2 Nephi 17

(All of my own thoughts are in red type.5/20 Green 2/21Orange 5/22 Brown 2023)

Chapter 17

Ephraim and Syria wage war against Judah—Christ will be born of a virgin—Compare Isaiah 7. About 559–545 B.C. I kind of want to assume that if this is in the Book of Mormon that it's for our benefit and not just retelling what happened in Isaiah's day...so I'll try to make sense of it from that standpoint. I read recently (church leader) that if God does not gives us the interpretation of a scripture, we are not accountable for understanding it. This would support that we can learn what God wants us to learn without all the background information. Let's see what I can figure out. If you want a "learned" interpretation listen to this link. (Gileadi's "Isaiah Explained")

  1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. Here we have 3 kings who go to war against Jerusalem and can't prevail against it. That sounds like the 3 1/2 yr battle of Armageddon.Gileadi -  Ahaz is overthrown and a puppet ruler is put in place. Ahaz is a type of an end time ruler who is disloyal to God. Our current president Biden is definitely a puppet ruler and disloyal to God who he "claims" to believe in.
  2 And it was told the house of David, saying: Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. I think the Gentile members of the church are generally considered "Ephraim". If Syria is the Middle East, then even the USA and/or Europe combine against Jerusalem. Hearts being moved with the wind, sounds like people aren't rooted or anchored in Christ. Gileadi - The house of David refers to Ahaz. The Northern Kingdom is Ephraim. They have joined Syria to try to resist Assyria's attacks. Ahaz didn't want to join them. The wind moving trees is storm imagery that shows the fear of the king and his people. 
  3 Then said the Lord unto Isaiah: Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field; Gileadi - When Isaiah couldn't prophesy directly, he did it indirectly by naming his sons prophetic names. Shearjashub means "A Remnant Shall Repent" or "Return". The upper pool is where kings are anointed, symbolic of the Davidic Covenant. The message to Ahaz was if he kept the terms of the covenant, the Lord would protect him and his people. If he didn't, only a repentant remnant of his people would survive a future calamity. This portends to our day somehow. 
  4 And say unto him: Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. "Be still and know that I am God". Even in the midst of war and persecution, we can trust God. Are the “two tails” the two prophets that hold off the armies at Armageddon? Divine protection never fails so long as the terms of the covenant are met when the people keep the king's law and the king keeps God's law.  The rulers of Aram and the Northern Kingdom - their fires are almost out.  The "son of Remaliah" is a derogatory reference to the king of Israel.
  5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying:
  6 Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, yea, the son of Tabeal.
  7 Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. We can trust the promises of the Lord. He is mightier than all the armies of the world. I feel like this is a needed message today. The "evil" in the world seems to be so much in control and just marching through the world with their agenda without much success from the opposition. It almost seems impossible to stop. But...with God...NOTHING is impossible. Gileadi- The two northern rules are schemeing to invade the Ahaz (Kingdom of Judah) and put a puppet ruler in his place. 
  8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken that it be not a people. That is 65 years...Is this about the destruction of the United States? Gileadi thinks 65 years is a scribal error is more likely 6 or 5 years, since this prophecy was fulfilled within a few years. Ahaz is disloyal but Jehovah's unconditional covenant with David, that an everlasting dynasty of kings will rule on David's throne, which is which is being interfered with by overthrowing Ahaz - brings covenant curses to the northern kingdom. (my thought - this land is a covenant land and is going to suffer covenant curses for being disloyal to God) It is to have no kings until Christ comes to reign. 
  9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe surely ye shall not be established. Everything comes down to faith.
  10 Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying:
  11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depths, or in the heights above. I don't think the Lord would tell him to ask for a sign if it was a sin.
  12 But Ahaz said: I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. Why does he refuse the Lord? Is this a lesson in not being stuck in past traditional learning even when the Lord himself is telling you something that goes against that? Gileadi - Ahaz is being a hypocrite by quoting Deut 6:16 about not putting Jehovah to the test. He doesn't believe Isaiah and refuses to seek confirmation thus putting himself above Isaiah.
  13 And he said: Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Not sure who "he" is. If it's Ahaz, then he's is telling the people to NOT weary God with their prayers. Why? God told him to ask for a sign. Gileadi - By rejecting Jehovah's word Ahaz has rejected God, breaking the terms of the Davidic Covenant. Ahaz wearies his people by being an oppressive ruler.  
  14 Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign—Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Is the lesson here, that if God says, “Ask for a sign” and we don’t...He will give you one anyway? Gileadi - While Isaiah's prophesies can have layers of meaning, and we know this can refer to Mary and Jesus...in the context of this prophecy to Ahaz it would have another meaning for Ahaz. This prophecy is a personal sign to Ahaz that he will realize in his own day. The Hebrew translation more accurately says, "a young woman with child" is a present sign and probably refers to Hezekiah, Ahaz's son whose people Israel's God is "with" (Immanuel means God "with" us), when he delivers them from the Assyrian army.  
  15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good. I wonder if this is a tie to the Word of Wisdom and our ability to hear the Spirit... Gileadi - Isaiah predicts a time of distress in the son's early years as he's learning (the son) to keep the terms of the Davidic covenant. He has "sufficient" (a covenant blessing) but not an abundance.  
  16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. This sounds like Christ being born, but I don't know if it is. Or...before he is 8, something will happen with the rulers of the other nations. Modern day application? What land has 2 kings? Probably every nation has their legitimate “king” and the deep state ruler....Those threatening Ahaz will "lie forsaken" subject to covenant curses. 
  17 The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, the king of Assyria. We are told that the end time tribulations will be harder than anything we've gone through in the history of the world...hopefully for the wicked not the righteous or the innocent. Gileadi - Jehovah appoints the king of Assyria as his instrument to afflict his people who reject him.  Ahaz, as their proxy representative and by his disloyalty to God, directly impacts what happens to his people.  It's just a matter of time before a righteous "son" (Immanuel) replaces the unrighteous Ahaz. 
  18 And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss ??? for the fly that is in the uttermost part of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
  19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. All seeking places to hide....
  20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard. Gileadi - Foreign armies are represented by swarms of flies and bees. They invade the land in Jehovah's Day of Judgment, implementing his covenant curse.  The king of Assyria (razor) takes captive the wicked of Jehovah's people, shaving their hair like slaves.  The people's leaders are exiled (head and beard) leaving the people without a leader. 
  21 And it shall come to pass in that day, a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep;
  22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk they shall give he shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. This sounds like we'll be in a period of living a simple life. Gileadi-the land's survivors are linked to the "son of Immanuel" leader through the words "butter and honey". They are saved through Jehovah's direct intervention and are not under covenant curse like the wicked of his people. This group are prepared for hard times by keeping alive "cow, sheep". "A man" shows the individuality of those who are left in the land - one here, one there...
  23 And it shall come to pass in that day, every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, which shall be for briers and thorns.
  24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither, because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
  25 And all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and the treading of lesser cattle. Well, I didn't do a very good job interpreting this chapter. But the couple kernels are important. Trust the Lord; have faith; pray; and be humble. Lands currently cultivated and providing high yields (covenant blessing) revert to wilderness in Jehovah's Day of Judgement. "Briars/thorns" - a covenant curse - represent the wicked who overrun the land who are armed with weapons.  People who seek domesticated animals, which then roam free, must likewise go armed against the marauders and the wild beasts.  The entire scene is one of covenant curse, which only a remnant of Jehovah's people survive by wading through it.