If you have been attending your Sunday School classes or just following along with the "Come Follow Me" study schedule for this year, you know that we have reached that part of 2 Nephi where Nephi begins quoting long passages from Isaiah. In my ward's Sunday School class this week, we went over 2 Nephi chapters 12 and 15, which quote Isaiah 2 and 5, respectively. Of course, 2 Nephi 12/Isaiah 2 is a Messianic passage, specifically addressing the Second Coming. 2 Nephi 14/Isaiah 4 are also concerned with the Second Coming or Millennial period.
2 Nephi 15/Isaiah 5 is different: it describes the Lord cursing the lands of Israel and Judah and summoning forth foreign armies to destroy them. It hearkens back to 2 Nephi 13/Isaiah 3, which is a condemnation of the Jews and Jerusalem.
Specifically, 2 Nephi 15:26-30 reads:
26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them.
27 None shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken;
28 Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent, and their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion.
29 They shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver.
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if they look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Many in the Church believe that the raising of an ensign here is speaking of missionary work and the gathering of Israel. Even the chapter summary states: "The Lord will lift an ensign and gather Israel." And this article at Gospel Doctrine has collected quotes from several Church leaders that tie this verse to missionary work, even going so far as to suggest that "their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion" is an attempt to describe modern automobiles, trains, and aircraft. (See also this article from My Scripture Study Buddy). I know that is what I was taught.
But that is not what the passage says.
To understand what it is saying, one need only go back to the preceding verses, 24 and 25:
24 Therefore, as the afire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, their root shall be rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore, is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
The Lord then, in the next verse, raises a battle flag summoning other nations to lay hold of the Israelites/Jews. It has nothing to do with the gathering of Israel (unless you are speaking of them being gathered as captives before being marched off to foreign countries). That this has to do with war and not missionary work is further emphasized in verse 30: "And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if they look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof." The "they" in the first sentence are the people being summoned by the ensign, and the "them" are the Jews. And it is not describing a happy occasion as would be the case if it were discussing the gathering of Israel.
I'm not the only one that has noted something off about some of the interpretations. This article at Third Hour relates:
Taken in historical context, these verses probably describe Assyrian soldiers in all their terrible power. They come with speed, need no rest, and do not even pause long enough to take off their shoes. Their weapons are ready, their roar is like that of the lion, and, when they lay hold of their prey, none can stop them. The destruction is so swift and complete that even in daylight, darkness (perhaps from the smoke of burning cities) and gloom (or defeat) hangs over the people. If these verses describe the Assyrian army and the fear and destruction it inflicted upon its enemies, this judgment was fulfilled upon Israel and Judah during Isaiah’s day. In 722-721 B.C. Assyria conquered Israel, carrying the Ten Tribes into captivity, and in 701 B.C. she destroyed most of Judah and besieged Jerusalem. (See Isa. 36-37.)
Yet even the article at Third Hour drifts back into reading it as emblematic of missionary work.
Someone else in the class suggested that it had dualistic meaning; suggesting that it meant an enemy army at the time but now refers to the gathering of Israel.
It is true that many prophecies have both an immediate fulfillment and a later, fuller fulfillment. But if that is the case, it would still hold to the general outlines of the original prophecy. For instance, when Isaiah made this prophecy, it was shortly fulfilled by the Assyrian invasion of the Kingdom of Israel. Later, it was also fulfilled or mirrored by the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians; and it can be said to have a third fulfillment by the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It may even look forward to a yet future time when Jerusalem is surrounded by the forces of the Antichrist.
Alternatively, if it is be applied to us in this day and age, perhaps the United States takes the place of the Kingdom of Judah of Isaiah's days; and it is the wickedness of the country that will cause the Lord to raise an ensign to gather armies of other nations to invade and destroy the United States. Certainly the invasion of immigrants has set us up for such a scenario, similar to what happened to Egypt with the Hyksos.
But there is nothing in the passage that discusses the gathering of Israel or the forming of an earthly Kingdom of God.
I believe that what has happened is that people (even leaders high in the Church) see the reference to God setting up an ensign in 2 Nephi 15:26 and immediately assign to it the same meaning as the ensign in 2 Nephi 21:12/Isaiah 11:12--where the ensign is clearly related to the gathering of Israel--without pausing to think that God can summon peoples for various reasons. We often see God using the wicked to punish the wicked. That is what Isaiah is describing. In 2 Nephi 15:26, God was raising an ensign of war against Israel, not seeking to gather Israel.
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