Chapters 34 and 35 pronounce destruction on all those nations that persecuted the Jews and covenant people. They also show forth God’s mercy and redemption for the covenant people who repent. Read and compare with D&C 1. The voice of warning to all nations
Isaiah 34: ¶ 1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. 2 For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:[1] and all their host [the stars and planets falling from heaven; Matthew 24:29, D&C 45:39-55] shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. 5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, [or the world, D&C 1:36, Edom was the area south of the Dead Sea and the descendants of Esau, who sold his birthright for a bowl of porridge] and upon the people of my curse [Obadiah 1:8-21], to judgment. 6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, [The capital of Edom, Bozrah means ‘sheepfold’] and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. 7 And the unicorns [wild oxen] shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. [An all-consuming fire] 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
The Lord wants to impress upon the people how utter desolation will come upon the land because they have rejected the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah describes a wilderness that is inhabited with animals that dwell in the wild and are fearful of people.
¶ 11 ¶ But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. [Builders used the line and plummet to build] 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, everyone with her mate.
Search the scriptures and the prophesies of the Lord and see if any have failed. God’s words always come to pass.
¶ 16 ¶ Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: [none of the wild beast and birds will lack for a mate, they will make the once populated area a permanent home] for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it forever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
Isaiah 35: In the day of restoration, the desert will blossom, the Lord will come, Israel will be gathered, and Zion will be built up. From the barren desert a new people will come to inhabit the wilderness. This means the Millennial earth. All the glory of a wild fertile paradisiacal earth will belong to the covenant people of God, the meek will inherit the earth.
¶1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.
The Lord promises to deliver the Covenant faithful. Be of good cheer. The Messiah will come and heal the sick. He is the Living Water.
¶3 ¶ Strengthen ye the weak hands; [Matt 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:6-11], and confirm the feeble knees. [Matt 15:30-31, John 5:2-16], 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: [Matt. 10:26, 28, 31] behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened; [Matt. 9:27-31, John 9:1-38, Mark 8:22] and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. [Mark 7:32], 6 Then shall the lame man leap [John 5:2-16] as a hart [deer], and the tongue of the dumb sing: [Matt. 9:32] for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. [‘And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.’[D&C 133:29] Spiritually Christ is the “Living Water.” [John 7:37-38, Zech. 14:8, John 4:10]. 7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 8 And an highway shall be there, [D&C 133:27] and a way, and it shall be called ‘The way of holiness;’ the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with ‘songs and everlasting joy’ upon their heads: [D&C 133:33] they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. [Wilford Woodruff said that Ephraim would give the redeemed from the Lost Tribes the temple ordinances. After which they will sing songs of everlasting joy. JD 4:231]
Isaiah Chapters 36-39 are like the Words of Mormon. They fill in the history. Compare with 2 Kings 18:13-19:37.
In 701 BC Sennacherib the Assyrian king invaded Judah and captured all the city-states around Jerusalem such as Arad and Lachish. He eventually surrounded Jerusalem with an army of 185,000 men. This is the backdrop to
Isaiah 36:
¶1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder.
¶4 ¶ And Rabshakeh [the Assyrian Ambassador] said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah,
Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? 8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? the Lord said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.”
¶11 ¶ Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh,
Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
¶12 ¶ But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? 13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said,
‘Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’
¶21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, ‘Answer him not.’
The Assyrians blasphemed the Lord. Rending one’s garment was a sign of mourning a death also under the Jewish tradition if one heard blasphemy “they were required to rend their clothes as a sign of mourning.”[2] It served as a testimony that they did not agree with the blasphemer and they mourned that one would offend God. Reuben rent his clothes when he found out that Joseph was sold into Egypt, [Gen.37:29] When Jesus answered Caiaphas that Jesus was the Son of God, Caiaphas “rent his clothes saying, ‘He hath spoken blasphemy.’”[Matt. 26:65].
¶22 ¶ Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Isaiah 37: Hezekiah seeks counsel from Isaiah to save Jerusalem—Isaiah prophesies the defeat of the Assyrians and the death of Sennacherib—Hezekiah prays for deliverance—Sennacherib sends a blasphemous letter—Isaiah prophesies that the Assyrians will be destroyed and that a remnant of Judah will flourish—An angel slays 185,000 Assyrians—Sennacherib is slain by his sons.
¶1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth [a sign of mourning and humility], and went into the house of the Lord [temple]. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah,
This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
¶6 ¶ And Isaiah said unto them,
“Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”
¶8 ¶ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 “Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?”
¶14 ¶ And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. 17 Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. 18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, 19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. 20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.
¶21 ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying,
“Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: 22 This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. [The proposed marriage of Judah and Assyria is mocked] 23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. 24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. 25 I have digged [my own wells to provide water for my troops], and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. 26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps. 27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. 28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. [It will three years until your enemy will be destroyed and you will be able to harvest your ownfields] 31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. 33 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. 35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”
36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ¶37 ¶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
Isaiah 38: Hezekiah’s life is lengthened fifteen years—The sun goes back ten degrees as a sign, however the Book of Mormon adds this insight; “And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun. [Hel. 12:15]
Hezekiah foolishly shows the Babylonian ambassador all his treasures for which he is rebuked. Hezekiah praises and thanks the Lord.
¶1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him,
“Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, 3 And said,
Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.
And Hezekiah wept sore. ¶4 ¶ Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
5 “Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; 8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
¶9 ¶ The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. 11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. 12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. 15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. 16 ‘O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. 17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. 20 The Lord was ready to save therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. 21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover. 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”me:
Isaiah 39: Hezekiah reveals his wealth to Babylon—Isaiah prophesies the Babylonian captivity. The former chapters dealt with Assyria. This chapter deals with the new rising power Babylon.
¶1 At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
¶3. ¶ Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him,
“What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?”
And Hezekiah said,
“They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.”
4 Then said he,
“What have they seen in thine house?”
And Hezekiah answered,
“All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.”
5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah,
“Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. 7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah,
“Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.” He said moreover, “For there shall be peace and truth in my days.”