Scot
I love that we get to study parts of Isaiah 29 this week where the Lord speaks with this language:
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. (Isaiah 29:14) I am taken by the word marvelous. Elder LeGrand Richards published a book in 1950 that many of you have read called A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. This used to be standard reading material for full-time missionaries. That word marvelous is used in Section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants, “Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:1) But that same word is used in Section 6, Section 8, Section 11, Section 12, Section 14 and Section 18. I think the Lord means to astound us.
Maurine
Welcome, dear friends, to Meridian Magazine’s Come Follow Me Podcast. We are Scot and Maurine Proctor and this week we get to study ten chapters of Isaiah, including 13 and 14, 24-30 and 35. We encourage you to really jump in deeply to Isaiah in these five weeks that we study his words. He not only has much to say about his times, but about our times as well and the last of the last days. He gives us encouragement and he gives us warnings.
Now, let’s explore the meaning of the word marvelous for a few moments. In the Hebrew (פָלָא) the word is pala (paw law’). It is a verb and means to astound, to make surprising, to bring extraordinary things or do wonderous deeds. It is synonymous with wonderful and even in the famous Isaiah text where the Lord is described as wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace—it should be translated as wonderful counselor or it could be astounding counselor!
Scot
That’s right—and did the Lord purpose to do a marvelous work and a wonder in this great dispensation of the fulness of times? Yes! And it IS marvelous in our eyes! It is astounding! It is extraordinary! Think about it, just starting with a visit from God the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus Christ to the boy Joseph Smith. That is astounding! And then to bring forth gold plates with a record of a people who came out of Jerusalem in 600 BC and give us another witness of Jesus Christ and to help us remember the ancient covenant and bring forth that ancient record by amazing, marvelous, astounding means—the gift and power of God! That is marvelous. And then for the Lord to send angelic visitors possessing keys and priesthood power and to pass that on to mortals in our day! That is marvelous and astounding! And how about organizing Christ’s Church on the earth again today, as it was in His day, with a prophet and twelve apostles, with seventies and bishops and patriarchs and to have the holy ordinances given to us—this is indeed marvelous in our eyes.
Maurine
And how about the great work of building temples in our time, not just the miracles of the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples, but in our day, we see them being announced in great numbers and the work for the living and the dead is moving forward in an unprecedented manner. Is this not also marvelous and astounding?! And our prophet today has said, “Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” (Nelson, Russell M., Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives, General Conference, April 2018). And think of the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost—that alone is marvelous in our eyes.
Scot
And consider the gathering of latter-day covenant Israel on both sides of the veil in our day. This is marvelous! What we are saying is that in Isaiah 29, the marvelous work and a wonder is not just the coming forth of the Book of Mormon or just the Restoration of the fulness of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith—though these alone are indeed marvelous works and wonders. Our Prophet, Russell M. Nelson has asked that we “Ponder these three truths:
- “The Restoration is a process, not an event, and will continue until the Lord comes again.
- “The ultimate objective of the gathering of Israel is to bring the blessings of the temple to God’s faithful children.
- “As we seek how to accomplish thatobjective more effectively, the Lord reveals more insights. The ongoing Restoration needs ongoing revelation.” (Nelson, Russell M., The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation, General Conference, October 2021)
Maurine
The whole idea of personal revelation—that you and I can receive direct guidance and direction from the heavens is marvelous! And how we need that ongoing revelation in our lives, in our families, in our relationships, in our work. I remember, Scot, you taught a lesson one time in priesthood many years ago and you said to the brethren how critically important it was for us to pray over our businesses, our practices, our careers, our directions, our jobs. To us, that was a daily thing and one brother commented, “That’s so interesting, I’ve never once thought of praying over my practice.” I’ve never forgotten that. Our point is the Lord is inviting us to seek personal revelation from Him on all the things that we are interested in—especially, but not limited to, spiritual things.
Now let’s talk about ancient and modern Babylon. Isaiah talks about Babylon and Assyria because they are the symbols of “the world” in his day and in our day. In the time of Moses, Egypt was the symbol of the world. And we are now living in a time when the Lord has asked that we be a Zion people, that we do all things that are the antithesis of Babylon.
Scot
Which reminds me: this past week we were in Milan, Italy just finishing a seven-country tour. We were in downtown Milan, near the famous Duomo di Milano Cathedral and we headed into this extremely beautiful, well-designed, amazing mall. Every high-end name brand that I have never bought anything from was represented here. I have nothing against quality merchandise, don’t get me wrong. But when we were being barraged by the large screen TV advertising for Louis Vuitton, and Gucci, and Giorgio Armani and Rolex and Cartier and various famous lingerie companies—well, I commented to Maurine, “I feel like we are in the heart of Babylon. This is a perfect view of the world.”
Maurine
But then this past Monday we spoke to the Milan Italy Mission where our dear friends and back yard neighbors, Ritch and Rebecca Wood are the mission leaders. We had about 90 minutes with them and we were in the heart of Zion. There was such a powerful outpouring of the Spirit and such love among the missionaries and from the Wood’s to their missionaries. I said to Scot, “I feel like we are in the heart of Zion.” And the contrast is real. The Lord’s servants are filled with light. The Lord’s servants heed His commandments and seek to establish Zion. The Lord’s servants have daily holy habits including studying and pondering the word of God in the scriptures and from modern-day prophets, praying morning and night, attending the temple as often as they can and being in Church and partaking of the ordinance of the sacrament. The contrast of Zion and Babylon this past Monday was not lost on us.
Scot
Let’s look together at Isaiah chapter 13 in the first five verses. The Lord here is gathering together His armies, His forces, His warriors, His holy ones to battle against Babylon. Let’s go through some of the symbols and the phrasing Isaiah uses here:
Starting in verse 1:
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
“A burden is a prophecy of doom or judgment against a people. The Hebrew root (masa’) literally means “lifting” or “a lifting up,” perhaps indicating that the prophecy or judgment is lifted up by the voice of the prophet against the people.
“The same Hebrew root is also used in connection with the lifting of the ensign (5:26; 11:12; 13:2) upon a high mountain. Hence, the Lord will “lift up” judgment against the wicked and will “lift up” an ensign to the righteous.” (Tina M. Peterson, Jay A. Parry, Donald W. Parry, Understanding Isaiah, Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, 1998, p. 129)
Maurine
And remember that Babylon is a symbol of the world and wickedness. We are commanded to abstain from partaking of the wickedness of the world: In Section 133 of the Doctrine and Covenants we read: “Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon” (D&C 133:14).
Now, in Isaiah 13:2 we read:
2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
The banner here also means “ensign.” “Anciently, Israel’s families and clans gathered with their own banner around the temple of Jehovah (See Numbers 2:2; Mosiah 2:5-6) [The people of King Benjamin did the very same thing.] Similarly, members of God’s kingdom of this dispensation will figuratively lift up the gospel banner upon the mountain (18:3; 30:17), which symbolizes the temple, and the nations of the earth will seek after it.” (Ibid, p. 131)
And remember the high mountain here is a symbolic reference to the temple. And the next phrase is: Exalt the voice unto them. “This is the “voice of warning” that shall be raised “unto all people, by the mouths of [the Lord’s] disciples” (See Doctrine and Covenants 1:4) Also, “And let your preaching be the warning voice, every man to his neighbor” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:41)
Scot
And the next symbol here is to “wave the hand.” This is to beckon or warmly extend an invitation to another. This is the bringing of the gospel to all nations. This is the sharing of the gospel to our neighbors and friends—which is part of the way the Lord gathers His armies. And the gates of the nobles is likely a symbol of the entrances into the city of Zion and/or to the portals of the temple.
So, with all those symbols in verse 2 alone, the verse could be read with expanded meaning like this:
Raise an ensign towards the temple of our God, raise a voice of warning and invite all people to gather at the gates of Zion and the doors of the temple and come unto me.
We’re doing this tedious exercise with you because we don’t want you to miss how rich Isaiah’s words and prophecies are and how full of symbolism they can be.
Maurine
Let’s look at verse 3 of chapter 13 which reads:
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
The Lord’s sanctified ones are those who are not only temple worthy, but who actually attend the temple and who are made holy through the sanctifying power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. “In ancient Israel the soldiers prepared for the holy war by participating in holy rituals connected with the temple (Deut. 23:10-15) In this dispensation, Jesus Christ’s soldiers (members of the Church) prepare for the battle against Babylon by participating in temple rituals.” (Ibid, p. 131)
Scot
And the phrase, my mighty ones, can read my warriors. “The saints are warriors who battle against evil forces under Jehovah’s direction, using his weapons.” (Ibid) And to rejoice in my highness means to rejoice in the Lord’s exaltation, that He is mighty above all, that He is the Son of the Most High God.
Do you see how rich this reading is? And look at verse 4:
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
“The word noise in this verse may also be translated “voice,” such as in “the voice of many people in the mountains.” Elsewhere Isaiah likens the noise of a great multitude of people to the “noise of the seas” (17:12) and “the rushing of mighty waters” (17:12). The saints, or multitude, will gather together from the world’s nations and kingdoms with the intent of building Zion (See Matthew 24:30-31; Doctrine and Covenents 29:7-11; 45:66; 103:22).
Many of the thoughts and insights we just shared with you are from Donald and Jay Parry and Tina Peterson’s book called Understanding Isaiah which we love and have used, read and studied for many years. And we highly recommend it!
Do you see what the Lord is doing? He is gathering His mighty warriors—that’s us—and eHeHe He is mustering them for battle (the battle is upon us now) and He will stand by us in all parts of the battle.
Maurine
And we sing as Latter-day Covenant Israel:
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
Now is the time to show.
We ask it fearlessly:
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
We wage no common war,
Cope with no common foe.
The enemy’s awake;
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
We serve the living God,
And want his foes to know
That, if but few, we’re great;
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
We’re going on to win;
No fear must blanch the brow.
The Lord of Hosts is ours;
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
The stone cut without hands
To fill the earth must grow.
Who’ll help to roll it on?
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
Our ensign to the world
Is floating proudly now.
No coward bears our flag;
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
The pow’rs of earth and hell
In rage direct the blow
That’s aimed to crush the work;
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
Truth, life, and liberty,
Freedom from death and woe,
Are stakes we’re fighting for;
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
[Chorus]
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
Now is the time to show.
We ask it fearlessly:
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who? (Hymns, n. 260)
I love how apropos that hymn is to these latter days. We really are engaged in a true battle and there are real casualties and real losses, but victory will be the Lord’s. This we know right now.
Scot
You know, dear listeners, we lead a Church History tour every year in the fall. We’ll be leaving in three weeks to do it again. At the first of the tour, we spend two days talking about the American Revolution and that first battle on the 19 of April 1775. Most of you would know that date from having memorized at least a portion of the famous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, Paul Revere’s Ride. We have studied those two days in history so much over the past 30 years, this battle at Lexington and Concord is very real to us. I carry in my phone the muster rolls of all the Minutemen who mustered that day for battle. Many of them have become like friends and family. This battle was real.
I have come to be especially impressed with the Acton Boys, the Minutemen from the town of Acton. There are 40 men listed on the original muster roll, although there may have been a few more in reality. Many of them were family. Seven of them had the last name of Davis and were all related. There were two Haywards, two Hunts, two Barkers and two Smiths. Their Captain, Isaac Davis, was a remarkable man. He was a gunsmith and he wanted his boys to be ready for war whenever it came, so he made sure every man had a bayonet for his rifle. He also knew that working with a powder horn was more for hunting, his boys needed cartridge boxes so that they could reload quickly in the heat of a battle. They had formed their company in November 1774 so they really only had just over five months to be ready, though they did not know that as they trained. He worked with them week after week and martialed them for war. He taught them about how to go down for a volley and how to reload quickly. His men were so well trained that most could load, kneel, fire and reload their muskets all within 15 seconds.
Maurine
When the alarm was sounded and the men were to gather, they were ready for war. Now, mind you, they would be taking on the world’s super power, the British, who had well-disciplined, well-armed, well trained, seasoned soldiers in many cases. But Isaac had trained his men to not be afraid, but to be prepared and ready. Now the time had come, it was 7:00 AM on Wednesday, April 19, 1775. They mustered in front of Isaac’s home. Isaac loved his family so much. His wife Hannah had given him five children, two of whom had already died, and one new baby that she held in her arms as he left. Five-year old Ephraim wanted to be just like his dad and 4-year-old Mary tugged on her mommy’s dress wanting to know where her daddy was going with all those men with their guns. It was quite a sight to see. As they left to march the six miles to Concord, they went out a short distance from the home and then Isaac ordered his men to stop.
Scot
According to his wife and other witnesses, Isaac told his men to wait a moment. He returned to his front door, embraced his wife and said, “Take good care of the children.” He then resumed with his men and they marched to Concord. Tensions were high at the Old North Bridge in Concord. On one side were the colonial companies, ragtag groups of farmers, laborers, smiths and preachers who were Sons of Liberty and had heeded the alarm called out by Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. The British Regulars now had arrived on the other side of the bridge. The Concord Boys were in place right at the bridge under the command of Captain David Brown. Captain Isaac Davis and the Acton Boys were on the left all the way to the back. When Colonel James Barrett asked if the Concord Boys were ready to lead out in battle, Captain Brown said, “I’d rather not.” Isaac Davis immediately called out, “I have not a man who is afraid to go!” They quickly moved into position.
Maurine
We don’t know who fired the first shot there at the bridge—In his famous Concord Hymn, local writer and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson would call this the “shot heard round the world.” It may have been a musket that misfired, we just don’t know. But the battle had begun. Major John Buttrick cried out, “Fire, for God’s sake, Fire!” The first volley came and when the British fired, Captain Isaac Davis was the first officer to mortally fall, being right at the front of the line. He had a premonition he would not return from the battle that day, and he did not. Of course, we know that the colonial Minutemen routed the British and ended up chasing them and harassing them and firing upon them all the way back to Boston. More than 4,000 Minutemen responded to the alarm that day and ended up greatly outnumbering the initial 700 then 1,600 British Regulars.
Scot
Now, why do we go into such detail about this battle when we’re talking about Isaiah? Because in these last days there are real battles that are being fought. There are ideological battles being fought right now and there are casualties. There are constant battles between the forces of the world, or Babylon and the forces of Zion, Latter-day Covenant Israel. The night the gold plates were given to the Prophet Joseph, Friday, September 21 into Saturday, early morning, September 22, 1827, a remarkable sign was given in the heavens and seen by many. We read this from Heber C. Kimball’s journal and mind you, he had never heard of Joseph Smith or anything about the plates at this date:
“I had retired to bed, when John P. Greene, who was living within a hundred steps of my house, came and waked me up, calling upon me to come out and behold the scenery in the heavens. I woke up and called my wife and Sister Fanny Young (sister to Brigham Young), who was living with us, and we went out-of-doors.
“It was one of the most beautiful starlight nights, so clear that we could see to pick up a pin. We looked to the eastern horizon, and beheld a white smoke arise toward the heavens; as it ascended it formed itself into a belt, and made a noise like the sound of a mighty wind, and continued southwest, forming a regular bow dipping in the western horizon. After the bow had formed, it began to widen out and grow clear and transparent, of a bluish cast; it grew wide enough to contain twelve men abreast.
Maurine
“In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching to the west; they continued marching until they reached the western horizon. They moved in platoons, and walked so close that the rear ranks trod in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally crowded with soldiers. We could distinctly see the muskets, bayonets and knapsacks of the men, who wore caps and feathers like those used by the American soldiers in the last war with Britain; and also saw their officers with their swords and equipage, and the clashing and jingling of their implements of war, and could discover the forms and features of the men. The most profound order existed throughout the entire army; when the foremost man stepped, every man stepped at the same time; I could hear the steps. When the front rank reached the western horizon a battle ensued, as we could distinctly hear the report of arms and the rush.
“No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men, as plainly as ever I saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as though every hair of my head was alive. This scenery we gazed upon for hours, until it began to disappear.
“After I became acquainted with Mormonism, I learned that this took place the same evening that Joseph Smith received the records of the Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni, who had held those records in his possession.” (Whitney, Orson F., Life of Heber C. Kimball, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, First Edition,1888, pp 15-17.)
This was truly a sign that when the plates were removed from the hill and the work commenced to translate the ancient record and eventually bring forth The Book of Mormon, the great battle had begun in earnest in our dispensation.
Scot
That’s right. And President Nelson recently said, “Brethren [and sisters], we need to do better and be better because we are in a battle. The battle with sin is real. The adversary is quadrupling his efforts to disrupt testimonies and impede the work of the Lord. He is arming his minions with potent weapons to keep us from partaking of the joy and love of the Lord.” (Nelson, Russell M., We Can Do Better and Be Better, General Conference, April 2019) The battle, dear listeners, is real and we are his mighty warriors, those of us who have made and keep covenants with the Lord. Our training for war comes from the Lord Himself, through His Holy Spirit and through His words in the scriptures and through His holy prophets and apostles. We are taught all the time by mighty generals who work directly with the Lord of Hosts. May we never shirk our duties or withdraw from battle or set our weapons down.
Maurine
And we remember that our weapons are “faith, hope, charity and love with an eye single to the glory of God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:5) And our weapons include priesthood power which is centered in “persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge…reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved…” (See Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-43) These qualities and traits in this real war are extremely sophisticated weapons which no enemy will be able to overcome.
Now, we can’t leave this part of our reading without talking briefly about Isaiah 29:11-12:
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Scot
And let’s add 2 Nephi chapter 27 verses 15-20:
15 But behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book [that is, he will say to Joseph Smith]: Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another [this is Martin Harris], that he [Martin Harris] may show them unto the learned [this is both Charles Anthon and Samuel Mitchell in New York], saying: Read this, I pray thee. And the learned [Charles Anthon] shall say: Bring hither the book, and I will read them.
16 And now, because of the glory of the world and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God.
17 And the man [Martin Harris] shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed.
18 Then shall the learned [Charles Anthon] say: I cannot read it.
19 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned [this is Joseph Smith]; and the man that is not learned [Joseph] shall say: I am not learned.
20 Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.
Maurine
Martin Harris took some characters that Joseph had copied from the plates on a piece of paper, together with a translation of those characters and brought them to Charles Anthon of Columbia College in New York. Anthon would soon be made a full professor at Columbia, but at this time he was an assistant professor of Greek and Latin. He had studied ancient languages but knew little about Egyptian—in fact, nobody knew much about Egyptian at that time. Jean-François Champollion had begun to study the Rosetta Stone and some dual-language characters from an obelisk that came to England and was just starting to crack Egyptian Hieroglyphics in 1822 and then made a major breakthrough in 1824. In 1829, a year after Anthon had seen the characters, Champollion headed to Egypt to begin to decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphics for the first time, right off the ruins and archaeological sites thus far discovered. Even though Anthon was a learned man, he was also full of pride in his own accomplishments. He gave Martin Harris a letter confirming that the translation of the characters he was shown was correct, but, as Martin was leaving, he asked him where Joseph Smith got the gold plates. After finding out they were given to him by an angel, he asked for the letter back for a moment and then he tore it in pieces, saying, there was no such thing as angels and he asked Martin to bring him the plates and he would translate them.
Scot
Martin said that a portion of the plates were sealed. “I cannot read a sealed book,” said Dr. Anthon. Martin also went to Dr. Samuel Mitchell and got some more assurance that the characters were of ancient date. Martin Harris was especially thrilled with this trip to New York because he knew that he was fulfilling this prophecy given by Isaiah in chapter 29, some 2,500 years before.
Yes, even the fulfillment of ancient prophecies was part of this marvelous work and a wonder in these latter days. Watch in these latter days as amazing things happen, as the work hastens, and as the kingdom grows in the midst of worldwide challenges. The Lord knows how to do His work. He knows all things. Who’s on the Lord’s side who? Now is the time to show!
Maurine
That’s all for today. We’ve loved being with you. Next week we will be studying Isaiah chapters 40-49 in a wonderful lesson entitled Comfort Ye My People. A big thanks for Paul Cardall for the music that accompanies this podcast and an even bigger thanks to our producer, Michaela Proctor Hutchins. Have a wonderful week and see you next time.
