Isaiah 4
or 2 Nephi 14
By Jeffrey Bushman Aug. 2017
Chapter 14
The JST places verse one
of this chapter at the end of the previous chapter
1 aAnd in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man,
saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be
called by thy name to take away our breproach. (The stigma of being unmarried and childless) The
footnote talks about the scarcity of men because of war, and will make it so 7
women will take hold of one men and ask him to marry them and they are willing
to pay their own expenses for the chance to bear a child and the reproach that
came from that stigma in Isaiah’s time. President Wilford Woodruff wrote the
following experience he had about this verse
Wilford Woodruff
I had been reading the
revelations...[when] a strange stupor came over me and I recognized that I was
in the Tabernacle at Ogden. I arose to speak and said...I will answer you right
here what is coming to pass shortly....I then looked in all directions...and I
found the same mourning in every place throughout the Land. It seemed as though
I was above the earth, looking down to it as I passed along on my way east and
I saw the roads full of people principally women with just what they could
carry in bundles on their backs...It was remarkable to me that there were so
few men among them...Wherever I went I saw...scenes of horror and desolation
rapine and death...death and destruction everywhere. I cannot paint in words
the horror that seemed to encompass me around. It was beyond description or
thought of man to conceive. I supposed that this was the End but I was here
given to understand, that the same horrors were being enacted all over the
country...Then a voice said "Now shall come to pass that which was spoken
by Isaiah the Prophet That seven women shall take hold of one man..." (Journal
of Wilford Woodruff, June 15, 1878 as taken from Isaiah: Prophet, Seer,
and Poet, by Victor L. Ludlow, p. 109)
After these horrific judgments then comes the time that all
righteous covenant people of the Lord have dreamed about.
2 In that day shall the abranch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the
earth (Christ is the spiritual food or restoration of
the gospel) excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel. KJV
2 In that day shall the abranch of the Lord be bbeautiful and glorious, and the cfruit (earth renewed, productive,
glorious)of
the earth shall be excellent and comely for
them that are descaped of Israel. The
term branch here can have several meanings. One can be that Christ is the
branch and he will bring the fruit of the gospel in its fullness again to the
earth. This will be made available for
righteous Israel to bless their lives. “Centuries
ago John Calvin saw in this verse a promise that a ‘New Church shall arise’
created by Jesus Christ himself. (Calvin Commentaries 1:152-53, as taken from Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet, by
Victor L. Ludlow, p. 110 ) Sounds like how the Church of Jesus Christ
of latter-day Saints was restored. Other
scholars believe that the branch just refers to the house of Israel and after
it is first cleansed by the Lord (see D&C112:23-26) it will then become
glorious when they associate with the Lord personally as he reigns on the
earth.
3 And it shall come to pass, they that are aleft
in Zion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that is written
among the living in Jerusalem—KJV 3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is aleft in bZion, and he that remaineth
in cJerusalem, shall be called holy, even
every one that is dwritten (i.e. those saved by approval by the Messiah) among the living
in Jerusalem:
4 When the Lord shall have awashed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have
purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment
and by the spirit of bburning. The wicked
will be destroyed by fire for their evil acts and for refusal of the atoning
blood of the Savior. Washing away the filth and purging the blood brings to
mind the ancient sacrifices in which the burnt offerings were rinsed to remove
impurities, or the cleansing atonement of Christ, and washings and
anointings. In finally bringing all
these elements together, the Lord will create the New Jerusalem, Zion. The Hebrew word here, bara, connotes an
absolute creation or salvation through him who is the “author of Salvation: see
Heb 5:8-9
When the Lord has cleansed the earth, he will set up His
dwelling and His protective presence here.
5 And the aLord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and
upon her assemblies, a bcloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by
night; for upon all the glory of Zion shall be a defence. KJV 5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount aZion, and upon her assemblies,
a bcloud and smoke by day, and the
shining of a flaming cfire by night: for upon all the
glory shall be a defence. In this
verse there seems to be protection for Zion
even before the Lord comes, in D&C 115:5-6 the Lord talks about the stakes
of Zion are for a defense and a refuge when wrath is going to be poured out on
the earth. Isaiah also describes the blessing of living with the Lord at the
time of His coming. He makes reference
to Moses’ day when the covenant people of the Lord were guided in the
wilderness by a cloud in the day time and a pillar of fire in the night
time. He will personally watch over his
people as the coming bridegroom will watch over his family giving protection
and direction and letting them partake of the Glory of the Lord. This will be much different because Moses was
the only one to approach the tabernacle when it was filled with smoke or
God’s glory. It now will be available to
all, and under the tabernacle or wedding canopy, the remarriage of Yahweh and his
people, promised and prophecied in Isaiah and throughout the Old Testament,
will be consummated at last.
The Lord is preparing a people for the Millennium
6 And there
shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a
place of arefuge,
and a covert from storm and from rain.. I will conclude this chapter with a
quote from Elder Orson Pratt taken from the Journal of Discourses, volume 18:82 —“And
the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount
Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a
flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there
shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a
place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” I believe this
building is called a Tabernacle, and it will accommodate from twelve thousand
to fifteen thousand persons, and it is a tolerably cool place for the people in
the heat of summer, especially to be a shade in the day time from the heat, and
for a place of refuge and a covert from storm and from rain and tempest. I do
not think that storms or tempests would affect a congregation that might be
assembled in the Lord's Tabernacle; but I wish particularly to call your
attention to the preceding verse—“The Lord shall create upon every dwelling
place of mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and
the shining of a flame or pillar of fire by night.” I do not see any cloud
covering this house, or the congregation that is before me. What is the reason?
The time has not yet come. The time is to come when God will meet with all the
congregation of his Saints, and to show his approval, and that he does love
them, he will work a miracle by covering them in the cloud of his glory. I do
not mean something that is invisible, but I mean that same order of things
which once existed on the earth so far as the tabernacle of Moses was
concerned, which was carried in the midst of the children of Israel as they
journeyed in the wilderness. Did God manifest himself in that tabernacle that was built according to the pattern which he gave unto his
servant Moses? He did. In what way? In the day time a cloud filled that
tabernacle. The Lord intended his people to be covered with the cloud
continually, and he intended to reveal himself unto them, and to show forth his
glory more fully amongst them; but they sinned so much in his sight that he
declared—“My presence shall not go up with this people, lest I should break
forth upon them in my fury and consume them in a moment.” Because of their
wickedness he withdrew his presence, and his glory in a great measure was taken
from them; but still Moses was permitted to enter the tabernacle, and to behold
the glory of God, and it is said that he talked with the Lord face to face—a
blessing which God did intend to bestow upon all Israel had they kept his law
and had not hardened their hearts against him. But in the latter days there
will be a people so pure in Mount Zion, with a house established upon the tops
of the mountains, that God will manifest himself, not only in their Temple and
upon all their assemblies, with a visible cloud during the day, but when the
night shall come, if they shall be assembled for worship, God will meet with
them by his pillar of fire; and when they retire to their habitations, behold
each habitation will be lighted up by the glory of God—a pillar of flaming fire
by night.
Did you
ever hear of any city that was thus favored and blessed since the day that
Isaiah delivered this prophecy? No, it is a latter-day work, one that God must
consummate in the latter times when he begins to reveal himself, and show forth
his power among the nations.
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