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In the last days, Zion and her stakes shall be established, and Israel
shall be gahtered in mercy and tenderness—They shall
triumph— Compare 3 Nephi 22. |
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1 aSING, O
bbarren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into
singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for
more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the LORD.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy astakes; 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. |
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4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be
thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget
the ashame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the
breproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine ahusband; the bLORD of hosts is his name; and thy cRedeemer the Holy One of Israel; The dGod of the whole earth shall he be called. 6 For the LORD hath called thee as a awoman bforsaken and grieved in spirit, and a cwife of youth, dwhen thou wast refused, saith thy God. |
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7 For a small amoment have I
bforsaken thee; but with great mercies will I
cgather thee.
8 In a little awrath I bhid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting ckindness will I have dmercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. |
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9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me:
for as I have sworn that the awaters of Noah should
no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with
thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the amountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the bcovenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee. |
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11 ¶ O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest,
and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy astones
with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 13 And all thy achildren shall be btaught of the LORD; and great shall be the cpeace of thy children. |
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14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith [Joseph Smith] that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his worka; and I have created the awaster to destroy. |
16a I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work Only when one comes to understand that the Lord is speaking of the establishment of latter day Zion and who it was, that prophet that the Lord raised up or 'created' can one appreciate the simpleness and the small manner which the Lord did state. And the Lord did also state it to the Nephites in the Book of Mormon when he visited them. Now the 'smith', which is refenced here is one who works with metal, thus that instrument for the work would be also that which is related to metal. Joseph Smith's product of instrument he brought forth of metal or related to metal may well be considered the Book of Mormon from the plates of Gold. But that book or instrument contained the fullness of the everlasting gospel to be established again upon the earth. And it is the Gospel of Love which has come forth of that Smith and his instrument which 'welds together uniting the human family' (TPJS p.316; HC 5:517) for all time and eternity to come. Yes, in simplest terms, Joseph Smith could well be that smith so reference by the Lord in Isaiah 54 and as taught by Jesus himself in to the Nephites (3 Nephi 22). And of little wonder, the name Smith as applied in the English has a history of being applied to those whose profession was ironmongery or that of being a 'blacksmith'. What better last name for the prophet who descended from Joseph of Egypt to bring forth the great latter day work than 'smith'? Indeed, did not the prophecies of old speak of Joseph Smith? And if not by name, in the name smith, at least by the meaning of the name 'smith' as it is applied to he who brought forth the latter day work. Yea, Joseph, a was a descendant of Joseph of Egypt by the same name Joseph, a 'pure Ephraimite', even Joseph 'Smith', and it was he that brought forth the instrument of the restoration from the metal plates of the Nephites, the Book of Mormon. Yea, did not Isaiah so speak of that ancient record as coming out of the dust of the ground and of him who would so be able to read it (See Isaiah 29)? Yea is not Joseph Smith that 'root' which stood forth as an ensign to the nations as so stipulated in Isaiah 11:10 & D&C 113:5-6 (Israel Do You Know? page 153)? Was this not that prophecy which was about to be fulfilled spoken of by the angel Moroni beginning upon the night of September 21, 1823? | |
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17 ¶ No aweapon that is formed
against thee shall prosper; and every btongue that
shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the
heritage of the cservants of the LORD, and their
righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
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