When Lehi left Jerusalem, he took four sons with him. All were late teens or young adults. During the 8 years they traveled through the wilderness, Sariah gave birth to 2 young sons. Lehi named them Jacob and Joseph, after Joseph who was sold into Egypt and his father, Jacob/Israel. Lehi had recently learned from the brass plates that he was a descendent of Joseph. He wanted his sons to remember that they were of the house of Israel whenever they thought of their own names.
When the boys were young men, their brother Nephi, who by then was the leader of his people, ordained them to be priests and ministers to the people of Nephi in the land of Nephi. When Nephi died, he passed the birthright responsibilities on to his brother Jacob.
Jacob remembered that he was a descendant of Jacob/Israel and he tried to impress upon his people that fact that they were of the house of Israel and were, therefore, under the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel and Joseph. God had renewed that covenant with their grandfather, Lehi, including a choice land, safe to those who worshipped the God of the land, who was Jesus Christ.
Jacob had been asked by his brother Nephi, to speak to those assembled in the Land of Nephi. He began by citing his authority, and went on to say that he had great concern for their welfare. It had been 40 years since Lehi left Jerusalem, and many, if not most, of the people there had never known the Holy Land. But they did have the scriptures from the Brass Plates and they had been taught the history and covenants of Israel. I am wondering if some of them had been lackadaisical in their observance of their part of the covenant. Nephi doesn't tell us. Jacob, in fulfilling his assignment. chose to speak from the words of Isaiah those things which were pertaining to the Lord's Covenant with Israel. Like his brother, he asks that the people liken these scriptures to themselves because they are of the lineage and House of Israel.
These are the words: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; . . . and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. (1 Nephi 6: 5-6)
As is Isaiah's style, this scripture has multiple fulfillments. Jacob tells the people that their brethren in Jerusalem have been taken captive to Babylon. He is optimistic, however, of the Jew's ultimate salvation and return to the land of Judah. The king who was the nursing father was the Persian King, Cyrus. He not only allowed, but encouraged the Jews to return to Palestine.
But Jacob wants to talk to his people about the second time the Lord will restore Judah. This refers to the creation of the nation of Israel in 1948. Once again, king and queens and other world leaders played a role. The travesty of the Holocaust was a huge factor in world support for giving the Jews a land of their own.
Jacob picks up on Isaiah's word waits. He references waiting to Israel waiting for the Messiah. He promises that when Israel begins to recognize their Redeemer as Jesus Christ, they will be gathered again: . . . when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance. (2 Nephi 6: 11) This gathering began with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the gospel in 1830. It is interesting to
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Even today the gathering goes forward. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among the chief gatherers, called to be Fishers of Men in the last days. They are first gathered to the gospel and then to their lands of inheritance.
One final note: President Donald Trump was being compared to King Cyrus months before his election. He has turned what was a very anti-Israel posture of the previous administration to a position of great support for Israel. Unbeknownst to him, I'm sure, he actually fulfilled a scriptural promise when, on December 6, 2017, he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel rather than Tel Aviv. He stated in his speech that it was time to recognize reality. (I have read the scripture about Israel restored and Jerusalem her capital but can't find it! Sorry!)
© February 2020. Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson
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