Old Testament Commentary - Isaiah 18

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 18 The Lord shall raise the gospel ensign, send messengers to his scattered people, and gather them to mount Zion.	Upon the lands of the Americas shall the Lord raise up the gospel ensign or standard to all the world—And from thence He shall send his messengers throughout the world to 'his scattered people', all those who will hear his name—And he will gather them unto Himself, first unto the centeral land of Zion and then to such as the congregations and temples or mounts of Zion throughout the world as the kingdom does roll forth to cover the whole earth.
1 ^aWoe to the ^aland shadowing with wings^a, which is ^bbeyond the rivers of ^cEthiopia: 2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of ^abulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have ^bspoiled!	1^a the land shadowing with wings This land shadowing with wings spoken of by Isaiah is America. (See The Progress of Man, page 199-200, The Sings of the Times, Pages 45-46, Way to Perfection, page 281-282, Take Heed to Yourselves, page 429-430, all by Joseph Fielding Smith, p. 281-282, Also see History of the Church, Volume 6, p. 322-323) The North and the South of America form the shadowing wings. This is the Land of Joseph of Egypt as stipulated in the Book of Mormon and the refuge, shelter, protection and power offered within and of this land seems to denote the special protection promised by the Lord (Ether 2:7-12 & 2 Nephi 1:5-11), even perhaps as a land shadowed by the divine providence and spirit of God (See Isaiah, Propeht, Seer, Poet, page 205-206, by Victor Ludlow). And in particular it is that land and refuge spoken of in such scriptures as Revelation 12:14, Psalms 17:8, 36:7, 57:1 and 63:7 when speaking of 'hiding', 'nourishing', bing for a refuge, and in trusting and rejoicing in the Lord; and being kept from the rest of the world and from the 'face of the serpent'. It has been a land reserved unto and by the Lord, a promised land above all other lands and a land whose God is Christ, and whom the people of that land must worship as their God least they be swept off from the face of that 'reserved land'. Now this 'wo' is that which Joseph Fielding Smith states ought to be translated as 'Hail' as a greetings of recognition, and is unto America, the Western Hemisphere, 'the hidden continents'. As to the 'wo', there is some items of warning of tribulation as in verses 2 and 5-7. It is hard to think that the Americas would escape without some tribulation upon its land as well as the other lands of the earth. Despite Benjamin Franklin's turkey, the symbol of America and of the Americas, is the American Bald Eagle. It live in the rain forests of South and Central America as well as living in North America. Its two wings span from South America to North America. It was not mere happenstance that the symbol of American became the American Bald Eagle. God's providence had it hand in it.	1^a HEB hoy (a form of greeting *[Hail]) ^a Rev. 12:14 ^b Zeph. 3:10 (8-10) ^c HEB Cush; a far distant land is suggested [beyond Africa westward, i.e. America]* 2^a HEB reed or papyrus [bark] ^b HEB cut up or divided [as were the 'islands' of the Americas by such as the Amazon Sea, the Great Lakes, the Lakes Bonneville and Lahontan, the Gulf of Mexico and the Missippi, etc.] Ancient Lakes The age and size of the ancient rivers, lakes and seas of the Americas are mis-aged and not fully understood for the whole face of the land north was reshaped at that great destruction at the death of Jesus Christ as told in the Book of Mormon. Not only did the Andes raise upon the colisson of plates marking the beginning of the end of the Amazon Sea [East], but the whole of the interior of western North America did buckle and buckle into mountain range upon Mountain range. Even today's depictions of the lakes of Bonnevile and Lahontan are under-estimated in size because of the mountainous upheavals upon upheavals which would raise and divide the lake beds. Only in LeGrand Richard 'Marvelous Work and A Wonder' is a description of the rushing out of those lake waters preserved in the legend of the Washoe Indians (see chapter 18 of LeGrand Richards' book).
3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. 4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.		1^a 1 Ne. 20:1; TG Baptism; ^b TG Baptism; TG Conversion ^b TG Swearing ^c Deut. 6:13 ^c Isa. 29:13 ^d Jer. 4;2; Jer. 5:2 2^a Isa. 52:1; TG Jerusalem 2^a TG Jerusalem ^b TG Hypocrisy; TG Prophets, Rejection of ^b EI pretend to rely upon
5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. 6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.		1^a 1 Ne. 20:1; TG Baptism; ^b TG Baptism; TG Conversion ^b TG Swearing ^c Deut. 6:13 ^c Isa. 29:13 ^d Jer. 4;2; Jer. 5:2 2^a Isa. 52:1; TG Jerusalem 2^a TG Jerusalem ^b TG Hypocrisy; TG Prophets, Rejection of ^b EI pretend to rely upon
7 ¶ In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.