Isaiah 48 (1 Nephi 20 )

Bruce Satterfield
Department of Religious Education
Brigham Young University - Idaho


1-2  In the opening verses of this chapter, Isaiah identifies those to whom this prophecy is directed as children of Israel who make covenants with the Lord ("swear by the name of the Lord") but without real intent ("not in truth nor righteousness").  These people call themselves holy but in reality they do not put their trust in the Lord ("they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel").  A similar description of a some of the children of Israel is found in the Psalms.  In these passages they are referred to as "wicked."  According to Ps. 50:16,17, the wicked are those who have made covenants with the Lord by sacrifice but do not follow the law.  Ps. 49:6 speaks of the wicked as those who do not trust in God but in their own riches.  Ps. 10:2-7 describes the wicked as those who persecute the poor, who do not seek to follow the ways of God but follow their own ways, who continually break the commandments.  They live in a false sense of security feeling that all is well.  Clearly, the two descriptions are similar suggesting those to whom this prophecy is aimed are the "wicked" of Israel.  That this is the case is confirmed in verse 22.  This description fits well what we know of Laman and Lemuel.

3-8  In these verses the Lord tells why he reveals the future to his people, Israel.  By so doing, Israel cannot claim that all that will happen to them (and the world around them) will have come by the will of the pagan God's they are worshipping.  It will come by the will of the Lord their God.

9-11  The Lord will not impose instant punishment on Israel for having broken the covenant they have made but instead will put Israel through a refining process (i.e., "the furnace of affliction").  The use of the word affliction reflects back on the Egyptian bondage (see Exodus 3:7, 17; 4:31; Deuteronomy 16:3; 26:7; Nehemiah 9:9).  The "furnace of affliction" has taken place many times and in many ways: the Assyrian captivity and the scattering of the ten tribes in 720-701 B.C., the Babylonian captivity and scattering of the Jews in 587 B.C., the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the second scattering of the Jews, etc.

12-21  The Lord will send a redeemer to redeem Israel just as he sent Moses to redeem Israel from the bondage of the Egyptians.  But Israel must do five things to be redeemed: [1] hearken unto God (vs. 12); [2] draw near unto the Lord (vs. 16); [3] listen to the teachings of the Lord (vs. 17); [4] allow themselves to be led by the Lord or follow his commandments (vs. 17); and [5]  they are to get "out of Babylon" (vs. 20), an Old Testament type for the ways of the world or spiritual wickedness (D&C 133:14).  Essentially, these five requirements are saying the same thing: leave the teachings and ways of the world and come follow the teachings and ways of God.

12  This verse begins the redemption process.  Not the usage of "I am" similarly used by the Lord when Moses was called to redeem Israel from the Egyptian bondage (Exodus 3:13-14).
14 This verse is interpreted as follows:  "All ye (Israel), assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them (Israel) hath declared these things (the future redemption of Israel from their future bondage) unto them (Israel)?  The Lord hath loved him (Christ); and he (Christ) will fulfill his word (the he will redeem Israel from their lost and scattered condition) which he hath declared by them (the prophets of Israel); and he (Christ) will do his pleasure on Babylon (symbol for all they who fight against the Lord; i.e., Assyria, Babylon, Rome, the great and abominable church, and Satan), and his arm (power) shall come upon the Chaldeans (or Babylon).
17 Recalling the picture of the wicked Israelites described in versus one and two, this verse urges the wicked Israelites to follow the ways of the Lord and not trust in their own strength (the strength of riches and the things of the world) but in the strength of God if they would be redeemed.  The Lord can only lead, Israel must follow.  The Lord will not force Israel to leave their bondage.  Israel must choose to leave on her own.  Yet, the Lord has opened the way for their redemption.
18-19 The Lord laments over Israel's present condition of turmoil.  Had they been righteous they would have had continual peace just as a river continually flows or as the waves of the ocean continually pound the shore.  If they had been righteous, they would have had continual seed.  Instead, their name will be cut off from the Lord (Israel will cease to exist as a separate people but will be like the world).
20-21 But if Israel flees from Babylon (the ways of the world) like the Israelites who fled from the Egyptian bondage, then the Lord will provide water (the living waters of the gospel) for them just as the Lord provided water from a rock for the Israelites in the desert.

22  The chapter ends where it began: with reference to the wicked Israelites.  "The is no peace for the wicked."  Those of Israel who choose to remain in their wicked ways will find no redemption for themselves.  They will remain forever in bondage.