You
can read the entire chapter at the following links: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/21?lang=eng
and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/11?lang=eng.
The
poetic imagery in 2 Nephi 19 initially refers to what we would call the First
Coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, beginning with his birth (2 Nephi 19:6 -
“For unto us a child is born”). As 2
Nephi 19 continues, and through 2 Nephi 20, it becomes clear that at a time
about 700 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah is communicating prophecies
from the Lord about events that will take place over a wide range of time. This
time period will stretch well beyond Christ’s mortal life and the immediate
aftermath of His resurrection to a time closer to our day when the covenant
people of Israel will gather in from many places. 2 Nephi 21 shows us that the
gathering will be closely connected with actions by men foreordained by the
Lord to reestablish the gospel and church of Christ on earth and to bring about
Christ’s literal Second Coming. Indeed, for Isaiah, time seems almost
irrelevant because the Lord appears to be showing him a vision of an ultimate
reality that depends on a far-off redemption to justify the sufferings the
Lord’s people will endure before then.
If
we think about the people of Nephi, there is something very similar at play for
them. A few decades previously, the Lord led them to the American continent
after their departure from a Jerusalem that was about to be sacked by Babylon.
They endured great hardship throughout the journey, yet saw mighty miracles in
their deliverance and ultimate arrival in America. However, troubles did not
cease once they established themselves in America. Family resentments and
widespread unwillingness to remember the Lord fed contention. Shortly after the
unifying father figure Lehi passed away, Nephi found it necessary to physically
separate those willing to follow His righteous teachings from the Lamanites who
rejected them.
From
2 Nephi 5 to this point, we witness Nephi and his brother Jacob doing what they
can to provide their followers a strong foundation in the Lord’s teachings so
that they and future generations can have the perspective they need to overcome
hardship and prosper through faith. Continuity with the traditions the Lord had
established with their forefathers becomes extremely important. The Nephites
have the record from Israel’s past generations from the brass plates they
obtained from Laban to go along with plates that Nephi had made after arriving
in America (1 Nephi 19) to make sure they can document events going forward.
One of the first things the Nephites do after separating from the Lamanites is to
build a temple as a sign that their covenant remains with the Lord despite
their distance from the Old World.
And
then Nephi and his brother Jacob turn their focus to reminding their people of
the prophecies that they have inherited and that remain valid and vividly
relevant in their lives. This is where Isaiah comes in. As a third witness to
bolster the credibility of the prophecies Nephi and Jacob share from their own
direct experiences with receiving revelations and visions from God. They are
showing that these new prophecies are consistent with the familiar and
widely-accepted stories from past prophets.
Of
course, the key element to these prophecies is Jesus Christ and His central
role in fulfilling the Father’s plan to save those who seek salvation. The hope
that comes from Christ’s First Coming is reinforced with the gospel’s
restoration in the latter days, and will climax with His Second Coming. This is
in addition to the healing power and comfort we can all access right now
through faith in His Atonement and our own repentance and obedience to His
word.
In
the first verse of 2 Nephi 21, Isaiah tells us of the “stem of Jesse,” and a
rod that will come from the stem. Jesse was the father of David, and we know
that Jesus is descended from David’s family line. So Jesus is the stem of
Jesse. In verses 2-9, Isaiah is clearly talking about the justice that Jesus
will bring with Him when He comes to reign over the earth in righteousness and
“reprove with equity for the meek.” This is where we get the beautiful imagery
of the wolf dwelling with the lamb in harmony, and the young child playing near
the serpent’s den without coming to harm. It is emblematic of the idea that
Christ will vanquish the pride and contention of the world by rewarding those
who have learned to keep Satan at bay with dominion over the earth. Jeremiah (a
contemporary of Lehi and Nephi, 23 and 30) and Zechariah (from
around 520 B.C.) were prophets after Isaiah (their records were not in the
brass plates that Nephi brought to the Americas) who also wrote of a “branch”
(clearly a reference to Christ) reigning personally on the earth and
establishing a millennial reign (one thousand years) of righteousness.
Remember,
we take for granted that David’s kingdom will be restored. The story of Jesus’s
mortal life and resurrection is in our historical record, as are new signs of
the regathering of Israel over the past two centuries. The people living in the
time of Isaiah and Nephi, however, are first-hand witnesses to the loss of David’s
realms to invading foreigners (first the kingdom of Israel around 720 B.C. to
the Assyrians in Isaiah’s time, then the kingdom of Judah around 600 B.C. to
the Babylonians just after Nephi and his family fled Jerusalem). Therefore, the
idea that David’s line would regain a throne of glory, and that this kingdom
would cover the entire earth (not just the little patch of territory first
given to Israel), requires a considerable exercise of faith on their part.
In
verse 10, we learn of a root of Jesse, “which shall stand for an ensign of the
people; to it shall the Gentiles seek.” In a latter-day revelation
given to Joseph Smith in 1838 on the meaning of various passages from Isaiah,
we are told that this root (which is probably also the rod that comes from the
stem) is a descendant of both Jesse and Joseph (of Egypt). He will use the keys
of the kingdom to gather the Lord’s people in the last days. From other
scripture, scholars have deduced that Joseph Smith is descended from Joseph of
Egypt, so it seems likely that he is the root of Jesse. He is not the Messiah.
That role is reserved solely for Jesus. But Joseph Smith has played an
extremely important role as the prophet who brought forth the Lord’s gospel and
church in the latter days.
The
rest of the chapter is filled with language of great hope and power for those
who have endured hardship as the Lord’s people. For the Nephites, who are getting
used to a life far removed from familiar surroundings, and are learning to cope
with being a target of their brothers’ resentments, this hopefulness is
particularly important. Near the end of the chapter, Isaiah’s reference to a
future day when the Lord will strike the “tongue of the Red Sea” (verse 15)
connects the latter-day gathering with the most famous Biblical gathering of
all—Moses bringing the Israelites in Egypt together for their exodus from Pharaoh
and his armies.
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