2 Nephi 18 or Isaiah 8
By
Jeffrey Bushman Aug. 2017
Chapter
18
Christ will be as a
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense—Seek the Lord, not peeping
wizards—Turn to the law and to the testimony for guidance—Compare Isaiah 8. About
559–545 B.C.
This chapter will be
Isaiah telling all of Judah about Assyria and not just the king.
1
Moreover, the word of
the Lord said unto me: Take thee a great aroll,
and write in it with a man’s pen(HEB an engraving
tool of a man), concerning bMaher-shalal-hash-baz.(HEB To speed to the spoil, he
hasteneth the prey) . The Lord wants the people to know his word so the prophet wrote this
down, concerning what would happen to them, written on a tablet or large
parchment. This prophecy was probably in
734 B.C. because Israel was attacked in 732 see v 3-4
2
And I took unto me
faithful awitnesses
to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. This prophecy to tell the people that an Assyrian attack would
happen soon and he has witnesses, besides himself of the word of the Lord.
3 And I went unto
the prophetess(his wife); and she conceived
and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me: aCall his name,
Maher-shalal-hash-baz. To speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey
4
For behold, athe child
shall bnot
have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, before the riches of Damascus
and the cspoil
of dSamaria
shall be taken away before the king of eAssyria.
. Before Isaiah’s wife had a son, and before he could talk the
invasion came. Judah then had proof that
what Isaiah was prophecing about, comes to pass. They would be wise to listen.
5 The Lord spake also unto me again, saying:
6
Forasmuch as this
people refuseth the waters of aShiloah
that go softly, and rejoice in bRezin
and Remaliah’s son; Shiloah was the source of
water for Jerusalem coming from the Gihon spring in the Kidron Valley. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah hewed a tunnel to bring
this water into Jerusalem. It is
symbolic of Christ as the living water that preserves and cares for us, giving
direction with his spirit., but Judah’s leaders would reject the Lord offer of
protection, and would suffer v8 the waters of Assyria to overflow them also as
Assyria conquers Israel. They would rejoice in the defeat of Rezin and
Remaliah’s son or Syria and Israel.
7
Now therefore,
behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them(IE upon
northern Israel first) the waters of the river, strong and many, even
the king of aAssyria
and all his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all
his banks. Waters of the river is
the army of Assyria.
8
And he shall pass (IE Assyria will penetrate Judah also) through Judah; he shall overflow and go over,
he shall areach
even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of
thy land, O (IE the land of the future birth of
Immanuel) Immanuel. Talks about how much land
Assyria will take but then repeats for the 2nd time, Immanuel or God
is with us. Assyria would flow around Judah even to their necks.
9
aAssociate
(IE Form alliances) yourselves, O ye people,
and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear all ye of far countries; gird
yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be
broken in pieces. . Don’t gird yourselves with your weapons and make alliances with
other nations to help you. If you do you
will be broken in pieces. This is repeated 3 times to shows its importance.
10
Take counsel
together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand;
for God is with us (IE Judah ‘land of Immanuel’
will be spared) Ps. 46:7. This is the 3rd time Isaiah has said that “God is with
us” you need to follow him and he will deliver.
Now Isaiah talks about instruction he has received from the Lord for
his life.
11
For the Lord spake
thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the
way of this people, saying: : I was commanded not to teach this part to the people..
12
Say ye not, A
confederacy(IE Judah should not rely on secret
plots with others for safety), to all to whom this people shall say, A aconfederacy;
neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Don’t
talk to them about a confederacy, they
call everything a conspiracy don’t fear what they fear or be afraid, don’t
teach them what they want to hear, but seek
only the Lord
13
Sanctify the Lord of
Hosts himself, and let him be your fear (IE Be
reverent and humble before God), and let him be your dread. . Isaiah, you need to
hearken to the Lord and make him holy in your sight and he is the one you
should dread. He is a lot more powerful
than man that you are prophesying against.
14
And he shall be for a
sanctuary(IE security for those who trust him, but
dismay and suffering for unbelievers, Ezek. 11:16); but for a astone
(cornerstone) of bstumbling,
and for a crock
of doffense
to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and a esnare
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. . The Lord will be your
sanctuary, but will be a trap and snare for many of both Israel and Judah, like
it was when Christ was born and lived in Judah, many refused him and would not
follow but relied on Rome.
15
And many among them
shall astumble
and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. . Many will stumble and
many taken away into captivity. Sounds
like the time when Christ lived in his mortal ministry, and also us in the last
days. Look at the 5 verbs in this verse,
they show a downward pattern, for those who reject the Lord. In our day many
stumble-they falter in their faith; they fall-they commit sins; they are
broken-they suffer consequences for their transgressions; they are snared-they
are enticed by Satan’s temptations; they are capture-they are turned over to
the buffetings of Satan.
16
aBind
up the testimony, seal the law(HEB teachings or
doctrines) among my disciples. Bare your witness and
seal up your testimony for they will be used to judge this people.
17
And I will wait upon
the Lord, that ahideth
his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. . Isaiah promises saying,
I will follow the Lord , even if others don’t believe he is real, because they
can’t see the works of his hands.
18
Behold, I and the
children whom the Lord hath given me are for asigns
(IE The names of Isaiah and his sons mean
respectively: ‘Jehovah saves’; ‘He hastens the prey’; and ‘A remnant shall
return’) and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, which
dwelleth in Mount Zion. The Lord has given my family and myself for a sign from the Lord to
guide you.
19
And when they shall
say unto you: Seek unto them that have afamiliar spirits (TG Sorcery; Spirits unclean, Evil, Unclean), and unto bwizards
(IE sorcerers, soothsayers) that peep and
mutter—cshould not
a people seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead?( or on behalf of the dead) Why follow men who deceive you, when you have the Lord to tell you
all things?
20
To the alaw
and to the testimony; and if they(IE the
spiritualist media) speak not according to this word, it is because
there is no light in them. Also if one does not
speak according to his God’s laws given by Moses and the words of the other prophets,
it is because they have no light in them, and are living in the dark, meaning
they are not of God. You should try all things spoken by others on how it fits
in with revealed doctrine. If it is
different reject their teachings. Trust what you know to be true and doubt if
it goes against what you know to be true, instead of the other way around.
21
And they (IE Israel, would be taken into captivity because they
would not hearken)shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry; and
it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret
themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. They will be distressed
and hungry and will be angry and look up to God and curse their king.
22 And they shall look unto the earth and
behold trouble, and adarkness( Darkness, Spiritual),
dimness (HEB dark affliction) of anguish,
and shall be driven to darkness. . Instead of looking to heaven they will look down and will be thrust
into utter darkness.
No comments:
Post a Comment