2 Nephi 18

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

Chapter 18

Christ will be as a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense—Seek the Lord, not peeping wizards—Turn to the law and to the testimony for guidance—Compare Isaiah 8. About 559–545 B.C. All brown text are comments from Gileadi. I will note specifically if it's my thought and not his...

  1 Moreover, the word of the Lord said unto me: Take thee a great roll, a more expansive prophecy will be written on it and write in it with a man’s pen, it will be for the common man concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. His son's name which means "Hasten the plunder, hurry the spoil" which will be done to Jehovah's people by the King of Assyria. 
  2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. So they can testify that Isaiah had predicted these things so the people can't claim he said it after the fact. 
  3 And I went unto the prophetess; his wife we don't hear much about prophetesses...and she conceived and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me: Call his name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Should we be asking the Lord what to name our children? How common is it for Him to tell people what they name will be at birth? Isaiah used the names of his sons a form of prophesying to the people.
  4 For behold, the child shall not have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, before the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. The child's name means "Hasten the Plunder, Hurry the Spoil.” thus a prophecy. Assyria is a type for the end-time tyrant. In Isaiah's day, Ephraim is shattered as a nation by Assyria in the child's infancy. 
  5 The Lord spake also unto me again, saying:
  6 Forasmuch as this people by not calling them "my people", the Lord disavows their covenantal status.  refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son; As Ahaz proved disloyal to Jehovah, so Ahaz' people are disloyal to Ahaz by favoring the coalition of northern kings over the Davidic dynasty Jehovah has appointed to rule over them.  
  7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks. They conspire to replace Ahaz and suffer worse than his rule - the rampaging River flooding beyond its borders - the King of Assyria. 
  8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. The prophecy is fulfilled in the days of King Hezekiah - the prophesied Immanuel - when an army of 185K Assyrians attack Jerusalem after Assyria has destroyed all their lands. The "neck" leaves the head - Zion/Jerusalem - where a remnant of Jehovah's people await deliverance.  Hezekiah is a type of Jehovah's end time servant and the archtyrant's "outspread wings" may allude to modern warfare. 
  9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear all ye of far countries; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
  10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand; for God is with us. The people form alliances thus relying on the arm of flesh and not on Jehovah's protection. God is with Immanuel and his righteous people to deliver them.
  11 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:
  12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; Jehovah's alienated people live in fear of conspiracies neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.  They should not be afraid but feel compelled to turn back to their God. A righteous, reverential fear and awe of Jehovah serves as a safeguard against transgressing.
  13 Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. This is a warning about trusting in the arm of flesh and not God.
  14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem Trusting in Jehovah in times of wickedness aids the repentant soul to enter into his presence as Isaiah had.  Sanctifying Jehovah by living a pure and consecrated life, leads to his sanctuary where he receives those who love him and where He protects them in his Day of Judgment while the unholy suffer perils and perish.  
  15 And many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Instead of being a "rock" of salvation to his unrepentant people, Jehovah is a "stumbling block" letting them stumble over his word and taken captive in his Day of Judgment. Because Jehovah is the same yesterday, today, and forever, what he does in ancient times - for good and evil - establishes a pattern for what he does in the end-time when history repeats itself.
  16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.  
  17 And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. We want to be the Lord's disciples, even while many who profess His name are not loyal to Him. History shows even when his people in general apostatize and Jehovah hides his face from them, certain "disciples" remain loyal. Jehovah withdraws the testimony of his truth and law of his covenant from among his people and preserves them among those willing to live by them.  "I" highlight the idea that only loyal individuals endure through his people's dark phase and this experience his deliverance. 
  18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion. Apparently Isaiah is prohibited from prophesying directly among the people, but he does so indirectly through the lives and names he and his children lead/posses that testify God's Spirit is with them.  
  19 And when they shall say unto you: Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter—should not a people seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead?
  20 To the law and to the testimony; and if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
  21 And they shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. Famine is a covenant curse When Jehovah withdraws his Spirit from his apostate people, they resort to looking for doctrine and testimony from the occult.  The spirits of the dead who respond to such unlawful communications are undoubtedly wicked. Instead of offering light, they lead them further into darkness.  
  22 And they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble, and darkness, dimness of anguish, and shall be driven to darkness. All this is hard to liken to our day term for term, but in essence, I think it’s saying, the “world” and even those who profess to be His people are going to have some very hard times and we need to stay faithful to the Lord. Our only hope of refuge is in Him. Keep His commandments and continue to pray and serve and love and to watch and wait for Him.