1 Nephi 21:19-20

We shall consider the following text for today:

"19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants; and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

"20 The children whom thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the first, shall ^aagain in thine ears say: The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell."

We are discussing a little more about the gathering of Israel. I like the description in the Institute manual with respect to these two verses:

"So many people will come, both to Zion and the Old Jerusalem, that they will complain that the land is 'too strait [narrow] for me: give place to me that I may dwell' (Isaiah 49:20). This overcrowding has occurred wherever the modern gathering has taken place. The Church has a difficult time keeping up with needs for chapels and leadership because of its many converts. Modern Israel has received so many ingatherers that the land is literally 'too narrow by reason of the inhabitants' (v. 19)."

There are a lot of constraints for the Church because of the gathering of Israel. In addition to the ones mentioned above, the recent economical recession has put a strain on church building. It is interesting, because in my stake they are building a new stake center. Many construction companies tried to outbid each other for it. Times are hard here for construction companies. We got a great deal from a company that says they usually don't do such small jobs. (That made me wonder what their regular jobs were like if a stake center is small.)

In another related subject to the verse, one of the fruits of a Patriarchal Blessing if you are a member of the church is the knowledge of what tribe if Israel, or part of the house of Israel, you are from. They are truly being gathered in in these days. I have heard that there are some of the tribes that have only a few people identified from them at this time, and they know each other and have their contact information. How great is that!

The saints gather at churches in their neighborhoods. Some are overflowing in capacity and some are not. But, there are prophesies about certain areas of the world that seem, to me, very consistent about the gathering of Israel. There is a prophesy about the southeast United States that says there will be more that a million members of the church here. The last statistic that I heard was that we have about half of that right now, maybe a little less. We need to gather Israel, and identify them and give them the opportunity to receive the blessings of the church.

1 Nephi 21:18

We consider this verse today:

"18 Lift up thine eyes round about and behold; all these ^agather themselves together, and they shall come to thee. And as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on even as a bride."

I believe here that the Lord is still speaking to the house of Israel, but it appears to be Zion too. Lift up your eyes and behold the gathering, the gathering of Israel in the last days. They shall be clothed like a bride. There are several references to this found in the scriptures. The Old Testament Institute Manual explains this well, under the chapter of Isaiah 49 (Which I don't know why I didn't look here before! : )

"(17-8) Isaiah 49:18–21. Israel’s Latter-day Gathering Shall Be Rapid and Sustained

"In Isaiah 49:18–21, the latter-day gathering of Israel is spoken of. In the same way that a new bride adorns herself for her wedding day, so will the Zion of the latter days spiritually adorn those who come to her for blessings. This imagery of Christ as the Bridegroom and His covenant people as His bride is seen elsewhere in the scriptures (see Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14; Matthew 25:1–13; Revelation 19:7; D&C 33:17; 133:10, 19). And just as a bride puts on her finest clothing in preparation for the marriage, so will Israel clothe herself in righteousness in preparation for her coming 'marriage' (see Revelation 19:8, where the 'clothing' of the bride is described)."

1 Nephi 21:17

Here is the Isaiah text that we shall consider for today:

"17 Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers; and they that made thee ^awaste shall go forth of thee."

He is quoting the Lord, most likely speaking to the house of Israel, who states that the children of the house of Israel shall make haste against their destroyers. Plus, those that have made the house of Israel waste shall go forth of (or from) them.

I think that this verse is saying that the house of Israel should be patient in their afflictions and that the Lord has a plan for those that afflict them. He lets us suffer at times (either if we've been righteous or wicked) to help us know that life has trials to make us (hopefully, if we learn) better. With this He reiterates to us that He is a just God. Those who seek to make us suffer will receive their reward. Sometimes it happens in this life and sometimes it happens in the life to come.

1 Nephi 21:14-16

Today we consider these three verses:

"14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

"15 For can a ^awoman forget her sucking child, that she should not have ^bcompassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may ^cforget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

"16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the ^apalms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

I really like these verses. Mostly verse 16 because it was one of the first verses that I understood from Isaiah. I remember that it was one of the times that I read it as a youth that it made a connection with me.

It is interesting that Zion says, in verse 14, that the Lord hath forsaken them and hath forgotten them. Zion is the pure in heart, a people that have all things common among them. They are in a temporal and spiritual setting where they depend on God to help them be in that state where they give all for the common good. Well, it seems that they feel (or will feel) this way. However, the Lord responds that He will show them that He has not forgotten them, and it is in a miraculous way.

In verse 15, we are given the analogy of the fact that a woman cannot forget her little child, her little baby that depends on her so much to how the Lord feels about His people. He also states that the people may forget the Lord, but the Lord will never forget them, and this is why:

In verse 16, we can see the reason...the Lord states that He has engraven them upon the palms of His hands. When Christ was resurrected He received a perfect body, but the wounds that were the result of His crucifixion were left as that reminder. When He comes again in all His glory, the Jews who crucified Him will see the marks and know that it was the Savior whom they crucified. Jesus remembers us. Let us always remember Him in order to have His help and assistance in our lives. So we can have our walls continually before Him and, if it be right, He will clear the way for us. If not, He won't. Let's follow Him instead of trying to forge on without Him.

1 Nephi 21:13

We consider this verse for today:

"13 ^aSing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and ^bbreak forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his ^cafflicted."

"Sing, O heavens," I believe, means that there will be a time that the angels should rejoice and "be joyful, O earth," is when the people (or the earth itself) should rejoice, too. (At the end of the verse is the reason, in case you were wondering.) "Break forth into singing, O mountains," and the promise that they shall be smitten no more refers to the time when the earth will be renewed at the Second Coming. This is good, because in Genesis 3:17-18, the ground is cursed. I believe that this prophesy is telling about the time the curse will be lifted. The end of the verse tells the reason to rejoice. The Lord comforted His people (see Alma 7:11-12) and has mercy on those that are afflicted for His sake (see Matthew 5:44).

1 Nephi 21:12

We will think about this verse for today:

"12 And then, O house of Israel, behold, ^athese shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim."

When the Lord makes all His mountains a way and exalt His highways (from verse 11), then people will come from far. I believe the "these" in verse 12 are scattered tribes of Israel. They will come from the north, the west, and the land of Sinim. If we take Sinim to be a land in the direction other than the north and west, then it must mean from the east or south. Some have taken this to mean China or Australia. Their argument links can be found in the Wikipedia entry for Sinim. However, I do not endorse their ideas, only the logic in the fact that Sinim could be opposite north and west.

1 Nephi 21:9-11

We have the following as a passage to consider for today:

"9 That thou mayest say to the ^aprisoners: Go forth; to them that sit in ^bdarkness: Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their ^cpastures shall be in all high places.

"10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

"11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my ^ahighways shall be exalted."

Last time we talked about the Lord giving his servant as a (fulfillment of a) covenant to restore the gospel to the descendants of the house of Israel at the time of Isaiah. The servant will do this, in part, by saying to the prisoners who sit in darkness (those that are without the gospel), show yourselves. Feed in (partake of) the ways (of righteousness). By doing so, their pastures shall be in high places. Like sheep that feed in the pastures, so shall we, if we are righteous and follow the prophet, feed in high pastures, ones close to God.

Verse 10 says what will happen. We shall not hunger nor thirst (for spiritual truth), neither shall the heat nor the sun smite us. We shall have power to keep growing spiritually. He that has mercy shall lead by springs of water we shall be guided (kind of like feeding in high pastures). This verse reminded me a lot of the conversation Jesus had with the woman at the well (see John 4:5 and on).

Verse 11 states that He will make all his mountains a way and His highways shall be exalted. We have been taught that the Lord has used mountains as sacred places, e.g., Mount Sinai and the mountain(s) Nephi was sent to for building his ship and his vision there. The highways of the Lord (that shall be exalted in this verse) is something that I'm not as familiar with, as far as what has been taught before. So I looked at the footnote and one helpful verse comes from Isaiah 62:10, which says:

"10 ¶ Go through, go through the gates; ^aprepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the ^bhighway; gather out the stones; lift up a ^cstandard for the people."

We have been taught that the gate of the Lord is baptism. So, I believe that the highway that shall be exalted is the one on the Lord's side of the gate. I think that the people that are on it are the ones that Lehi says are on the path that leads to the tree of life. We read in 1 Nephi 8 about those who stay on and are faithful partakers of the fruit of the tree of life. Let us be among those, and we will be exalted with the highways.