2 Nephi 12-24

Isaiah Chapters!

Ok, I am knocking out all the Isaiah chapters in one go! Again, I want to be careful to emphasize that the Isaiah chapters are very important and packed with meaningful prophecies, doctrine, and life insights. I just don’t feel I have the time or personal understanding to do it justice. So I am going to highlight a handful of key passages from these 13 chapters and call it good.

Nephi and Jacob make it clear that they include so many Isaiah passages in their records because Isaiah clearly teaches & testifies of the Savior Jesus Christ. So I think some of the most important passages are those who prophecy of Christ—both of His 1^st coming and His 2^nd coming. Here are a few (and most of these may be familiar to you):

17:14 Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign—Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

19:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

21:1-5 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

2nd Coming Prophecies

21:6-9 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

And a few other random topics I found of interest:

15:4-6 What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes it brought forth wild grapes. And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard—I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

In this parable the Lord mourns over His vineyard that has produced wild/sour/useless grapes despite his every effort to care for it. I take two significant lessons from these passages. First, the Lord does EVERYTHING for us that we need… and ultimately each person has the choice to make their life good or not. It is up to us.

Second, when we choose to not be good, it isn’t the Lord that destroys our lives. He removes his protection and his nourishment… and then the destructive and dangerous influences in the world have full access to attack us (notice He removes the protective hedge and walls, He stops pruning and stops watering. Then it is someone/something else that “troddens down” the vineyard, and it is the briers and thorns that choke it.). The Lord doesn’t attack and destroy. He simply removes His protection if we refuse it or no longer qualify for it, and then we destroy ourselves in our vulnerability, pride, and weakness. 

12:2-3 And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

I believe these verses refer to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and specifically our temples which are the House of the Lord (and the best-known temple is in Salt Lake City, at the foot of the hills/mountains, and many nations flow unto it—for many occasions such as the semi-annual General Conference of the church, but also bigger events like the 2002 Olympic Games). 

There are many strong Isaiah passages that prophesy the destruction of the proud and arrogant in “the last days.” It would be healthy for everyone to use these verses for a careful self-analysis.

12:17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

15:14-16 Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. But the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

20:15 Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood!

15:20-23 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! Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!