Tuesday, June 23, 2009

1 Nephi 21:2

In verse 2, we read:

"2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;"

I believe that Isaiah is referring to himself in this verse. He spoke some in the end of verse 1 about being called when he was still in his mother's womb. He is now talking about his conversion. The Lord has made his mouth like a sharp sword. I believe that the Lord has inspired Isaiah, so that his words testify of the people's wickedness. In 1 Nephi 16:2, I believe that Nephi has had this experience when he was preaching to his brothers:

"2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken ahard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the bguilty taketh the ctruth to be hard, for it dcutteth them to the very center."

Isaiah continues and says that in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but we can see that if the Lord was hiding Isaiah, then we can think about what was it from. Why did Isaiah use the image of the shadow of the hand of the Lord?

Additionally, Isaiah says that he was made as a polished shaft. Polishing is shining up and making smooth. I think that Isaiah was refined. I believe that he speaks more of this later on.

Finally, Isaiah refers to hiding, but this time in the Lord's quiver, which is in His container of arrows. I think that this means that Isaiah is a tool that the Lord has for accomplishing His designs for good. If I remember right, I believe that there were many wars in the time of Isaiah and he was used by the kings to get advice and receive the will of the Lord. I think that sometimes they followed the Lord's words and sometimes not. Later, when Jesus visited the Nephites, and Nephi himself agreed, He told them that Isaiah's words were most valuable. He told them to search his words. He protects Isaiah and uses him, too.

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