Isaiah
50 or 2 Nephi 7
Chapter 7
Jacob continues
reading from Isaiah: Isaiah speaks messianically—The Messiah will have the
tongue of the learned—He will give His back to the smiters—He will not be
confounded—Compare Isaiah
50. About 559–545 B.C.
Verses 1-3 a call to Israel to return to the Lord and trust
in His strength
1 aYea,
for thus saith the Lord: Have I put thee away, or have I cast thee off forever?
For thus saith the Lord: Where is the bbill
of your mother’s cdivorcement?
To whom have I put thee away, or to which of my dcreditors
have I esold
you? Yea, to whom have I sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold
yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. In Deut. 24:1-4 the law states that a man give his wicked
wife a formal bill of divorcement. The
Lord has not given Israel a divorce, He has not sold her to someone to pay his
debts, for he has never been in debt.
Who have I given you to? You just
left me and although we are separated we are not divorced.
2 Wherefore, when I came, there
was no man; when I acalled,
yea, there was none to answer. O house of Israel, is my hand shortened at all
that it cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I bdry
up the csea,
I make their drivers
a wilderness and their efish
to stink because the waters are dried up, and they die because of thirst. Verses 2-3 indicate that at any time, the Lord could have
returned and redeemed Israel if she had just called for his help. In our modern scriptures he says the same
thing in D&C 133:66-69 He wants her
to know that he has the power to help and to redeem her if she has put herself
in bondage. He had in Moses’s day dried
up the sea and made the fish stink (Ex.7:21, 14:26-31)
3 I clothe the heavens with ablackness,
and I make bsackcloth
their covering. This seems to refer to the time where
darkness covered Egypt also in Moses day, (Ex. 10:21) Also at the second coming
the heavens will be darkened and the wicked will mourn in sackcloth, so the
Lord describes how he will be merciful to those who will follow him, but the
consequences of rejecting the Lord. Sackcloth is usually made of Goats hair and
is worn as a sign of humility or repentance.
I think that it may reference the spiritual darkness when the heavens
are dark or not communicating with man, because the people have rejected the
Lord, and are not requesting his help or redemptive power..
Verses
4-9 the third servant song
These
verses most likely relate to Jesus Christ and describes what he goes through,
but many parts can be seen in the lives of the prophets of the Lord who have
been rejected by the people.
4 The Lord God hath given me the
atongue
of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O
house of Israel. When ye are weary he waketh morning by morning. He waketh mine
ear to hear as the learned. Verses 4-5 outline the ministry
of the servant, which is to hear and speak the word of God, he is not
rebellious, nor does he turn from his labors.
6 I gave my back to the asmiter,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from bshame
and spitting. This verse is very Messianic, He was
publically beaten, and had his beard plucked out which was a great sign of
disgrace or dishonor, for they looked at the beard as a sign of freedom and
respect. This may give the turning of
the other cheek a little more meaning. (Matt 5:39) He was also mocked and spit
upon by the Roman soldiers, along with others
7 For the Lord God will help me,
therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be aashamed.
Just as the Father upheld Christ so will he do the same
for each of us. We can endure all asked
of us, for it will work for our good.
8 And the Lord is near, and he ajustifieth
me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let
him come near me, and I will bsmite
him with the strength of my mouth. In all that the
innocent suffer they should not be ashamed, for the wicked are only condemning
themselves before the Lord, and will suffer themselves for their works.
9 For the Lord God will help me.
And all they who shall acondemn
me, behold, all they shall bwax
old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up. Don’t
worry about what the wicked do for they will wax old and perish as a garment
and rot away, you will be out of their reach forever.
Verses
10-11 An injunction to follow the servant, encouragement to the faithful and of
warning to the unfaithful.
10 Who is among you that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the avoice
of his servant, that bwalketh
in darkness and hath no light? We should be like the
one who believes the Lord and follows the counsel of his servant, even when we
don’t understand or see what the Lord is doing.
11 Behold all ye that kindle
fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of ayour
fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. bThis
shall ye have of mine hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow. This refers to the wicked who try to walk in the light of their own fire,
and reject the Lord, and his word and try to become a law unto themselves.
D&C 1:16 says this about this group of people. “They seek not the Lord to
establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, after the
image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world.” There is no
righteous reward for those who refuse to follow the Lord. They shall suffer a miserable fate, even
eternal sorrow.
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