LDS Freedom Forum

Isaiah's words "shall be of great worth unto them in the last days"
2 Nephi 25

Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you,
nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy
(2 Nephi 25:4) in part

7 But behold, I proceed with mine own prophecy, according to my plainness; in the which I know that no man can err; nevertheless, in the days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled men shall know of a surety, at the times when they shall come to pass.

8 Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men,
and he that supposeth that they are not,
unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words
unto mine own people; for I know that they
shall be of great worth unto them in the last days;
for in that day shall they understand them;
wherefore, for their good have I written them.

Mormon 8:
23 Search the prophecies of Isaiah. Behold, I cannot write them. Yea, behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, shall cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made with them.
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WHY DID THE LORD HIMSELF SAY

"for great are the words of Isaiah" and
gave us a commandment that we search them diligently.

3 Nephi 23:1- 4
1 "And now, behold, I say unto you,
that ye ought to search these things.
Yea, a commandment I give unto
you that ye search these things diligently;
for great are the words of Isaiah."

2 "For surely he spake as touching all things
concerning my people which are of the house of Israel;
therefore it must needs be that he must speak
also to the Gentiles."

3 "And all things that he spake (have been and shall be),
even according to the words which he spake."

4 "Therefore give heed to my words;
write the things which I have told you;
and according to the time and the will
of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles."

3 Nephi 20:11
11 "Ye remember that I spake unto you,
and said that when the words of Isaiah
should be fulfilled—behold they are written,
ye have them before you, therefore search them-"
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Isaiah has now been unsealed and brought
to light by the Lord for our understanding in these last days.

Isaiah 44:7
7 "Who predicts what happens as do I, and is the equal of me in
appointing a people from of old as types, foretelling things to come?

Isaiah uses what are called types from the past to show the future.
What has happened before, will happen again.

ALL THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH PERTAIN TO US TODAY
All prophecies in Isaiah are prophecies of the last days.

Referring to our church and the sad condition we are in,
Isaiah begins his book speaking to us,
Ephraim, or the church today.

Isaiah 1:2-5
Description of modern Ephraim
(addressing our church he calls Israel)

2 Hear, O heavens! Give heed, O earth!
Jehovah has spoken:I have reared sons,
brought them up,but they have revolted against me.
3 The ox knows its owner,the donkey its master’s stall,
but Israel does not know;my people are insensible.
4 Alas, a nation astray,a people weighed down by sin,
the offspring of wrongdoers,perverse children:
they have forsaken Jehovah,they have spurned
the Holy One of Israel,they have lapsed into APOSTASY.
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Isaiah1

13 Bring no more worthless offerings;
they are as a loathsome incense to me.
As for convening meetings at the New Month
and on the Sabbath,
wickedness with the solemn gathering
I cannot approve.

Although Jehovah had commanded the offering of incense (Exodus 30:1-8; 40:26-27)—symbolic of the prayers of the righteous ascending to his presence (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:3-4)—the idea of a “loathsome incense” likens it to a nauseating odor. Their sacrifices have become “worthless” because they aren’t backed up by personal righteousness (Isaiah 61:8).
Even their religious meetings and assemblies Jehovah can’t approve because those who attend them are encumbered with offenses. Their wickedness—their unrepented sins and iniquities—turns their services into solemn mockery.

14 Your monthly and regular meetings
my soul detests.
They have become a burden on me;
I am weary of putting up with them.

As Jehovah attaches importance to Sabbath and monthly meetings elsewhere (Isaiah 56:2, 6; 58:13; 66:23), it isn’t that they of themselves are unacceptable. It is that his people measure their righteousness before God in terms of their attendance at them, not by their personal integrity. Word links show what kinds of things burden and weary Jehovah, but also that by repenting of evil his people may become clean: “You have burdened me with your sins, wearied me with your iniquities. But it is I myself, and for my own sake, who blot out your offenses, remembering your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:24-25).

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Isaiah 24:5
5 "The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants:
they have transgressed the laws,
changed the ordinances, set at nought the ancient covenant."

explanation:
"Causing these curses is the wickedness of Jehovah’s people, who have altered his “ordinances” or “ritual” and perverted his “laws” or “doctrine” , thereby violating Jehovah’s covenant and rendering it void. Jehovah’s servant, who personifies Jehovah’s covenant (Isaiah 42:6; 49:8), they likewise set at nought (Isaiah 49:7; 50:5-11; 52:14)."

Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith declared that;
“It is the L. D. Saints who have transgressed the laws, change the ordinance, broke the everlasting covenant.”
Joseph Fielding Smith (Deseret News, Church Section, Oct. 17, 1936)

Isaiah 29:9,10 13,14
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
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Isaiah 9:2 the people "walking in darkness"
(without revelation) refers to the church today.
"Land of the shadow of death" is the U.S.
after the invasion by the beast.

9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
upon them hath the light shined.
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Did you realize that in the 29th chapter of Isaiah he describes the coming forth
of the original plates of the Book of Mormon and the attitude
of the people against it.

taken from: LDS Seminary Student Study Guide

"Isaiah 29 is one place in the Bible where the Book of Mormon is referred to, even though it is not mentioned by name.
As you read this chapter, look for prophecies of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the impact this book will have on the world."

Now if the 29th Chapter of Isaiah refers to our people and nation,
then it is very feasible that the 28th chapter may also refer to us.
If you want a big wake up call please read it !
If you study this 28th chapter of Isaiah
it will reveal that every word applies to our church in these days
and to no other people.
Isaiah cites that this people would be given "precept upon precept;
precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little."
These identical words, were used by the Prophet Joseph Smith among his closing instructions
to the latter day saints, warning us to go forward not backward. D.C.128:21-22 ; 2Nephi 28:30

Isaiah 28:13 "But the word of the Lord was unto them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;
that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken,
and snared, and taken."

We are still satisfied with the ABC portions of the gospel.
We will not accept the meat portions of the gospel.

Isaiah 28:
9 Whom shall he give instruction?
Whom shall he enlighten with revelation?
Weanlings weaned from milk,those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is but line upon line, line upon line,precept upon precept,
precept upon precept;a trifle here, a trifle there.

Isaiah28:1 "Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower,
which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!"

Salt Lake City is a "fat valley" if I've ever seen one.
It is very sobering to wake up and find the sad condition we are in.

Isaiah 2

7 Their land is full of silver and gold
and there is no end to their wealth;
their land is full of horses
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is full of idols:
they adore the works of their hands,
things their own fingers have made.

The expressions “their land is full of” and “there is no end to” repeat themselves in parallel as if to dramatize a surfeit of worldly possessions. Isaiah sums up the “silver,” “gold,” “wealth,” “horses,” and “chariots” of Jehovah’s people as mere “idols” (’elilim). Enamored with “the works of their hands,” his people have become steeped in materialism—a pernicious form of idolatry. It is at the height of this overabundance of “things” or their modern equivalents, moreover, that Jehovah’s Day of Judgment approaches for his people, hastening the time of his coming to reign on the earth (vv 10, 12, 19, 21).
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Isaiah 1

21 How the faithful city
has become a harlot!
She was filled with justice;
righteousness made its abode in her,
but now murderers.

Foreseeing his people’s imminent calamity because they choose not to repent, the prophet grieves for them, the word “How” characterizing a lament (Lamentations 1:1; 2:1; 4:1). In other words, the prophet is asking, “How could this tragedy have happened? How is it that this people didn’t repent in time? How could those who were once righteous become so wicked?” The term “harlot” attests to their broken covenant relationship with Jehovah their husband (Isaiah 57:3-13). Besides identifying a specific place, the term “city” represents Jehovah’s covenant people in general (Isaiah 45:13; 60:14).

She was filled with justice. Righteousness made her abode in her, but now murderers. “Justice” (mispat) and “righteousness” (sedeq)—the basis of all covenant blessings and the underpinnings of a law-abiding society—have given way to injustice and unrighteousness. The term “murderers” reiterates the level of wickedness to which Jehovah’s people have sunk. The term righteousness additionally identifies Jehovah’s end-time servant who acts as an exemplar of righteousness to Jehovah’s people (Isaiah 41:2, 25; 46:11-13) and whom Jehovah appoints to restore justice in the earth (Isaiah 42:1-4).

22 Your silver has become dross,
your wine diluted with water.

As the Hebrew term “silver” (kesep) additionally means “money,” its meaning here points to a worthless or devalued currency. Products such as wine, too, lack the quality they once had. Isaiah, however, intends more than a literal meaning of these terms. His imagery of common, semi-precious, and precious metals and stones, for example, denotes three ascending spiritual categories of people (Isaiah 60:17). In other words, some people who were in an elect category (“silver”) have become “dross,” which isn’t a metal at all. Having fallen from grace, they have joined Isaiah’s Perdition category.

Your wine diluted with water. Besides its literal meaning, the idea of “wine” metaphorically signifies spiritual nourishment: “You who have no money, come, buy wine and milk with no money and at no cost” (Isaiah 55:1). Those who teach God’s word, in effect, have watered it down until it no longer nourishes his people: “Their heart ponders impiety—how to practice hypocrisy and preach perverse things concerning Jehovah, leaving the hungry soul empty, depriving the thirsty [soul] of drink” (Isaiah 32:6). What passes for God’s word has become but a diminished version of his gospel in its fullness.

23 Your rulers are renegades,
accomplices of robbers:
with one accord they love bribes
and run after rewards;
they do not dispense justice to the fatherless,
nor does the widow’s case come before them.

On a par with the ecclesiastical leaders of Jehovah’s people (v 10; Isaiah 9:14-16), political leaders similarly come under condemnation. Persons in government, whose task is to protect society from predators, have turned into predators themselves. The would-be administrators of justice perpetrate injustice. The most needy elements of society—the fatherless and widows, whose cause Jehovah advocates (v 17)—are neglected. People in leadership positions have degenerated into “renegades” and “robbers,” officials who violate others’ rights in order to gain their own ends (Isaiah 3:14-15; 5:23; 29:21).

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In Isaiah
Egypt always refers to the U.S.
Assyria is Russia

Isaiah 19

1 An oracle concerning Egypt:
When Jehovah enters Egypt riding on swift clouds,
the idols of Egypt will rock at his presence
and the Egyptians’ hearts melt within them.

Ancient Egypt, where Israel’s ancestors found refuge—birthplace of the birthright tribe of Ephraim, and of Moses, Israel’s deliverer—typifies a land with strong ties between Jehovah’s end-time people and end-time “Egypt.” In the Book of Isaiah’s apocalyptic context—when history repeats itself—the world’s superpower codenamed “Egypt” forms a part of Isaiah’s Greater Babylon and suffers covenant curses in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. So great is Egypt’s desolation on the heels of Jehovah’s “swift clouds” that its people’s hearts “melt within them” as in Isaiah’s vision of Babylon (Isaiah 13:6-8).

2 I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians;
they will fight brother against brother
and neighbor against neighbor,
city against city and state against state.
3 Egypt’s spirit shall be drained from within;
I will frustrate their plans,
and they will resort to the idols and to spiritists,
to mediums and witchcraft.

Anarchy and civil war in the great superpower of the world form the prelude to its desolation. As much of the land is destroyed from within, Egypt’s enemies see their chance to invade from without. When Jehovah withdraws his Spirit because of a people’s evildoing, they are left to their own devices. Their alienation causes Jehovah to close the heavens. They lose the light they once had, and a man’s adversaries become those of his own people. Desperate, they turn to false channels of information—idols, spiritists, mediums, and witchcraft—only to compound their plight (Isaiah 8:19-20; 42:17; 44:17; 45:20).

4 Then will I deliver the Egyptians
into the hand of a cruel master;
a harsh ruler will subject them,
says the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.

The nation of Egypt in Isaiah’s day was ruled by a non-native Afro-Egyptian (Cushite) pharaoh of Egypt’s 25th dynasty (760-656 B.C.) (cf. Isaiah 18:1; 20:3-5). This was a period of extensive government programs but of moral decline that set the stage for Assyria’s invasion and conquest of Egypt. Like ancient Egypt, end-time “Egypt” deteriorates politically (vv 11-15), experiences economic hardship (vv 8-10), and suffers severe drought conditions (vv 5-7). Egypt—the breadbasket of the world—is reduced to poverty. Only the God of Israel, who rules over all nations, is able to save Egypt (vv 20-24).

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Isaiah 56

9 All you wild beasts, you animals of the forest,
come and devour!
10 Their watchmen are altogether blind and unaware;
all of them are but dumb watchdogs unable to bark,
lolling seers fond of slumber.

Typifying the leaders of Jehovah’s people who make a Covenant with Death instead of a Covenant of Life (Isaiah 28:15, 18), or Jehovah’s wife who turns adulterous (Isaiah 1:21; 50:1), are certain “watchmen”—prophets and seers—who occupy the highest rung of society. Because they epitomize “dumb watchdogs” and “lolling seers,” Jehovah replaces them with a righteous watchman—his servant—and other watchmen: “Go and appoint a watchman who reports what he sees” (Isaiah 21:6); “I have appointed watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall not be silent day or night” (Isaiah 62:6).

As the job of Jehovah’s watchmen is to report to his people what they see and hear (Isaiah 21:10; 48:16), those who are blind and unaware see and hear little of consequence and fail to warn his people: “Who is blind but my own servant, or so deaf as the messenger I have sent? Who is blind like those I have commissioned, as uncomprehending as the servant of Jehovah—seeing much but not giving heed, with open ears hearing nothing?” (Isaiah 42:19-20. The final fate of the blind watchmen, literally and figuratively, is to be devoured by wild beasts—a covenant curse (Isaiah 5:29; 15:9; 51:8).

11 Gluttonous dogs, and insatiable,
such indeed are insensible shepherds.
They are all diverted to their own way,
every one after his own advantage.
12 Come, they say, let us get wine
and have our fill of liquor.
For tomorrow will be like today, only far better!

Instead of portraying these watchmen as ones who feed and protect the flock (Isaiah 5:17; 40:11; 63:11), the imagery of shepherds as dogs characterizes them as predators and unclean animals (Psalm 22:16; 1 Kings 14:11; Matthew 7:6). Instead of warning of trouble as Jehovah’s Day of Judgment approaches, they resemble wanton herdsmen who scatter the sheep and feed themselves off the fattest (Jeremiah 23:1-2; 50:6-7; Ezekiel 34:1-8). Instead of serving as proxy saviors to Jehovah’s people under the terms of the Davidic Covenant (Isaiah 37:35; 63:17; 65:8), they look out for themselves.

Word links round out the shepherds’ recriminatory state: “These too have indulged in wine and are giddy with strong drink: priests and prophets have gone astray through liquor. They are intoxicated with wine and stagger because of strong drink; they err as seers, they blunder in their decisions” (Isaiah 28:7); “Procrastinate, and become bewildered; preoccupy yourselves, until you cry for help. Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. Jehovah has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep: he has shut your eyes, the prophets; he has covered your heads, the seers” (Isaiah 29:9-10).

Isaiah 28
Ephraim and its prophets reap disaster for being delusional and for rejecting divine revelation.

1 Woe to the garlands of glory
of the drunkards of Ephraim!
Their crowning splendor has become as fading wreaths
on the heads of athe opulenta overcome with wine.

Chapters 28-31, which form a didactic unit comprising Part VI of Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure (Isaiah 28-31; 55-59), each commence with a “woe” or covenant curse. Ephraim’s chief sins of pride and drunkenness catch up with Israel’s birthright tribe in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Instead of acknowledging current inconvenient truths, the people of Ephraim look back on past glories earned in more righteous times as if they still apply today. Ephraim’s self-deception, stemming from intoxication with “wine” at the highest levels, compounds the hard times that lie ahead (v 7; Isaiah 56:10-12).

2 My Lord has in store one mighty and strong:
as a ravaging hailstorm sweeping down,
or like an inundating deluge of mighty waters,
he will hurl them to the ground by his hand.

The imagery of “a ravaging hailstorm sweeping down” and of “an inundating deluge of mighty waters” identifies the king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance of aggressor nations (Isaiah 8:7-8; 17:12; 18:2). A second “one mighty and strong” in the Book of Isaiah is Jehovah’s servant, who makes an end of him at the last. Although Jehovah provides a refuge for a repentant remnant of his people against the storms of their enemies (Isaiah 4:6; 25:4-5; 57:13), he empowers the archtyrant—Jehovah’s (left) hand—over “the drunkards of Ephraim” to cast their illustriousness to the ground (cf. vv 1, 3).

3 The proud garlands of the drunkards of Ephraim
shall be trodden underfoot.
4 And the fading wreaths, the crowns of glory
on the heads of athe opulent,a
shall be like the first-ripe fruit
before summer harvest:
he who sees it devours it
the moment he has hold of it.

Ideas that link the king of Assyria/Babylon to these verses are Jehovah’s people being “trodden underfoot” (Isaiah 10:5-6; 63:6) and the timing of Assyria’s assault as early summer (Isaiah 16:9-10; 18:5). Ephraim’s former “crowns of glory”—now mere “fading wreaths” on the heads of a later generation—aren’t enough to prevent Assyria’s desolating invasion. The enemy alliance promptly “devours” or “swallows up” (yibla‘enna) Ephraim’s produce. Jehovah’s Day of Judgment humbles Ephraim’s “opulent” (ge’e semanim)—literally “fat proud ones”—both political and ecclesiastical (v 7; Isaiah 17:3-6).

5 In that day shall Jehovah of Hosts
be as a crown of beauty and wreath of glory
to the remnant of his people:
6 a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
a source of strength
to those who repulse the attack at the gates.

Whereas the main body of Ephraim suffers covenant curses (vv 2-4, 17-22), a remnant of “his people”—Jehovah’s covenant people—rallies to finally oust the Assyrian power. These take no praise to themselves for their heroic deeds but rather give Israel’s God the praise, acknowledging him as their “crown of beauty” and “wreath of glory” (Isaiah 26:12; 63:7). Those who sit in judgment and minister “justice” in that day—superseding his people’s leaders who wrought injustice—are Jehovah (Isaiah 33:22; 51:5), his servant (Isaiah 9:6-7; 16:5; 42:1-4), and certain righteous judges (Isaiah 1:26; 32:1).

7 These too have indulged in wine
and are giddy with strong drink:
priests and prophets have gone astray through liquor.
They are intoxicated with wine
and stagger because of strong drink;
they err as seers, they blunder in their decisions.
8 For all tables are filled with vomit;
no spot is without excrement.

As the political and ecclesiastical leaderships of Jehovah’s people always appear on a par (Isaiah 3:2-4; 9:14-16; 24:2), so Ephraim’s “fat proud ones” (vv 1, 4) include its “priests,” “prophets,” and “seers” (Isaiah 56:10-12). Intoxicated with the wine of self-deception (v 15), they “stray,” “err,” and “blunder” in their policies. Instead of obtaining revelation from Jehovah (vv 9, 14, 16, 26, 29), they water down his word until it is ineffectual in empowering his people (vv 10-13; Isaiah 32:6). The best their spiritual feasts offer is “vomit”—partly digested food regurgitated for Jehovah’s people to consume.

9 Whom shall he give instruction?
Whom shall he enlighten with revelation?
Weanlings weaned from milk,
those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is but line upon line, line upon line,
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
a trifle here, a trifle there.

Although Jehovah wants to give his people “instruction” and “revelation,” they are but babes and sucklings who haven’t developed far enough to digest more than milk: “Everyone who uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:13). Ephraim’s mode of learning is still “line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little” (saw lasaw saw lasaw qaw laqaw qaw laqaw ze‘ir sam ze‘ir sam). Assonance and alliteration parody their rote method of learning that consists of parroting back what their leaders teach.

11 Therefore, by incomprehensible speech
and a strange tongue
must he speak to these people,
12 to whom he said, This is rest; let the weary rest!
This is a respite! But they would not listen.

The lesser portion of Jehovah’s word proves fatefully insufficient to save “these people”—Jehovah’s alienated people—from being slain and taken captive by their enemies (vv 2-3, 13, 22). The only way that remains for Jehovah to speak to his people that may induce them to repent is through the “incomprehensible speech” and “strange tongue” of the alien Assyrian invaders (Isaiah 33:18-19; 54:16-17). Assuming that the lesser law they labor under is, in fact, the whole law, Jehovah’s people who have grown “weary” of it now reject Jehovah’s “rest” and “respite” that characterize his higher law.

13 So to them the word of Jehovah remained:
Line upon line, line upon line,
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
a trifle here, a trifle there, that,
persisting, they might lapse into stumbling
and break themselves,
become ensnared and be taken captive.

Instead of receiving a greater portion of the “word of Jehovah” through divine revelation, the people of Ephraim remain ensconced in its lesser version as that is all they know. The end result is their ruination: “Sanctify Jehovah of Hosts, making him your fear, him your awe. And [to you] he will be a sanctuary, but to the two houses of Israel a stumbling block or obstructing rock, and a snare, catching unawares the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble into them, and when they fall shall be broken, and when they become ensnared shall be taken captive” (Isaiah 8:13-15; cf. 5:13; 42:18-25).

14 Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, you scoffers
who preside over these people in Jerusalem.
15 You have supposed, by taking refuge in deception
and hiding behind falsehoods,
to have covenanted with Death,
or reached an understanding with Sheol, that,
should a flooding scourge sweep through the earth,
it shall not reach you.

By seeking “refuge in deception” instead of in Jehovah (Isaiah 4:6; 25:4), and by “hiding behind falsehoods” instead of acknowledging the truth (Isaiah 9:15; 32:6), Ephraim’s leaders rely on their own counsel as epitomized by a “Covenant with Death.” Such a policy leads to death at the hands of Jehovah’s agent of death, the king of Assyria/Babylon, in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Having turned into scoffers of Jehovah’s word, they think to escape the “flooding scourge”—the power of the archtyrant (v 2). Rejecting Jehovah’s Covenant of Life (Isaiah 55:3), they end up in Sheol—Hell or the underworld.

16 Therefore, thus says my Lord Jehovah:
I lay in Zion a stone, a keystone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.
They who believe it will not do rashly.
17 I will make justice the measure,
righteousness the weight;
a hail shall sweep away your false refuge
and waters flood the hiding place.

In spite of their repudiating Jehovah’s word, the leaders of his people “in Zion” are to hear it anyway (v 14). Although there are among them those who will not believe it, some do believe. Consequently, Jehovah empowers (1) his servant—a stone or seer who acts as antidote to the erring seers (v 7); and (2) the archtyrant and his alliance—the hail and “waters” that flood the hiding place (v 2; Isaiah 17:12; 32:19). This results in a reconstruction of Jehovah’s people based on justice—as carried out by Jehovah’s exemplar of righteousness (Isaiah 41:2; 42:1-4)—and in the demise of the mockers.

18 Your covenant with Death shall prove void,b
your understanding with Sheol have no effect:
when the flooding scourge sweeps through,
you shall be overrun by it.
19 As often as it sweeps through,
you shall be seized by it:
morning after morning it shall sweep through,
by day and by night it shall seize you;
it shall cause terror merely to hear word of it.

The façade the leaders of Jehovah’s people maintain that hides their Covenant with Death (v 15) is swept away in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment when the king of Assyria/Babylon—the scourge of the wicked—overruns their Promised Land. Those unprepared to receive Jehovah’s new revelation (v 16; Isaiah 42:9; 48:6-8)—because they have mistaken the old or taken it lightly (Isaiah 41:26-29; 50:10-11)—face a protracted period of Jehovah’s justice. In the pattern of ancient Assyria’s and Babylon’s destructions of Jehovah’s people and their lands, his people’s apostasy triggers Jehovah’s Day of Judgment.

20 Then shall come to pass the proverb:
The couch is too short to stretch out on,
the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For Jehovah will rise up
as he did on Mount Perazim,
and be stirred to anger, as in the Valley of Gibeon—
to perform his act, his unwonted act,
and do his work, his bizarre work.

While “they who walk uprightly shall attain peace and rest in their beds” in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment (Isaiah 57:2), the wicked suffer deprivation and other covenant curses (Isaiah 3:6-7). In that context, Jehovah’s “act” or “work” (Isaiah 5:19; 10:12; 40:10; 45:9; 62:11) is twofold: (1) the destruction of the wicked; and (2) the deliverance of the righteous. As in this instance, the work’s destructive aspect is “unwonted” or “strange” (zar). It is “bizarre” or “alien” (nokriya) because on this occasion Jehovah is “stirred to anger” and “rises up” against his own people instead of against their enemies.

Jehovah’s rising up as he did on “Mount Perazim”—literally the “Mount of Breakings Forth”—harks back to his breaking forth upon his people who transgressed their bounds at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:20-24) and to his breaking forth upon Israel’s enemies the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:18-20). Jehovah’s being stirred to anger “as in the Valley of Gibeon” refers to Joshua’s victory over an alliance of Amorites, when the sun stood still upon Gibeon for an entire day until the Israelites had slaughtered them and Jehovah had helped them by casting great hailstones upon their enemies (Joshua 10:10-14).

22 Now therefore scoff not,
lest your bonds grow severe,
for I have heard utter destruction
decreed by my Lord, Jehovah of Hosts,
upon the whole earth.

Still addressing his people’s leaders who scoff at his word as delivered by his servant (vv 14-16, 22-23), Jehovah reminds them that “utter destruction” is coming upon the entire earth: “Jehovah of Hosts is marshaling an army for war. They come from a distant land beyond the horizon—Jehovah and the instruments of his wrath—to cause destruction throughout the earth” (Isaiah 13:4-5; cf. 10:23; 37:18). Those who scoff only harden the bonds of their self-deception that hold them bound to unreality, thereby sealing upon themselves the very disaster they had hoped to evade (Isaiah 30:12-14).

23 Give heed, and hear my voice!
Be attentive, and listen to what I say!
24 Will the plowman be forever plowing to sow seed,
disking and harrowing the same ground?
25 When he has smoothed its surface,
does he not sprinkle fennel and scatter cumin?
Does he not demarcate wheat from barley
and plant buckwheat in its own plot?
26 His God instructs him,
directing him in the proper procedure.

Two agents of Jehovah, consisting of two alternative exemplars, intervene among Jehovah’s end-time people of Ephraim: (1) Jehovah’s voice—his servant (v 23); and (2) the tongue—the king of Assyria/Babylon (v 11). Although few may “give heed,” “hear,” “be attentive,” or “listen” to his voice (Isaiah 50:10), those who do Jehovah personally “instructs” and “directs.” Like the plowman, who doesn’t plow the same ground over and over but moves on and plants crops so that the land may yield its abundance, so his discerning people use wisdom and discretion in implementing Jehovah’s word.

27 Fennel is not threshed with a sharp-toothed sledge,
nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin:
fennel is beaten out with a stick
and cumin with a rod.
28 Domestic grain is ground;
one does not go on endlessly threshing it.
It cannot be ground
by driving horse and threshing cart over it.
29 These things originate with Jehovah of Hosts,
whose counsel is wonderful,
whose inspiration is surpassing.

It is impossible for Ephraim’s prophets to provide proper spiritual nurture to Jehovah’s people by performing a mélange of improper procedures that yield confusion. When things reach that point—when a simple farmer’s inspiration (vv 26, 29) surpasses that of his people’s leaders (vv 7, 15)—Jehovah sets his house in order (Isaiah 1:25-26; 66:6). The terms “wonderful counsel” establish word links to Jehovah’s servant—“the man who performs my counsel” (Isaiah 46:11), upon whom rests the “spirit of counsel” (Isaiah 11:2), and who exemplifies the function of a “wonderful counselor” (Isaiah 9:6).

Each poetic allegory (vv 23-26, 27-29) reiterates chapter 28’s theme of the need for divine revelation and its lack among the people of Ephraim that leaves them unprepared for Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Parallel ending verses—“His God instructs him, directing him in the proper procedure” (v 26) and “These things originate with Jehovah of Hosts, whose counsel is wonderful, whose inspiration is surpassing” (v 29)—hark back to verse 9: “Whom shall he give instruction? Whom shall he enlighten with revelation?” and to Jehovah’s taking steps to restore his revelation to “those who believe it” (v 16).

Isaiah 29

9 Procrastinate, and become bewildered;
preoccupy yourselves, until you cry for help.
Be drunk, but not with wine;
stagger, but not from strong drink.
10 Jehovah has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep:
he has shut your eyes, the prophets;
he has covered your heads, the seers.

Jehovah’s people who are here addressed are chronically delusional to the point of slumbering in a deep sleep. Having procrastinated the day of their salvation by buying into dreamlike deceptions and fantasies, they grow “bewildered” and “cry for help” when Jehovah’s judgments come upon them. As a people’s leaders generally reflect the people themselves, so all are spiritually “drunk” and “stagger” instead of walking straight. The prophets and seers—the people’s “eyes” and “heads”—can’t awaken them to spiritual realities because they themselves are intoxicated and asleep (Isaiah 28:7; 56:9-12).

11 For you the sum of vision has become as the words of a sealed book that they give to one who is learned, saying, Please read this, and he answers, I cannot; it is sealed. 12 Or if they give it to one who is unlearned, saying, Please read this, he answers, I am unlearned.

The expression “sum of vision” or “comprehensive vision” (hazut hakkol) signifies all that Jehovah has revealed about the past, present, and future (Isaiah 48:6). It defines an apocalyptic or cosmic vision as seen by Isaiah and others (cf. Daniel 8:15-19; Revelation 1:10). Word links determine that “the sealed book” is the Book of Isaiah (v 18; Isaiah 30:8), besides whatever secondary meanings may apply. That book, which predicts “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10), neither the learned nor unlearned have understood (v 24; Isaiah 32:3-4; 41:28; 42:18-20; 44:25; 48:6-8; 52:15; 56:10).

13 But my Lord says, Because these people
approach me with the mouth
and pay me homage with their lips,
while their heart remains far from me—
their piety toward me consisting of
commandments of men learned by rote—
14 therefore it is that I shall again astound these people
with wonder upon wonder,
rendering void the knowledge of their sages
and the intelligence of their wise men insignificant.

The expression “these people”—which repudiates the covenant formula “my people”—reflects Jehovah’s people’s alienated state. Although they are religious, praying and giving lip service to Jehovah, their piety is superficial. Grounded in human teachings or precepts of men, their religion separates them from him instead bringing them into his presence. When Jehovah intervenes among them at the onset of his Day of Judgment, what their “sages” and “wise men” knew or thought they knew—what their scholars and professors had taught them—Jehovah wonderfully overturns (Isaiah 44:25; 52:15).

15 Woe to those who contrive
to hide their schemes from Jehovah!
They work in the dark, thinking,
Who will see us? Who will know?
16 What a contradiction you are!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?
Shall what is made say of its maker,
He did not make me,
or a work of its designer, He doesn’t understand?

Jehovah pronounces a curse on those who live a double standard. His people’s “schemes” or “plans” (‘esa), concocted in private, put them at odds with Jehovah and cause spiritual blindness. Instead of aligning their actions with his desire for his people (Isaiah 40:13; 46:11), they attempt to make Jehovah follow theirs: “Woe to those in conflict with their Maker, mere shards of earthenware pottery! As though the clay were to say to him who molds it, ‘What are you doing? Your hands have no skill for the work!’” (Isaiah 45:9). By pursuing their own agenda, they are their own gods (Isaiah 41:21-24).

I AM, you need to decide whether we are Gentiles and this is the Gentile church, or whether we are of Israel/Ephraim. You seem to flip-flop between the two, and this is where your position becomes problematic. It cannot be the case that every utterance of Isaiah was about the last days. Some were clearly concerned with issues contemporary to Isaiah's day.
Also, why don't you quote the KJV instead of Avraham Gileadi's translation?

Robin Hood wrote: ↑October 22nd, 2018, 6:09 am I AM, you need to decide whether we are Gentiles and this is the Gentile church, or whether we are of Israel/Ephraim. You seem to flip-flop between the two, and this is where your position becomes problematic. It cannot be the case that every utterance of Isaiah was about the last days. Some were clearly concerned with issues contemporary to Isaiah's day.
Also, why don't you quote the KJV instead of Avraham Gileadi's translation?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wake up to Isaiah

http://www.isaiahexplained.com/resource ... ime-events

also
YOU ARE NOT ADOPTED INTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL SIMPLY BY BEING A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH
as everyone thinks.
It's conditional, and comes after.

Avraham Gileadi
"The Last Days Types and Shadows from the Bible and Book of Mormon" page 167

"The repentant Gentiles are numbered with The House of Israel ONLY after they
perform their saving mission toward them.
The claim that Latter-Day Saints are of the House of Israel, descending through the
mingled lineage of Ephraim, though true, is thus provisional.
Whether Latter-Day Saints are of the House of Israel untimately depends on whether
they fulfill their prophetic mission"

Avraham Gileadi
"Serving as Kings and Queens of the Gentiles"
http://www.josephandjudah.com/2016/05/s ... tiles.html

this is just a small part taken from his talk.

"Let us additionally assume that we aren't among those same Gentiles "in Zion" (2 Nephi 28:21, 24, 32) who "are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men" (2 Nephi 28:14)-those who don't search the scriptures and repent of their error (cf. Jacob 7:23; Alma 14:1; 17:2 33:2; 3 Nephi 10:14) but who are "at ease in Zion" and assume "all is well" (2 Nephi 28:24-25). That we aren't among those who "hearken unto the precepts of men," who disallow "the power of God" in their lives and void "the gift of the Holy Ghost" (2 Nephi 28:26)-those who say, "We have received, and we need no more" (2 Nephi 28:27, 29), who get "angry" when confronted with "the truth of God" found in the scriptures when it conflicts with their "precepts of men" (2 Nephi 28:28, 31). That we aren't among those who end up denying the Lord God when his "arm"-his servant in the Book of Isaiah-"is lengthened out all the day long" (2 Nephi 28:32)."

Gileadi
page 4
The Gathering of Israel’s Outcasts from Exile

A hard fact of Isaiah’s end-time scenario is that it is not those who appear to be God’s people whom God saves in the end but those who are rejected by the majority. These “outcasts” suffer “reproach” and “ridicule,” are “excluded” from God’s people, and, like God’s servant who gathers them, are “despised” and “abhorred” until God reverses their circumstances (Isaiah 49:7–8; 51:7; 60:15–16; 61:7, 9; 66:5–8). In the end, those who are excluded and betrayed by their own people, are gathered with God’s righteous remnant: “Thus says my Lord Jehovah, who gathers up the outcasts of Israel: ‘I will gather others to those already gathered’” (Isaiah 56:3, 8).

http://www.isaiahexplained.com/resource ... -of-isaiah
in part

The Book of Isaiah—A Blueprint of Our Time

What sets the Book of Isaiah apart from all other prophetic writings is its all-inclusiveness in depicting an end-time scenario. Even more comprehensive in portraying the end of the world than apocalyptic writings such as Daniel and Revelation, it spells out a great confluence of events humanity is about to experience. Using Israel’s ancient history as a foreshadowing of the end of the world, it predicts the future by drawing on events of the past. Only a prophet–poet with extraordinary literary skills could have predicted “the end” based on ancient beginnings (Isaiah 46:10). Only a visionary who saw both time periods could have crafted this prophetic masterpiece.

While the Book of Isaiah’s apocalyptic message accords with Jewish tradition, and while its literary features reveal its twofold relevance—to Isaiah’s day and to the end-time—it still requires uncommon faith to believe that it is a handbook for our day. For one thing, it may mean discarding much or all of what we thought we knew before. Isaiah foresees just such confusion when he speaks of the deaf “hearing” and the blind “seeing” the words of his book. Only then—in a day when barely a few “disciples” would know its true message (Isaiah 8:16)—would “those who erred in spirit gain understanding and those who murmured accept instruction” (Isaiah 29:18, 24).

Earth’s End-Time—History Repeating Itself

A reassuring thing about Isaiah’s prophecy is that Isaiah limits himself to predicting new things based on old things when describing the end of the world. Over thirty ancient events—some that occurred before, some contemporary with, and some soon after Isaiah’s day—typify end-time events. To God’s people who know their history, who have searched Isaiah’s writings for answers, therefore, those events won’t appear unfamiliar when they unfold. To those who are acquainted with them and experience them, hindsight will turn to foresight. Perhaps that is one reason why God commanded his people to celebrate ancient events such as Israel’s Passover.

Of course, when those former events repeat themselves in the end-time, they won’t do so in the order they occurred before nor take thousands of years. This time around, moreover, they will happen on a world scale and won’t be limited to the Jews in the State of Israel. While the ancient names that Isaiah uses to describe nations and persons function as codenames of end-time ones, they don’t apply to nations and persons with the same names today. Rather, a sure way to identify which nations or entities Isaiah is speaking of in today’s world is to be guided by the way Isaiah characterizes them and then to match them up with their possible modern counterparts.

The Domino Effect—Concealing the Message

Because Isaiah’s literary devices are meant to conceal and also reveal his prophetic message, much of that message remains hidden until uncovered by the sincere seeker of truth. One thing Isaiah conceals and reveals in this way is the actual sequence of end-time events leading up to the coming of Jehovah to reign on the earth. Instead of making it easy for the reader, therefore, he predicts things piecemeal, breaking up the sequence by depicting an event several times in combination with other events. The entire series appears only when we connect all the dominos. And they act like dominos also—befalling in rapid succession until all have transpired.

A passage in Isaiah 49:9–12, for example, combines the end-time release of God’s people from bondage with their wandering in the wilderness and return from a worldwide exile: “To say to the captives, ‘Come forth!’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ They shall feed along the way and find pasture on all barren heights. They shall not hunger or thirst, nor be smitten by the heat wave or the sun: he who has mercy on them will guide them; he will lead them by springs of water. All my mountain ranges I will appoint as roads; my highways shall be on high. See these, coming from afar, these, from the northwest, and these, from the land of Sinim.”


End-Time “Assyria”—A Militaristic Alliance

Featuring prominently in the Book of Isaiah is a militaristic superpower that seeks to conquer the world. In fact, God commissions its king figure—an end-time archtyrant—to punish his people when they rebel and do evil: “Hail the Assyrian, the rodof my anger! He is a staff—my wrathin their hand. I will commission him against a godless nation, appoint him over the people [deserving]of my vengeance, to pillage for plunder, to spoliate for spoil, to tread underfoot like mud in the streets. Nevertheless, it shall not seem so to him; this shall not be what he has in mind. His purpose shall be to annihilate and to exterminate nations not a few” (Isaiah 10:5–7).

In the pattern of ancient Assyria, this ruthless world power and its alliance of nations commits genocide on a world scale: “Hark! A tumult on the mountains, as of a vast multitude. Hark! An uproar among kingdoms, as of nations assembling: Jehovah of Hosts is marshaling an army for war. They come from a distant land beyond the horizon—Jehovah and the instruments of his wrath—to cause destruction throughout the earth. Lament, for the Day of Jehovah is near; it shall come as a violent blow from the Almighty” (Isaiah 13:4–6). Although all nations suffer destruction in their wicked state, the apostasy of those who were God’s people precipitates it.

End-Time “Egypt”—A Superpower in Decline

Isaiah’s use of types of ancient world powers that foreshadow end-time ones extends to the great superpower Egypt. As with all nations and persons who appear in the Book of Isaiah, their true identity appears from the way Isaiah characterizes them, not from historical or archaeological data, though at times these may help. In searching the world today for a superpower that matches Isaiah’s description of “Egypt,” the sole candidate is America. That connection is further strengthened by the fact that God’s people anciently dwelt in Egypt, that Joseph ruled Egypt, and that the birthright tribe of Ephraim sprang from Joseph and Asenath, an Egyptian woman.

“Egypt,” however, is a superpower imploding: “The ministers of Zoan have been foolish, the officials of Noph deluded; the heads of state have led Egypt astray. Jehovah has permeated them with a spirit of confusion; they have misled Egypt in all that it does, causing it to stagger like a drunkard into his vomit. . . . Manufacturers of combed linen and weavers of fine fabrics will be dismayed. The textile workers will know despair, and all who work for wages suffer distress. . . . I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians; they will fight brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor, city against city and state against state” (Isaiah 19:2, 9–10, 13–14).

The Struggle within America—Isaiah Saw It

The importance of understanding Isaiah’s message increases daily as world events line up like the planets for the fulfillment of his prophecy. Under the codename “Egypt”—the great superpower of Isaiah’s day—America is predicted to suffer spiritual decline, political ineptitude, economic collapse, internal anarchy, and invasion by a ruthless military world power from the North—an end-time “Assyria.” On the other hand, a community of covenanters in Egypt turns back to God, who sends them a savior and delivers them (Isaiah 19–20). In the end, as the millennial age begins, “Egypt” again becomes “my people”—a righteous covenant people of God (Isaiah 19:25).

A dichotomy of events surrounding Egypt thus typifies the nation in general, which incurs misfortunes or covenant curses for its wickedness even as a righteous category of persons within the nation becomes Egypt’s salvation: “Jehovah will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day. They will worship by sacrifice and offerings, and make vows to Jehovah and fulfill them. Jehovah will smite Egypt, and by smiting heal [it]: they will turn back to Jehovah, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them” (Isaiah 19:21–22). To be “healed” of iniquity and to “know” Israel’s God is to be his covenant people indeed.

Isaiah Prophesies Using Composites of Types

Having seen “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10), Isaiah selectively draws on Israel’s ancient history in order to cover both time frames—the past and the future—the “end” being contained in the “beginning.” God’s people anciently, in other words, in the very events in which they participated, were predicting end-time events, something only God is capable of orchestrating: “Who predicts what happens as do I, and is the equal of me in appointing a people from of old as types, foretelling things to come? Be not perturbed or shaken. Have I not made it known to you from of old? Did I not foretell it, you being my witnesses?” (Isaiah 44:7–8).

When something in the past isn’t an exact type of the end-time, on the other hand, Isaiah may combine several types from the past to round out his prediction of the future. That is, he may use composites of types to portray a single end-time person or event. Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure, for example, portrays both Babylon and the king of Babylon as composites of types, including the events associated with them. The end-time itself, moreover, consists of over thirty ancient events that repeat themselves—although in a different order—that are compressed into a single scenario of a few years known as the “Day of Jehovah” or God’s Day of Judgment.

My patriarchal blessing confirms that I have "come through the loins of Ephraim bringing with it all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is of great worth". Elsewhere it tells me that I am "choice in the House of Israel".

No mention of adoption there. I do know people who are told they have been adopted into the House of Israel, but they are few and far between in this part of the world.

Two questions:
1. Are you able to post without quoting great swaithes from Avraham Gileadi?
2. Do you have your own view, or do you just let Bro. Gileadi do your thinking for you?

Well I think you have a point that Jesus never did like the hypocrites. Until the law is written in our hearts I guess Jesus will not be happy with us. Just searching my own soul, I find my own double mindedness extremely problematic. Getting ones heart right before God is the challenge when one can appear outwardly to love God but inside is a big knot of pain bandaged here and there with fame or approval from others and never right before God. How much more difficult would it be to suffer from such frailties and be in a position of authority where people look up to you. In my case it would completely corrupt me.

Juliet wrote: ↑October 23rd, 2018, 1:28 am Well I think you have a point that Jesus never did like the hypocrites. Until the law is written in our hearts I guess Jesus will not be happy with us. Just searching my own soul, I find my own double mindedness extremely problematic. Getting ones heart right before God is the challenge when one can appear outwardly to love God but inside is a big knot of pain bandaged here and there with fame or approval from others and never right before God. How much more difficult would it be to suffer from such frailties and be in a position of authority where people look up to you. In my case it would completely corrupt me.

So many gospel principles rely on us to be free from the damage that we carry with us. We need to turn those things over to the Lord and remember them no more, as he does not either once it is done.

Great topic, I AM! Thank you for your efforts. I did a similar thing a few years ago if you're interested: Great are the words of Isaiah

I also highly recommend Gileadi's book, "Isaiah Decoded" if you haven't yet read it. It's eye opening. Keep up the good work!

Robin Hood wrote: ↑October 23rd, 2018, 12:52 am My patriarchal blessing confirms that I have "come through the loins of Ephraim bringing with it all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is of great worth". Elsewhere it tells me that I am "choice in the House of Israel".

No mention of adoption there. I do know people who are told they have been adopted into the House of Israel, but they are few and far between in this part of the world.

Two questions:
1. Are you able to post without quoting great swaithes from Avraham Gileadi?
2. Do you have your own view, or do you just let Bro. Gileadi do your thinking for you?

------------
sorry, but for now, you are still a Gentile. and when the BoM prophets say "Gentiles" - they are referring to you.
but I'm tired of arguing the point with every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes along.
Here, I will copy and paste the same comment that I made in the post "trust in the Lord"

and btw- my views are his views - Gileadi is THE AUTHORITY on Isaiah.

doesn't matter how we want to twist it around,
and doesn't matter if we are from the House of Israel or not.
For now, we are still Gentiles, and the Book of Mormon identifies us as one.
read all the things I have already posted.
So many members mistakenly think that all the warnings and condemning things that the Book of Mormon says about the Gentiles doesn't apply to them, simply because they are members and of the House of Israel.
Nothing could be more farther from the truth.

"If we are to accept the blessings pronounced to the “Gentiles” in the Book of Mormon, should we not seriously consider the warnings to the “Gentiles” that are pronounced throughout the Book of Mormon? "
---------------------------------------
Identification of Gentiles

"Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles." (Joseph Smith, D&C 109:60)

"Thus Joseph Smith, of the tribe of Ephraim, the chief and foremost tribe of Israel itself, was the Gentile by whose hand the Book of Mormon came forth, and the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who have the gospel and who are of Israel by blood descent, are the Gentiles who carry salvation to the Lamanites and to the Jews." (McConkie, Millennial
Messiah, p 233)

"We are those Gentiles of whom Nephi speaks.
We have received in this age of restoration the fulness of the everlasting gospel. It is now beginning to go from us to the Lamanites and to the Jews. But the great day of the Lamanites and the great day of the Jews both lie ahead…" (McConkie, Millennial Messiah, p 238)
------------------------

Mormon 8:34 -

“Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you. “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

“And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

“For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

“O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker,
why have ye polluted the holy church of God?
Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?” (Morm. 8:34–38.) “ L Tom Perry October 1992 General Conference.

"This last quote taken from the BOM pertains to all people who are alive today in this the Latter-days and in particular to the LDS people. I pray that as we study the Book of Mormon, we will not pass off the warnings pronounced to the “Gentiles”, on some other people, but benefit from the warnings that the Lord has provided to us."
---------------------------

Even though most of us members are from Ephraim - the
House of Israel, for now we are referred to as "Gentiles".
I think where most members get lost is when they try to define the word Gentile
and how it doesn't apply to them when it really does,
and that these judgements that are spoken of in the Book of Mormon that are coming on the Gentiles
somehow will not come on them, when it will, because we, (the church and it's members), at least for now, are referred to in all of our scriptures as Gentiles.

Section 109 verse 60 of the D&C is probably least evidence showing that we (the LDS ) are Gentiles.
It's all through The Book of Mormon referring to us as Gentiles, as shown below.

These are some comments (below) that I've gathered over the years about the LDS being Gentiles

"If the LDS are not Gentiles, can you please tell me who the Gentiles are?
I would like know because they are the subject of many prophecies in the BOM
Including this one in the title page:

"Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed—To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile—The interpretation thereof by the gift of God."

"Are there some nonmember, non believing people who have not been baptized that bring forth the BOM? Please identify who they are. If you can do this you may be able to convince me you are right."

Whoever these Gentiles are they also spread the true gospel to the seed of Lehi:

Mormon 5: 15 And also that the seed of this people may more fully believe his gospel, which shall go forth unto them from the Gentiles; for this people shall be scattered, and shall become a dark, a filthy, and a loathsome people, beyond the description of that which ever hath been amongst us, yea, even that which hath been among the Lamanites, and this because of their unbelief and idolatry.

It also seems these wonderful Gentiles have care ( stewardship) for the House of Israel:

Mormon 5: 10 And now behold, this I speak unto their seed, and also to the Gentiles who have care for the house of Israel, that realize and know from whence their blessings come.

"I do think that is true that a repentant Gentile can be adopted in and receive the same covenant blessings but they still can be identified as Gentiles, just as one can immigrate from Mexico, be adopted as American and receive all the benefits of American citizenship and be an American citizen but still be identified as Mexican.
I think the allegory in Jacob 5 describes the Gentiles as the wild branch vs the natural branch.
But as I said if you can identify who they are...

So see if you can tell me who they are and why it is not the LDS that bring forth the BOM,
spread the gospel of Christ or have care for the House of Israel."

-------------
3 Nephi 23:4

4 "Therefore give heed to my words; write the things which I have told you;
and according to the time and the will of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles."
(The Book of Mormon)

Christ also used the name “Gentile” to identify those through whom the gospel would go to the Lamanites. (3 Nephi 21:2–4) If Church members from Gentile nations will bear in mind that the term “Gentile” when used in the Book of Mormon includes them, the prophecies therein will have much greater meaning and be more disturbing.

3 Nephi 21:

5 Therefore, when these works and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity;

6 For thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may show forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel;

22 But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, (our church today)
and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance;
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Who are the Gentiles spoken of in the Book of Mormon?

The Book of Mormon (BOM) was written for the benefit of all of those living in the latter-days of the worlds existence prior to the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The BOM Prophets, much like the Prophets of the Old and New Testaments saw our day in vision. What they saw pertained primarily to “This Land”, meaning the land upon which the events of the BOM took place (The American Continent) but the implications of what was prophesied to take place pertains to everyone world wide. Those Prophets saw “this land”, peopled by an indigenous race of people differentiated by their skin color from the predominately white settlers who would come to this land and subjugate this indigenous people. They refer to these indigenous people as Lamanites. The BOM Prophets refer to the “white settlers” as Gentiles and they also prophesied to a separate group of people, the Jews.

The LDS people have a tendency, when reading the BOM, to look at those things spoken of regarding the “Gentiles” in two ways.
One is that all of those things that are of a flattering nature are attributable to the LDS people and that those things which are of a negative nature and perceived as a call to repentance are meant for those other people who are the evil “Gentiles”, whoever they are.

The BOM was written to three groups: Lamanites – a remnant of the house of Israel, Jews, and Gentiles. By a simple process of elimination, we can see that the LDS church falls largely into the category of the Gentiles. In fact, as it states on the title page, the Book of Mormon was ‘to come forth… by way of the Gentile, in spite of the fact that we are also of Ephraim.

From the Book of Mormon Title page: “Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites—Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile…Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile— “

BOM Prophets provide further clarification…1Nephi 15:13 And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, … then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed—

3Nephi 16: 6-7 And blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the Father. Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them.

Additionally, the Doctrine and Covenants confirms that the church is identified with the Gentiles…D&C 109:60 Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles.

A Latter-day LDS Leader has stated “We are those Gentiles of whom Nephi speaks. We have received in this age of restoration the fulness of the everlasting gospel. It is now beginning to go from us to the Lamanites and to the Jews. But the great day of the Lamanites and the great day of the Jews both lie ahead…” (McConkie, Millennial Messiah, p 238)

If we are to accept the blessings pronounced to the “Gentiles” in the Book of Mormon, should we not seriously consider the warnings to the “Gentiles” that are pronounced throughout the Book of Mormon? The following is Jesus Christ speaking to the Latter-day Gentiles…

3 Nephi 16:10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.
Notice that the Lord says not IF but when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel.
Additionally, He says that He will bring the fullness of His gospel from among them.
Maybe we should learn just what the fullness of the gospel is.

"Mormons today dwindle in unbelief. There is a pervasive belief among us that we are God's chosen people and therefore unavoidably in the right way. So when we read the BOM giving desperate warnings about the churches in the last days, we automatically assume those warnings apply to all churches but our own.
We tend to apply the most important lessons of the book to everyone else but ourselves. Its a great example of standing on the rameumptom. Read Alma Chapter 31. Its a story of who?... That's right... The Mormons.
You would think that it would be odd to the Mormons that so much effort was wasted warning those who will never read the book."

I AM wrote: ↑October 23rd, 2018, 9:23 pm
You would think that it would be odd to the Mormons that so much effort was wasted warning those who will never read the book."

Oh really?
I have been told this by a number of people who hold similar views to yours. You would do well to read and apply the same logic to the next chapter (Mormon 9) where Moroni then addresses those who don't believe in Christ. "You would think that it would be odd... that so much effort was wasted warning those who will never read the book".
And while we're at it, we could probably discard much of the preaching recorded in the Bible for the same reason.
Your quote above is a poor argument and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the way prophets function.

The quote you use from the Kirtland Temple dedicatatory prayer demonstrates a further misunderstanding. "Identified with the Gentiles" means the opposite of what you state. Joseph didn't say "we are Gentiles" but you interpret it that way because it suits your mindset. A basic understanding of English clearly demonstrates that Joseph was drawing a distinction between us and the Gentiles. It's equivalent of saying "we who live amongst the Gentiles" or "we who live in the Gentile culture".
I identify with my favourite football team. That does not mean I am my favourite football team.

It's just simple basic English, but the problem is you want it to mean something else because it then supports your narrative.

So IAM, how long have you been a member of The Church of Avraham Gileadi of Latter-day Saints?

Modern prophets teach the bloodlines... Actual bloodlines of Ephraim have been gathered in the early church. We are not Ephraim or gentiles. We are both. We are comprised of both. Ephraim was gathered from Great Britain.. A mass conversion in the early church signified this actual bloodline gathering. Robin Hood is from there and is very likely actual Ephraim though I don't know about choice Ephraim (just kidding rh... Great initials by the way)

You want to confirm this, look no further than the war in heaven that is here on earth and is focused on alienating white, Christian, straight males. This is not just due to the birthright tribe but the actual birthright of kingship that is passed on to the rod who is of Ephraim and Judah. He is from the Great Satan and the little Satan.

just doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter at all if you literally have the blood
and you are from the House of Israel or not.
For now we are still Gentiles, and the Book of Mormon refers to us as them.

this is one of many sources
President Boyd K. Packer says we are the Gentiles the Book of Mormon is talking about here,
“and the term gentile in that place in the Book of Mormon refers to us in our generation”.
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/boyd-k-p ... his-dream/
Lehi’s Dream and You
"Wherefore, O ye Gentiles [and the term gentile in that place in the Book of Mormon refers to us in our generation], it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you. . . ."

Have multiple prophets indicated an actual Ephraimic bloodline among our church members? Yes
If this is true, does this matter? Yes
Are we also identified with the gentiles? Yes
Does the fact actual Ephraim is identified with gentiles matter? Yes
Are there deeper, rich symbols of eternal progression at play here? Yes

Just as it matters that the God of worlds descended and identified himself with Jews and yet retained the noblest of bloodlines by being a direct offspring of God. Jesus identified Himself with the Jews by being born to a Jewish mother, but being raised in a Jewish family among fellow Jews - the tribe with a double cursing that I promise you extends way back into the premortal existence. This was no random gamble that the Jews would happen to crucify their God. This is a cursed tribe of God's people - and His being identified with them has everything to do with His redeeming them and fulfilling covenants that were made long, long ago.

Just as we Ephraimites are being born among gentiles and gentile nations to execute the covenant of the Law of the Gospel as part of our eternal progression. This ... matters ... tremendously. We have another instance of a noble bloodline being identified with a lesser (gentilic) for the purposes of elevation of souls into Israel - God's people. Of course this effort would not be left to gentiles alone (see Alma 13 about fore-ordination to the Priesthood.)

There are many, many quotes of early prophets identifying the actual bloodline of Ephraim - not an adoption - not a change in blood as Joseph Smith taught, but actual, original Ephraimic blood. I'm fairly sure you've read these quotes, and I'm happy to drum them all up again. Here's just a few that illustrate it's not one or the other but both - we are both gentiles and pure Ephraim. The pure descendants of Ephraim represent those noble souls whose mission it is to be the backbone of the fulfilment of the time of the gentiles, bringing the gospel to the world (The Law of The Gospel - that law in the temple where our names - our now names - align to this law and to who we are to this step in our eternal progression.) We ephraimites identify with the gentiles. Perhaps there is mixed blood, but there is also Ephraimic blood in the LDS church, and lots of it by my humble estimation. Here's a few more quotes to help you accept this fact that does indeed matter:

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith explained: “Let us also remember that we are of the Gentiles! By this I mean that the Latter-day Saints have come to their blessings through the Gentile nations. President Brigham Young … said that Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite. This is true; yet Joseph Smith came also of a Gentile lineage. So do most members of the Church. We may boast of our lineage, and rejoice in the fact that Patriarchs have declared us to be of Ephraim, but at the same time let us not despise the Gentiles, for we are alsoof them. If it were not so the scriptures would not be fulfilled. [1 Nephi 15:13–14; Ether 12:22.]” (Way to Perfection, p. 140.)

D&C 109:60 Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles.

with
/wiT͟H,wiTH/Submit
preposition
1.
accompanied by (another person or thing).
"a nice steak with a bottle of red wine"
synonyms: accompanied by, escorted by, in the company of
2.
possessing (something) as a feature or accompaniment.
"a flower-sprigged blouse with a white collar"

With means there are two elements joined together. IIRC, you used D&C 109:60 to illustrate we are gentiles, yet Brother Joseph would have said "commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are gentiles."

“It is essential in this dispensation that Ephraim stand in his place at the head, exercising the birthright in Israel which was given to him by direct revelation. Therefore, Ephraim must be gathered first to prepare the way through the gospel and the priesthood, for the rest of the tribes of Israel when the time comes for them to be gathered to Zion. The great majority of those who have come into the church are Ephraimites. It is the exception to find one of any other tribe, unless it is of Manasseh.”

“It is Ephraim, today who holds the priesthood. It is with Ephraim that the Lord has made covenant and has revealed the fulness of the everlasting gospel. It is Ephraim who is building temples and performing the ordinances in them for both the living and for the dead. When the ‘lost tribes’ come- and it will be a most wonderful sight and a marvelous thing when they do come to Zion- in fulfillment of the promises made through Isaiah and Jeremiah, they will have to receive the crowning blessings from their brother Ephraim, the ‘first born’ in Israel.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:252-253)

We know there was a mass conversion in Great Britain early in the church of actual descendants of Ephraim. Does that matter? Of course it does!

Now, why?

Just as Jesus descended to a lower class of being to elevate them as a part of His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, so does Ephraim - who represents the inheritance of the higher priesthood of Melchizedek, which right was secured premortally - descend among a lower class of being - gentiles - to elevate them by bringing them into Israel by adoption. This is the Law of the Gospel in action. The temples, the missionary effort - all a part of the covenant of Ephraim. The higher orders of beings are juxtaposed over the lesser - the kings and priests to which we are anointed are here in this world. The 144,000 are the priests and the 7 archangels are the kings. We are aspiring to be both through the law of the gospel which takes us to the law of chastity (144,000 - for behold these men are all virgings) and the law of consecration (each archangel consecrates his eternal inheritance to the elevation of souls)

This is the spiritual destiny of Ephraim - have a look here:

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/jst/jst- ... lang=eng#4

This is also why Ephraim receives the double portion (see D&C 133 / OT)

Edit: Another interesting aspect is the Davidic Covenant - suffrage on behalf of another. If we are identified with the gentiles, then all the curses, warnings, etc. applying to us parallels Christ's suffering & isolation from God - joining the Jews in their curse, descending below, to redeem them. I'll have to think on this more.

Edit edit: I know you believe in a Davidic Servant I AM. All of this is why he is of Ephraim and of Judah - the Davidic Covenant. The birthrights. These are the sticks of Ephraim and Judah in Ezekiel 37 - at the very least one of the meaning. It is not a coincidence the resurrection is at the beginning of Ezekiel 37 (accomplished by the voice of the angel in D&C 88) and that we have some of the most beautiful verses about the Davidic Servant at the end of Ezekiel 37.

START READING ISAIAH !

3 Nephi 23:1- 4
1 "And now, behold, I say unto you,
that ye ought to search these things.
Yea, a commandment I give unto
you that ye search these things diligently;
for great are the words of Isaiah."

2 "For surely he spake as touching all things
concerning my people which are of the house of Israel;
therefore it must needs be that he must speak
also to the Gentiles."

Social Anarchy—Prelude to Foreign Invasion

Economic distress leads to anarchy and the division of God’s people into clans or bands, each fighting for survival: “Jehovah of Hosts deprives Judea and Jerusalem of both staff and crutch—all food supply and water supply. . . . I will make adolescents their rulers; delinquents will lord it over them. People will oppress one another, every man his neighbor. . . . Then will a man apprehend a kinsman of his father’s house:‘You have a tunic: be our leader and take charge of this ruin!’ But he will raise [his hand]in that day and swear, ‘I am no physician. There is neither food nor clothing in my house; you cannot make me a leader of the people’” (Isaiah 3:1, 4, 6–7).

Just as the names Babylon and Zion, Assyria and Egypt act as codenames Isaiah uses to designate end-time nations and entities, so “Judea” and “Jerusalem” act as codenames of those who profess to be God’s end-time people. Their corrupt state and internal collapse lead to foreign invasion: “Your land is ruined, your cities burned with fire; your native soil is devoured by aliens in your presence, laid waste at its takeover by foreigners” (Isaiah 1:7). All is not lost, however, as a repentant remnant of God’s people escapes destruction: “Had not Jehovah of Hosts left us a few survivors, we should have been as Sodom or become like Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9).