2
Ne 17-20 Historical context of Isaiah’s prophecies
At
the time of Isaiah’s ministry, the children of Israel were divided into two
kingdoms: the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom.
The
northern kingdom was also called the kingdom of Israel or the kingdom of
Ephraim (because Ephraim was the leading tribe). The ten tribes lived in the
northern kingdom. Since the days of Solomon, when the northern kingdom broke
from the ruling family of the tribe of Judah, the northern kingdom had been
ruled by wicked men. They had practiced idolatry, rejected the Lord, perverted
the priesthood, etc. In chapter 17, one of the kingdom’s wicked kings, Pekah
has made a pact with the king of Syria, Rezin, to conquer the kingdom of Judah.
Any fighting between the northern and southern kingdoms was an abomination to
the Lord They were brothers and should have lived together in peace.
The
southern kingdom was also called the kingdom of Judah because Judah was the
leading tribe. It contained members of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and some
Levites. Since the days of Solomon, the southern kingdom had been ruled, for
the most part, by righteous kings. One exception to this rule is king Ahaz, who
followed the wicked ways of his northern neighbors (2 Chron 28:2). It was during
the reign of Ahaz that Pekah and Rezin came against Jerusalem. Traditionally,
the Lord had protected the children of Israel from the military conquests of
their neighbors—even if they were vastly outnumbered. This protection required
that the people trust in the Lord and not look to other nations for military
alliances. At this time, both the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom
make alliances with their neighbors. The result is war, destruction, and the
rejection of their Lord and Savior.
Isaiah’s
ministry was among the Jews in Jerusalem, although he speaks of events in both
kingdoms. The 1981 Book of Mormon Institute Manual discusses his ministry:
“Isaiah lived and prophesied during the
reigns of four kings of Judah—Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1).
This period of his ministry spanned from the year King Uzziah died (c. 740 BC)
until the end of Hezekiah’s reign (c. 699BC). Tradition says he was killed by
Hezekiah’s son Manasseh…
“Isaiah’s call to the ministry came
during the decline of Judah’s and Israel’s power and prosperity. During the
reign of Ahaz, a major crisis occurred: the Syro-Ephraimite war (c. 734 BC).
Pekah, King of Israel, and Rezin, King of Syria, threatened to capture
Jerusalem and replace Ahaz with a king of their own choosing for the purpose of
forming a tripartite alliance, consisting of Syria, Israel, and Judah, against
Assyria. (See 2 Nephi 17ff.) Isaiah revealed the plot to Ahaz and prophesied
that such an alliance would fail; the prophet tried in vain to convince Ahaz to
place his trust in the Lord rather than in foreign alliances. Instead, Ahaz
made an agreement with the Assyrian monarch, Tilgath-pelezer II (Pul), and
Judah became a vassal state, paying tribute to Assyria to escape the threat of
Syria and Israel.” (Book of Mormon Institute Manual, p. 93)
2
Ne 17:2 Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his
heart was moved
The
news of an alliance between Syria and the kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) was
terrifying to king Ahaz and his people. Both kingdoms were larger and more
powerful than Judah. Ahaz’s first response was to look to other nations, i.e.,
Assyria for help.
2
Ne 17:3 Who was Shearjashub?
As
the scripture plainly declares, Shearjashub was Isaiah’s son. His name means, “the
remnant shall return.” We learn of another of his sons in Isa. 8:1. Both sons
had unusual names with prophetic significance. With his other son, the Lord
instructs him to name his son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, signifying the imminent
destruction of Israel.
“The conduit or tunnel that carried
water from the city’s only water source, called Gihon Spring, still exists and
is located just outside of what used to be the city wall. This made the city
very vulnerable in time of siege. The king might have come to this upper pool
of Gihon Spring to consider the means by which the city could be defended. But
with his heart filled with apostasy and his mind muddled with anxiety over the
imminent attack of a huge army from the north, Ahaz would certainly not be in a
mood to feel sympathetic to what Isaiah was about to tell him.” (W. Cleon
Skousen, Isaiah speaks to Modern Times, 201 as taken from Commentaries on Isaiah in the Book
of Mormon, ed. by K. Douglas Bassett, [American Fork, UT: Covenant
Publishing Co., 2003], 128)
2
Ne 17:4 fear not, neither be faint-hearted for the
two tails of these smoking firebrands
The
Lord tells Ahaz, through Isaiah, not to fear the enemy. Why is the enemy
likened to “the two tails of smoking firebrands?” A firebrand was a technique used to destroy the crops and
vineyards of an enemy. Foxes would be taken, have some sort of torch
(firebrand) tied to their tails, and then sent to run through the fields of the
enemies. The foxes would scamper around starting fires everywhere they went.
Therefore, the phrase ‘two tails of these smoking
firebrands’ refers to Pekah and Rezin as destroyers. The fact that the
firebrands are smoking suggests that the fire (representing their strength) has
been extinguished. The phrase also carries a certain disdain. A good example of
the use of firebrands is found in Judges:
‘And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took
firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between
two tails.
And when he had set the brands on fire, he let [them] go into
the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also
the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.’ (Judges
15:4-5)
2
Ne 17:7 It shall not stand, neither shall it come to
pass
If
Ahaz is smart enough to believe in Isaiah, he would not need to trust in the
power of another nation. For centuries the Lord had protected the Jews from the
military conquests of their neighbors. This was done in spite of huge numerical
mismatches. The Lord had demonstrated in the past that He was able to fight
their battles for them. Such was His promise again. The tone of the next verses
demonstrates that Ahaz lacked faith in this promise.
At
any rate, Ahaz was able to defend his people without the help of Assyria. This
is recorded in 2 Kings 16:5-6, ‘Rezin…and Pekah…came
up to Jerusalem to war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.’
In the siege, Rezin is only able to take one city, Elath. Josephus
explained that after Ahaz had successfully repelled the Rezin/Pekah alliance,
he took all the credit himself, forgetting the help he had received from the
Lord. He then considered himself so great that he went to Damascus to attack
Rezin and Pekah. This time he did not have the Lord’s help and was beaten
severely. According to 2 Chron 28:6-7, 120,000 men were killed and another
200,000 were taken captive. These prisoners were later released.
This
great devastation happened because of the wickedness of Ahaz. Had he trusted in
the Lord and recognized his hand in his military victories, the Lord would not
have let this military disaster come upon his people. It was this disaster
which prompted Ahaz to get revenge. It was at this point that Ahaz enlisted the
help of the Assyrians. The Assyrians then attacked the Syrians and killed
Rezin. See Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book IX, chapter
XII, 2 Kings 16:7-9, and 2 Chron. 28.
2
Ne 17:8 within three score and five years shall
Ephraim be broken
A
score is twenty years. So Isaiah is prophesying of the downfall of the northern
kingdom. This occurs at the hands of the Assyrians during the reign of Pekah’s
successor, Hoshea. This prophecy is fulfilled well within the 65 year time
limit.
‘Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and
went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria,
and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by
the river of Gozan, and in the
cities of the Medes’ (2 Kings 17:5-6).
“In
this prophecy, Isaiah promises that the Syro-Israelite alliance will fail and
that Israel will be scattered within sixty-five years. The fulfillment came
about in successive stages. First, Tiglath-Pileser III (Pul) attacked Syria and
Israel in 732 B.C. and took many Israelites captive to Assyria, especially
those from the northern tribes. Secondly, in 730-727, Pul annexed the
Transjordan area and deported large numbers of the Israelite tribes from that
area to the far reaches of the Assyrian Empire. Third, in 726, Hoshea refused
to pay Assyrian tribute, and Pul's successor, Shalmaneser, retaliated by
attacking Israel and besieging Samaria, which fell in 722 B.C. Thus, within a
dozen years of Isaiah's prophecy, the alliance had completely failed, and three
major groups of Israelites had been deported. Finally, large groups of the
Israelites fled from Assyria to the remote areas northward and became the lost
Ten Tribes of Israel. Apparently, within about fifty years of their leaving
Assyria, they were scattered so widely that many of them no longer existed as a
cohesive group. Thereby Isaiah's prophecy to Ephraim was completely realized.” (Victor L. Ludlow, Isaiah:
Prophet, Seer, and Poet, 141 - 142 as taken from Commentaries on Isaiah
in the Book of Mormon, ed. by K. Douglas Bassett, [American Fork, UT:
Covenant Publishing Co., 2003], 129-130)
2
Ne 17:9 the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head
of Samaria is Remaliah’s son
This
verse and verse 8 parallel each other. These phrases can sometimes be
confusing. Isaiah is explaining that the capital city of the kingdom of Israel
(or Ephraim) is Samaria and that the king is Pekah (Remaliah’s son). In verse
8, we see that the capital city of Syria is Damascus and that the king of Syria
is Rezin.
2
Ne 17:11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God
Asking
for a sign is usually not an act of righteousness. This may explain Ahaz’
answer in the next verse, I ‘will not ask, neither
will I tempt the Lord.’ However, when the Lord instructs you to ask, you
should ask. That the Lord was wearied with Ahaz and his answer is apparent from
the ensuing verses, ‘is it a small thing for you to
weary men, but will ye weary my God also’ (v. 13).
2
Ne 17:14 Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel
Doctrinally,
this is the pinnacle of this chapter. The Lord gives a wicked king, Ahaz, a
kernel of prophetic truth that he most certainly won’t understand. The part he
understands comes in verse 16, ‘the land that thou
abhorest shall be forsaken of both her kings.’
Some
have misconstrued Mary’s immaculate conception by questioning whether or not she
was actually a virgin. The scriptures leave no doubt. We also learn that Joseph
did not consummate his marriage with Mary until after the birth of Jesus, ‘And [he] knew her not
till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS’
(Matt 1:25). All we need to know about how God the Father is the literal and
physical Father of Jesus Christ is contained words of the angel to Mary, ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God’ (Lu 1:35).
The
name Immanuel means “God with us.” It is given as a title of the Son of God,
not as his given name. Isaiah commonly uses titles to describe the Messiah, ‘his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace’ (Isa 9:6). “Immanuel”
is also spoken of in Isaiah 8:8.
Marion
G. Romney
“Here is another example in which men
revise the scriptures without the inspiration of the Spirit. Isaiah, in
predicting the birth of Christ, said: ‘Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’ When
Isaiah used the word virgin, he was saying that a woman who had not
known a man should bear a son.
“The modern translators say: ‘Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’ (Holy Bible, Revised Standard
Version of Isa 7:14 [New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1952]) You see, they do
not believe that Christ was divine, so it does not make any difference to them
whether they say a ‘young woman’ or a ‘virgin.’” (Conference Report,
Tokyo Japan Area Conference 1975, p. 46 as taken from the 1981 Old Testament
Institute Manual, p. 145)
2
Ne 17:16 before the child shall know to refuse the
evil and choose the good
The
Lord’s prophecy has dual fulfillment and probably applies to Isaiah’s son. The
destruction of Syria and Ephraim are to come before this child reaches the age
of accountability.
“There
are plural or parallel elements to this prophecy, as with so much of Isaiah's
writing. The most immediate meaning was probably focused on Isaiah's wife, a
pure and good woman who brought forth a son about this time, the child becoming
a type and shadow of the greater, later fulfillment of the prophecy that would
be realized in the birth of Jesus Christ. The symbolism in the dual prophecy
acquires additional importance when we realize that Isaiah's wife may have been
of royal blood, and therefore her son would have been royalty of the line of
David. Here again is a type, a prefiguration of the greater Immanuel, Jesus
Christ, the ultimate son of David, the royal King who would be born of a
literal virgin. Indeed, his title Immanuel would be carried forward to
the latter days, being applied to the Savior in section 128 verse 22 of the
Doctrine and Covenants.” (Christ and the New Covenant, 79 as taken from
Commentaries on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. by K. Douglas Bassett,
[American Fork, UT: Covenant Publishing Co., 2003], 130-131)
2
Ne 17:17 The Lord shall bring upon thee…the king of
Assyria
“With King Ahaz having rejected the
word of the Lord, the prophet now proceeds to pronounce the penalties that
would befall the king and the people of Judah. Instead of becoming a partner
with the Assyrians, Ahaz and his people would become their prey. They would
experience a devastation such as they had not seen since the days the northern
tribes broke away from the united kingdom of the twelve tribes. Flies and bees
would infest the land, and thorns and briers would take over the
once-productive land. The people would be taken into captivity, and those who
remain would have to forage for food. (Hoyt W. Brewster, Jr., Isaiah Plain
and Simple [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1995], 70)
“Ahaz’s failure to believe in the Lord
led to the devastation of his land by the Assyrians, the same source to which
he, in his twisted wisdom, had looked for deliverance. In fact, Isaiah said
that God sent the Assyrians against his people to humble them (Isa. 10:5-11).
The account of his appears in Isaiah 36-3 and 2 Kings 18-19, in which the
writer explains: the ‘king of Assyria came against
all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them’ (Isa. 36:1).
Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, boasted in his own records about how he
conquered forty-six fortified cities plus innumerable smaller cities in their
environs and carried their inhabitants into captivity. The kingdom of Judah was
devastated. Of its cities, only Jerusalem survived. (Keith A. Meservy, Studies
in Scripture, Vol. 4, ed. Kent P. Jackson [Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book Co., 1993], 98)” (Commentaries
on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed.
by K. Douglas Bassett, [American Fork, UT: Covenant Publishing Co., 2003], 130-131)
2
Ne 17:20 shall the Lord shave with a razor that is
hired
The
Assyrian king and army are likened to a razor. The razor is “hired” because the
Assyrians were not the covenant people of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord is
using them almost as mercenaries to act as His instrument for a short period of
time. The kingdom of Judah is likened to the hair of the head, feet, or beard
that is cut down by this instrument. The phrase ‘beyond
the river’ is used because the Assyrians were on the other side of the
Euphrates River. The Lord is also making reference to an Assyrian practice of
humiliating their enemies by shaving them.
“The humiliation and slavery that will
befall the people is represented in verse 20 by the razor cutting off their
hair. The Assyrians cut off all the hair from their captives for three reasons:
humiliation, sanitation (especially while traveling under crude conditions to
Assyria), and separation (if any slaves escaped while being moved from their
homeland, they could not blend in with other peoples since their baldness would
give them away; thus they usually were quickly recaptured, punished, and
returned to their captors.)” (Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet, by Victor
L. Ludlow, p. 145)
2
Ne 17:21-25 the abundance of milk...and…briers and
thorns
The
meaning of these verses seems to be that after the destruction of the kingdom
of Judah, the land will be blessed for the raising of cattle and other
livestock but will be cursed as to crop production. As it says, ‘all the land shall become briers and thorns…but it shall
be for the sending forth of oxen, and the treading of lesser cattle.’