What road are we heading down now?

--> Thoughts on the Supreme Court’s Unwise and Unconstitutional Decision Redefining Marriage, being a varied collection of everything on my mind these past couple of momentous days, published on Tuesday, June 30, 2015, as the Final Word in our family’s monthly newsletter
 

I

Some years ago I started reading a book by David Kupelian published in 2005 entitled The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom.

An overview of the book states that “Americans have come to tolerate, embrace and even champion many things that would have horrified their parents’ generation—from easy divorce and unrestricted abortion-on-demand to ex­treme body piercing and teaching homosexuality to grade-schoolers. Does that mean today's Americans are inherently more morally confused and depraved than previous generations? Of course not, says vet­eran journalist David Kupelian. But they have fallen victim to some of the most stunningly brilliant and compelling marketing campaigns in modern history.

“The Marketing of Evil reveals how much of what Americans once almost universally abhorred has been packaged, perfumed, gift-wrapped and sold to them as though it had great value. Highly skilled marketers, playing on our deeply felt national values of fairness, generosity and tolerance, have persuaded us to embrace as enlightened and noble that which all previous generations since America's founding re­garded as grossly self-destructive—in a word, evil.”

I stated that I had started the book. I did not finish it. After reading a couple of chapters—one about the elimination of prayer and religion from schools specifically and the public square generally, the other about making the unspoken evil of homo­sexuality standard and acceptable—I became so agitated, worked up, and disgusted that I could not continue. It was something like playing in a sewer.

The two topics I did read about—the assault on religion and the normalization of homosex­uality—are of course related. And we’ve seen them coming to full fruition in this generation as our country be­comes ever more secularized and drifts further from the spiritual moorings that this nation was founded upon.

II

The Book of Mormon, which was written for our day, contains numerous warnings about what led to the downfall and eventual destruction of at least two previous civilizations that existed on this continent:

“And now,” wrote the prophet Moroni near the end of the Book of Mormon record, “we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity” (Ether 2:9).

Nearly 400 years earlier, as Mosiah was giving the Nephite nation a new form of government, he warned prophetically, “And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land” (Mosiah 29:27).

And, sadly, just six decades later, we read, “For as their laws and their government were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted” (Helaman 5:2).

This is not just interesting history. These are warnings intended specifically for our day.

III

When I was a grade schooler in Idaho in the early 1960s, we began each school day by reading from the Bible. I do not remember that we prayed at school.

When the first school prayer cases were decided, President David O. McKay said, “By making that [written prayers formulated by the New York state board of regents] unconstitutional, the Supreme Court of the United States severs the connecting cord be­tween the public schools of the United States and the source of divine intelligence, the Creator him­self” (“Parental Respon­sibility,” Relief Society Magazine, Dec. 1962, 878).

Six months later, just after the Supreme Court’s decision forbid­ding Bible reading in public schools, President McKay said, “Recent rulings of the Su­preme Court would have all reference to a Creator eliminated from our public schools and public offices.

“It is a sad day when the Supreme Court of the United States would discourage all reference in our schools to the influence of the phrase ’divine provi­dence’ as used by our founders of the Declaration of Independence.

“Evidently the Supreme Court misinterprets the true meaning of the First Amendment, and are now leading a Christian nation down the road to atheism” (Church News, June 22, 1963, 2).

President McKay was not a lawyer. He was not a judge. But he was a prophet of God, a seer and a revelator. He could see the path we were beginning down and knew where it would lead. We are well along that path now.

There is silliness about (that’s my kind word, per­verseness would be more accurate) that the United States is not a Christian nation. America was founded as a Christian nation. Our founding documents, to­gether with reliable rhetoric from the remarkable men who founded this country, were that God’s hand was in the enterprise. Our laws were based in the Judeo-Christian morality taught in the Bible. Our belief, until quite recently at least, was that America was something special in the world, a city upon a hill, a beacon for the rest of humanity that stood against the forces of tyranny and evil and oppression.

IV

And that brings us down to this last week, when on Friday morning, June 26, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 split vote re­leased its ruling on so-called same-sex marriage. Five justices, elected by no one, legislated that same-sex marriage would now be legal in all 50 states. From my van­tage point, the Supreme Court got this one supremely wrong on at least two counts: as a moral issue and as a legal issue.

V

First, as a moral issue. Modern prophets have taught, “Man’s laws can­not make moral what God has de­clared immoral” (Dallin H. Oaks, “No Other Gods,” Ensign, Nov. 2013, 75) and “Sin, even if legalized by man, is still sin in the eyes of God” (Russell M. Nel­son, “Decisions for Eternity,” Ensign, Nov. 2013, 108).

The scriptures and the teachings of modern prophets and apostles are clear that homosexual behavior is a sin, just as fornication and adultery and various other corrupt practices that are commonly tolerated in our society are sins. Sin is sin. God defines that; I do not.

Now that probably sounds very bigoted. Those who know me at all know that I haven’t got a bigoted bone in my body. I am simply stating what should be obvious and self-evident. I know people who are gay. I may not agree with them, but I still respect them. I do not hate or mock or belittle them. I respect their rights, including now in every jurisdiction their right to marry. I do not disparage what they have been through or what they have had to contend with. God is the judge; I am not.

“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense” (attributed to Rick Warren, an American evangelical Christian pastor).

It goes with saying, although unfortunately it does need to be said, that no true disciple of Jesus Christ should ever persecute another person for his or her beliefs or actions. As Elder Oaks has taught, “On the subject of public discourse, we should all follow the gospel teachings to love our neighbor and avoid contention. Followers of Christ should be examples of civility. . . . Though we may disagree, we should not be disagreeable.”

Elder Oaks continued, “The Savior taught that contention is a tool of the devil. . . .

“The most important setting to forgo contention and practice respect for differences is in our homes and family relationships. Differences are inevitable—some minor and some major. As to major differences, suppose a family member is in a cohabitation rela­tionship. That brings two important values into conflict—our love for the family member and our commitment to the commandments. Following the Savior’s example, we can show loving-kindness and still be firm in the truth by forgoing actions that facilitate or seem to condone what we know to be wrong” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Loving Others and Living with Differences,” Ensign, Nov. 2014, 27).

There is a freeway billboard sign in Salt Lake that proclaims, “God loves gays.” Well, of course He does, but implied in that message is that He accepts illicit or sinful behavior, which He clearly does not. To think otherwise, is simply cheap theology and deceitful, devious doctrine.

From the beginning of time, across cultures and centuries, the definition of marriage has been a union be­tween a man and a woman. A Supreme Court deci­sion cannot change that. They may extend the bene­fits of marriage to those of the same sex, but they can­not say a cat is a dog simply because a lot of cats wanted to be dogs and felt bad that they couldn’t be. Sometimes I think we must be in a dream, an absurd night­mare of the sort that Alice experienced in Won­der­land.

A statement by the Church that same Friday morning said, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledges that follow­ing today’s rul­ing by the Supreme Court, same-sex marriages are now legal in the United States. The Court’s decision does not alter the Lord’s doctrine that marriage is a union between a man and a woman ordained by God.”

VI

And now second, as a legal issue. Last Friday morn­ing I read the majority opinion and the four dissent­ing opinions (all 103 pages of them) and, re­gardless of one’s orientation or views on same-sex marriage, I have to concur with all four of the dis­senting justices that today is a sad day for America and those who love the Constitution and the rule of law. For saying as much on Facebook, in re­sponse to someone else’s post, I have already been labeled a bigot.

“This Court is not a legislature,” Chief Justice John Roberts observed in his dissent. “Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us. Under the Constitution, judges have power to say what the law is, not what it should be. . . .

“Although the policy arguments for extending marriage to same-sex couples may be compelling, the legal arguments for requiring such an extension are not. The fundamental right to marry does not include a right to make a State change its definition of mar­riage. And a State’s decision to maintain the meaning of marriage that has persisted in every culture throughout human history can hardly be called irrational. . . .

“Today, however, the Court takes the extraordi­nary step of ordering every State to license and rec­ognize same-sex marriage. Many people will rejoice in this decision, and I begrudge none their celebra­tion. But for those who believe in a govern­ment of laws, not of men, the majority’s approach is dis­heart­ening. . . .

“If you are among the many Americans—of whatever sexual orientation—who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”

I wish we had the space, and you as reader the patience, to quote Justice Robert’s entire masterful dissent, as well as the dissents authored by the other three justices who did not concur with the majority opinion. In my judgment, all four of them gave com­pelling reasons why legally this was a bad decision.

“I join the Chief Justice’s opinion in full,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia. “I write separately to call attention to this Court’s threat to American democracy.”

He continues, “It is not of special importance to me what the law says about marriage. It is of over­whelming importance, however, who it is that rules me. Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court. The opin­ion in these cases is the furthest extension in fact—and the furthest extension one can even imagine—of the Court’s claimed power to create ‘liberties’ that the Constitution and its Amendments neglect to men­tion. This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern them­selves.”

He continues, “This is a naked judicial claim to legislative—indeed, super-legislative—power; a claim fundamentally at odds with our system of govern­ment. Except as limited by a constitutional prohibi­tion agreed to by the People, the States are free to adopt whatever laws they like, even those that offend the esteemed Justices’ ‘reasoned judgment.’ A system of government that makes the People subor­dinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy.”

Justice Clarence Thomas adds, “The Court’s deci­sion today is at odds not only with the Constitution, but with the principles upon which our Nation was built. Since well before 1787, liberty has been under­stood as freedom from government action, not en­titlement to government benefits. The Framers created our Constitution to preserve that under­standing of liberty. Yet the majority invokes our Constitution in the name of a ‘liberty’ that the Framers would not have recognized, to the detriment of the liberty they sought to protect. Along the way, it rejects the idea—captured in our Declaration of Independence—that human dignity is innate and suggests instead that it comes from the Government. This distortion of our Constitution not only ignores the text, it inverts the relationship between the individual and the state in our Republic.”

And, finally, from Justice Samuel Anthony Alito: “Today’s decision usurps the constitutional right of the people to decide whether to keep or alter the traditional understand­ing of marriage. The decision will also have other important consequences. It will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy. In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women. The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are deter­mined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.

“Perhaps recognizing how its reasoning may be used, the majority attempts, toward the end of its opinion, to reassure those who oppose same-sex marriage that their rights of conscience will be pro­tected. We will soon see whether this proves to be true. I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by govern­ments, employers, and schools. The system of federalism established by our Constitution provides a way for people with different beliefs to live together in a single nation. If the issue of same-sex marriage had been left to the people of the States, it is likely that some States would recognize same-sex marriage and others would not. It is also possible that some States would tie recognition to protection for conscience rights. The majority today makes that impossible. By imposing its own views on the entire country, the majority facilitates the margin­alization of the many Americans who have tradi­tional ideas. Recalling the harsh treatment of gays and lesbians in the past, some may think that turn-about is fair play. But if that sentiment prevails, the Nation will experience bitter and lasting wounds.

“Today’s decision will also have a fundamental effect on this Court and its ability to uphold the rule of law. If a bare majority of Justices can invent a new right and impose that right on the rest of the country, the only real limit on what future majorities will be able to do is their own sense of what those with political power and cultural influence are willing to tolerate. Even enthusiastic supporters of same-sex marriage should worry about the scope of the power that today’s majority claims. Today’s decision shows that decades of attempts to restrain this Court’s abuse of its authority have failed.”

VII

Now, a few words in conclusion. For all this to work for same-sex marriage pro­ponents, they have to get rid of religion and morality. They have to get rid of Christianity, which will always be a thorn in their side and a prick to their conscience. They know this. They acknowledge this. And the assault has long since begun. In their eyes, America can no longer be a Christian nation. It must become thoroughly human­istic and secular. Religion and faith can have no place in the public arena.

The Constitutionally protected and enumerated freedoms of religion and speech and assembly, ac­cording to this assault, now have to bow to concocted freedoms and political correctness.

A characteristic of elitists and those on the left end of the political spectrum is that freedom of speech, for example, is all good and fine as long as it does not disagree with what they believe. Otherwise, they brand it as hate speech or bigotry or stupidity. They use it to demean or belittle or ridicule. They employ it to get people ostracized or dismissed or fired, just as Justice Alito predicted. They somehow miss or are willfully ignorant of their own hypocrisy.

We in the Church believe that in fulfillment of prophecy the Lord is now hastening His work in the earth. The end must be near. Satan knows this of course, so he too is currently hastening his work. He is freely marketing his evil. These are to be “days of wickedness and vengeance” (Moses 7:60). The skir­mishes may become quite intense. We are in for an interesting ride.

But the Lord’s purposes in the end result in “peace, justice, and truth . . . and mercy” (Moses 7:31). So, armed with faith and the power of right­eousness, and led by revelation, the saints of God in this dispensation ultimately prevail. We can take comfort in knowing who wins the war.

A special type of soldier

President Hugh B. Brown (1883-1975) served during the 1960s as a counselor in the First Presidency to President David O. McKay. He was one of my spiritual heroes in my late teen years. His teachings, among other factors, influenced my decision to serve a mission, which has influenced my life for good ever since. Recently one of the Brethren I work with now, Elder Richard G. Hinckley, shared the following account by President Brown. I had never heard this story before and was impressed with it. It is a great story.

At the request of the First Presidency, I had gone to England as coordinator for the LDS servicemen. One Saturday afternoon in 1944, I sent a telegram from London to the base chaplain near Liverpool letting him know that I would be in camp the next morning to conduct Mormon church services at 10:00 a.m.

When I arrived at the camp, there were 75 Mormon boys, all in uniform and quite a number in battle dress. The chaplain to whom I had sent the wire proved to be a Baptist minister from the southern U.S. He, too, was waiting for my arrival. As these young men ran out to greet me not because it was I, but because of what I represented, and as they literally threw their arms around me, knowing I was representing their parents as well as the Church, the minister said, "Please tell me how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Why," he said, "I did not get your wire until late this morning. I made a hurried search. I found there were 76 Mormon boys in this camp. I got word to them. 75 of them are here. The other is in the hospital. I have more than 600 Baptists in this camp, and if I gave them 6 months notice, I could not get a response like that."

And then he repeated, "How do you do it?"

I said, "Sir, if you will come inside, perhaps you will see."

We went in to the little chapel. The boys sat down. I asked, "How many here have been on missions?"  I think a full 50 percent raised their hands.

I said, "Will you and you and you, and I pointed to six of them, please come and administer the sacrament? And will you and you and you, and I pointed to six others, please come and sit here and be prepared to speak."

Then I said, "Who can lead the music?" A number of hands were raised. "Will you come and lead the music? And who can play this portable organ?" There were several more hands, and one was selected. Then I said, "What would you like to sing, fellows?" With one voice they replied, "Come, Come Ye Saints!"

We had no hymnbook. The boy sounded the chord:  they all arose. I have heard "Come, Come Ye Saints" sung in many lands and by many choirs and congregations. Without reflecting adversely on what we usually hear I think I have only heard "Come, Come Ye Saints" sung that once when every heart seemed to be bursting. They sounded every verse without books.

When they came to the last verse, they didn't mute it; they didn't sing it like a dirge but throwing back their shoulders, they sang out until I was fearful the walls would burst." And should we die before our journey's through, happy day, all is well." I looked at my minister friend and found him weeping.

Then one of the boys who had been asked to administer the sacrament knelt at the table, bowed his head, and said, "Oh, God, the Eternal Father." He paused for what seemed to be a full minute, and then he proceeded with the rest of the blessing on the bread. At the close of that meeting, I sought that boy out. I put my arm around his shoulders, and said, "Son, what's the matter? Why was it so difficult for you to ask the blessing on the bread?"

He paused for a minute and said, rather apologetically, "Well, Brother Brown, it hasn't been two hours since I was over the continent on a bombing mission. As we started to return, I discovered that my tail assembly was partly shot away, that one of my engines was out, that three of my crew were wounded, and that it appeared absolutely impossible that we could reach the shore of England.

"Brother Brown, up there I remembered Primary and Sunday School and MIA, and home and church, and up there when it seemed all hope was lost, I said, 'Oh, God the eternal Father, please support this plane until we reach a landing field.' He did just that, and when we landed, I learned of this meeting and I had to run all the way to get here. I didn't have time to change my battle dress, and when I knelt there and again addressed the Lord, I was reminded that I hadn't stopped to say thanks.

"Brother Brown, I had to pause a little while to tell God how grateful I was."

Well, we went on with the meeting. We sang. Prayers were offered, and these young men, with only a moment’s notice, each stood and spoke, preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to their comrades, bore their testimonies, and again I say with due respect to the various ones with whom I have associated and labored they were among the finest sermons I have ever heard.

Then the time was up and I said, Fellows, it's time for chow. We must dismiss now, or you will miss your dinner. With almost one voice they cried, "We can eat grub any time. Let's have a testimony meeting!"

So we stayed another hour and a half. I looked at my friend, and he was weeping unashamedly.

At the close of that meeting, this minister said, "I have been a minister for more than 21 years, and this has been the greatest spiritual experience of my life."

This story comes from a talk President Brown gave at BYU in May 1969 ("An Eternal Quest—Freedom of the Mind," May 13, 1969, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, 14–17), when I would have been in Brazil on my mission. The story is also quoted in “Lesson 28: Serving in the Church,” The Latter-day Saint Woman: Basic Manual for Women, Part B, 240.

A dangerous journey

My son-in-law Vince yesterday posted some comments on his blog about the talk given in the recent general conference by President Boyd K. Packer and the resulting noise in the media. I posted the following comment in response to Vince's blog.

Vince, I appreciate and endorse your sentiments. Issues such as homosexuality and same-gender marriage are clearly moral issues, and churches are supposed to speak out on moral issues. Besides the Mormons and the Catholics, where are all the other churches?

President Packer's talk was characterized in some of the media and by some homosexual advocates as hate speech. I defy anyone who actually heard the talk or has since read it to point out a single hint of hate.

I am grateful that the Lord is still willing to speak to His children through prophets, seers, and revelators. How utterly presumptuous to think we know more than the Lord or His servants! Among all the Brethren, President Packer clearly has the gift of seership; he "sees" things so many of the rest of us do not see.

Last night I started reading the book Michael referred to, The Marketing of Evil, and yes, we've been cleverly sold a bill of goods resulting in an almost wholesale shift in attitudes toward and acceptance of homosexuality (you will note that I am avoiding any use of the little three-letter politically correct word that was co-opted as a part of this sneaky advertising campaign for homosexuals to gain acceptance and then to silence any possible opposition [hence the cry of hate speech the moment anyone dares disagree with them]). They and we have been done a horrendous disservice.

Yes, we are heading down many wrong roads as a culture and a society. It is a slippery, dangerous journey that is rapidly eroding what has traditionally been admired as the American dream (and I am not talking about the economics of the American dream, but the moral and spiritual underpinnings of that way of life and the associated liberties that were once a beacon and last best hope for all the rest of mankind).

I think we are reaching the time foreseen by the prophet Isaiah: "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!" (Isaiah 5:20; and quoted in 2 Nephi 15:20). That's the only conclusion I can come to when hearing someone say that President Packer's talk was "hate speech" when clearly it was precisely the opposite.

I disagree with the objectives and the agenda of those militants who are pushing for homosexual rights. Mere disagreement does not constitute hate. I also disagree with any who would persecute or deny the rights of those who are different than they are or who believe differently than they do (whether they be Mormons, homosexuals, Jews, Hispanics, whatever the hate de jour).

I personally know some homosexuals, two of whom are fairly close family members, and I bear them no ill will, no animosity, no hatred. If anything, I feel more compassion and concern and love for them. But such compassion, concern, and love do not move me to ignore, question, or oppose the Lord's clear position as taught in the scriptures and by latter-day prophets on issues such as marriage, virtue, and fidelity. Any sexual relationship outside of marriage is sin. Marriage between a man and a woman is fundamental and basic and essential to the very plan of happiness that was put in place before the world was even formed. Indeed, it was the very reason the world was created. Compromising on or destroying that foundation can only lead to individual heartbreak and the demise of civilization.

Bleak outcomes, to be sure, but we have a sure, bright hope in knowing that the Lord's purposes in the end will prevail (see Mormon 8:22).

Isaiah class: My view

My view on some of the ideas concerning the last of the last days in response to what was discussed by Avraham Gileadi during the ten-week Isaiah class Michael and I attended in Provo last fall. I wrote this little piece in early December, near the end of the series.

The Lord's way of keeping time does not correspond to the way we measure the passing of days and weeks and months and years. There are hints of that fact throughout the scriptures. In a revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith on September 11, 1831, the Lord declared, "Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man" (D&C 64:23). Apparently the period of time from 1831 until the Second Coming, however soon that might be, is as a single day to the Lord.

The Lord expects us to study the scriptures (see, for example, John 5:39; 2 Timothy 3:14–17; 3 Nephi 10:14; D&C 26:1; and D&C 33:16), with particular command to search the words of Isaiah (see 3 Nephi 20:11; 3 Nephi 23:1; and Mormon 8:23). However, do we need to exercise a little caution before making too fine a distinction about sequences and timing that were prophesied millennia ago concerning events that will occur during this "day" we are in—particularly when that "day" extends for at least a couple hundred of years according to our present reckoning?

To say that Isaiah, confirmed by Book of Mormon prophets, talks about certain events as a single end-of-time scenario, happening all at once or in short succession, all of it yet future to us, may not correspond precisely to what the Lord Himself has revealed in our day. Additionally, there are examples of prophecies that have multiple fulfillments.

Let's consider some specific examples:

The Lord performs a great and marvelous work.  In at least five separate revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord declares that "a great and marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men" (see D&C 4:1; 6:1; 11:1; 12:1; 14:1). All five of these revelations came in a five-month period from February to June 1829, at about the time the priesthood was being restored and less than a year before the Book of Mormon would be published and the church of Christ would be officially organized. It seems from the context of these latter-day revelations that the Lord expected us to understand that the "great and marvelous work" was then beginning in the early decades of the nineteenth century, not at some point yet future to us in the opening years of the twenty-first century.

In confirmation of that fact, the Lord told Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer in June 1829 that "by your hands I will work a marvelous work among the children of men" (D&C 18:44; see also D&C 121:12). If we believe the revelations, there will be a great and marvelous work yet to happen in this dispensation, greater and more marvelous than anything we have yet seen, but it does not seem accurate to say that the great and marvelous work does not also refer to what the Lord has already been accomplishing in the earth over the past 180 years.

The Lord sets His hand the second time.  In a vision given to the Prophet Joseph in January 1836, the Prophet used this very phrase to describe the restoration of the gospel when he referred to the death of his brother Alvin in November 1823, which occurred some six years before the restoration of the priesthood and reestablishment of the Church: "And [I] marveled how it was that he had obtained  an inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life before the Lord set his hand to gather Israel the second time" (D&C 137:6). In January 1833 the Prophet wrote, "The time has at last arrived when the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has set his hand again the second time to recover the remnants of his people" (Teachings, 14).

Gentiles reject the gospel after receiving it.  In the same January 1833 letter, the Prophet wrote of the gospel going to the gentiles in the meridian dispensation: "And the Gentiles received the covenant, and were grafted in from whence the chosen family were broken off; but the Gentiles have not continued in the goodness of God, but have departed from the faith that was once delivered to the Saints, and have broken the covenant in which their fathers were established (see Isaiah 24:5); and have become high-minded, and have not feared; therefore, but few of them will be gathered with the chosen family. Have not the pride, high-mindedness, and unbelief of the Gentiles, provoked the Holy One of Israel to withdraw His Holy Spirit from them, and send forth His judgments to scourge them for their wickedness? This is certainly the case" (Teachings, 15).

The Prophet in this missive clearly refers to a rejection of the gospel by the gentiles as an already accomplished fact in that day, either an instance of the prophecy already being fulfilled or an instance of multiple fulfillments of the prophecy. He says that not many gentiles will be gathered, suggesting that the millions of Latter-day Saints gathered over the past 180 years have been primarily from scattered Israel.

Israel receives the gospel.  Isaiah and the prophets in the Book of Mormon may preserve the distinction that Latter-day Saints are those "who are identified with the Gentiles" (D&C 109:60), as the Prophet Joseph prayed in the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple, but the Lord apparently does not always maintain that distinction in the latter-day revelations: "For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham" (D&C 103:17), the Lord said of the Saints in Missouri in February 1834. A few months later, in June 1834, the Lord refers to the Latter-day Saints as "the army of Israel" (D&C 105: 26, 30).

"Thou shalt preach the fulness of my gospel," the Lord said in a January 1831 revelation, "which I have sent forth in these last days, the covenant which I have sent forth to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel" (D&C 39:11). In another revelation, in August 1831, the Lord spoke of Edward Partridge as "a judge in Israel" (D&C 58:17; see also D&C 107:72, 76).

In the revelation through President Brigham Young, the Lord declared "the word and will of the Lord concerning the Camp of Israel in their journeying to the West" (D&C 136:1). In that revelation the Lord declares, "I am the Lord your God, even the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. . . . and my arm is stretched out in the last days, to save my people Israel" (D&C 136:21–22). In context, the Lord is clearly referring in this revelation to saving the Latter-day Saints, whom He calls "my people Israel," who were heading toward the Great Basin in the West.

Latter-day prophets, from the days of Joseph Smith down to our present day, have consistently referred to the gathering that has been going on for the past nearly two centuries as the gathering of Israel despite the fact that certain identifiable portions of the house of Israel (such as the Jews and the Ten Tribes) are yet to be gathered.

Many fight against Zion.  This has been the lot of the Latter-day Saints since the beginning of the Restoration. The fight may well intensify in the very end of times, before the Savior returns, but opposition and persecution has been characteristic of the entire latter-day dispensation, beginning as soon as Joseph walked out of the Sacred Grove and continuing in Missouri and later in Illinois and in Utah and on down to our present day, in some seasons more intense than others.

When the Saints were being driven from their lands in Missouri in the 1830s, the Lord referred to the enemies of the Church who were fighting against Zion and said concerning His people, "I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so I will fulfill—I will fight your battles" (D&C 105:14). Once again, the fighting against Zion appears to be one of those prophecies with multiple (or even ongoing) fulfillments.

Isaiah class concluded

The last of our ten weekly classes with Brother Avraham Gileadi on the book of Isaiah was held on Thursday evening, December 17, in Provo. With the rush of the holidays, my catching a cold that has persisted since the beginning of the new year, its morphing into a sinus infection this past week, and incredible busyness at work, I have never taken an opportunity to craft a final report on the experience.

In previous posts I have reported on specific content from eight of the weekly classes. Those posts, particularly the summary from the ninth class, offer a reasonable overview of what we covered.

There were also intangible benefits from our enrollment in the class. I greatly appreciated spending five or so hours every Thursday evening driving to and from Provo and attending the class with my first-born son Michael, together with the time the two of us spent at the end of the evening, by which time it was way past my normal bedtime, discussing some of what we learned with his mother and my wife, Claudia. I also greatly appreciated sitting at the feet of such an eminent Isaiah scholar seeking to understand and comprehend his various insights concerning Isaiah's teachings about the end of times. A good way to increase understanding is to come at a topic from fresh approaches and to consider viewpoints that lift you out of the routine ruts that you are accustomed to traveling in.

It was a good class. And I am grateful that we chose to participate.

Isaiah class 9

Thoughts from the ninth of ten classes, Thursday, December 10, 2009

For the first time since this series of classes started, Avraham Gileadi provided us an actual handout with scriptural references from Isaiah and the Book of Mormon concerning the major points he has been making. He titled his compilation "The Book of Mormon's Endtime Scenario of Concurrent Events Based on the Prophecies of Isaiah."

These are the 14 endtime events he listed, which taken all together constitutes Israel's restoration:

• The Lord sets His hand the second time: 2 Nephi 6:14; 25:17; 29:1; Jacob 6:2 (Isaiah 11:11).

• The Lord makes bare His arm: 1 Nephi 22:10–11; 3 Nephi 16:20; 20:35 (Isaiah 51:9; 52:10).

• The Lord's servant fulfills his mission: 3 Nephi 20:43–45; 21:8–11 (Isaiah 11:10–12; 41:2, 25, 27; 42:1–7; 44:26–28; 45:1–6, 13; 46:11–13; 48:14–16; 49:1–9; 50:4–10; 51:7–9; 52:13–15; 53:11–12; 55:3–5).

• The Lord performs a great and marvelous work: 1 Nephi 14:7, 17; 22:8; 2 Nephi 25:17; 29:1; 30:8; 3 Nephi 21:9, 26–29 (Isaiah 29:14).

• The gentiles reject the gospel after receiving it: 2 Nephi 28:24–32; 3 Nephi 16:10; 20:15, 28; 21:11 (Isaiah 28:7–29; 29:9–16; 41:21–29; 42:18–25; 50:1–11; 56:9–12; 48:1–7; 59:1–16; 66:5–6).

• Many fight against Zion: 1 Nephi 22:14, 19; 2 Nephi 6:12–13; 10:13, 16; 29:14 (Isaiah 29:7–8).

• Kings and queens of the gentiles nourish the house of Israel: 1 Nephi 22:6–8; 2 Nephi 6:6–7; 10:8–9, 18; 3 Nephi 16:4 (Isaiah 43:3–8; 49:22–23; 60:1–16).

• Israel receives a knowledge of the gospel: 1 Nephi 15:13–16; 22:9, 11; 2 Nephi 6:11, 14; 10:7; 25:16, 18; 29:13; 3 Nephi 16:4, 11–12; 20:13, 30–32, 40; 21:7–8, 26–27 (Isaiah 48:6–8; 52:6–8).

• The saints and covenant people of the Lord are endowed with power: 1 Nephi 14:14; 22:17; 2 Nephi 6:14; 3 Nephi 16:15; 20:16–17, 19, 22, 36; 21:11–13, 25 (Isaiah 41:8–16; 51:9–10; 52:1–3).

• Israel returns from dispersion: 1 Nephi 22:12; 2 Nephi 6:6, 11; 10:8–9; 29:14; 3 Nephi 16:5; 20:13, 18, 29, 33, 41–42; 21:1, 23–29 (Isaiah 11:10–12; 43:5–8; 49:8–12, 22; 51:11; 52:11–12).

• The wicked are destroyed: 1 Nephi 14:5–7, 15–17; 22:13–19; 2 Nephi 6:14–18; 30:9–10; 3 Nephi 16:15; 20:16–20; 21:12–21 (Isaiah 41:2, 11–16; 43:14–17; 47:1–15; 49:24–26; 54:5–17).

• The righteous are delivered: 1 Nephi 14:5, 14; 22:17, 19; 2 Nephi 6:16–17; 30:10; 3 Nephi 20:36–38 (Isaiah 42:7; 43:1–4; 45:13–17; 48:20–21; 49:24–25; 51:11, 21–23; 52:1–12; 55:12).

• Israel receives lands of inheritance: 1 Nephi 22:12; 2 Nephi 6:11; 10:7, 10, 19; 29:14; 3 Nephi 16:5, 16; 20:14, 21–22, 29, 33–34, 46; 21:22–24 (Isaiah 44:26, 28; 49:8; 51:3; 54:2–3, 11–12).

• God fulfills His covenants with the house of Israel: 1 Nephi 14:5, 8, 17; 15:18; 22:6, 9, 11; 2 Nephi 6:12; 10:7, 15, 17; 29:1, 14; 3 Nephi 16:5, 11–12; 20:12, 22, 25–27, 29, 46; 21:4, 7 (Isaiah 54:10; 55:3).

Brother Gileadi's contention is that if we as Latter-day Saints read the Book of Mormon thinking we are Israel, we will get it all wrong. In Book of Mormon terms, we are identified with the gentiles. Although, having made covenants with the Lord, we are numbered among Israel.

His conclusion: "When carefully researched, analyzed, and compared, the foregoing scriptural references demonstrate how the Book of Mormon's endtime scenario consists of a series of concurrent events predicted by the prophet Isaiah. Drawing on different parts of the Book of Isaiah—as if all depict a single scenario—Nephi, Jacob, and Jesus provide variations on one theme: the restoration of the house of Israel, which house of Israel they identify as Jews, Lehi's descendants, and [the] Ten Tribes.

"Israel's restoration involves the Lord's 'setting his hand the second time' to restore his people; the Lord's 'baring his arm' to all nations; the Lord's servant fulfilling his mission to the nations; the Gentiles rejecting the fulness of the gospel after having received it; the Lord's performing his 'great and marvelous work' among the nations; many people, including former believers, fighting against Zion; the (spiritual) kings and queens of the Gentiles nourishing the house of Israel; the house of Israel accepting the fulness of the gospel; the saints and covenant people of the Lord being endowed with power over their enemies; the house of Israel returning from dispersion in an exodus from the four directions of the earth; the destruction of the wicked of the world and the deliverance of the righteous; the house of Israel and those numbered among them receiving lands of inheritance; and the Father's fulfilling his covenant with the house of Israel and with Israel's ancestors.

"By the Book of Mormon's own definition, this synchronized series of events constitutes the Lord's 'great and marvelous work' and defines God's fulfilling his covenant. Employing a literary device familiar from the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Mormon ties the above events together domino fashion within the scriptural passages cited above to establish a single endtime scenario that is still future. Only by taking all such passages together, not separately, therefore, does this complete scenario clearly appear. The chapters of Isaiah from which the above events are drawn comprise principally the Book of Isaiah's high point in the vicinity of Chapter 52, but include also others such as Chapters 11 and 29. As with the Book of Mormon passages, however, these chapters cannot be isolated from others in the Book of Isaiah—to which they are linked by linguistic, typological, and thematic interconnections—without distorting the message of both Isaiah and the Book of Mormon.

"The part played by Latter-day Saints, who are identified with the Gentiles in the Book of Mormon (D&C 109:60), is to facilitate Israel's restoration through seven phases, the first two of which precede the Book of Mormon's endtime scenario while the remainder comprise it: 1. the restoration of the gospel to the Gentiles; 2. the completion of the scattering of the house of Israel by the Gentiles; 3. the Lord's servant bringing forth the words of Christ to the Gentiles; 4. many Gentiles rejecting the fulness of the gospel after receiving it, resulting in their being 'cut off from among my people who are of the covenant'; 5. the kings of the Gentiles hearkening to the words of Christ that the servant brings forth and ministering to the house of Israel; 6. the gospel turning away from the Gentiles back to the house of Israel; and 7. the house of Israel's restoration. Just as Israel's ancient apostasy caused its scattering, so Israel's endtime receiving the gospel leads to its gathering.

"Auxiliary events to this scenario, based on prophecies of Isaiah that are not delineated explicitly in the Book of Mormon, include a 'great division' that occurs when many who are at ease in Zion cling to 'precepts of men' and reject the further word of God that comes forth. We may thus conclude that searching the words of Isaiah on which the Book of Mormon's endtime scenario is based, and searching the Book of Mormon's own words for what they say, not what we assume they say, may prove critical to our salvation when the Lord sees fit to unfold the next phase of these prophesied events."

With that foregoing conclusion you have a fair summary of what we have spent the past nine weeks learning. (And I thus saved you $100 and ten trips to Provo.) I wonder what is left for us to cover in the tenth class this Thursday.

Isaiah class 7

Thoughts from the seventh of ten classes, Thursday, November 19, 2009

I took fewer notes this week than in any of the previous classes, partly because I was busy looking up other references as the discussion moved along, a lot of it question-and-answer stuff that I gather was not exactly what Brother Gileadi had originally intended to cover. And partly because we were just reading selections from various chapters of 1 and 2 Nephi that quote or paraphrase Isaiah's teachings on the events at the end of the last days.

Some of the Book of Mormon passages we specifically looked at all describe or refer to the same latter-day scenario:

• 1 Nephi 22:8–19 Correlated with other passages of scripture, particularly as presented throughout Isaiah, these latter-day events are all presented as a part of a single scenario.
  
• 2 Nephi 6:4–13
  
• 2 Nephi 10: 7–19
  
• 2 Nephi 25:1–8
  
• 2 Nephi 28:26–29 It is a most damnable attitude to say "we have received enough and need no more." Intelligence is not just acquiring information but what we do with it.
  
• 2 Nephi 29:1 This single verse contains three events from the list we began constructing last week of things that will happen at the last day: a marvelous work, the covenants of the Lord, and the Lord setting His hand a second time to recover His people.

Isaiah class 6

Thoughts from the sixth of ten classes, Thursday, November 12, 2009

The passages from Isaiah most quoted in the Book of Mormon (primarily by Nephi, Jacob, and the Savior) are chapters 48–55. They all refer to events in the last days. Interestingly, Isaiah 53, the one chapter that is clearly about the Savior, is not quoted (except as paraphrased by Abinadi) because that chapter has nothing to do with the last days. Book of Mormon writers, knowing that their writings would come forth in the last days, actually talk a lot about the last days.

Isaiah is pretty much the only Old Testament frame of reference to the last days that the Book of Mormon writers had.

There are relatively few Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament as we have it today. The Book of Mormon at least is pretty much silent on them. Given that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ, and that one of its central purposes is "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations" (Book of Mormon title page), then it is curious that it would not have quoted more Messianic prophecies unless they were pretty much absent from the record. Some Messianic prophecies that are quoted, such as by Zenock and Zenos, do not appear in our current Old Testament.

It is important, however, to remember that another one of the Book of Mormon's central purposes is "that they [the house of Israel] may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever" (Book of Mormon title page). The Isaiah passages, together with prophetic commentary on them by Nephi, Jacob, and the Savior, speak much about the covenants of the Lord with His people and that because of those covenants they will not be cast off forever. That is what the prophecies concerning the last days are all about. And why they figure so prominently in their writings.

The Prophet Joseph Smith understood that he was just laying a foundation, the beginning of restoration. The Lord's latter-day servant, still yet to come, is also a restorer. The Savior's quoting of Isaiah in 3 Nephi 21 makes clear that this all comes at the end of the last days. We need to tie down to what scriptures actually say.

In a revelation the Lord gave in September 1832, the Lord spoke of a condemnation resting upon His people for treating lightly the things they had received, particularly the Book of Mormon (see D&C 84:54–58). President Ezra Taft Benson applied the same warning against the Latter-day Saints in the day that he presided over the Church. Perhaps a part of our condemnation for treating these things lightly is our ignoring Isaiah, whose teachings figure so prominently in the Book of Mormon.

Isaiah, given the way it is constructed, is a whole tapestry; all the threads run together. We cannot take bits and pieces out of context. One remarkable things the Book of Mormon writers do is to take different parts of Isaiah and treat them as one single scenario. That is a key to understanding Isaiah.

We started on a list of events that all happen together, that are all a part of one scenario, that occur in the last days.

1. A great and marvelous work (Isaiah 29: 14 / 1 Nephi 14:7)
   
2. Covenants of the Lord (Isaiah 54:10 / 1 Nephi 14: 5, 8, 17)
   
3. Fighting against Zion (Isaiah 29:8 / 1 Nephi 22:14, 19; 2 Nephi 6:12–13; 2 Nephi 27:3)
   
4. The house of Israel being nourished by the gentiles (Isaiah 49:22–23 / 1 Nephi 22:8)
   
5. The Lord making bare His arm (Isaiah 52:10 / 1 Nephi 22:10–11) ["Arm" signifies divine intervention, the revealing of the Lord's servant]
   
6. An endowment of power (Isaiah 52:1; Isaiah 51:9 / 1 Nephi 14:14 and 22:17)
   
7. Conversion of the house of Israel to the gospel (Isaiah 52:7–8)

We did not finish our list because we ran out of time.

Isaiah class 5

Thoughts from the fifth of ten classes, Thursday, November 5, 2009

This past week has been like no other we have experienced in a long, long time, if ever, so I am very tardy in reporting on last Thursday's session with Brother Avraham Gileadi, but I thought I should do so before going off to the sixth class tonight.

Although we are studying Isaiah, we spent much of the two hours in our fifth class reading and discussing parts of five chapters from two other Old Testament prophets: Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The intent, as I understood it, was to illustrate that Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah were all on the same page, as prophets of the Lord were all teaching the same message, and were all seeing down to the end of times, our dispensation, and prophseying of the Lord's latter-day servant who would assist in the gathering of Jacob or Israel.

We need a foundation in the Old Testament, Brother Gileadi affirmed, in order to understand the rest of the scriptures.

Old Testament > Book of Mormon > New Testament > Doctrine and Covenants

The Book of Mormon, for example, as the above little diagram illustrates, begins in and grows out of an Old Testament setting and culture. It assumes a deep familiarity with the Old Testament. Then as a premier witness of Christ and His mission, the Book of Mormon prepares us for and helps us really understand what the New Testament is about. And so forth.

We read from Ezekiel 34. Sheep are a metaphor for the Lord's people. Beasts are a metaphor for Satan's people. The word "meat," as translated in the King James Version of the Bible, signifies "food." Mountains and hills signify nations.

The Lord is always looking out for the poor. The Lord will search for and deliver them from all the places "where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day" (see verse 12). Causing them to "lie down," as in verses 14 and 15, signifies rest, peace, and security. The "deep waters" mentioned in verse 18 refers to the deep things of God. Joseph Smith once wrote that he was wont to swim in deep waters (see D&C 127:2). The shepherds of the people were privy to the deep doctrines, the deep things of God, but muddied it up for others.

The Lord is always gathering. Verses 23 and 24 reference the latter-day servant of the Lord, who will be called David. Verse 25 and beyond describe the Millennial era, when evil will be gone from the earth, when there will be no more telestial people around, and the Lord's people will be safe in the land (see verse 27).

We then turned to Ezekiel 37 and, beginning with verse 15 to the end of the chapter, talked about the uniting of the tribes of Israel into one nation. The sticks, although we commonly in the Church refer to them as the records of the two nations, in the actual context of this chapter refers to the two nations or kingdoms. The Lord is speaking of making the two nations into one. The reference in verse 23 that they shall "be my people and I will be their God" is covenant language (see also verses 26 and 27 and also Ezekiel 34:24).

A latter-day reference to the stick of Ephraim makes it clear that the stick actually refers to the house or tribe or nation of Ephraim (see D&C 27:5). Otherwise, the passage would be redundant, and the Lord would be saying that He had committed the keys of the record of the record of Ephraim.

Next we read from Jeremiah 23, where it opens with the same woe pronounced against the leaders of the people (the "pastors" referred to by Jeremiah comes from the same word in Hebrew as the "shepherds" in Ezekiel). The rise of the latter-day servant always comes on the heels of the abuse by the shepherds or pastors of the Lord's people. We see the same scenario in Isaiah, in Ezekiel, and in Jeremiah.

We then turned to Jeremiah 30, where it speaks of the latter-day servant David. The chapter heading interprets David as Christ, but it is clear from other passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel and Jeremiah that the David mentioned in verse 9 is the latter-day servant of Christ. Jesus Christ or Jehovah is the Lord their God, and David is a king who serves under Him. The Prophet Joseph Smith seems to assert the same thing: "The throne and kingdom of David is to be taken from him and given to another by the name of David in the last days, raised out of his lineage" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 339).

Compare also Jeremiah 33:14-16. And Doctrine and Covenants 113:1-6, which is a revealed commentary on certain verses in Isaiah 11 that speak of Christ as the Stem of Jesse and the rod of Jesse and the root of Jesse as a servant in the hands of Christ and who will hold "the keys of the kingdom, for an ensign, and for the gathering of my people in the last days" (D&C 113:6).

In Jeremiah 30:11 the Lord declares that in the last days He will make a full end of the nations but not of thee, meaning Jacob or Israel.

The Old Testament prophets know that what they are writing is ambiguous, and they seem to do it on purpose, as a test, to weed people out who are not spiritually attuned to understand and receive the message. From that vantage point, it is a merciful thing they do.

Isaiah class 4

Thoughts from the fourth of ten classes, Thursday, October 29, 2009

The most important lesson I took from this evening's class with Avraham Gileadi was that we have to fit all scriptures together, not just focus on one passage in isolation. Otherwise we will get into trouble and wander off course. We have to connect all the dots, put all the pieces of the puzzle together, and rely on the safety that comes from the scriptures' own internal checks and balances.

Among all holy writ, the book of Isaiah is remarkable in its exquisite use of literary devices and structure to ensure that every truth is presented in more than one way in more than one place, often in multiple ways, to keep us from getting off base. There is hardly a thing in Isaiah that does not repeat itself somewhere else. The book has its own internal checks and balances.

The scriptures all cohere. There are not contradictions. Apparent contradictions are there to weed out the insincere or lazy who really don't want to invest the effort, time, and energy to ferret out the truth. (He didn't say this, but I suppose there could be contradictions resulting from faulty transmission of the original text.)

Isaiah class 3

Thoughts from the third of ten classes, Thursday, October 22, 2009

We spent our two hours this week on Isaiah 49 (which Nephi quotes in 1 Nephi 21 in the Book of Mormon). After some review of chapter 48 and other preliminaries, and the discussion of pertinent questions along the way, we spent the rest of the time dealing with only the first six verses of chapter 49. If we were to continue analyzing Isaiah at the same rate we've started, I calculate it would take us another 128 weeks to complete our study. And we actually have only seven sessions remaining. (Although I perceive that one thing Avraham Gileadi is trying to teach us is how to study Isaiah and other scriptures.)

Preliminaries

For the sake of his latter-day servant, the Lord promises (in Isaiah 48:9) that He will not entirely destroy His people in the last days: "I have shown restraint toward you by not entirely destroying you." But that means He will mostly destroy them.

An idol is anything that diverts our attention from the true and living God. It is possible to veer off course and to let a lesser law become the whole law. It happened to Judaism. It happened to early Christianity. It has even happened, Brother Gileadi contended, to Latter-day Saints. We do not do and hear all that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught us.

Moses, at the foot of the mount, told Israel to both hear and do the word of the Lord (see Deuteronomy 5:1, 25, 27). Replace the word "hear" with "understand." Adam offered sacrifice for many days before he was taught to understand why (see Moses 5:6–8). But, as we seek to hear or understand, who has time to spend hours a day studying about God and His ways?

We live in a very materialistic and idolatrous world, which we take for granted because we are products of that very world. Recognizing Babylon, let alone fleeing it, is not necessarily an easy thing to do.

The Book of Mormon peoples did not have rabbinic Judaism; they had the law of Moses. Rabbinic Judaism developed after the Jews' return from Babylonian exile, and Lehi and his family left Jerusalem just before the exile. Book of Mormon prophets were very aware that the law of Moses was a foreshadowing of a higher law. They did not let the lesser law become the whole law.

How grateful we should be to have the book of Isaiah, Brother Gileadi exulted. It is such a gold mine, a systematic theology, a paradigm of life, a guidepost. If we read only Isaiah, we would be well off. Can you imagine what our scriptures would be like without the book of Isaiah? Frankly, some people would not even notice.

In Isaiah 57:1 the righteous disappear, and no man gives it a thought.

Throughout the book of Isaiah are various things the Lord is going to do: set His hand a second time (see Isaiah 11:11), do a marvelous work and a wonder (see Isaiah 29:14), reveal the arm of the Lord (see Isaiah 53:1), and those who fight against Zion (see Isaiah 29:8). The Book of Mormon brings these diverse elements together into a single concept that are all to occur in the last days at the end of times (such as in 1 Nephi 22).

It is no mere coincidence that Isaiah 48:22 and Isaiah 57:21 say the same thing: there is no peace for the wicked. They are the final verse in their respective chapters. Both chapters are talking about the Lord's latter-day servant. Healing occurs for both the servant and for all Israel (what is for one is for the many who depend on him).

In Isaiah 6:10 the Lord's servant receives a commission to harden hearts. The reverse of what this verse says is the very formula for healing: see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand in their heart, and repent. Only God can bring about healing and peace. It is a form of covenant reversal. Healing comes over time. The gospel has the power to heal all wounds, not just effect forgiveness of sins. Only God can reserve covenant curses. Doing those things listed in verse 10 will eventually bring healing.

And in Isaiah 53:5 we learn that peace and healing are synonymous. If there is no peace for the wicked, then there is no healing for them either (or vice versa).

Our examination of the first six verses of chapter 49

When Nephi quotes Isaiah 49 in 1 Nephi 21, it includes the things Nephi wants to tell us. There are probably at least two reasons why Nephi waits for several chapters after he tells us he cannot write more of the end-from-the-beginning vision before he quotes Isaiah: One, he wants to put some space between the two. And two, he lays a foundation for what he quotes; he tells their own exodus story.

This exodus story is not unique. Ancient Israel did it out of Egypt. Lehi and his colony did it out of Jerusalem. The Lord has led people out from time to time (as we learn in 2 Nephi 10:22). The Latter-day Saints have done it. And it will occur again in the last days, Isaiah tells us, under the direction of the Lord's servant.

1 Hear me, O isles; listen, you distant peoples:
The Lord called me before I was in the belly;
before I was in my mother's womb,
he mentioned me by name.

The mission of the Lord's latter-day servant is to be worldwide—to the isles of the sea, to distant peoples.

Here, as with Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 1:5), is a plain reference to the premortal call or foreordination of this servant. The sense is clearer here in Gileadi's translation than the same verse in the King James translation, where it reads, "The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name" (Isaiah 49:1).

The Lord's mentioning this servant by name before he was in his mother's womb is a reference to a premortal calling and election, a foreordination.

2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword—
in the shadow of his hand he hid me.
He has made me into a polished arrow—
in his quiver he kept me secret.

"Hand" is a name for the Lord's servant. We know this from a similar passage in Isaiah 11:11–12, where the Lord's servant is an ensign who rallies the people to come to the latter-day exodus and delivers them. He recovers a remnant of the Lord's people from the nations, assembles the outcasts of Israel, and gathers the dispersed of His people from the four corners of the earth.

This servant is the Lord's secret weapon ("in his quiver he kept me secret"). He is not previously well known, like David, the youngest son of Jesse, at the time he was selected, was not known. Similarly, Christ was an upstart in his time, Joseph Smith in his, neither of them previously known to the establishment. The fact that he is "a polished arrow" suggests he has already gone through a refiner's fire. Arrow is not a friendly symbol; it goes straight to the heart.

Like the word hand, "arm" is also a metaphor of the Lord's servant, such as in Isaiah 52:10, where the baring of the arm is a revealing of the servant, setting everything in motion, bringing about the Lord's great and marvelous work, and bringing about the destruction of the people. "Arm" also symbolizes the power and intervention of God.

Why does the Lord do this now? What setting calls it forth? He will preserve a remnant of Abraham's posterity, which He is required to do by covenant. The Lord has made unconditional covenants with various prophets. (The Sinai covenant, on the other hand, is a conditional covenant: if Israel will do thus and such, the blessings will follow.) The Davidic covenant was also unconditional, a paradigm for anyone who is a king or priest. In the last days, when the servant comes forth, the Lord has all these covenants He has to respond to.

Returning to the notion of proxies discussed in previous weeks, Lot was saved for Abraham's sake, and Lot's daughters were saved for Lot's sake. Hezekiah interceded in behalf of all the people in Jerusalem in his day. Alma's prayer in behalf of Alma the younger is answered because of covenants already made to Alma the elder. That is why some equally as earnest parental prayers are not immediately answered with the appearance of an angel to the wayward child. It all has to do with covenants and associated promises.

All that the Lord does is because of covenants the Lord has made in the past, including in premortality. Each person has an individualized path laid out for him or her. All terms of covenants that God has made will be met. Our lives are patterns, foreshadowed. We need to accomplish what the Lord wants us to do—only God knows the ins and outs of these things, we cannot judge, but all happens within the context of covenant relationships.

3 He said to me, You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

The servant is a parallel with the Jacob scenario: his name was changed to Israel after he wrestled with an angel and saw the face of God. Jacob, being given a new name, was raised to the next level, to a higher spiritual state, where he received a greater spiritual inheritance and a higher commission.

"Servant" denotes a vassal relationship (the emperor-vassal relationship). "Son" also terms a vassal relationship. "Israel," as used in this verse, is probably a code name. We do not know what the servant's new name is. "Israel" can also refer to God's servants collectively.

All of us can glorify God by fulfilling our calling here on the earth.

4 I had thought, I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing
and to no purpose!
Yet my cause rested with the Lord,
my recompense with my God.

The servant had few or seemingly no results, ye he still had faith in the Lord.

5 For now the Lord has said—
he who formed me from the womb
to be his servant, to restore Jacob to him,
Israel having been gathered to him;
for I won honor in the eyes of the Lord
when my God became my strength—

The phrase "from the womb" in Hebrew has the sense of "before the womb," this notion again of premortal existence and appointment.

The servant's mission is to what? To restore Jacob. "Restore" is a key word. We speak of the restoration of all things.

Jacob/Israel represent a telestial level, but there is a difference between Jacob and Israel (some on the right hand, some on the left hand). Zion/Jerusalem represent a higher spiritual level, a terrestrial level.

"Israel having been gathered to him": the Latter-day Saints have been gathered. Isaiah is here using "Israel" as a spiritual level.

Nephi, the son of Helaman, is an example in the Book of Mormon of "God became my strength." He attained to the power of Elijah and was given the sealing power.

6 he said: It is too small a thing
for you to be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore those preserved of Israel.
I will also appoint you to be a light to the nations [or to the gentiles],
that my salvation may be to the end of the earth.

The servant's mission is not just to Jacob and Israel but to all the nations, to the end of the earth. The scattering of Israel was all a part of God's plan to bring salvation to all in the latter days because the seed of Israel is scattered among all nations, and thus the Lord's covenants previously made can reach out to embrace people among all nations.

The servant is to be a light to the nations that the Lord's salvation may be to the end of the earth. There are two lights: the Lord is a light, and the servant is a light, a greater light and a lesser light. The servant is like the dawning, the early morning, the beginning of the Millennium. He prepares for the coming of the greater light, the full blaze of the sun, who is the Son, the Lord Himself.