2.07.2009

pgs. 68 and 69...all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

6 And now, these are the words: aThus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my bstandard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
7 And akings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their faces towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that bI am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that cwait for me.
8 And now I, Jacob, would speak somewhat concerning these words. For behold, the Lord has shown me that those who were at aJerusalem, from whence we came, have been bslain and ccarried away captive.
9 Nevertheless, the Lord has shown unto me that they should areturn again. And he also has shown unto me that the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, should manifest himself unto them in the flesh; and after he should manifest himself they should bscourge him and ccrucify him, according to the words of the angel who spake it unto me.
10 And after they have ahardened their hearts and bstiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel, behold, the cjudgments of the Holy One of Israel shall come upon them. And the day cometh that they shall be smitten and afflicted.
11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to aperish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that bwhen they shall come to the cknowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be dgathered together again to the elands of their inheritance.
12 And blessed are the aGentiles, they of whom the prophet has written; for behold, if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion, and do not unite themselves to that great and babominable church, they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his ccovenants which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things.
13 Wherefore, they that fight against Zion and the covenant people of the Lord shall lick up the dust of their feet; and the people of the Lord shall not be aashamed. For the people of the Lord are they who bwait for him; for they still wait for the coming of the Messiah.
14 And behold, according to the words of the prophet, the Messiah will set himself again the asecond time to recover them; wherefore, he will bmanifest himself unto them in power and great glory, unto the cdestruction of their enemies, when that day cometh when they shall believe in him; and none will he destroy that believe in him.
15 And they that believe not in him shall be adestroyed, both by bfire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by cbloodsheds, and by dpestilence, and by efamine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel.
16 aFor shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the blawful captive delivered?
17 But thus saith the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; afor the bMighty God shall cdeliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contendeth with thee—
18 And I will feed them that oppress thee, with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy aRedeemer, the bMighty One of Jacob.

CHAPTER 7
Isaiah speaks Messianically—Messiah shall have the tongue of the learned—He shall give his back to the smiters—He shall not be confounded—Compare Isaiah 50. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 aYea, for thus saith the Lord: Have I put thee away, or have I cast thee off forever? For thus saith the Lord: Where is the bbill of your mother’s cdivorcement? To whom have I put thee away, or to which of my dcreditors have I esold you? Yea, to whom have I sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
2 Wherefore, when I came, there was no man; when I acalled, yea, there was none to answer. O house of Israel, is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I bdry up the csea, I make their drivers a wilderness and their efish to stink because the waters are dried up, and they die because of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with ablackness, and I make bsackcloth their covering.
4 The Lord God hath given me the atongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O house of Israel. When ye are weary he waketh morning by morning. He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned.


All right friends, here we are again with some rich Isaiah symbolism that is easy to get lost in BUT it must be important to understand or Jacob wouldn't be teaching it to his people and Nephi wouldn't be recording it, right? So stay with me here!!! : )

In chapter 6 verse 6 Isaiah refers to a "standard" that the Lord will set up to His people. Here is a great quote on what that symbolizes.

“This Church is the standard which Isaiah said the Lord would set up for the people in the latter days. This Church was given to be a light to the world and to be a standard for God’s people and for the Gentiles to seek to. This Church is the ensign on the mountain spoken of by the Old Testament prophets. It is the way, the truth, and the life” (Marion G. Romney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1961, p. 119).

These pages also refer to the relationship the Jews will have with the Savior. In today's "politically correct" world this is tricky to discuss because it involves religion and politics, both hot button areas. Let me be clear that I love and respect Jewish people and I am so sad for the pain and suffering that has been their burden for so long. I find today's Mid-East Conflict to be so hard for both sides involved. During my time at BYU's Jerusalem Center I came to know and care for people in the Jewish faith and the Muslim faith. I truly hope that their suffering can come to an end soon. In this (very heavy) quote from "Doctrines of Salvation" we learn so much about how the Messiah will manifest Himself again to the Jews:

“Zechariah is another prophet who has plainly spoken of these great events. According to his predictions the nations will gather and lay siege to Jerusalem. Part of the city will fall, with dire consequences to its inhabitants, when a great earthquake will come, the Mount of Olives will cleave in twain, and the persecuted people will flee into this valley for safety. At that particular time will the Savior come as their Deliverer and show them his hands and his feet. They will look upon him and ask him where he received his wounds, and he will tell them they were received in the house of his friends—he is Jesus Christ, their Redeemer. Then will they fall to the ground and mourn, every family apart, because their ancestors persecuted their King and the children have followed in the footsteps of the fathers.
“At that time shall come the redemption of the Jews. Jerusalem shall then be rebuilt and the promises that it shall become a holy city will be fulfilled. The punishment which shall come upon those who lay siege to this land will be their destruction. The prophets have portrayed this in much detail with all its horrors” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:47).