1 Nephi 21 (along with Nephi’s subsequent explanation in ch 22) is one of the most important chapters in the Book of Mormon because it foretells the mission of Latter-day Saints and their destiny in connection with the house of Israel, or in President Russell M. Nelson’s words, their role in the gathering.
1 Listen, o isles, unto me, while the previous chapter (Isaiah 48) dealt with the Jews, this chapter (Isaiah 49) deals with Nephites.
2-3+ he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword…a polished shaft in his quiver…Thou art my servant, one aspect of Isaiah’s prophecies is that he incorporates “dualism,” or the idea of speaking to not just one but two or more people or events when prophecying. For example, in this verse, who is the person whose mouth is like a sharp sword, etc.? Isaiah, for sure, as the Lord’s prophet-servant and mouthpiece. But he also clearly refers to Israel as those whom God has hid in his quiver. And then virtually all of Isaiah’s prophecies are messianic, so Jesus Christ also fits this prophecy. Of course, as with all of scripture, we should also find ourselves, and so you and I can be swords of the Lord, hidden in his quiver, awaiting to be unleashed on the world, to bless the world. So, we’ll have to read the rest of this chapter on different levels—as applying to Isaiah, to scattered Israel (Nephi and his people, e.g.), to Jesus, and to you and me.
4-5 I have labored in vain, with all the above groups, including you and me, as it sometimes feels like the labor to gather us back to God is in vain. Nephi must have felt this. I feel this for myself, and sometimes for others (I certainly felt this as a missionary). We may feel it for our children. God certainly ought to feel this for Israel, the Gentiles, and all his children. But to those who feel this way, the Lord invites us to respond, “though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.” It’s reminiscent of the Lord’s counsel to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, “If they reject my words… blessed are ye…for you shall dwell with me in glory” (D&C 6:29-30).
6-8 I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, Again, while these verses can apply to the Savior, and to us, I’m going to apply them to Nephi’s people because that’s what he’s doing right now (“O isles of the sea” v8). First, Lehi’s family had just joined the thousands or tens of thousands they would have found in the New World—geographic gentiles—and they would be a light to them, to bring them the gospel. But second, Nephi’s descendants will record their witness of Christ—the Book of Mormon—which will become the great light to the Gentiles in the latter days.
9-11 Go forth; to them that sit in darkness, etc. all of these promises apply to all who accept the servants’ message of redemption through the Messiah. Note the image of the Good Shepherd here, one who frees the sheep from prison-thickets and darkness, feeds them in green pastures, leads them by springs of water, and finds a highway for them through formidable mountains.
12-26 THE MACRO METAPHOR, so I’m going to wax oriental now, metaphoric, because unless we change the way we think from occidental-concrete to oriental-abstract, we won’t see it, and we won’t understand what Isaiah is saying. The point is we have to see the macro-metaphor far beyond the text, beyond even the smaller metaphors. We can start by pointing out that Isaiah personifies Israel and Zion, as if they were people who could speak. This is going to be important; in fact, it may be the most important piece to understanding what he’s going to say in the rest of the chapter.
12 these shall come from far, who? The seed. The covenant seed who had been lost after Israel’s final apostasy in 70AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was scattered and left bereft of “children.” [There were three main scatterings: 720 BC by the Assyrians, 600 BC by Babylon, and 70 AD by the Romans.]
13 they shall be smitten once more, parent Israel, who were scattered. The time will come when they will be restored, and though for many years barren of righteous seed (true Israel), finally will have the true fruit again—true children of Israel—and they shall come from far, as in v12, probably metaphorically.
14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, so Isaiah tells us of a conversation, not a real one of course, but a metaphoric one—Zion/Israel of that day (then scattered), and during later scatterings, is personified as having a conversation with the Lord. No, we have no family, we are barren and scattered, there are no righteous children. The metaphor is poignant because only a parent understands the pain of being childless, or bereft of children who have been slain or gone astray. Ah, but the Lord will show that he has not forsaken nor forgotten.
15 can a woman forget her sucking child, even she may forgot, but God will not forget his firstborn, or his first-chosen, Israel; and so we don’t miss the mark, neither will he ever forget us.
16 graven thee upon the palms of my hands, the metaphor will not be lost on Christians.
[I’m going to paraphrase some of these verses, if you don’t mind; not all, but the gist:]
17 [paraphrase] Still not much clarification yet, but apparently this righteous seed will avenge Israel’s oppressors, and those oppressors will leave their lands.
18 [paraphrase] Then the children will come, and they will have blessings for Israel, clothing and jewelry/ornaments, as if preparing them to be a bride;
19 [paraphrase] And their lands, which had formerly been laid waste by foreign invaders, and desolate by the people being carried off captive, will now be too narrow by reason of the innumerable inhabitants; and their oppressors will be long gone.
20 [paraphrase] These “children” who now come to you, Israel, to restore you (since you lost your first children through scattering), will be so great in number that the lands are too strait or narrow. Such will be the great numbers of new (adopted) children of Israel!
21 [paraphrase] But Israel will say, wait, where did these come from? They are gentiles, but I see they are like us, Israel in deed, covenant Israel. Where did these come from?? How did this happen?
[Aha! Thought you’d never ask. This is how:]
22 I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles through the Restoration of the gospel in the latter days, and set up my standard to the people through the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and other scripture. And through the restoration of the Priesthood, these who are latter-day Israel will be adopted into your family and administer to you the ordinances of salvation, and it will be like they are carrying you in their arms and upon their shoulders, such will be the display of love and service and salvation and restoration. These are your children. They are truly of Israel!
23 [paraphrase] In short, the great rulers of the earth, who in times past have persecuted you, will, in the latter times, nurse and serve you. This prophecy is sometimes seen in the post-war 1948 restoration of the state of Israel, led by the great leaders of nations, particularly the U.S. and Great Britain.
24 For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives delivered, we haven’t discussed parallelism yet, but it’s the common form of Hebrew poetry where one line is repeated by a second, but different, to give more meaning and depth. This verse is a perfect example. In normal circumstances, you can’t wrench prey from a mighty predator, at least without injuring it, nor can you simply take a lawful captive from its captors. And yet…(next verse)
25 [paraphrase] The Lord can do even this with his people, who have been both prey and captive throughout their history. He will defend us! He has our backs.
26 and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and they Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob, “his God IS God,” as Ramses says to his wife toward the end of DeMille’s classic The Ten Commandments.
Okay I made it through that. There’s so much more to say. Fortunately, Nephi will spend the entire next chapter explaining what he just quoted, and he will do it far better than I just did :).
Holy Envy 