Thursday, June 25, 2009

1 Nephi 21:5

The text for this entry:

"5 And now, saith the Lord—that aformed me from the womb that I should be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him—though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my bstrength."

Here is an instance where I believe that Isaiah is preaching. He says that he is one that has been called since the beginning of his mortal experience to be a servant of the Lord. He has mentioned this before, but here he is more specific. He says that he is called to bring Jacob again to Him. And he is doing this as he speaks. Even though the house of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, are not together for him to speak to, he says that he shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and that God shall be his strength.

A very neat thought hit me as I was typing the above paragraph. Isaiah was called to bring the Jacob's descendants back to the Lord. The Lord is his strength. It turns out that a part of Jacob's descendants are the people in the Book of Mormon and on the isles of the sea. Jesus Christ visited those people in the Book of Mormon and the isles of the sea. First, Nephi teaches the words of Isaiah to his people in 1 Nephi 19:23, 2 Nephi 6:4-5, and 2 Nephi chapters 12-24 (with others here and there). This is one way a remnant of the house of Israel received the teachings of Isaiah. These scriptures, I believe, were read by many people, because of the writings of some later prophets in the Small Plates. They said that they know of no other revelation save what has been written. Thus, their contributions were small.

Jesus taught that the people should search the words of Isaiah by commandment, for their worth is great (3 Nephi 23:1). A commandment for them, a branch of the house of Israel to read the words of Isaiah to help fulfill Isaiah's calling. Jesus even quotes to the Nephites Isaiah 54 (in 3 Nephi 22). Finally, in 3 Nephi 16:1, Jesus tell the Nephites that there are other sheep, who are also most likely of the house of Israel, that are not in Jerusalem that he must see and teach.

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