Look to Abraham (v 1-3)
The Lord reminds and comforts Israel as he commands them to "look unto the rock whence ye are hewn" and to "look unto Abraham your father" (Isaiah 51:1-2). As a continuation from the previous chapter, the Lord is trying to comfort Israel by telling her to trust in Him. He provides more evidence to Israel by showing her how He has blessed Abraham and his posterity. Abraham was a single man. Now his posterity are nations.
The covenants the Lord made with Abraham were in effect during Isaiah's time and are still in effect today. They were fulfilled and being fulfilled in Isaiah's time and they are fulfilled and still being fulfilled today.
Being heirs and descendants of Abraham, we too can receive the same blessings Abraham was promised if we keep the covenants we've made with the Lord.
Elder Nelson summarizes the blessings we will receive as we keep our covenants.
"Abraham’s posterity would be numerous, entitled to eternal increase and to bear the priesthood;
• He would become a father of many nations;
• Christ and kings would come through Abraham’s lineage;
• Certain lands would be inherited;
• All nations of the earth would be blessed by his seed;
• That covenant would be everlasting—even through “a thousand generations.”"
(Russell M. Nelson, “Children of the Covenant,” Ensign, May 1995, 32)
He references the following scriptures in his talk:
Gen. 17:1–10; Gen. 22:15–18; Gal. 3:28–29; Abr. 2:9–11.
Gen. 26:1–5, 24.
Gen. 28:1–4, 10–14; Gen. 35:9–13; Gen. 48:3–4.
1 Chr. 16:15. See also Gen. 17:1–10, 19; Lev. 26:42; Acts 3:25; LDS Bible Dictionary, “Abraham, Covenant of,” p. 602.
The Work and Glory (v 4-8)
The Lord further comforts Israel by telling her His work will last forever. In Isaiah 51:6 he says "the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished."
Like Joseph Smith has declared, the Lord's work cannot be stopped. My parents sent me a quote from Joseph Smith while they and I were on missions. They said they repeated this quote every conference and were asked to memorize it.
In the Wentworth Letter, Joseph Smith wrote, "Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." (see Joseph Smith Jr., “The Wentworth Letter,” Ensign, Jul 2002, 27)
Our Protector, Our Comforter (v 9-16)
The Lord reminds Israel that he has comforted and protected them. He has done so in the past and he will continue to do so in the future. If ever we feel fear or doubt, reading Isaiah 51:12-16 will bring us comfort.
Two Sons to Lead (v 17-23)
The Book of Mormon version of Isaiah 51 sheds some vital information that is left out in the Old Testament version. I've marked the key difference between the two sources.
Isaiah 51:19-20 says, "These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? Desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
"Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of they God."
2 Nephi 8:19-20 reads, "These two sons are come unto thee, who shall be sorry for thee—thy desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword—and by whom shall I comfort thee?
"Thy sons have fainted, save these two; they lie at the head of all the streets; as a wild bull in a net, they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God."
Ludlow notes that in Revelation 11:1-6, "John the Revelator describes two great servants of God who will stand and fight for Jerusalem against the armies of the world. For three and one-half years they will have power over the heavens, earth, and their enemies. Then they will killed." (431) The entire chapter of Revelation 11 is a great source for more information on these two prophets.
Joseph Smith also spoke of these two great prophets in D&C 77:15 teaching us that they will be "raised up to the Jewish nation in the last days, at the time of the restoration, and to prophesy to the Jews after they are gathered and have built the city of Jerusalem in the land of their fathers."
This article (Brent Bulloch, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Dec. 1981, 58–60) notes that "Two prophets will be raised up unto (not from) the Jewish nation after the gathering." They key point being that they will not be Jewish.
In another article (Daniel H. Ludlow, “The Future of the Holy Land,” Ensign, May 1972, 96) the author quotes Orson Pratt, “We might bring up, also, the declaration of John in relation to the two witnesses who are to prophecy about that period. They are to prophecy three and a half years, and their field of labor will be Jerusalem, after it shall have been rebuilt by the Jews. By means of their prophecies and the power of God attending them, the nations who are gathered together against Jerusalem will be kept at bay, these Prophets will hold them in check by their faith and power. By and by these nations overcome the two witnesses and, having finished their mission, they are slain, and their bodies will lie three days and a half in the streets of the city. Then a great earthquake will take place, and these two witnesses will be caught up to heaven.” (JD, vol. 16, p. 329. Italics added.)"
Bruce R. McConkie has also commented on these two great prophets. "These two shall be followers of that humble man, Joseph Smith, through whom the Lord of Heaven restored the fullness of his everlasting gospel in this final dispensation of grace. No doubt they will be members of the Council of the Twelve or of the First Presidency of the Church. Their prophetic ministry to rebellious Jewry shall be the same in length as was our Lord's personal ministry among their rebellious forebears." (McConkie, Bruce R. Doctrinal New Testament Commentary. 3:507-511. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-73)
On a personal note … I have always been fascinated with this prophecy. As a kid, I imagined that the whole world will see these two prophets' bodies lying in the streets dead. I can almost hear the commentary of the newscasters and the world rejoicing that they are dead. Then they will be resurrected and fear will grip the world … much like the fear that gripped the people of Ammonihah when they saw Alma and Amulek stepping out of the ruins of the prison in which they were held. The people fled before those two prophets "as a goat fleeth with her young from two lions" (Alma 14:29)
I don't know when all this will happen, but deep down inside, I feel strongly that it will happen in my lifetime.
Showing posts with label Lord's Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lord's Work. Show all posts
Monday, September 1, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Isaiah 28
Precepts, Lines, Here and There a Little
Much like learning a language or math or any science, we do not learn everything at once. We begin with the basics and then we begin to dig deeper. Learning the gospel is similar. We begin with the basics and then our knowledge is added upon.
"Precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10).
Ludlow elaborates on this concept. He teaches that precepts are eternal principals. Lines are commandments based upon those eternal principals and "here a little" is a fence or personal law designed to help individuals keep the commandments.
To clarify, he gives an example.
Isaiah's Term...........Ludlow's Term..........LDS Equivalent.........Example: Law of Life
precept..................principal..................higher law.................Life is sacred
line.......................commandment...........lesser law.................Thou shalt not kill
here a little.............fence......................personal law.............Do lot lose temper
This passage in Isaiah is also referenced in the D&C. D&C 98:11-12 reads, "And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God.
"For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept, and I will try you and prove you herewith."
D&C 128:21 also references this passage.
Christ is the Stone
Undoubtedly, Isaiah 28:16 refers to Jesus Christ. "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."
The Book of Mormon expands upon this idea of Christ being the stone. Helaman 5:12 teaches, "Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Remember, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yeah, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."
If we build our life … the way we live … upon the teachings of Christ, we will not fall for the temptations of the devil and will we produce good fruit. We will be good fruit and will not be cast out at the last day (see Alma 5:36, 52).
The Lord's Strange Work
The Lord's strange work is to bring to pass the eternal life and immortality of man (Moses 1:39).
Isaiah gives a parable to explain and teach what the Lord's strange work is. He compares a farmer preparing the land, planting and harvesting the grain to the souls of men. Not all time should be given to preparation. Each step is necessary, planned and carried out.
To me, this parable is a bit difficult to understand. Ludlow does a wonderful job explaining it.
"The means by which the Lord prepares the earth for his coming might be questioned by some people, but Isaiah answers their concerns in the last verses of chapter 28. Verses 23-29 deal with a "parable of the farmer" written in poetry. They can be divided into two segments: Isaiah first describes the method of sowing grain and then carefully distinguishes the methods used for threshing different crops:
"23Give ear and hear my voice; listen and hear my words. Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? 24Does, he [continually] tear up and harrow his land? 25Does he not rather, after leveling the surface, scatter dill and sow cummin, put the wheat in rows, barley in the appointed places and rye around its border? 26His God correctly instructs and teaches him. 27Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, neither does a cart wheel roll over cummin; but dill is beaten out with a rod and cummin with a flail. 28Grain is crushed; he will not continually thresh it, but he rolls the wheels of his cart over it, since with his horses he cannot crush it. 29Even this comes from the LORD of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. (MLB)
"In verse 23, Isaiah uses four imperatives—give, hear, listen, and hear—to alert his listeners to this important parable, which portrays why the Lord acts as he does in preparing the children for their final state. (Compare Isa. 1:2 where some of the same imperatives are used.) Verse 26, inserted between the "sowing" and "threshing" sections, provides an important key for understanding the parable. Verse 29 provides a concluding key and witness about the Lord's wisdom in all his doings.
"Sowing requires preparation. The farmer must plow, harrow, and level the ground before planting, and yet must not spend too much time in these tasks or he will not have enough growing season left for the seeds to mature (vs. 23-25). After preparing the soil, he is ready to plant each seed in its proper place. The comparatively abundant seed of the dill (or black cummin, "fitches" in the KJV) and the common cummin are used as a spice and on the crust of breads. This seed is scattered carelessly in the fields while the more valuable grain seeds, wheat and barley, are sown more carefully in the middle of the fields. Finally, the coarse, inferior rye seed is sown on the edges of the fields, which give a much lower yield. The farmer does his work carefully, using different methods for the different crops he grows. (Kaiser, Isaiah 13-39, p. 260; IDB 1:843; 2:274.)
"The threshing process also requires careful planning and the correct choice of tools and technique. The dill and cummin seeds are so small that a threshing sledge or cart is inappropriate, since the seeds would be crushed or lost. A stick is used to thresh them (v. 27). The larger and coarser grains require a heavy cart pulled by oxen, horses, or donkeys to separate the seeds from the stems and husks. The cart should not roll over the grain too long, however, or the seeds will be crushed to powder. After the threshing, a mill will eventually be used to grind the grain into flour (v. 28).
"In both the sowing and the threshing, the farmer acts with wisdom taught to man by God (vs. 26, 29). God instructs man correctly through divine counsel and wisdom, which is "wonderful" and "excellent." In other words, the Lord provides the proper instruction so that the farmer may have a successful harvest.
"The key to understanding this parable is the analogy between the farmer's technique and God's plan for "harvesting" souls. God's activities are similarly purposeful, orderly, and discriminating. He cannot spend all of his time preparing the earth for his children; finally he must send them there. As people grow, they must have "threshing" or testing, which differs from person to person. The threshing process suggests three elements about God's plan: (1) sifting the grain from the chaff suggests the separation of the righteous from the wicked; (2) the harshness of the threshing process suggests suffering as a necessary condition for the emergence of good, worthy souls (good, clean grain); and (3) the care of the divine Harvester in dealing with the more precious kinds of grain suggests the particular attention the Lord would give to the house of Israel and those foreordained to special callings. (IB 5:321.) God will not punish (thresh) his children beyond what they deserve. Isaiah emphasizes God's perfect wisdom in sowing and threshing his children until he achieves a full, complete harvest. (See Rom. 11:33; Jacob 4:8-10.)
Much like learning a language or math or any science, we do not learn everything at once. We begin with the basics and then we begin to dig deeper. Learning the gospel is similar. We begin with the basics and then our knowledge is added upon.
"Precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10).
Ludlow elaborates on this concept. He teaches that precepts are eternal principals. Lines are commandments based upon those eternal principals and "here a little" is a fence or personal law designed to help individuals keep the commandments.
To clarify, he gives an example.
Isaiah's Term...........Ludlow's Term..........LDS Equivalent.........Example: Law of Life
precept..................principal..................higher law.................Life is sacred
line.......................commandment...........lesser law.................Thou shalt not kill
here a little.............fence......................personal law.............Do lot lose temper
This passage in Isaiah is also referenced in the D&C. D&C 98:11-12 reads, "And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God.
"For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept, and I will try you and prove you herewith."
D&C 128:21 also references this passage.
Christ is the Stone
Undoubtedly, Isaiah 28:16 refers to Jesus Christ. "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."
The Book of Mormon expands upon this idea of Christ being the stone. Helaman 5:12 teaches, "Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Remember, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yeah, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."
If we build our life … the way we live … upon the teachings of Christ, we will not fall for the temptations of the devil and will we produce good fruit. We will be good fruit and will not be cast out at the last day (see Alma 5:36, 52).
The Lord's Strange Work
The Lord's strange work is to bring to pass the eternal life and immortality of man (Moses 1:39).
Isaiah gives a parable to explain and teach what the Lord's strange work is. He compares a farmer preparing the land, planting and harvesting the grain to the souls of men. Not all time should be given to preparation. Each step is necessary, planned and carried out.
To me, this parable is a bit difficult to understand. Ludlow does a wonderful job explaining it.
"The means by which the Lord prepares the earth for his coming might be questioned by some people, but Isaiah answers their concerns in the last verses of chapter 28. Verses 23-29 deal with a "parable of the farmer" written in poetry. They can be divided into two segments: Isaiah first describes the method of sowing grain and then carefully distinguishes the methods used for threshing different crops:
"23Give ear and hear my voice; listen and hear my words. Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? 24Does, he [continually] tear up and harrow his land? 25Does he not rather, after leveling the surface, scatter dill and sow cummin, put the wheat in rows, barley in the appointed places and rye around its border? 26His God correctly instructs and teaches him. 27Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, neither does a cart wheel roll over cummin; but dill is beaten out with a rod and cummin with a flail. 28Grain is crushed; he will not continually thresh it, but he rolls the wheels of his cart over it, since with his horses he cannot crush it. 29Even this comes from the LORD of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. (MLB)
"In verse 23, Isaiah uses four imperatives—give, hear, listen, and hear—to alert his listeners to this important parable, which portrays why the Lord acts as he does in preparing the children for their final state. (Compare Isa. 1:2 where some of the same imperatives are used.) Verse 26, inserted between the "sowing" and "threshing" sections, provides an important key for understanding the parable. Verse 29 provides a concluding key and witness about the Lord's wisdom in all his doings.
"Sowing requires preparation. The farmer must plow, harrow, and level the ground before planting, and yet must not spend too much time in these tasks or he will not have enough growing season left for the seeds to mature (vs. 23-25). After preparing the soil, he is ready to plant each seed in its proper place. The comparatively abundant seed of the dill (or black cummin, "fitches" in the KJV) and the common cummin are used as a spice and on the crust of breads. This seed is scattered carelessly in the fields while the more valuable grain seeds, wheat and barley, are sown more carefully in the middle of the fields. Finally, the coarse, inferior rye seed is sown on the edges of the fields, which give a much lower yield. The farmer does his work carefully, using different methods for the different crops he grows. (Kaiser, Isaiah 13-39, p. 260; IDB 1:843; 2:274.)
"The threshing process also requires careful planning and the correct choice of tools and technique. The dill and cummin seeds are so small that a threshing sledge or cart is inappropriate, since the seeds would be crushed or lost. A stick is used to thresh them (v. 27). The larger and coarser grains require a heavy cart pulled by oxen, horses, or donkeys to separate the seeds from the stems and husks. The cart should not roll over the grain too long, however, or the seeds will be crushed to powder. After the threshing, a mill will eventually be used to grind the grain into flour (v. 28).
"In both the sowing and the threshing, the farmer acts with wisdom taught to man by God (vs. 26, 29). God instructs man correctly through divine counsel and wisdom, which is "wonderful" and "excellent." In other words, the Lord provides the proper instruction so that the farmer may have a successful harvest.
"The key to understanding this parable is the analogy between the farmer's technique and God's plan for "harvesting" souls. God's activities are similarly purposeful, orderly, and discriminating. He cannot spend all of his time preparing the earth for his children; finally he must send them there. As people grow, they must have "threshing" or testing, which differs from person to person. The threshing process suggests three elements about God's plan: (1) sifting the grain from the chaff suggests the separation of the righteous from the wicked; (2) the harshness of the threshing process suggests suffering as a necessary condition for the emergence of good, worthy souls (good, clean grain); and (3) the care of the divine Harvester in dealing with the more precious kinds of grain suggests the particular attention the Lord would give to the house of Israel and those foreordained to special callings. (IB 5:321.) God will not punish (thresh) his children beyond what they deserve. Isaiah emphasizes God's perfect wisdom in sowing and threshing his children until he achieves a full, complete harvest. (See Rom. 11:33; Jacob 4:8-10.)
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