Isaiah 40: In spite of the destruction and persecution of the Chosen People, the righteous remnant shall be comforted and forgiven by the Lord. Jehovah will save and guide their history. God will return them to their own land.
¶ 1 “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,” saith your God. 2 “Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” This verse is often applied to John the Baptist but is also true of all those who proclaim the gospel of the Messiah. [Matt. 11:10]. The “Glory of the Lord” is the physical appearance and presence of the Messiah among the people on earth and applies to both the First and Second Coming of the Messiah. The message of “all flesh is grass and the grass withereth,” refers to the shortness of mortal life and the importance of God’s promise of eternal life. God’s words are eternal and will stand forever.
¶ 3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 6 The voice said, Cry. And he said,” What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:” 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The Good Shepherd will feed and care for every ram, ewe, and lamb. He will protect his flock and gather those that were scattered. He will gently lead the mothers and their young. He will carry the lamb in his bosom.
¶ 9 ¶ O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
God who is the creators of millions of worlds and whose works are endless and eternal cannot be compared to the works of man and there is not enough burnt offerings on earth to compensate for the love of God manifested through the Atonement.
¶ 12 ¶ Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
The greatness of God and the nothingness of idols. God who controls the universe is aware of all things, he knows the princes and the paupers. Do not assume that God is unaware of the least of his creations
¶ 18 ¶ To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal,? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. 27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Those who trust in the Lord will be strengthened; they shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint
¶ 28 ¶ Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31. But they that wait [trust] upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 41: “Let us come near together to judgment” is an invitation to make your case in front of a judge in a courtroom. Notice phrases like “produce your cause.” Outsider are told to keep silent. The Lord presents his case. God has raise up Cyrus as a king and given him victory over the nations to carry out God’s divine purposes on earth. Verses 6-7 contrast idols made by men’s hands with verses 8-9 the power of God in heaven to help Abraham his friend and Jacob’s offspring as the chosen servants of the Lord.
¶1 Keep silence before me, O islands; [outsiders, gentiles and those from far away places] and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. 2 Who raised up the righteous man [Cyrus] from the east, called him to his foot, [the Lord’s service] gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. 3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. 4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. 5 The isles [those in far away places] saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. 6 They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, “Be of good courage.” 7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying,” It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. 8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, “Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.”
Compare verse one with the third verse of the Hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.” It is almost identical and was the inspiration for Robert Keen to write it and this hymn was included in the first hymnbook produced by Emma Smith. [D&C 25]. The Right Hand of my Righteousness is a code name for the Messiah, even Jesus Christ. Those who oppose God’s work will come to naught. God will feed, water and deliver his chosen righteous remnant. Idol and false gods will not help you, they are nothingness.
¶10 ¶ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. 12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. 13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, [This word worm is in reference to the comparative smallness and insignificance of Judah and Israel to the great nations around them.] and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. [The enemies of Abraham will be carried away like chaff in the wind] 17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: 20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 21 Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. 23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. 24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you. 25 I have raised up one from the north, [Cyrus] and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. 26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. 27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. 28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
Isaiah 42: Cyrus may return the Jews to their homeland but “my servant” Christ, the Messiah will establish charity and justice among the people.
¶1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: [Luke 3:21] he shall bring forth judgment [Charity and Justice] to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment [Charity and Justice] unto truth. 4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment [Charity and Justice] in the earth: and the isles [distance places] shall wait for his law.
Christ will come to the Covenant People and open the eyes of those who are physically and spiritually blind, open up the door to those who are dead and in the Spirit Prison of sin and ignorance.
¶5 ¶ Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; [Matt 5:14] 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. [1 Pet 3:19] 8 I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. 10 Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: [a nomadic league of tribes in the Arabian Desert symbolic of people in faraway places] let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands. 13 The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. 14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. 15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. 16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17 ¶ They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. 18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
JST, Isaiah 42:19–23. Compare with Isaiah 42:19–22. This translation clears up the true meaning of the King James translation.
19 For I will send my servant [Christ] unto you who are blind; yea, a messenger to open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; 20 And they shall be made perfect notwithstanding their blindness, if they will hearken unto the messenger, the Lord’s servant. 21 Thou art a people, seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears to hear, but thou hearest not. 22 The Lord is not well pleased with such a people, but for his righteousness’ sake he will magnify the law and make it honorable. 23 Thou art a people robbed and spoiled; thine enemies, all of them, have snared thee in holes, and they have hid thee in prison houses; they have taken thee for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
King James Verses:
19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant? 20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 21 The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come? 24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. 25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
Isaiah 43: The Lord reminds the Covenant People that He is their Savior and will be with them through any adversity. He loves them and will gather the seed of Jacob from the four corners of the earth.
¶1 But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. 2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. 4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. 5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; 7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Remembering the setting for chapters 41-48 are a courtroom. Here the Lord is calling upon the opposition of idols and false gods to bring forth their witnesses. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall truth be established. [Deut. 17:6, 19:15, Matt. 8:16, 2 Cor. 13:1, 1 Tim. 5:19, Heb. 10:28]. The Lord is saying to his Covenant People, “Look around, everything you see bears witness of all things I’ve said and done. ‘Ye are my witnesses.” I am the only true God, “Look at all my creation!” Before there was time on earth I am.
¶8 ¶ Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, ‘it is truth.’ 10 “Ye are my witnesses,” saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Savior. 12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ‘ye are my witnesses,’ saith the Lord that I am God. 13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let [stop] it?
¶14 ¶ Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 16 Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
¶18 ¶ Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. 21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
The Lord is disappointed that his chosen people had rejected the very ordinances of obedience and sacrifice that were given to remind the people of the only true God. The Messiah will blot out their sins through the Atonement. The Lord expected love but all he received was disobedience and sins.
¶22 ¶ But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. 23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. 24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. 25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. 26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. 27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. 28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, [Temple] and have given Jacob to the curse, [Deut. 28:15-68] and Israel to reproaches.
Isaiah 44: The Lord’s Spirit will be poured out on the descendants of Israel—Idols of wood are as fuel for a fire—The Lord will gather, bless, and redeem Israel and rebuild Jerusalem. “Jesurun” [Upright Righteous One]. The dual meaning here is Cyrus the temporal leader who will free the Jews in Babylon and Jesus the Messiah who will deliver the Chosen People from temporal bondage and spiritual bondage.
¶1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: 2 Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, [Upright Righteous One] whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: 4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. 5 One shall say, I am the Lord’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. 6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; [Alpha and Omega] and beside me there is no God. 7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. 8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Isaiah mocks how by vanity idols are made by men’s hands and then worshipped as if they were gods. Ironically Jehovah is the creator of men and seeks their eternal best interest only to be rejected by the seed of Abraham. Men cut down a tree. With half of the wood from a fallen tree he fashions an idol. With the rest of the wood he builds a fire and warms himself. The Lord is pointing out the absurdity of making a god out of wood.
¶9 ¶ They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. 12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. 14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. 15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. 16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: 17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. 18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. 19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? 20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Isaiah’s ministry was from about 740 BC to 690 BC. The Persian king Cyrus is mentioned more than 26 times in the Bible.[1] In earlier chapters Cyrus is referred by a title but not by name, but here Isaiah named Cyrus (c. 576 – 530 BC) more than a hundred and fifty years before Cyrus was to be born. When the Jews were in captivity in Babylon, Cyrus defeated the Babylonian king. The Jewish historian Josephus recorded that the Jews took the writings of Isaiah and showed them to Cyrus who then gave the Jews permission to return and rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This brings up the topic of “pre-naming.” The Lord has revealed the names of many people and defined their mission before they were born. Recall the Lord’s words to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;…I ordained thee a prophet.” [Jer. 1:5]. Isaac was pre-named a year before he was conceived. [Gen. 17:19]. Moses was named 65 years before his birth. (2 Nephi 3:10). Aaron was named 65 years before his birth. (JST Gen 50:35). Mary and Jesus were pre-named 124 years before they were born. (Mosiah 3:8). John the Beloved was named 550 years before his birth. (1 Nephi 14:27). John the Baptist was named a year before his birth. (Luke 1:60).
Israel is reminded that God has blotted out their sins through the Atonement and that he is the Master Creator of all things including the trees they cut down of which they made an idol god. The Lord reminds the people that after they are carried away captive the Lord will raise up Cyrus to have them return to Jerusalem.
¶21 ¶ Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. 23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. 24 Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; 25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; 26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: 28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Solomon’s Temple and Jerusalem were already in existence when Isaiah gave this prophecy. Why would he say that Jerusalem “shall be built and to the temple, thy foundation shall be laid?” Because they were both going to be destroyed. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah describe these events surrounding the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the temple more than 150 years after Isaiah’s prophesy.
Isaiah 45: The conquests made by Cyrus are a part of God’s divine plan to fulfill his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to return the remnant of the Covenant People to the Holy Land. The dualism here cannot be overstressed. Cyrus is a type or shadow of Christ. Just as Cyrus will conquer and subdued the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the countries of Phrygia, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, and Babylonians; also the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sacae, Paphlagonians, and Megadinians; likewise the Greeks that inhabit Asia, Cyprians and Egyptians so will Christ conquer the known world. Come unto Jehovah (Christ) and be saved—To Him every knee will bow and every tongue will take an oath to serve Christ except the sons of Perdition. These nations opened up their “two leaved gates to Cyrus out of fear. The oaths made to Christ will be voluntary because in the day of his coming the wicked will have been destroyed and sent to the Spirit Prison to repent while those who were sufficiently righteous will bow the head and every tongue confess and bend the knee to Christ.
¶1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
The blessing and cursing that God bestowed upon the Covenant People in consequence of their obedience or their disobedience has gone unnoticed by them. The Lord decries their lack of awareness of his obvious involvement in their lives. “Thou hast not known me!” is repeated. Why pray to a god of wood or stone that cannot answer thy prayers when I am willing to bless thee above all nations?
¶5 ¶ I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. 9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? 11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. 12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts. 14 Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. 15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. 16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. 17 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. 18 For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
¶20 ¶ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: [the remnant] they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24 Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. [People are justified by legally fulfilling the law of baptism through repentance. They are sanctified by learning to live with the Holy Ghost.]
Isaiah 46: Isaiah returns again and again to the stupidity of false idol and false gods. Isaiah contrast the idols of Babylon with the greatness of Jehovah. Bel means “Lord” and generally referred to Marduk, much like Thor a god of thunderstorms and one who controlled the weather. Nabu or Nebo was the cult god of literacy and wisdom, Nabu was linked by the Romans with Mercury and Apollo. Yes, Mt. Nebo where Moses watched Joshua lead the people into the Promised Land was named after the Babylonian god Nebo. Isaiah mocks making animals carry idol gods when Jehovah carries his Covenant People.
¶1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. 2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
¶3 ¶ Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: 4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
What possible comparison could be made between a dumb idol made by the hands of men and the Creator of the universe?
¶5 ¶ To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. 7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird [Cyrus, his banner was a golden eagle] from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. [These events have not yet happened, but did indeed come to pass.]
¶12 ¶ Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, [stubborn minded] that are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness [the Messiah]; it shall not be far off, and my salvation [Christ] shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. [Consistently Isaiah uses as titles for the Savior, “My Righteousness” and “My Salvation.” See Isaiah 51:5,6.
Isaiah 47: Babylon and Chaldea will be destroyed for their iniquities—No one will save them. Once again it is by the wicked that the wicked are destroyed. (Mormon 4:5). The false gods of Babylon or the world will not save them from the impending doom. Daughters of kings did not do manual labor. Here Isaiah is describing the mundane tasks of grinding flour, instead of being carried over a stream she has to pull up her skirt like all the common women do to cross a river.
¶1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, [She, Babylon had not been ravished by other nations] sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. 4 As for our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
¶6 ¶ I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
¶7 ¶ And thou [Babylon] saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, “I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:” 9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. [Witchcraft].
¶10 ¶ For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
Isaiah describes the futility of trusting in false gods and idols.
¶11 ¶ Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander everyone to his quarter; none shall save thee.
Isaiah 48: The Lord reveals His purposes to Israel—Israel has been chosen in the furnace of affliction and is to depart from Babylon. The Lord decries those who are called by his name but who ignore his commandments. The hypocrite is blind and does not see or recognize the hand of God in their lives. A somber reminder that there is no peace for the wicked. This stands in opposition to the peace promised by Jesus. (John 14:27).
¶1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, (or out of the waters of baptism 1 Nephi 20:1) [This applies to the latter-day Israelites with a dual interpretation] which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and (do not) stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name. 3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
¶9 ¶ For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for ‘my praise’ will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. [My Praise is another title for Christ].
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it (this BM*): for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
¶12 ¶ Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
The Lord is anxious to redeem his Covenant People.
16 ¶ Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; (I have sent him BM*) I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
“O Babylon, O Babylon we bid thee farewell, we are going to the mountains of Ephraim to dwell!” The words of that hymn encompass the message to modern day Israel and to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
¶20 ¶ Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, “The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.”
[1]2 Chron 36:22-33; Ezra 1:1-8, Ezra 3:7; Ezra 4:3,5; Ezra 5:13-17, Ezra 6:3,14, Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah 45:1,13; Daniel 1:21, Daniel 6:28, Daniel 10:1, and 1 Esdras 2