2 Nephi 8

(All of my own thoughts are in blue type.5/20 green 1/21Orange 4/22 Brown 2023 copied from Gileadi's isaiahexplained.com commentary   

CHAPTER 8

In the last days, the Lord shall comfort Zion and gather Israel—The redeemed shall come to Zion amid great joy—Compare Isaiah 51 and 52:1-2. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

  1 ^aHearken unto me, Listen and then follow ye that follow after righteousness. those who fear Jehovah and heed the voice of his servant (Isaiah 50:10) That is the definition of righteousness...you listen to that "Voice" that you hear all throughout your day (your conscience) and you follow it! Look unto the ^brock from whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence ye are digged. He is asking them to look at their heritage...where they came from...We should do the same. And when you go back as far as you can you will see that the "rock" is God. Is the hole of the pit from which we are digged, the tribulations we are in? And remember that our testimonies have been hewn from the rock, Jesus Christ. Or is the whole of the pit the hell and damnation we are saved from through the Atonement of Jesus Christ? Is looking to that what brings us to a broken heart/contrite spirit? 

  2 Look unto Abraham, your ^afather, and unto ^bSarah, she that bare you; for I called him alone, and blessed him...do not forget the covenants that God made with Abraham. They are still in force today. Why is it important for us to see Abraham as our Father and Sarah as our mother? Is this part of the promise of the hearts of the children being turned to their fathers? It's not just hearts being turned to your mother and father or grandparents, but hearts turning to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Why is it so important that we know the covenants God made with them? How is it that we, without them, cannot be saved? Pres. Nelson asked us to study the covenants God made to covenant Israel. Is this why? One possibility, is that the covenant God made with Abraham, was secured also by Isaac and received also by Jacob. Even though the covenant pertains to their seed, each son obtained the promise for themselves through their own personal experience and covenant with the Lord. They did not rely on the promise made to their fathers. Are we to "look" to them for that example and seek to obtain that covenant and promise for ourselves as well? Is this the remission of sins that comes through the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith referred to as being necessary for our salvation? He said “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half-that is, baptism of the Holy Ghost.”  

  3 For the Lord shall ^acomfort ^bZion, A Promise…and she will need comforting, for she will have gone through some hard times he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her ^cwilderness like ^dEden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. There is always a "wilderness" experience before the "promised land"  Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. This could be the Zion of the New Jerusalem, or the millennium, or maybe anyplace where there is a Zion people. Some people ask, "why do we have to go through all this hard stuff?" Maybe it has to do with our ability to appreciate true, and lasting peace and joy...It's probably because we need LOTS of refining!

  4 Hearken unto me, whose voice do you listen to? my people; and give ear unto me, The Lord's people listen to HIS voice and follow, and fear no other. O my nation; for a ^alaw shall proceed from me, If the Lord speaks it, then it should fall on our ears as a commandment; a law Right now, all governments seem to be in collusion to form a New World Order. There is no righteous lawgiver in any nation. The only allegiance is to the Lord and to be His nation and follow His law. I believe this is why Pres. Nelson has emphasized the need to "Hear Him" and I will make my judgment to rest for a ^blight for the people. Let his words "light" your way. When judgement comes to the wicked, that provides us with "rest".
  5 My righteousness is near; my ^asalvation is gone forth, and mine arm shall ^bjudge the people. As a forerunner to Jehovah’s coming, the servant is one of two “arms” of God—the arm of righteousness (Isaiah 30:30; 40:10-11; 48:14-15; 52:10)—the other being Jehovah, the arm of salvation (Isaiah 33:2; 59:16; 63:5). The arms metaphor denotes divine intervention. That takes place: (1) through his servant, who restores justice in the earth among all nations and isles to prepare them for Jehovah’s coming (Isaiah 32:16-17; 41:1-2; 42:1-4; 56:1; 62:8-9); and (2) through Jehovah’s himself, his judgment of the wicked and deliverance of the righteous (Isaiah 35:4; 59:16-20; 63:1-6; 66:10-16).The ^cisles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.  Nephi's people considered themselves to be upon the isles of the sea. We are to "wait upon the Lord and trust Him"...for He will keep all His promises, even if we have to endure some hard things while we "wait". There are many references in Isaiah to the Lord's "arm" that He will raise up in the last days. Is this one of them? We are not to put our trust in the "arm of flesh", but this is the "arm of the Lord" so that must be different. 

  6 Lift up your eyes to the ^aheavens, and look upon the earth beneath; It is most helpful to keep an eternal perspective about your journey here on earth. Try to see through heavens eyes for the heavens shall ^bvanish away like smoke, and the earth shall ^cwax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Fear not what man can do or say. All things will fade away except that which God decrees. If you are on His side, then His promises will outlive any threat of the enemy. the earth returns to chaos that ends its present cycle before it regenerates to a paradisiacal state. We must descend before we ascend.

  7 Hearken unto me, Once again He asks you...."who are you listening to?" ye that know righteousness, To "know" something, is to have experience with it, not just to learn "of" it. Christ said to the five foolish virgins, "I never knew you". Why? Because they did not "know" Him. They believed IN Him; they knew OF Him; but they didn't believe HIM when He spoke to them through His Spirit or the scriptures or the prophets who told them to Prepare; to watch and be ready always; to lay up and store. We cannot pick and choose which words of God we will follow. We must follow ALL of them and the direction to "know Him" covers all of His words we must know and follow    

(video: "Mormon Parabale of the Ten Virgins" mormon2011 channel)

the people in whose heart I have written my law,  Are Gods laws written in your heart? How do you know? How is that different from being written in your head? The heart is the seat of emotion and we act when our thoughts move into our hearts. If God's law is in your heart, then you want to keep all His laws and love doing so Is this another expression for "have you been born again"?  ^afear ye not the ^breproach of men, neither be ye afraid All that matters is where you end up… of their ^crevilings.  He's also telling us that we WILL experience the reproach and revilings of men, and have reason to fear.

  8 For the ^amoth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. But my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation. Keep your eye on the eternal prize, not the suffering in the moment. "this too shall pass", but God's promises will NOT pass away unfulfilled. Eternity will come and there is only one place you will want to be!

(Video: "Ezra Taft Benson Talks About The Last Days" SunsetHeights2ndWard YouTube channel)

Two choices thus face humanity: (1) to emulate the servant’s righteousness, which leads to persecution by enemies; or (2) to reject Jehovah’s standard of righteousness as exemplified by his servant and suffer covenant curses (Isaiah 26:10-11; 42:24-25). 

  9 ^aAwake, awake! Put on ^bstrength, This is a plea for the Lord to awake to our needs....which is really an incorrect request, since the Lord is ever mindful of our needs! Or maybe the Lord is telling us to awake and put on strength. Mormon tells us that he has seen our day and that when we awaken, we will see that secret combinations have gotten above us while we slept. I think this is why we need to awake! Also, we need to awaken to our brokenness and absolute need for the Savior. O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days. Art thou not he that hath cut ^cRahab, and wounded the ^ddragon? 

  10 Art thou not he who hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a ^away for the ransomed to pass over?  It is really to strengthen our own faith that we need to recall the great miracles the Lord has performed in the past. And why? Because He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He's done it before He can/will do it again. We are in a global pandemic and it feels like it's never going to go away. We need to petition the God of the Universe to do for us what He has done in the past. It's January 2021 and the pandemic is still here (it's a fraud, but it's still here) I think it's because we need to repent! The way I'm reading this today, is we are asking the "arm of the Lord" to awake and put on his strength and show power as God showed through past prophets like Moses and Adam. Jehovah’s empowering his arm—his end-time servant—follows the type his empowering Moses, who led Israel’s ancient exodus out of Egypt..Jehovah’s empowering his arm—which resembles his rising from the dead (cf. Isaiah 26:19)—sets in motion the deliverance of his people: Jehovah’s arm heralds salvation to the nations of the world (Isaiah 52:10), performs Jehovah’s will in Babylon (Isaiah 48:14-15), gathers and leads Jehovah’s flock (Isaiah 40:10-11), and subdues Assyria (Isaiah 30:30-32). Inextricably linked to Jehovah’s empowerment of his arm is his people’s new exodus to Zion (v 11). Patterned after Israel’s ancient exodus, it requires power over the elements such as Moses exercised on the seraph level (Exodus 14:15-31).The servant’s drying up the Sea, the waters of the deep, denotes his victory over the archtyrant that makes possible the release of Jehovah’s captives from bondage (Isaiah 10:24-27; 50:2) and their exodus to Zion (Isaiah 11:15-16; 43:16-17).

  11 Therefore, the ^aredeemed of the Lord shall ^breturn, and  come with ^csinging unto Zion; and everlasting joy and holiness shall be upon their heads; and they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and ^dmourning shall flee away. We must be experiencing these first before they are able to flee. It is while we are in our sorrow and mourning that we must remember the goodness and greatness of the Lord and wait patiently for his redeeming hand. "this too shall pass" can see us through. Are the "redeemed of the Lord" that "shall return" and "come with singing unto Zion" speaking of the return of the Ten Tribes? Or do we need to have been "redeemed" of the Lord through the baptism of the Holy Ghost? 

  12 Now the Lord will respond to our accusation that He has forgotten us... ^aI am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you. Behold, who art thou, that thou shouldst be ^bafraid of man, who shall die, and of the son of man, who shall be made like unto ^cgrass? Grass is a very fragile plant. Just a few days without water and it browns and then dies. We, too, must take care to constantly receive "living" water, or we may find our testimony "browning" and then "dying". Jehovah reminds his people that before long their oppressors will perish when he turns them into grass—a chaos motif (Isaiah 37:27).

  13 And ^aforgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath ^bstretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth, and hast feared continually every day in our fear, we may forget the Lord, but we must focus our faith and thoughts on truth and trust in God.  We must not only recall the God of the past, but see Him in our everyday; even in the midst of our sorrow. Elder Bednar's talk on Tithing was a masterful explanation of how we must learn to "see" the hand of God...not with our own eyes of expectation, but with His eyes of promise. because of the fury of the ^coppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?

  14 The ^acaptive exile hasteneth, that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. The blessings of physical protection and sustenance follow those who keep the terms of Jehovah’s covenant.

  15 But I am the Lord thy God, This is all we really need to know whose ^awaves roared; the Lord of Hosts is my name.

  16 And I have ^aput my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow  of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion: Behold, thou art my ^bpeople.  And this is all we ever need to really "be" Israel’s God Jehovah orchestrates humanity’s destiny. He raises up the archtyrant to destroy (Isaiah 10:5-6; 13:2; 54:16) and the servant to deliver (Isaiah 41:2; 45:13; 49:8-10). The Sea—the king of Assyria/Babylon—may be stirred up and its waves roar (Isaiah 5:30; 13:4; 17:12-13); but Jehovah’s servant—his mouth and hand—reveals Jehovah’s words to his people and protects them (Isaiah 41:10, 13; 49:2; 59:21). The earth may jolt out of orbit in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment (Isaiah 13:13; 14:16; 24:19-20), but Jehovah counteracts it at the very time he confirms the covenant with his people Zion.
  17 Awake, awake, stand up, Now the Lord tells us that it is really US that need to awaken. But that is not enough. We must STAND UP. Show Him that we are ready to MOVE when He calls. O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the ^acup of his ^bfury—thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling wrung out—This sounds like he's speaking to the Jews. Although the king of Assyria/Babylon and his proxies may oppress them, Jehovah’s people’s drinking from Jehovah’s hand the cup of his wrath in reality originates with their own iniquities that are the effects of their transgressions. It serves to purify and sanctify them when they prove loyal to Jehovah by keeping the law of his covenant. Both mother and children remain in this state of iniquity—suffering covenant curses—until they awaken to the realization that their curses may be reversed, that with the coming of Jehovah’s servant the day of their salvation has dawned (vv 9-11; Isaiah 49:8; 52:1-2, 7). 

  18 And none to guide her among all the sons she hath brought forth; neither that taketh her by the hand, of all the sons she hath brought up.

  19 These two ^asons are come unto thee, who shall be sorry for thee—thy desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword These could be the two "sons" —and by whom shall I comfort thee? 

  20 Thy sons have fainted, save these two; they lie at the head of all the streets; are these the two prophets that will lie dead in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 days? The footnote on "sons" refers us to the 2 prophets who will testify in Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years as a wild bull in a net, they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.

  21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and ^adrunken, and not with wine:

  22 Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord and thy God ^apleadeth the cause of his people; this is how all things turn to our good behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again.

  23 But ^aI will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over—and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over. Righteousness will triumph and evil will fail! Jehovah dispenses their own toxic brew to his people’s enemies as he reverses the circumstances of those who repent...In the same way that the servant—Jehovah’s right hand—initially suffers at the hands of wicked men (Isaiah 50:6; 52:14), so do those who follow and know him (vv 1, 7; Isaiah 61:7). But Jehovah turns the tables on his people’s tormentors when he doses the archtyrant—Jehovah’s (left) hand—with his own medicine. At all times, Jehovah is true to the terms of his covenant. When his people’s enemies violate the rights of those who keep the terms of the covenant, they incur the curses of the covenant.

  24 ^aAwake, awake, Second or third call. Hear and act! put on thy ^bstrength, O ^cZion; put on thy beautiful garments, do not discount or underestimate the power and strength that comes from the temple and the "armor" that you bring with you out of the temple! O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall ^dno more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.  At the time this was recorded by Nephi, they can see that these prophesies would have helped their own people at Jerusalem to repent. They had Isaiah's words, but did not see they were for them in their day too 

  25 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the ^abands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. We have the power to loose the bands that keep us captive by using our agency to accept the Atonement of Jesus Christ, where the real power to loose the bands lies. Yes, man may take the body captive, but no man can take your soul captive. When we yield to the adversary, he binds us with false thinking that carry with it, false emotions. We must shake off his temptations and anchor our souls to the promptings of the Spirit and the testimony of the Holy Ghost of eternal truth. Only then will we be "free" to "arise and shine forth" and claim the eternal promises of the Lord to those that truly hear and follow His voice. We must learn to see the "tender mercies" of the Lord in ALL times in our life...joy and trial.

("The Tender Mercies of the Lord by Elder Bednar" )