a hypocritical nation" (likely the same one(s) harboring corrupt governments) and have them take the spoil and "tread them down like the mire of the streets" (verse 6). Doesn't sound very pleasant.
We then switch in verse 7 to the inner thoughts and motivations of the king of Assyria (or other symbolic nation) who is comparing his people to the Lord's people who are being punished for corruption and disobedience. He thinks about how his people and his cities are just as good as they are, and can't he destroy Jerusalem just as easily as he just destroyed Samaria?
God, who used the Assyrian as a rod to punish his people, then tells us that when he is done with his work, he will punish the King of Assyria for pride, specifically mentioning in verse 13 "For he saith: By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things" to which the Lord says in verse 15 "Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" ... Basically saying, hey... I used you as a tool to accomplish something, and now you are taking this way too far. And to show that the Assyrian doesn't have power to go beyond God's boundaries, the Lord "shall burn and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day" (verse 17), and "the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them" (verse 19).
In verse 20 things start turning positive. We are told that "the remnant of Israel" (presumably the people who are left after the big war with the Assyrian) "shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord" which is a really cool idea. This might sound weird, but what it reminds me of is overcoming an abusive past, where you can finally change the way you look at the world from fear and avoiding conflict to seeing that there is more out there, and being free to pursue life without that constant fear.
... Of course the idea here is complicated by the fact that the Lord used the Assyrian to smite in the first place, and the the people strayed from God in the first place as well, so definitely not a perfect analogy... but maybe it works if you look at it with another analogy that the Lord uses for his people sometimes: a married couple. In that case, God's people would be the wife who left him for the Assyrian, and God allows her to stay long enough to understand what a bad choice she made, and that things are now way worse than they ever were for her before. Then, when she wants to leave and go home to her husband, the Assyrian stops her and beats her. So, God confronts him. The Assyrian waves his big gun and God turns him to dust with a thought, and then welcomes his wife back. Or, in other words, "the remnant shall return . . . unto the mighty God" (verse 21).
At this point we pull back, reminded of our perspective of people reading about this before it happens, and God tells us that these things will happen, and that it is determined (verse 23). It is part of what we are going to see at the Second Coming. However, he also tells us "O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. / For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease" (verses 24-25). In other words, yes, this is going to happen, and it might get as bad as when you were slaves in Egypt, but please don't be afraid. It will be scary, but it will not last. I will come and save you.
I love the imagery in verse 27 of removing burdens. God won't only lift our burdens and take off the yoke, but he will destroy the yoke.
Verses 28-32 seem to go back to the Assyrian getting closer and closer to his goal: "he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem." But then the Lord stops him, hewing down the high and the haughty (verse 33).
Lopping the bough in verse 33 also reminds me of the parable of the olive trees in Jacob 5, and the idea that God will improve his vineyard by removing the evil as the good grows. And the terror part reminds me that "the righteous need not fear" in 1 Nephi 22:17. I think the rest seems to all be about pride, literally as in the haughty, and also figuratively as in trees, which are also sometimes symbolic of idol worship. Basically, all of this destruction at the end seems to be symbolic of the destruction of the wicked, but God still promises to save the righteous. We just need to choose which group we want to be in. :)
Tune in next time as we continue reading the Isaiah chapters that Nephi picked out for us.
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