In
the previous chapter, Isaiah begins by emphasizing the glories that will attend
the days leading up to and following the Lord’s Second Coming. But as the
chapter continues, we learn that as wonderful as this may sound for the Lord’s
covenant people (the Israelites), they don’t automatically share in these
glories unless they are able to humble themselves.
The
message carries over into this chapter that those who persist in pride will be
brought down. Isaiah’s images are meant to provide a vivid warning both to the
Jews of his day and to the faithful of future ages of the calamities that can
result from putting one’s trust more in other sources than in the Lord. Isaiah
wants to shake them (and us) out of the complacency that most people are
tempted to lapse into when they have possessions and privileges. He’s making
sure that we understand that today’s order can be gone tomorrow, and that the
only true safety and security is through the Lord.
The
first verses of the chapter show that things can change very suddenly. We may
seem on top of the world now, but that reality can be upended very quickly and
find us in desperate straits before we know it. It doesn’t matter how
physically strong or learned or accomplished we are. And when things fall
apart, it will partly be because no one wants to take responsibility for a
failing society. They’ll say, “No, not me,” virtually ensuring that things will
get even worse.
Why
will the Lord bring the prideful low? Because he cannot abide when those who
themselves have been given much “beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces
of the poor” (verse 15). If the leading classes are unable to take care of the
needy, it speaks to a want of virtue on their part. Maintaining the appearance
of virtue is not sufficient. And in order to teach His people about what they
need to aspire to if they are eventually to be happier and more like Him,
sometimes the Lord has to expose the lie of false virtue. Isaiah very aptly
uses the image of the “daughters of Zion” (verses 16-24) to show us that the
very people who make an effort of showing how superior they are will in fact
lose all their appeal, and the unimportant, superficial things they depended on
for their status and feeling of self-worth will turn out to have had no lasting
value.
Ultimately,
Jerusalem and all of Judah will have to fall before they can pick themselves
back up. After Isaiah’s prophecy, Jerusalem is literally sacked twice. First,
when the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and carry many away in captivity in 589
B.C. And second, when the Romans destroy the temple and force the Jews of the
area into the inconspicuous corners of the world over a period of time roughly
stretching from 70 to 120 A.D. Of course, the fall of Jerusalem is more significant
in a spiritual sense, showing that the Lord’s covenant people periodically lose
their focus. Temporal struggles are the only way to remind them that they need
to turn back to the Lord. Although these struggles seem very harsh, and have
very real consequences, in them are also the seeds of renewal. Through the
Atonement of Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation it is a part of, the Lord
will give his people another chance to follow Him and take part in the glorious
world order He promises to establish.
You
can read the entire chapter at the following links: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/13?lang=eng and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/3?lang=eng.
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