With 2nd Nephi 25, we leave Nephi's Isaiah obsession and come back to Nephi's own words. Nephi is much plainer, and easier to comprendo than Isaiah. So Welcome back to...
Right off the bat, Nephi admits that Isaiah is a tough cookie to understand...
2nd Nephi 25: 1
1. ...for behold, Isaiah spoke many things which were hard for many of my people to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews.
&then down at the bottom of this same column, Nephi says that, even though he loves the words of Isaiah (vs. 5), his soul delights in plainness unto his people, that they may learn (vs. 4).
Any questions about that?
Then why in the name of Jonathon Livingston Seagull did Nephi just spend 12 chapters of precious room on the Plates of Nephi quoting Isaiah, when he knew his people wouldn't really understand it? And if it is more for our day than Nephi's day that he quotes Isaiah, didn't he know that we would have all of those chapters in our Old Testament?
2 Nephi 25: 8
8. Wherefore, they [the words of Isaiah] are of worth unto the children of men, and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good I have written them.
Mine own people: Who's Nephi's own people? I got 2 possible answers... The Jews that Nephi knows will be scattered and smitten for generations to come, and his own descendants, the Nephites and Lamanites. And here's the horcrux of the matter...
2 Nephi 25: 16-17
16. And after they have been scattered, and The Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind -and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship The Father in His Name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things.
17. And The Lord will set His hand again the second time to restore His people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, He will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men.
Ya see, kids...
The restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon through the Prophet Joseph Smith is the marvelous work and a wonder Nephi is talking about. The Book of Mormon is the means by which the gathering of Israel will be accomplished in the last days. The Isaiah chapters in the BOM have a GREAT deal to do with that, at least that's my take on it.
And now...
And so I face...
So this concludes our show for today. 2 Nephi 25 is a significant chapter in the BOM. I'm going to do 2 posts on it. Tune in next time when we talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ, prophesy of Christ and discuss what worshiping Christ with all of our mind, might, strength and whole souls means. I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with having clean hands and a pure heart.
Today we're on 2nd Nephi 24 (compare Isaiah 14). First thing I do when I blog a BOM chapter is read the chapter clear through once, and look and listen and sense for impressions or ideas or whatever. These are my notes...
So, I looked through it again. This time I really put on my thinker...
But...
So, I'll sum the chapter up for ya, and we'll color it good.
2 Nephi 24: 1
1. For The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and
will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the
strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house
of Jacob.
After this, past, and future scatterings, Israel will become a chosen people once again, and be gathered in as He promised from the beginning.
Strangers shall be joined with Israel. Hopefully, when we meet them, we'll know who not to talk to. You know, 'cause we ain't supposed to talk to strangers. Never mind. Ok, we're the strangers. You know, Gentiles. Anywayz...
2 Nephi 24: 3
3. And it shall come to pass in that day that The Lord shall give thee rest, from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.
Those who beat up on Israel won't bug 'em anymore.
2 Nephi 24: 8
8. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and also the cedars of Lebannon, saying: Since thou art laid down no feller is come up against us.
Ha, no feller. That's awesome. Bad news for that cool feller, Paul Bunyan...
Then it says some stuff about a couple of fellers who were serious losers. Isaiah is a smart feller who is real good at speaking about multiple people and times at once. Verses 12 through 16 is about the king of Babylon on the surface, but it is widely believed that it's really about Satan. This is where Satan gets the name Lucifer, which actually means "light bearer" or "morning star". Satan was a nice feller at one time in the pre-mortal realm, but then got greedy, and was thrown outta there.
Since then he has sought that "man might be miserable like unto himself." (-2 Nephi 2: 27).
2 Nephi 24: 12
12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!
13. For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north;
14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.
15. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
It's a sad story, really. But it's important to know that we know who the winner will be, we know who the loser will be, and we can decide to be a winner or a loser by joining one or t'other. As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord. (-Joshua 24: 15)
That's the end of the Isaiahs, at least the tough ones. There's a few more, but they don't scare me. It's taken me months and months to get from 2 Nephi 11 to 2 Nephi 25. I'm sorry to see him go. I'm going to miss Isaiah.
I hope you know that I'm kidding about not liking the Isaiah chapters. Jesus Christ said, "Yea, a commandment I give unto you, that ye search these things diligently, for Great are the words of Isaiah," and I believe Him. (-3 Nephi 23: 1) He's just a hard feller to blog about that many times in a row. I seriously can't wait to get to Mosiah something or other when Abinadi quotes Isaiah 53 (-Mosiah 14) before he is burned alive.
Let's celebrate our completion of the Isaiahs by figuring up some way to sum it all up. How do you sum up Isaiah?
Isaiah 9: 6
6. 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.
Isaiah 50: 6
6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
2 Nephi 24: 7
7. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing.
The preamble of 2 Nephi 23 (compare Isaiah 13) says that the destruction of Babylon is a type of the destruction that will happen at The Lord's 2nd Coming. Therefore, today I will talk about Last of the Mohicans...
Doesn't look like Babylon lasted very long. I guess Isaiah was right about them...
2 Nephi 23: 19
19. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
Here's Babylon today
What was so awful about Babylon? There were lots of places around the world whose people weren't models of obedience to The Lord. Why pick on the Babylonians as the standard in wicked behavior, always to be referred to in a negative context?
Me & Gerry Lindley in Vincennes, Indiana; circa 1988
Pictured up yonder is me as a missionary and my mission companion, Gerry Lindley. It may seem like we're rocking out, but actually we're singing along with Bring the World His Truth, and are on the "Weeeee are as the Army of Helaman, we have been born in our youth" part of the song.
In my mission, the rules restricted our listening pleasure to Mormon Tabernacle Choir songs and Church Hymns. Though this song is in the LDS Primary songbook, the version we listened to was technically against our rules. Anything we missionaries had which was outside the rules was called Babylon. This song was Babylon, and so was the stereo I was playing it on, much as I tried to justify myself by listening to our Gospel Study tapes on it. I finally ended up bringing my stereo thing into the Mission Office and leaving it until I finished my mission and went home.
Most of the tribes of Israel were already scattered and lost. The Babylonians conquered what was left, The tribe of Judah, and carried them away captive to Babylon, where they remained for about 70 years, long enough for God's people to pick up some bad habits. When Judah returned from Babylon, they brought much of its influence with them, and this caused some major apostasy. In order to cleave unto God and the covenants they had made with Him, the people of Judah were commanded to leave Babylon behind, not just physically, but spiritually too, even more so. Those who were able to leave Babylon behind were able to remain steadfast in their faith. If they kept some souvenirs, they had a much harder time, and many were lost.
How does this connect to me?
The reason missionaries attached the name Babylon to stuff against the rules is because the same principle applies to them. Those who are able to let go of the world (in our case it was TV, good music, going to movies, dating, etc.) could become missionaries of great faith and influence, wielding the sword of the spirit like the Army of Helaman. Those who hold on to the world (my stereo), are much less effective. And in some cases, this has led to apostasy as well.
Screenshot of Babylon from "Age of Empires" computer game
In my 30's I was quite the gamer. As a lonely bachelor, I found computer games to be a welcome distraction from my otherwise dull life. I used to say stuff like, "My life sucks anyway, might as well buy this $2000 computer." Now, computer and video games ain't a bad thing. It ain't a sin to play Age of Empires or whatever. That is, until it distracts you from what is really important. Sometimes I'd play for hours, late into the night. This usually exhausted me for the next day's activities, be they work or family or church, or just productive living. Then I'd be back at it that night, and so on.
She finally found me in 2008
Whether it was because marrying Emilie filled the emptiness in me that caused me to lose interest in my computer games or the fact that we are so broke that I can't even afford a decent computer, let alone the 50-buck games I'd want to play, either way I'm grateful.
I heard a scary statistic the other day. An LDS Bishop in Orem, Utah stated that over 60% of the divorces in his area were related to video/ computer gaming.
What a jerk. C'mon man, it's her turn.
So that's my speech about Babylon. People have different things which, to them, is a 'hanging on to Babylon' issue. My advice is to bid farewell to Babylon, whatever that may be to you, and remember who you are, where you're headed, and what is important.
It's actually quite a battle to keep your head in the game of life these days. There are zillions of distractions around us all the time, and the effects of The Fall of man are such that our "natural man" wants to be distracted. To do battle against our "natural" desire for Babylon, The Lord has blest us with power from on High, if we only ask for it, reach for it. If you personally are able to live a life that balances spiritual joys and temporal fun, that's groovy. Nothing wrong with playing a game, watching a movie, hangin' with friends, etc. Ain't nobody said we need to read the BOM all day long. It's when the distractions take a more weighted role in our lives than the important stuff that could cause us trouble.
As Colonel Munro said in Last of the Mohicans,
"There's a terrible feature of war here in the Americas, Major Heyward; best we keep our eye fixed on our duty: To defeat France (or Babylon)."
Here's Ye Elders of Israel if you'd care to listen to a verse or two (at least listen to 1:05 to 1:22)...
So, this is my spiel for today:
Recognize if you are hanging on to any part of Babylon
If it's a problem, and you'll know if it's a problem, make a decision to leave your Babylon behind, whatever it is
If you find it difficult to defeat Babylon or France, call upon your good buddy Hawkeye to help you...
He will "let Killdeer take part in the conversation; for at this distance, he will touch the life 2 out of 3 times."
Great Spirit and Maker of all life
A warrior comes to you straight and true as an arrow shot into the sun
Welcome him, and make a place for him at the council fire of my people
He is Uncas, my son
Teach him to be patient, as he has death for speed
For they are all there, but one: I, Chingachgook, Last of the Mohicans
Some books are harder to read than others. Back in 1990-something I read my first book considered a classic. It was Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper, for whom the city of Cooperstown, NY was named, which is the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Anywayz, it was a hard read for me, & took me a few months. I've read, or tried to read other classics since then. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Twain, Austen, Bronte, Cervantes, Dickens, Hugo, etc. Les Miserables took me 6 months.
I was told A Tale of Two Cities was a very good book. I got about 60 pages into it my first try, before I grew weary of the effort to stay awake. I tried again the next year, and got over 100 pages in, but with the same result. Third time's the charm, and I persevered to the end. I really liked the last 20 pages or so.
Authors like these guys use language as an art form, and create paintings in the mind.
Some paintings have a changing affect on my mind, on my mood. Like these by Albert Bierstadt.
There's something about the areas of sunshine and shade on the mountains that is familiar to me. I have seen things like that in real life, and love to look at them. The storm coming over the water nearly causes me to be able to feel the chilly breeze and smell the approach of rain.
Of course, some paintings are pretty boring to look at, even priceless ones. I've never had much use for Pablo Picasso. I recognize that he had talent, and understand that my lack of interest doesn't mean his art is not interesting, just not to me. This painting, The Head of a Woman, is valued at over $10,000,000.
No idea what I'm supposed to glean from this painting. She looks like she oughtta be rushed to the hospital after what was obviously a serious car crash.
Nephi loved to read the words of Isaiah. He knew they were of great worth to us, so he transcribed them on to the plates of Nephi. Nephi admits, however, that his people had a hard time understanding Isaiah. In 2 Nephi 25, to which it is my foremost goal in life to reach right now, Nephi says...
25. Now I, Nephi, do speak somewhat concerning the words which I have written, which have been spoken by the mouth of Isaiah. For behold, Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews.
Isaiah is kind of like those artists and authors mentioned up there. I know he's important, I know he writes truth, but there's so much that I don't understand, and I get bored.
2 Nephi 20 (compare Isaiah 10) is your basic "Israel's not doing what it oughtta, and so it will be scattered and lost, with the understanding that Israel will be gathered back in eventually." Notwithstanding the difficulty of reading the entire chapter, a few verses stand out to me. I'll hit them here, and say something dumb about them.
2 Nephi 20: 5-6
5. O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is their indignation.
6. I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
So, that's how The Lord plans to reek judgment on Israel, use its neighbor like an axe to knock 'em down a bit.
2 Nephi 20: 15
15.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, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood!
This verse seems to be talking about Assyria thinking they're tough because they beat up on Israel, while in reality, they were just The Lord's instrument in Israel's consequences. It seems to be talking about that, but it's not really. It's really talking to me. It's telling me that I can do nothing without Him. It's telling me that all that I provide for myself and for my family through any means available to me, it is really The Lord that provides those things. Right?
Hint hint, nudge nudge.
This one's about me too...
2 Nephi 20: 16
16. Therefore shall The Lord, The Lord of Hosts, send among His fat ones, leanness; and under His glory He shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
Here's a fat one back in 1980. Still waiting for the leanness.
Sorry about that. Sometimes I sacrifice a good spiritual feeling just to get a laugh or two. When I interviewed for Supervisor at work, my wife told me to have confidence in myself, and not spout out goofy stuff just 'cause I'm nervous. "Now be serious and don't joke around with them." So, I got clear thru the interview without one goofy remark, and then as I'm leaving I says, "I hope I did ok, my wife told me not to be funny." Then I slugged myself all the way home.
OK, back to seriousness. The end of verse 16 up there says, "His glory He shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire." Then read on to verse 17...
17. And the Light of Israel shall be for a fire, and His Holy One for a flame, and shall burn and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
Always, always, always, the answer to life's darkness is The Light of Israel, His Holy One, Jesus Christ. Always. And no matter how far we wander or how lost we become, we can follow that Light back to Israel, back to the promised land.
2 Nephi 20: 21
21. The remnant shall return, yea, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
A fool such as I could never pretend that I understand the book of Isaiah. Some stuff is clearer than others, but it's them others that present an insurmountable obstacle (emphasis on 'stack') to me in my goal of writing a blog post about every chapter in the BOM. I could buy me some books, or research some online helps for Isaiah, and pass on my findings to you, but that's not been my method. These is my thoughts and reflections.
I'm on 2 Nephi 18 (see Isaiah 8) today. In reading through this chapter, I find that I could tell you everything I get out of it in about 1 short, boring paragraph. I have 2 verses highlighted, verse 2 and 3, and one phrase in the preamble highlighted: "peeping wizards".
The Richmond district in Beattyville, KY (circa 1987). That's me out front.
Although I have bought a couple or 3 new B's OM since my missionary days, I always highlight "peeping wizards" because of memories from goofing around and laughing during what should have been serious BOM study time with my companions.
Anyways, let's write a couple things...
2 Nephi 18: 2-3
2. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
3. And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me: Call his name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
These verses are kinda weird. Does this mean that Isaiah took witnesses with him when he went to "see" the prophetess? And who's the prophetess? Is that his wife? Like I says, I ain't no professor of ancient scripture, so I don't know. My guess is, the prophetess is his wife, and the 2 witnesses came to witness the naming of the child. I don't know much, but I know I love you..., er, I believe that it's a Jewish thing to have witnesses present at the circumcision and naming of a child. Anywayz, that's my opinion.
"Maher-shalal-hash-baz" means: Destruction is imminent. Either Isaiah suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (I've heard that the acronym is not the commonly known OCD, but rather CDO, so that the letters can be in alphabetical order, as they should be) or the Scattering and Gathering of Israel is an important subject. I'm gonna go with option B.
2 Nephi 18: 18
18. Behold, I and the children whom The Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from The Lord of Hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion.
"I'd like you to meet my sons. This is Destruction is Imminent, and this is A Remnant Shall Return."
I wonder if it used to frighten Destruction is Imminent when he was a child, until he learned that this was a prophecy for the house of Israel, and not a warning for when his Dad got home from work.
Need Answers?
If you need a message from heaven to give you knowledge or comfort or whatever, there are lots of suggestions in the world. You can, Option A: Read the stars, the tea leaves, your palm, tarot cards, your horoscope, or even your Crazy 8 Ball. Or Option B: You can pray, read your scriptures, live your life so that the Spirit of The Lord is with you, go to the Temple, listen to The Prophet, or anything that is lovely or of good report or praiseworthy. I would choose option B myself.
If your choice is to seek answers from a
Peeping Wizard, like Zoltar here....
That's a Big mistake...
Rather...
2 Nephi 18: 16, 19-20
16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
19. And when they shall say unto you: Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter -should not a people seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead?
20. To the law and to the testimony; and if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Bind up the testimony (Have faith in Jesus Christ)
To me, 2 Nephi 17 (compare Isaiah: 7) is one of the more difficult of the Isaiah chapters. There is a great and wonderful verse about The Savior in it, but the rest talks about cows and sheeps and arrows and prophecies of the affliction of Israel by way of thorns and briars and wars and stuff.
In the map up there, you can see where Syria and Ephraim are located. Judah down to the south didn't like the idea of Syria being confederate (or allies) with Ephraim. That's cool and everything, but I'm just going to write about 3 things out of this chapter:
The Lord shaves with a razor
Shearjashub
Mary Christmas
One
2 Nephi 17: 20
20. In the same day shall The Lord shave with a razor that is hired.
I used to stop reading there and giggle a little bit. As a younger dude, I thought The Lord shaving presented a funny image, but really was figurative of some different meaning that I couldn't guess. Later on I finished the verse. You should always finish reading the instructions before you start your bird house. Can't tell you how many times I've put a bookshelf together backwards twice before reading the instructions.
20. ...hired, by them beyond the river, by the king Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.
Ahhh, so that's what Isaiah means, or what I think he means: The Lord will shave the head and beards of the men of Judah, and do it through the alliance of Ephraim and Syria (or Assyria) coming to battle against them. I think that means that the people of Judah are going to forget their covenants. It's all part of the scattering thing. What do you think?
Two
2 Nephi 17: 3
3. Then said The Lord unto Isaiah: Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool of the highway of the fuller's field.
That's quite a name you got there, dude. I pronounce Shearjashub like it's spelt, but I'm sure I'm butchering it. Anyways, Sheer-jay-shub translates as "A remnant shall return". This is one of Isaiah's two major themes: The scattering and gathering of Israel and the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
They probably called him Shub for short. I don't know what they called Shub's brother, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Three
2 Nephi 17: 14
14. Therefore, The Lord Himself shall give you a sign -Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Over 700 years before the birth of our Savior, Isaiah prophesied of Christ's miraculous birth, His life full of miracles, the malicious treatment he would receive at the hands of those He came to save, and His loving sacrifice for all mankind.
Isaiah's references to the coming of the Son of God are scattered throughout his writings, even in places where it is not clear what Isaiah's talking about. My favorite Isaiah chapter on the Atonement of Jesus Christ is Isaiah 53, but we'll talk about that in 3 1/2 more years when I get to Mosiah 14.
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