2 Nephi 20

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

Chapter 20

The destruction of Assyria is a type of the destruction of the wicked at the Second Coming—Few people will be left after the Lord comes again—The remnant of Jacob will return in that day—Compare Isaiah 10. About 559–545 B.C.

  1 Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; Modern day application...our leaders in government that are issuing information and orders about this pandemic are issuing unrighteous decrees and the Health leaders are writing prescriptions of grievousness through misdiagnosis and incorrect treatments and tainted vaccines.
  2 To turn away the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! They prey on the poor and needy and rob the children of their money by printing them into debt they can never pay. Gileadi - Oppressive laws are symptomatic of a corrupt society and lead to more corruption. The poor and needy are the first to suffer and the Lord calls them "his people", showing he sees them as his covenant people.  
  3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? There is no where to go for salvation but God. Gileadi: The “day of reckoning”—Jehovah’s Day of Judgment—hastens on even as the lawmakers of Jehovah’s people act as if no such thing will occur (vv 1-2). Their ill-gotten wealth won’t save them in that day, nor will others extend help (Isaiah 47:11). Jehovah will remove his righteous people from their midst, leaving them to suffer his judgments alone (Isaiah 57:1). The “holocaust” (so’a) from afar refers to Jehovah’s destruction by fire and by the sword that arrives from afar, from beyond the horizon, to desolate the earth (v 23; Isaiah 5:23-26; 13:4-19; 28:22; 30:27-28; 33:11-12; 34:2-8; 66:15-16).
  4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. He says right here that without God(Him) we are lost. Is His hand “stretched out still” in anger or compassion? Is this about the justice not being over yet, or about it not being too late to repent...it's the first. Gileadi - Those who perish or go captive in Jehovah's day of Judgment are Jehovah's people who reject his word and Babylon's idolaters. 
  5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is their indignation.
  6 I will send him against a hypocritical nation, We are SUCH a hypocritical nation right now. The hypocrisy of those in government and media and the tech giants is crazy right now! and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Gileadi - Jehovah’s rod, staff, anger, wrath, vengeance, and (left) hand of punishment all designate the king of Assyria/Babylon. Jehovah sends him against the “godless nation” of his own people in their unrepentant state and against the nations of the world. The archtyrant fulfills Isaiah’s prediction inherent in the name of his son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (“Hasten the Plunder, Hurry the Spoil”)
  7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but in his heart it is to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
  8 For he saith: Are not my princes altogether kings?
  9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
 10 As my hand hath founded the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; God founded this nation, but it is full of idols, the worst being AI and the creations of their own hands.
 11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and to her idols? Gileadi - As he invades one land after another, the archtyrant imagines he is able to conquer Jehovah’s people just as well as them. He is aware of their covenant relationship with their Creator, but he assumes that their God is no more a threat to him than the gods of the nations he has already conquered (Isaiah 36:18-20; 37:11-13). His successes lead him to believe that nothing is impossible that he sets his mind to do. He imagines that his henchmen will rule under him as his empire spreads to the ends of the earth (cf. Isaiah 14:21). He fails to perceive, however, that his victories are but momentary (vv 12, 24-27).
 12 Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. God will destroy the works of the anti-christ system. What is His “whole work” ? Avraham: Word links show that Jehovah’s “work” is twofold: (1) the destruction of the wicked; and (2) the deliverance of the righteous. On the one hand, it involves “utter destruction” upon the whole earth (v 23; Isaiah 13:4-5; 28:21-22). On the other, it entails the birth of a new nation of Jehovah’s people affiliated with Zion and Jerusalem at the time Jehovah’s servant prepares the way for Jehovah’s coming (Isaiah 40:3, 10; 66:7-9). The locations of Mount Zion and Jerusalem are significant as that is where the archtyrant is overthrown when he lays siege to them (Isaiah 31:4-5, 8-9; 37:32-36; Obadiah 1:17-21).
 13 For he saith: By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things; for I am prudent; and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man;
 14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathereth eggs that are left have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. God always gathers out the righteous. Gileadi - The "I" speaking here is not God, but the archtyrant who boasts of his exploits and goal of committing global genocide and establishing a one-world government/new world order. For him, Jehovah's day of Judgment is the great day of his power. He is the "thief in the night" who gathers up the world's wealth in the days just preceding Jehovah's coming.  
 15 Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood! Gileadi - It is none other than Israel's God who empowers the archtyrant to hew down the wicked and to rule those who reject Him as their ruler. The King of A/B has no capability on his own, only as God lends him his power. Because he exalts himself above God, he ends up abased.
 16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, send among his fat ones, leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. To all those who think they created all their own wealth and power, God will remove it.
 17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and shall burn and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day; Gileadi - What the King of A/B does to others will be done to him. Jehovah empowers another 'fire' - his end time servant - to subdue him. Also called His 'light/flame', the servant and Jehovah burn up the archtyrant's "briars and thorns'-evil alliance-in 'a single day' -Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
 18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, cities and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.
 19 And the rest of the trees of his forest people shall be few, that a child may write them.in the Book of Life It sounds like Isaiah is prophesying great loss of life.
 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
 21 The remnant shall return, yea, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. Ten Tribes? Gileadi Whereas the Jacob/Israel category of Jehovah’s people is subject to the tyrannical king of Assyria/Babylon—suffering the curses of a broken covenant—in the day that they “repent” (swb) of evil Jehovah makes it possible for them to “return” (swb) in a new exodus to Zion (Isaiah 11:11-12, 15-16; 35:8-10; 51:11). Instead of relying on a power of chaos—on one who does little more than smite them—they now rely on Jehovah, their God, who seeks only to bless them. The One Mighty in Valor to whom they return is Jehovah’s servant, who leads their end-time exodus (Isaiah 9:6; 11:10; 55:3-7, 12-13).
 22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
If I take this with the idea that there is a great conversion, this fits and the remnant is the Ten Tribes.
 23 For the Lord God of Hosts shall make a consumption, even determined in all the land. Avraham: Those who survive the “annihilation” or “utter destruction” Jehovah has decreed in his Day of Judgment are but a tithing of his people (cf. Isaiah 6:13): “Had you but obeyed my commandments, your peace would have been as a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been as the sands in number, your descendants as many as their grains. Their names would not have been cut off and obliterated from my presence” (Isaiah 48:18-19). For his people’s righteousness’ sake, however—literal and figurative—“a remnant will return” (cf. Shear-Jashub, Isaiah 7:3).
 24 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Hosts: O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. We must trust in the Lord even as the children of Moses. As a whole, God's people may have to go in to bondage. I'm hoping a remnant are removed, though....Those of the Jacob/Israel category of Jehovah’s people “who inhabit Zion,” who suffer the curse of bondage to the king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah again acknowledges as “my people” when they repent and ascend to the Zion/Jerusalem category. The archtyrant—Jehovah’s rod of punishment and staff of submission, who personifies his anger and wrath (vv 5, 15)—has but temporary power over them. Jehovah’s purpose is to induce his people to ascend to higher spiritual levels. Because the archtyrant’s wrath exceeds all bounds as he seeks to destroy Jehovah’s elect, he must fall (Isaiah 31:4-9).
 25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
 26 And the Lord of Hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and as his rod was upon the sea so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. Led by Gideon, Israel anciently defeated a huge Midianite host at the Rock of Oreb (Judges 7:23-25). The term “whip” or “scourge” (sot) alludes to Gideon’s thrashing his enemies with a flagellum of briars and thorns (Judges 8:16). In an end-time version of these events, the whip—Jehovah’s servant—defeats an Assyrian army in a similar victory against overwhelming odds (Isaiah 9:4; 30:30-32). Drawing on a second such type, Jehovah’s staff—his servant—subdues the Sea—the Assyrian horde—following the model of Moses’ defeating the Egyptians (Exodus 14:15-31; Isaiah 11:15-16; 51:9-10).
 27 And it shall come to pass in that day that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. Does this anointing refer to the temple? As Jehovah released ancient Israel from the heavy burdens of their bondage in Egypt (Exodus 13:3), so he releases his end-time people from their curse of servitude after it has served his purpose of motivating them to repent and renew their commitment to serve him. Their indigent captive condition gives way to a bounteous abundance when Jehovah removes their yoke—the king of Assyria/Babylon.
 28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages.
 29 They are gone over the passage; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramath is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
 30 Lift up the voice, O daughter of Gallim; cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
 31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
 32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day; he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Assyria’s ancient invasion of the Promised Land serves as the type of an end-time invasion of promised lands. The archtyrant’s coveted prize is “the mountain of the Daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem”—the righteous nation or nations of Jehovah’s people. The world’s inhabitants flee before his rapid military advance as his forces sweep into countries like a river in flood (Isaiah 8:7-10; 37:18, 24-27). Those who don’t participate in the new exodus to escape destruction now suffer the consequences.
 33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts shall lop the bough with terror; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down; the elites and the haughty shall be humbled. The King of A/B does this through Jehovah's power.
 34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forests the populous cities with iron, and Lebanon Jehovah's elite people shall fall by a mighty one. Oppression will cease. Trust and be patient in affliction. God will deliver. Gileadi says this is referring to what the arch tyrant does, not God...