Old Testament Commentary - Isaiah 29

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
Nephites shall speak as a voice from the dust—The apostasy, restoration of the gospel, and coming forth of the Book of Mormon are foretold—Compare 2 Nephi 27.	Jerusalem (Ariel) and Zion paralleled with each of their records being as a voice from the dust—The apostasy and restoration stated as marvelous work and wonder—The details of the coming forth of the Stick of Jopeph—Sealed portion as the Vision of All—Learned man prophecy—Deaf hear words of the book and Lord's work goes forth.	JST Gen. 50:31 ~ Ezek. 37:15-28
1 ^aWoe to ^bAriel, to Ariel, the city ^bwhere David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and ^asorrow: and ^ait shall be unto me as Ariel^a.	2^a it shall be unto me as Ariel Now Ariel is Jerusalem which the voice of the Lord through the Prophet Isaiah does first reference. But there is a comparison that is being made. When it states the 'it' shall be unto the Lord as Ariel, the voice of the Lord by the mouth of the prophet is no longer speaking of Jerusalem, but he does speak of some other. That 'it' will clearly be seen to be the promised land of Joseph, the Americas which is to be placed in the possession of the descendants of Lehi, Ismael and Mulek, the son of King Zedekiah. Now, they who transscribed the Jewish record from which the King James vision is taken have here in verse two already alluded to that which will be made clear at the end of verse 8, and that is the comparative parallel histories of Zion (the promised land of America) and Jerusalem. The Joseph Smith translations does not allude to the paralleled histories until the end of verse 8, as he removes the allusion to it out of the end of verse 2. But in either case, the parallel is there, and the record and history being spoken of of the 'book' to come forth is that record of Zion's promised land in America, which is the record of the Nephites.	1^a JST Isa. 29:1-8 (Appendix) ^b HEB Hearth of God; i.e., the temple, translated as "the altar" in Ezek. 43:15, second clause ^c IE Jerusalem 2^a TG Sorrow
3 And I will ^acamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the ^adust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ^bground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.		3^a 2 Ne. 26:15 4^a Moro. 10:27; 2 Ne. 3:19-20; 2 Ne. 26:16; 2 Ne. 27:9; 2 Ne. 33:13; Morm. 8:23 ^b TG Book of Mormon
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. 6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring ^afire.		1^a JST Isa. 29:1-8 (Appendix) ^b HEB Hearth of God; i.e., the temple, translated as "the altar" in Ezek. 43:15, second clause ^c IE Jerusalem 2^a TG Sorrow
7 ¶ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. 8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that ^afight against mount ^bZion.		1^a JST Isa. 29:1-8 (Appendix) ^b HEB Hearth of God; i.e., the temple, translated as "the altar" in Ezek. 43:15, second clause ^c IE Jerusalem 2^a TG Sorrow
9 ¶ Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are ^adrunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep ^asleep, and hath closed your ^beyes: the ^cprophets and your rulers, the ^dseers hath he ^ecovered.		1^a JST Isa. 29:1-8 (Appendix) ^b HEB Hearth of God; i.e., the temple, translated as "the altar" in Ezek. 43:15, second clause ^c IE Jerusalem 2^a TG Sorrow
11 And the ^avision of all^a is become unto you as the words of a ^abook that is ^bsealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: 12 And the book is delivered to ^ahim that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned^a. The Sealings The 'sealing of the Book of Mormon' is done in two ways. There is an actual physical sealing of the portion of the record of the vision of all as given and recorded by Mahonri Moriancumr. That sealing was an actual phycial sealing of a portion of the Book of Mormon. The other manner in which it is 'sealed' is by a 'spiritual sealing' according to that which is revealed by, in and through the power of the spirit and which is revealed through the promptings of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God. Lehi and Nephi did see the vision also, or portions thereof and they did write even as Isaiah did write that which he was commanded to write of it. But that which they wrote is only sealed by to power of the spirit to be given to those who have spiritual understanding given to them. Nephi was told he could not reveal that portions which John the Beloved was given to write. And Nephi was given to write the parts that did apply to his people and the people of Joseph then and in the last days (1 Nephi 14:26).	11^a vision of all The 'Vision of All' has been given to many prophets either in vision or in words. But there is only one who it has been given to have written the whole of it. This is Jared's brother, Mahonri Moriancumr. The prophet Ether seems to have both read it, recorded it and seen it himself. Nephi and Lehi had seen it. Isaiah would be one who had seen it as did John the revelator. John was given to write a particular portion of it which is the book of Revelation and Nephi was forbidden to write it as it was so given to John to have written that part that Nephi was about to speak about. Mosiah had translated that vision from the record of Ether and it was available to such righteous prophets of the Nephites that the Lord would reveal it to. Moroni would have had such access to it and included the translation and the original record from Ether of it as the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. 12^a I am not learned. Though Joseph Smith was not learned by the learnings of men, he was well taught and very well versed and learn by the power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. And his spiritual learning was vastly far greater than any learnings of men! Joseph learn by direct visions as well as by direct inspirations as given him in and through the powers of the Holy Ghost given unto men who humble themselves and are so called by God.	11^a 1 Ne. 14:26; 2 Ne. 27:7-11; Ether 3:25-28; Ether 4:1-6; Ether 5:1 11^a TG Book of Mormon TG Scriptures to Come Forth ^b 2 Ne. 27:7 (6-26); JS-H 1:65 (63-65); TG Seals 12^a JS-H 1:59 Isaiah's Tribute (To Mahonri and Nephi) Any number of Prophets have seen the vision of all things (1 Nephi 14:26), Moses, Isaiah, Lehi, Nephi, John the Apostle - etc. And of course the Book that Isaiah speaks of here is the Book of Mormon, which in two ways contains the 'vision of all.' The prophet who has seen and was given the commandment to write the most concise account of that vision is Mahonri Moriancumr, the brother of Jared. That portion of the book was actually physically sealed. But others have seen the vision as Nephi speaks of and he and his father Lehi are numbered among. Like Isaiah, with whom Nephi has a great obvious afinity with because of their shared vision. Nephi was limited to what he wrote and so was Isaiah. Isaiah was limited to that portion which dealt specifically with the scattering and gathering of Israel. Nephi was limit that his account did not include the scripture accounts already given before his days nor the last day accounts which were specifically assinged to John the Apostle. All in all the scripture give a more broad account of those things revealed to the prophets by the Lord. I supposed with the brother of Jared's account is opened and revealed it will have many cross references to all of the scriptures detailing just where and how they all properly fit together in and as the 'Vision of All.' Why Nephi is so able to understand and appreciate the 'words of Isaiah' is that they have both 'seen the same 'movie' or vision!
13 ¶ Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people ^adraw near me with their ^bmouth, and with their lips do ^chonour me, but have ^dremoved their ^eheart far from me, and their ^ffear toward me is taught by the ^gprecept of men: 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a ^amarvellous ^bwork among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the ^cwisdom of their wise men shall ^dperish, and the ^eunderstanding of their ^fprudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their ^acounsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who ^bseeth us? and who knoweth us? 16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the ^awork say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? 17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 ¶ And in that ^aday shall the deaf hear the words of the ^bbook, and the ^ceyes of the blind shall see out of ^dobscurity, and out of darkness. 19 The meek also shall increase their ^ajoy in the LORD, and the ^bpoor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.		18^a TG Last Days ^b TG Book of Mormon ^c Isa. 32:3; TG Sight ^d TG Darkness, Spiritual 19^a TG Joy ^b TG Poor
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that ^awatch for iniquity are ^bcut off: 21 That make a man an ^aoffender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in ^bthe gate, and ^cturn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the ^ahouse of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. 23 But when he seeth his children, the ^awork of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall ^bfear the ^cGod of Israel.
24 They also that ^aerred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall ^blearn doctrine.