(This post is still under construction: it should be obvious where I revert to my own notes.)
Introduction
The priests of Noah asked Abinadi about Isaiah 52:7-10. It may have been because Abinadi was proclaiming doom and gloom, and they asked, “Why aren’t you bringing ‘good tidings of good’?” Or it could have been simply that Isaiah is often hard to understand and they wanted to trip him up. The record doesn’t really say.
D&C 113:7-10 asks about the first verses of the chapter:
7 Questions by Elias Higbee: What is meant by the command in Isaiah, 52d chapter, 1st verse, which saith: Put on thy strength, O Zion — and what people had Isaiah reference to?
8 He had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion, and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she, Zion, has a right to by lineage; also to return to that power which she had lost.
Like all prophecy, it doesn’t just mean one thing at one time; He had reference to those whom God should call in any time who should hold the power of the priesthood. The priests of Noah had the priesthood, and since it was the time of the Old Testament, they probably got it by lineage: Jacob was the high priest under Nephi, and his descendants were the prophets until Amaleki, who had no children. Amaleki’s brother went with Zeniff, so it’s probable that either Abinadi or Alma was one of his descendants and received the priesthood by lineage. Isaiah and Abinadi are exhorting the priesthood to return to that power which they had lost through iniquity.
9 What are we to understand by Zion loosing herself from the bands of her neck; 2d verse?
10 We are to understand that the scattered remnants are exhorted to return to the Lord from whence they have fallen; which if they do, the promise of the Lord is that he will speak to them, or give them revelation. See the 6th, 7th, and 8th verses. The bands of her neck are the curses of God upon her, or the remnants of Israel in their scattered condition among the Gentiles.
Abinadi says, if you were righteous, the Lord would speak to you himself instead of sending me to tell you about your wickedness.
This part of Isaiah is quoted over and over again in the Book of Mormon. Lehi quotes it to his sons Laman and Lemuel in their patriarchal blessing:
13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.
14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth.
(2 Nephi 1:13-14)
Lehi’s telling Laman to return to the power of the priesthood to which he had the right—he was first born—and that if he would, the Lord would speak to him. Laman and Lemuel themselves admitted that God didn’t right after Nephi saw the Tree of Life:
7 And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive-tree, and also concerning the Gentiles.
8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?
9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.
10 Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?
11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? –If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.
(1 Nephi 15:7-11)
Jacob used it to call the Nephites to repentance:
11 O my brethren, hearken unto my words; arouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of hell that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death.
(Jacob 3:11)
Alma used almost the same words to speak to the Zoramites, those who had known the gospel but had fallen away:
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
(Alma 32:27)
And as we’ll see at the end, Moroni says it to us.
Context
The part of Isaiah that Abinadi quotes and explains is the middle of a large block of Messianic prophecy. The Book of Mormon quotes chapters 48 through 54 of Isaiah in their entirety, and has the same number of chapters of commentary on these passages.
| Isaiah | Quoted in | Commentary |
| 48-49 | 1 Nephi 20-21 | 1 Nephi 19, 22-23 |
| 50-52:2 | 2 Nephi 7-8 | 2 Nephi 6, 9-10 |
| 52:7-10 | Mosiah 15 | Mosiah 12-15 |
| 52:7-15 | 3 Nephi 20 | 3 Nephi 21 |
| 53 | Mosiah 14 | Mosiah 15 |
| 54 | 3 Nephi 22 | 3 Nephi 23 |
Christ himself said,
11 Ye remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled–behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them.
(3 Nephi 20:11)
Highlights
We start with the covenant promises of land (the Celestial Kingdom) and seed (eternal families):
18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
(Isaiah 48:18-22, emphasis mine)
The promise depends on preaching the gospel = god-story = good news = euangelio = beautiful angel.
Next, a prophecy about Christ and Joseph Smith:
1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me.
(Isaiah 49:1-2)
Both Jesus’ and Joseph’s names were known long before they were born. The sharp sword is the word of God, with two edges. The word edge in Hebrew is literally “teeth,” and Paul says
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(Hebrews 4:12)
God makes the sword into a sickle in D&C 33:
1 Behold, I say unto you, my servants Ezra and Northrop, open ye your ears and hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, whose word is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, soul and spirit; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
2 For verily, verily, I say unto you that ye are called to lift up your voices as with the sound of a trump, to declare my gospel unto a crooked and perverse generation.
3 For behold, the field is white already to harvest; and it is the eleventh hour, and the last time that I shall call laborers into my vineyard.
…
8 Open your mouths and they shall be filled, and you shall become even as Nephi of old, who journeyed from Jerusalem in the wilderness.
9 Yea, open your mouths and spare not, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your backs, for lo, I am with you.
10 Yea, open your mouths and they shall be filled, saying: Repent, repent, and prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
(D&C 33:1-3,8-10)
Again, the emphasis is missionary work. The imagery continues in the Isaiah verse with the polished shaft in the quiver. In Hebrew, MVRH is
1) an archer. The arrows in the Liahona pointed the way to go; on the Salt Lake Temple, the pointer stars in the Big Dipper aim at Polaris, the unchanging point in Heaven, just as the Priesthood points at Christ.
2) the spring rain, falling like arrows from the windows of heaven. Rain lets you prosper in the land.
3) a teacher, as one who points the way.
In Isaiah 49:6, the priesthood is to be a light unto the Gentiles:
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
This command is repeated in the context of gathering Israel in D&C 86:
7 Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned.
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers–
9 For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God–
10 Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.
(Doctrine and Covenants 86:7-11)
Christ talked about being a light in the sermon on the Mount: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14). Jerusalem is the city on the hill, and during the festival of lights, the temple had enormous menorahs on its walls, shining out for everyone to see. The menorah was an almond tree, because that’s the same as Aaron’s rod—it was placed in the Ark, and overnight it blossomed and bore fruit, almonds, to show that the Levites were the chosen priesthood (Num. 17:8). “Behold, I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do” (3 Nephi 18:24).
In Isaiah 49:9-11, it talks about gathering Israel. In Isaiah 49:16, it’s blatantly Messianic: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”
There’s a strong contrast in verse 26:
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
Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
Those who refuse the doctrine of Christ, his flesh and blood, but follow their own philosophies, will necessarily eat their own flesh and blood. Nephi compares this to Laban in his commentary, drunken and literally cut off.
The first two verses of chapter 51 talk about how men and women have parallel roles in the work:
1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
Abraham is the rock, and Sarah is the quarry. When the saints wanted to build the Salt Lake temple, they went to the mountain and hewed granite out of the quarry. The rock is a male symbol: when Jacob in Beth-El (“the House of God”) dreamed of angels coming down from heaven and learning how to get back up again, he set the rock he’d used as a pillow upright and anointed it with oil.
The quarry, a hole, is female. NQB is hole, NQBH is female. HR is mountain, HRH is pregnant. Just as males go out to the Gentiles, the nations, and enable them to get to the next world by performing temple ordinances, women, through blood, water, and the spirit, perform the ordinance of birth to bring them into this world, and then teach their children.
Jer. 16:16 gathering Israel, more rock/hole imagery.
You build (BNA) a house (BYT) with sons (BN) and daughters (BT). The house of Israel is built in the temple by sealing together the generations of mankind.
Having cut ourselves off from Heavenly Father by our sins, we are adopted by Christ at baptism. We take his name and become Christians—but we mustn’t take his name in vain! We have to do what he says, be missionaries and take care of the poor, the widows, and the orphans.
I love Isaiah 51:11 for its direct simplicity:
Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
52:1-2 Garments & fire we’ve talked about before. Uncircumcized (male wickedness) and unclean (female wickedness) will no longer enter.
52:4 Exodus is the greatest epic in history. Jer 16:14-15 says that no one will mention it anymore because the gathering of Israel is even cooler, and we get to be part of it. (Holland said this to us at MTC)
52:7 Why the feet? Eph 6:13-18 “stand” (Mal 3:2), not only robes of righteousness but armor of God. TSBA (Ayin) vs TSBA (Aleph) One is armies, the other is baptize. Lord of Hosts is Lord of Armies. D&C 109:73-76
52:8 Ex 33:11, Moro 7:48, D&C 88:67-8
52:11 Ps. 51 first occurrence of “broken heart & contrite spirit”, the new required sacrifice at temple
52:12 rereward = rearguard Ex:14:19
52:15 “sprinkle” JST says gather, but why are those synonymous? 1 Pet 2, Eze 36:25-26, but especially Ex 24:14 = 3 degrees of glory, 7-8 “sprinkle” = make covenant people, 9-11 see God, take sacrament together. Then in Ex 25 they’re commanded to build the tabernacle and the ark = mercy seat.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of God; blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
53:2 tender plant = tree of life
53:3 all missionaries, esp. Abinadi feel this way
53:5-6 he/our
53:10-11 pregnant
54:1-3 gathering
54:15-17 Joseph is the Smith, What is the instrument? 2 Ne 3:12 establishing peace, enabling us to become children of God. Bible has the doctrine, but everyone disagrees on interpretation. Is God some trinity thing with three natures, or one nature in three parts, or what?
Abinadi explains:
Mosiah 15:1 God (YHWH) himself will come down among his people
15:2-3 Literally the son of the father, subjects his will to the father.
15:4 Created heaven and earth, thus is “father of heaven and earth”
15:5 Son submits his will to the father, does what father would have done, becomes the Father
Christ prays we’ll do the same & become one with them, intercessory prayer John 17:22, D&C 38:27, Moses 7:18 (As opposed to Mosiah 15:12)
Moroni 10:27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?
Moroni 10:28 I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall hiss forth from generation to generation.
Moroni 10:29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true.
Moroni 10:30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.
Moroni 10:31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.
Moroni 10:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
Moroni 10:33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
Moroni 10:34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.
