2
Ne 18:3 Then said the Lord to me: Call his name,
Maher-shalal-hash-baz
Like
Shearjashub, Isaiah’s other son was given a name with prophetic significance.
The name warns of imminent destruction (the name means literally, “to speed the
spoil, he hasteneth the prey”) and it has reference to the imminent destruction
of Syria, Israel, and Judah. The use of the term, “prophetess,” is used to
refer to Isaiah’s wife. It is not meant to indicate a prophetic calling,
although there were female prophets in the Old Testament. See Ex 15:20, Judges
4:4, 2 Kings 22:14, and Nehemiah 6:14.
2
Ne 18:4 the child shall not have knowledge to
cry…before the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away
This
interpretation is not difficult. Isaiah is prophesying that before his son will
be old enough to speak the kingdom of Syria (whose capital is Damascus) and the
kingdom of Israel (whose capital is Samaria) will be taken by the Assyrians.
This is a recurring theme from the preceding chapters. Isaiah could be
referring to either the capture of the Israel and Syria described in 2 Kings
15:29 or the final destruction of Israel which occurred about ten years later, circa
722 BC, (2 Kings 17:6). The timing of these chapters suggests the former
interpretation.
The external history of the Assyrians
gives their version of the events described in 2 Kings 15:29. From the Cuneiform
Text of Pul:
“His noblemen I impaled alive and
displayed this exhibition to his land. All his gardens and fruit orchards I destroyed.
I besieged and captured the native city of Reson [Rezin] of Damascus. 800
people with their belongings I led away. Towns in 16 districts of Damascus I
laid waste like mounds after the flood.
“Bet-Omri [Israel] all of whose cities
I had added to my territories on my former campaigns, and had left out only the
city of Samaria. The whole of Nephtali I took for Assyria. I put my officials
over them as governors. The land of Bet-Omri, all its people and their
possessions I took away to Assyria.
“They overthrew Pekah their king and I
made Hosea to be king of them.” (Keller, The Bible as History, p. 245 as
taken from Ludlow’s Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet, p. 158).
2
Ne 18:6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters
of Shiloah
The
term, “Shiloh”, is first used to refer to the Messiah in Genesis 49:10. The
name means, “he to whom it belongs.” The entire reason that the Lord brought
the Assyrians to destroy the kingdom of Israel was because they had rejected
the Lord, ‘For so it was, that the children of
Israel had sinned against the Lord their God…And they rejected his statutes,
and his covenant’ (2 Kings 17:7,15). It is apparent that ‘the waters of Shiloah that go softly’ represent the
Lord and his kindness. These had been rejected in favor of two wicked kings,
Rezin and Pekah (Remaliah’s son).
2
Ne 18:8 the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of
the river…even the king of Assyria
In
verse 6, the Lord had been referred to as the “waters of Shiloah.” Isaiah
continues the water theme by likening the king of Assyria to a great river. The
Assyrians were on the other side of the Euphrates River, and this is probably
the river to which Isaiah is referring. At any rate, the armies of the
Assyrians overcome the kingdom of Israel like the flood of an overflowing
river. The destruction would completely overcome them. The kingdom of Judah
would also be attacked but would survive the flood of Assyrians. The imagery is that the floodwaters ‘shall reach even to the neck’ (v. 9)—almost
drowning Judah. The fact that the head remained above water means that the head
of Judah, Jerusalem, would be spared. (See Commentary for 2 Ne. 17:17).
“Isaiah
describes and then contrasts two forms of waters—the soft, rolling waters of
Shiloah, located near the temple mount of Jerusalem, and the waters of the
Euphrates, a great river that often floods out of control. The waters of Shiloah
are controlled and inviting, whereas the Euphrates is dangerous and
destructive. The waters of Shiloah bring life to those who drink them; the
Euphrates brings death to those who are swept up in its flood. Isaiah's images
of the two waters are symbolic: the former represents Jesus, the King of
Heaven, who is likened to the waters of life; the latter is the king of
Assyria, who leads his great, destructive armies and ‘cover
the earth [like a flood . . . and] destroy
the inhabitants thereof’ (Jer. 46:8Jer.
46:8). Inasmuch as the inhabitants of Judah had rejected Jesus, or the waters
of Shiloah, the Lord set upon them the king of Assyria, or the strong and
mighty waters of the river that would overflow their banks and cover the entire
land with its destruction.” (Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah
[Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 83 as taken from Commentaries
on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. by K. Douglas Bassett, [American Fork,
UT: Covenant Publishing Co., 2003], 137)
2
Ne 18:8 the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel
Immanuel
means “God with us,” and refers to the mortal Messiah (2 Ne 17:14) The Lord spent
most of his mortal ministry in the land of Galilea—the same area which is about
to be overrun by the Assyrian armies. Therefore the term “thy land, O Immanuel”
is referring to the area where the Lord will perform his work as the Messiah.
The same interpretation applies to 2 Ne 19:1-2.
2
Ne 18:9-13 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye
shall be broken
The
theme of these five verses is that the Lord does not approve of the military
alliances which the kingdoms of Israel and Judah are making. The Lord has
taught them in the past to trust in Him. He has even fought their battles. In a
battle between the children of Israel and the Amorites ‘the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon…the Lord cast down great
stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more
which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew
with the sword…And Joshua said unto to them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be
strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies
against whom he fight’ (Joshua 10:10-11,25).
If
the children of Israel had continued to worship the Lord, He would have
continued to fight their battles in just as dramatic a fashion. When the Lord
is fighting your battles, you do not need the help of neighboring nations.
Nevertheless, the kingdom of Israel had made an alliance with Syria, and the
kingdom of Judah had made an alliance with Assyria. They had begun to put their
trust in the arm of flesh instead of the Lord. Hence the counsel, ‘Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your
fear and let him be your dread’ (v. 13).
2
Ne 18:14 a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of
offense
A
man who stumbles on a rock falls on his face. He may get up again, curse, and
kick the offending stone, but in doing so he only further bruises himself. The
rock is never injured; the man has neither the power nor the strength to
destroy the rock. His misfortune has come by looking beyond the mark, whereby
he misses the rock completely, stumbles clumsily, and falls spiritually. For
the Israelites, the path of righteousness was obstructed by just such a ‘stone of stumbling’ and ‘rock
of offense.’
The
Lord of Hosts became a stumbling block for the Jews both in the days of Isaiah
and in the days of his mortal ministry. They were offended with by the wisdom,
power, and authority of Jesus of Nazareth. This stumbling came because they did
not understand the reason the Law of Moses was given. As Paul explained ‘Because they (the Jews) sought it (the law of righteousness) not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For
they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, behold, I lay in Sion a
stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed’ (Rom 9:32-3).
‘But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they
despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things
that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which
blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath
taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which
they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it
God hath done it, that they may stumble.’ (Jacob 4:14)
“A
stumbling block is defined as involving ‘something repugnant to one's
prejudices’ (The Oxford English Dictionary)…A stumbling block of the Jews of
Jesus' day, for instance, was their expectations about what the Messiah would
do, such as emancipating them politically. To them, Jesus was not an
emancipator, and his death was an unfulfilling stumbling block. This irony had
been prophesied. The Greeks, on the other hand, regarded the whole idea of a
resurrecting messiah as foolishness. (See "isa. 8:14Isaiah
8:14; "1 cor. 1:231 Corinthians 1:23; "1 pet. 2:81 Peter 2:8; "2
ne. 18:142 Nephi 18:14.)” (A Wonderful Flood of Light [Salt Lake
City: Bookcraft, 1990], 71.)
2
Ne 18:17 I will wait upon the Lord
“The Lord is the ultimate caregiver. We must surrender ourselves to the Lord. In doing so, we give up whatever is causing our pain and turn everything over to Him…When pain, tests, and trials come in life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord,…look for him’ (Isa. 8:17; 2 Ne. 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isa. 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way; be patient.
“Our Savior waits for us to come to Him
through our scripture study, pondering, and prayer to our Heavenly Father….As
we are strengthened and healed, we can then lift and strengthen others with our
faith.” (Ensign, Oct. 1998, 18-19 as
taken from Commentaries on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. by K.
Douglas Bassett, [American Fork, UT: Covenant Publishing Co., 2003], 140-141)
2
Ne 18:18 I and the children whom the Lord hath given
me are for signs and for wonders
Isaiah,
a name which means “Jehovah saves,” was established as a prophet to the
nations. His sons were given “for signs and wonders” because they were given
names of prophetic significance. Shearjashub means “the remnant shall return,”
and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means “to speed the spoil, he hasteneth the
prey,” was given to the children of Israel as a sign from the Lord that they
would soon be destroyed.
2
Ne 18:19-22 they shall say unto you: Seek unto them
that have familiar spirits
These
verses deal with the seeking of advice from soothsayers, wizards, and those with
familiar spirits. These are the astrologers and psychics of Isaiah’s day. The
people believed in them more than in the Lord. This is another example of their
rejection of a higher power. As Isaiah asked, ‘should
not a people seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead?’ The
Lord is the only source of true light. If the people seek wisdom from those
with no light, they will only behold ‘darkness
and dimness of anguish.’
From
the 1981 Old Testament Institute Manual, pp 145-6:
“The expression ‘familiar spirits’ is
not an accurate term to convey the significance of the Hebrew term used
anciently. The Hebrew word ob means ‘a leather bottle or bag’ (see
William Gesenius, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, p.
15). This object was used by the practitioners of necromancy, a deceptive craft
of pretended communication with the dead. The art involved a kind of
ventriloquism wherein the voice or message of the ‘departed spirits’ was called
forth from the bag or sometimes a pit. (See G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer
Ringgren, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 1:131, 133-34)
The peeping (chirping) and muttering (twittering) somewhat like birds was
intended to invoke the departed spirits or to convey the pretended message (see
Young, Book of Isaiah, 1:318). The Lord warned Israel and Judah of such
deceptions early in their history (se Leviticus 19:31; 20:27; Deut 18:10-11).
President Joseph Fielding Smith in commenting on these ancient practices
gave this warning that applies even today:
“To seek for information through…any
way contrary to the instruction the Lord has given is a sin. The Lord gave
positive instruction to Israel when they were in the land of their inheritance
that they were to go to him for revelation and to avoid the devices prevalent
among the heathen nations who occupied their lands…
“All through the Bible, the New
Testament as well as the Old, the Lord and his prophets have expressed their
displeasure when the people turned from the Lord to ‘familiar
spirits.’” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:33)
“To
those in quest of spiritual light, this word of counsel: Seek it only in the
Lord's appointed way. Follow the advice of the Apostle James and the example of
Joseph the Prophet. Never go upon the Devil's ground. Keep away from all
deceptive influence. One may believe in hypnotism, without being a hypnotist,
without surrendering one's will to the will of the person exercising that
power—a very dangerous power when wielded by an unprincipled possessor. In like
manner, one may believe spiritualism real, without becoming a spiritualist,
without attending ‘séances,’ without consulting ‘mediums,’ without putting
trust in planchettes, ouija boards, automatic pencils, false impersonations, or
in any way encouraging the advances of designing spirits, who thus gain an
ascendancy over their victims, leading them into mazes of delusion, and often
into depths of despair. Go not after them; and if they come to you, put them to
the test. ‘Try the spirits.’ (1 Jn. 4:1) If
they speak not according to revealed truth, if they conform not to divine
standards, ‘it is because there is no light in them.’
(Isa. 8:20)” (Saturday Night Thoughts [Salt Lake City: Deseret News,
1921], 311 - 312 as taken from Commentaries on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon,
ed. by K. Douglas Bassett, [American Fork, UT: Covenant Publishing Co., 2003],
146)