Old Testament Commentary - Isaiah 6/2 Nephi 16

Isaiah sees he Lord—His sins are forgiven—He is called to prophesy—He prophesies of the rejection by the Jews of Christ's teachings—A remnant shall return—Compare 2 Nephi 16.

Isaiah sees the Lord—Isaiah's sins are forgiven—He is called to prophesy—He prophesies of the rejection by the Jews of Christ's teachings—A remnant shall return—Compare Isaiah 6. [Between 559 and 545 B.C.]

 5^a Woe is me! for I am undone; ... mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts Isaiah plainly states that he had seen the Lord God in vision. But Isaiah expresses a great distress which means that he considers himself that he is going to die because he was but a 'sinful man', being but a temporal being of a carnal nature. By Isaiah's time it had become considered that they who were mere sinful mortals could not see the Lord and continue to live in the flesh. This was the false impression which has been carried on into the churches of traditional Christianity. Only through latter-day revelation are we given to understand that the temporal 'carnal eyes' of men cannot see, but that the sanctified spiritual eyes of men can see and behold the glory of God. Many of the prophets had seen God in the Old Testament and lived, but as it was in the time of Moses when Israel feared to go up to the Mountain of the Lord and behold, so it was with Isaiah in his day. Of couse the penalty for Adam's transgression was that he was going to die. But Adam lived a long time before he did dies, some 930 years (Genesis 5:5). So whether man would live and when he would die, was but a matter of time. But the fear of God was such for even the bear's of the ark could not touch it without perishing.
 7^a thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged Now wickedness cannot be tolerated in the prsence of God, who is holy, when seen in his glory as Isaiah did. So it does seem that a forgiving of sins is a part of one being able to stand in the presences of God to behold his glory, and thus it does follow that Isaiah is made clean and forgiven of his iniquities.

 13^a it shall be a tenth The remnant of Israel which shall be at the gather shall only be a 10^th part of the whole or one in ten. Whether this is 10% or meaning just one of the ten tribes shall be gathered to retore the gospel before it is taken to the rest is not clear, for all who have lived will come under the umbrella of the Lord's grace and mercy by way of the atonement.
 13^b the holy seed shall be the substance thereof Now just what is meant by the term 'the holy seed is not plainly given. It no doubt references the members of Christ Kingdom in the latter-days who do fulfill the covenant of Abraham by blessing all the nations of the earth and the people thereof who ever did live. But there may be further significance. Throughout the scriptures 'the holy seed' in the singular form does but mean Jesus Christ himself. But as seen in Isaiah 11 and as presented in D&C 113 and elsewhere therein, when properly understood, even the Ephraimite members of the Church and those who have been adopted into Israel, will become 'saviors on Mount Zion' by the work they do in spreading the gospel both by preaching and doing the temple work for the dead who are taught and accept the Gospel in the Spirit World. In one general sense, the 'Holy Seed' in a plural form could mean those scantified members of the Church. It is of some curiousity that in D&C 113 which is of Isaiah 11, this 'holy seed' unto God are the descendants of Jesse the son of Obed as well as of Joseph of Egypt. And so is Joseph Smith so stipulated as such, yet Brigham Young called him a 'Pure Ephraimite' (See D&C 113 and Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph for likely further explanation).