The previous paper introduced the concept of Deutero Isaiah. This theory asserts Isaiah was written by Isaiah in the first half and a different author in the second half. The idea of separate authors for Isaiah is not widely accepted. This paper will not litigate that question, but accepts the premise of separate parts in Isaiah.
As an alternative consideration, the first half of Isaiah uses Hezekiah, king of Israel as a type for the Davidic king in latter-day events by applying historical accounts as future types. Hezekiah represents Judah, after the established pattern previously discussed. The second half of Isaiah represents Cyrus, Joseph and the gentiles as types.
The arch nemesis for Hezekiah was the Assyrian king. The confrontation between the two is proportionally a David vs. Goliath confrontation. Numerically, Assyria’s military might far exceeded Hezekiah’s and Judah. Divine intervention became the only means for Hezekiah to prevail over Assyria’s army.
The second important consideration is the challenge Assyria posed to Judah was literal and temporal, in the sense the first half of Isaiah points to a physical, literal set of events replayed with the latter-day Davidic king.
The second half of Isaiah depicts the spiritual nature of the confrontation between Cyrus, a gentile king and Babylon. As the Davidic king represents the temporal, physical events of the last days, Cyrus represents Joseph’s or gentile challenge to overcome Babylon or spiritual wickedness in the last days.
“Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you: Go out of Babylon, gather yourselves out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other. Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off, unto the islands of the sea. Send forth unto foreign lands, call upon all nations, firstly upon the gentiles and then upon the Jews. And behold and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: Go forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about. Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom. Behold and lo, the Bridegroom comes, go out to meet him; prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Let them therefore which are among the gentiles flee unto Zion, and let them who be of Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of the Lord’s house. Go out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon. But verily thus says the Lord: Let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goes, let him not look back, lest sudden destruction shall come upon him [Sodom and Gomorrah, RE Genesis 7:43]" (RE T&C 58:2, emphasis added).
For the gentiles in the last days, Cyrus is a type for the Joseph’s lineage of the Davidic king. The bondage of modern gentiles is spiritual wickedness. The gentiles immerse themselves in a society who’s religious traditions have been eroded through the blending of many cultures and traditions over time.
“Throughout the coming year, we’re going to try and lay that out. 2 Nephi chapter 3—Oh, boy—now, we could spend a day talking about this chapter 3. We don't have that time. And tonight’s time is far spent. But what I want to do is to just look at some specific words for a moment. Because I'm telling you, the muddle that has been made of the Book of Mormon by the nonsense that we believe about its words is worse than a Gordian knot. And how you sort that out at this point… It’s a challenge that you ought to rise to by making it the subject of prayer and getting revelation. Because there’s a story being told here; there’s a covenant being described here. And there are things in play here that, until you awake and arise and realize what the duties are that are devolving upon you, you don't have any chance of figuring out exactly what a mess we’ve made of the restoration of the Gospel” (Be of Good Cheer, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.26, emphasis added).
The Lord’s cry to Judah and the gentiles is for each to flee to the culture established by their Patriarchal Father’s. While there will come a day when a literal exodus occurs, as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, the exodus with the Joseph’s lineage of the Davidic king begins with an exodus out of captivity that has no literal borders or physical barriers. Perhaps “mists of darkness” [see RE 1 Nephi 2:10]. Fleeing modern Babylon is choosing not to pollute our personal temples, by fleeing temptation as Joseph of Egypt ran from his master’s wife and her appeals to Joseph to lie with her [see RE Genesis 11:16]. Babylon beckons all mankind to lie with her because, after all, she is a whore. The Davidic king, like Joseph of Egypt leads an exodus away from Babylon that is more epic than Israel’s departure from Egypt.
Nephi warned the latter-day gentiles of this day of judgment. It is the Lord’s line in the sand and has both temporal and spiritual consequences for those who remain with Babylon and those who choose to flee.
“And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying, Thou hast beheld that if the gentiles repent, it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel. And thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish. Therefore, woe be unto the gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God. For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men, a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other, either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the Devil of which I have spoken” (RE 1 Nephi 3:26, emphasis added).
In Nephi’s vision of the last days, there are only two churches, the church of the Lamb of God and the Church of the Devil. Hezekiah and Cyrus act as types for the “Root of Jesse,” a descendant of both tribes in the last days who receives the Spirit of Elijah and the fullness of the Priesthood. He opens the conduit between Heaven and Earth through which the Patriarchal Fathers condescend to teach those willing to repent and turn to Christ.
The whore Nephi sees is a woman who sells herself for many. She places “stumbling blocks” or false teachings in the way of the gentiles that cause their hearts to harden as the hypocrisy of their false teachings lead them to unwittingly fight against the Lamb of God. The Savior’s greatest persecutors were the prominent leaders in the Jewish faith.
Judah and Hezekiah
Hezekiah assumed Judah’s throne from his father, Ahaz when he was twenty-six years old. During Hezekiah’s reign his arch nemesis was the Assyrian king. Israel entered an alliance with Egypt to enlist Egypt’s commitment to assist Israel if Assyria threatened to invade. The Lord chastened Israel for turning to Egypt rather than Him.
“Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit” (RE Isaiah 10:2, emphasis added).
Judah was in an apostate condition and Hezekiah sought to reclaim Judah and Israel from their sinful condition through covenant renewal. How is it possible to connect Hezekiah to a latter-day David who assumes the throne of David, his ancient father?
The answer is by examining modern scripture to locate links between Hezekiah and a latter-day servant. This passage is a prophecy many falsely claimed but never fulfilled. The prophecy is T&C 83:4.
“ . . .And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter [of kingship] of power in his hand [Spirit of Elijah, Priesthood fullness], clothed with light for a covering [“. . . For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatever is truth is light, and whatever is light is spirit, even the spirit of Jesus Christ . . .”, RE T&C 82:18], whose mouth shall utter words, eternal [God’s words, “Endless and Eternal is my name . . ., RE Genesis 4:17] while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth [ “. . . waters issued out from under the threshold of RE Ezekiel 21:68-77], whose names are found, and the names of their fathers and of their children, enrolled in the Book of the Law of God . . .” (RE T&C 83:4, emphasis added).
The “one mighty and strong,” holds a scepter, a sign of authority, kingship, and power. Light is his covering. Light is synonymous with truth and spirit. This man is embodied in light, spirit, and truth. His mouth utters God’s words like the servant who brings forth the words of Christ and fulfills the prophecy of Moses (see RE 3 Nephi 9:11). His bowels become a fountain of truth.
“ . . . Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says the Lord), but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord — for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more . . .” (RE Jeremiah 12:9, emphasis added).
The Lord enters a new covenant with Israel and Judah in the last days, putting His laws into their inward parts [bowels] and their hearts. The “one mighty and strong” is filled to overflowing and where does it overflow to? The fountain flowing from his inward parts flows out from the East porch of the Temple in Zion, when the Lord dwells in their midst and comes to this Temple.
“Afterward, he brought me again unto the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward — for the forefront of the house stood toward the east — and the waters [revelation] came down from under, from the right side of the house at the south side of the altar. Then he brought me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way outside unto the outer gate by the way that looks eastward; and behold, there ran out waters on the right side [“And righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood . . .” RE Genesis 4:22] . . . Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees [trees as a metaphor for people, “ . . . and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands . . .” RE Isaiah 20:2] on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea — which, being brought forth into the [Dead] sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass that everything that lives, which moves, wherever the rivers shall come, shall live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish [symbol for people, “I will make ye fishers of men,” see Matthew 3:2] because these waters shall come there, for they shall be healed. And everything shall live where the river comes . . . And by the river, upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees [“trees of righteousness,” see RE Isaiah 23:1] for food — whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed. It shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary [Temple]; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine” (RE Ezekiel 21:1, 59-61, emphasis added).
Recall that in Ezekiel 19 king David transitions to a new title of “prince for ever.” That change is important to take note of because thereafter, king David is no longer referred to by name but the title, “prince.”
The prince is only one of two people allowed to enter by the East gate of Temple in Zion. The other is the Lord.
“Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looks toward the east, and it was shut. Then said the Lord unto me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened and no man shall enter in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore, it shall be shut. It is for the prince — the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same” (RE Ezekiel 21:35, emphasis added).
Scott Roderick
3/17/24
Comentarios