From the Desolate Vineyard to the Majestic Ensign - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Fifteen (2 Nephi 15 and Isaiah 5)

Much of Isaiah’s writing is allegorical, which means that some of the expressions he uses might not be precisely verifiable statements of fact. Rather, these expressions make their point in a more symbolic manner. It does not take away from the truth or importance of what Isaiah says. In fact, an allegory can often be more powerful than a literal assertion of truth, as we know from the parables Jesus taught.

In this chapter, Isaiah begins with a parable of his own, sometimes known as the “parable of the vineyard.” The vines represent the Lord’s covenant people (Israel), and the vineyard represents the world Israel lives in. Nothing could be more true to life than what we learn almost right away. Despite the master of the vineyard (the Lord) doing everything possible to nurture his vines, providing them with the most favorable conditions, they produce wild grapes (verse 2). In other words, the “fruits” of the Lord’s people are very much flawed.

What ensues seems to be an unorthodox gardening technique. Instead of coddling his vines with even better conditions, the Lord allows the vines to experience greater adversity. He takes away protective hedges and walls, and allows thorns and drought to afflict his plants. What do the Lord’s new gardening methods accomplish? Well, we don’t precisely know from the parable itself. Strictly speaking, Isaiah’s description of the vineyard ends in verse 10 after he reports that instead of being productive of themselves, the people of Israel are left desolate because they oppress others in an attempt to steal and scavenge what these others produce.

It’s a bleak tale, and as it ends, Isaiah continues by describing the very harrowing account of the captivity that Israel has brought upon itself. In what way have the Lord’s covenant people become prisoners? We do have historical evidence of their captivity under people such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and (later) Greeks and Romans, but the most grievous form of captivity Isaiah describes is the Israelites’ own tragic choice to become slaves to sin. Verse 18 observes that many have bound themselves with “cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope.”

Even though Isaiah doesn’t specifically explain the Lord’s reasoning for subjecting Israel to greater adversity, in other scriptures it is made clear that doing so reminds people that to become better, they need to cast off their own pride and selfishness, and focus on how they can look to the Lord for his example of love and service. Ultimately, there needs to be a recognition that we need God in order for us to have true happiness and prosperity—not the counterfeit version of temporarily glorifying ourselves at others’ expense.

Isaiah’s words may seem harsh, but by laying bare our own tendencies to commit sin, he is doing us an important service. Maybe if we are forewarned, we can make an effort to avoid the traps toward which Satan wants to lead us. Two of the particularly dangerous traps that Isaiah points out in this chapter are

·       When we think we know better than others, including God, and are stubbornly unwilling to take counsel.

(This is exemplified in verse 19 when Isaiah describes people of Israel who are deluded enough to think that they are in a position to tell God what he should do.)

·       When we rationalize our evil thoughts and deeds, and in doing so unfairly demonize those things which are in fact good and virtuous.

(Verse 20 is one of Isaiah’s most compellingly poetic lines: “Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” It also is darkly prophetic of all ages of human civilization, including ours, when we find men, women and societies willing to encourage, legalize or even impose immoral practices by unfairly condemning bedrock, time-tested principles in a way that forces even the most stalwart defenders of righteousness to draw upon every ounce of strength and discernment they have in reserve in order not to be deceived.)

In verse 13, Isaiah reveals that, ultimately, it is lack of knowledge that leads to captivity. Knowledge, in this case, seems to focus on an understanding of how true happiness and strength comes only through living principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ—faith, hope, charity, humility and sacrifice.

At the point where Isaiah’s words have made us think that the Israelites’ situation is almost without hope, the tone shifts at the end of verse 25 with the familiar reminder that the Lord’s hand remains outstretched to his covenant people, to his children. And then Isaiah reinforces this by describing how the Lord will swiftly and powerfully “lift up an ensign to the nations from far” (verse 26).

This ensign is the restored gospel of Christ, which continues to spread across the globe and grow. In Isaiah’s telling, once the ensign is revealed, many among the nations of the earth will respond positively. These will be the Lord’s covenant people, and like the pillar of cloud and fire described by Isaiah in the previous chapter, the image of many people coming together in the Lord’s righteous cause with a “roar like young lions” (verse 29) is meant to give courage to us who want to be righteous, and pause to those who would oppose the Lord’s cause.

You can read the entire chapter at these links: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/15?lang=eng and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/5?lang=eng.