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Isaiah 1:2- I Have Nourished and Brought Up Sons
Here is where Isaiah’s story pointedly turns toward us. The Lord laments that though he has favored and nourished his children, they still rebel against him. Though the King James’ and the inspired Joseph Smith versions use the word “children”, the Hebrew text says “sons” (בָּנִים|bä-nēm’). Sons, or son, is a term used in scripture to denote a covenant standing before the Lord. The Son of God was the first, not necessarily in chronology, but in greatness, according to scripture. Abraham said, “And the Lord said unto me, these two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other, there shall be another more intelligent than they: I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all” (Abraham 3:21).
Though, Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son, there are also other sons. A son of God is a covenant child of God, more expansively than what we are taught in our Sunday School classes. It is true, we are all sons and daughters of divine heavenly parents. This is not in question. But when the scriptures say, “but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12), we have to question why all are not sons or daughters of God. This must have more meaning than our divine heritage, but must refer to a more divine or greater ascending role of son-hood and covenant-making with God.
Becoming Sons of God
It is further explained that these sons are given power to become sons of God as they believe on his name. Are women left out then of this promise? No, they are as accountable as men, but Isaiah is using covenant terminology familiar in his day. And as the Christ “was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13), so also are the sons of men raised unto and born of God. “Except a man be born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit” (John 3:5-6). We must be born of the Spirit and become cleansed in the blood of Christ and become heirs not only to the earthly blessings of God, but heirs to the heaven kingdom of God, as Christ was and is.
Isaiah sees in vision two covenant people or “children” (“sons” according to the Hebrew text): those of the ancient covenant, the descendants of the house of Israel, and particularly Judah, or the Jews, including Lehi and his descendants; and those of the new covenant, the descendants of Ephraim, the Gentile church, or us today. Remember that it was our fathers who first covenanted with God as they came across the sea to settle this continent as Puritan pilgrims and religious refugees. They were seeking a Zion, a place of refuge, and covenanted that this land would be dedicated to God and for his work and the building of a new Zion. Why else would the Lord honor the Gentile nations in their conquest of the Americas? Regarding the aspirations of Christopher Columbus and those who later followed in his course, Nephi saw in vision:
I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, which was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth among the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, which were in the promised land. And it came to pass that I beheld the spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters. And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles, upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles, and they were smitten. And I beheld the spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles; that they did prosper, and obtain the land of their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceeding fair and beautiful, like unto my people, before they were slain.
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles which had gone forth out of captivity, did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them; and I beheld that their mother Gentiles was gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them, and I beheld that the power of God was with them; and also, that the wrath of God was upon them, that were gathered together against them to battle. And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles which had gone out of captivity, were delivered by the power of God, out of the hands of all other nations.
2 Nephi 3 [13:12-19]
Likewise, many generations prior to the coming of these Gentiles, the Lord made a similar covenant and promise to Lehi and his seed saying to Nephi, “Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise” (1 Nephi 1 [4:14]). Now the terms of the promise were also given that if they were not faithful to the covenant that men made with God, they would be cut off from his presence, and Nephi saw how the Gentiles came and subjugated his posterity and the posterity of his brethren. It was a covenant curse fulfilled, a curse for breaking the covenant. We would be naive to think that the Lord would deal differently with us than he had with the seed of Lehi if we similarly disregard our covenant promises. As we see in Nephi’s description of the fulfillment of the curse upon the Lamanites, so we will also see again a similar scourge upon the Gentile if we do not repent.
Regarding sons, Paul said, “If ye live after the flesh, unto sin, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live unto Christ. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14). This was the case with young Joseph Smith as he revealed the new covenant to the Gentiles in the early 1800s. He established the doctrines of Christ, restored the priesthood of God, and revealed scriptures as another witness and testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a prophet indeed, and we thereafter came into covenant with God and became covenant sons of God, like our ancient fathers with Moses, receiving covenants, ordinances, and priesthood. Though we may become sons of God, the spirit will not always strive with man (see 2 Nephi 11 [26:11]), and we see from Isaiah’s writing the peril we, too, are in if we disobey God and stray from his covenants.
Sons in Our Day
To truly understand Isaiah’s intent, we must comprehend that Isaiah’s words aren’t meant for his generation, nor of the Jews only, but he points to a future generation. Additionally, we must understand that all the prophecies of Isaiah have multiple fulfillment, first referring to prophetic fulfillment from before Isaiah’s time to the present, and second a prophecy and prediction that foreshadows a type of the last- or end-days to occur in our present time. In other words, Isaiah uses historical precedent to predict future events that combine into one grand tapestry foretelling what will happen in our day as the Lord prepares to come a second time. Nephi, who thoroughly understood the prophesies and intent of Isaiah, also wrote similarly. That which he prophesied is also intended for our ears and eyes and to be fulfilled in our time.
God has truly reared and “nourished” our people with great and glorious blessings to exceed that of nearly every preceding generation. We have knowledge about the prophesies and mysteries of God since the time of Adam and have more knowledge and understanding than any previous generation, and all this at the touch of our fingertips. We have received the covenants of God and made covenant with him through ordinance of baptism and ordinances in the house of the Lord. He has given us every opportunity to come to know him. Truly we have been nourished, or using the Hebrew root verbs in Isaiah 1:2 (גָּדַל|gä-däl’ and רוּם|rüm) we have been “made great” or strong and “exalted”. Yet, despite our nourishment from the Lord, we are at risk of becoming bitter fruit, as predicted by Jacob, the brother of Nephi (See Jacob 3 [5:29-32]).
The reared children or sons refers simultaneously to the Jews and the ancient house of Israel — the old covenant — and to us today — the new covenant. Do we not claim to be the chosen people of God? If so, listen to Isaiah’s words carefully for they are meant for us. Just as in days of old, if we rebel against our God, he will raise up other children to be his covenant people. To the woman Zion, the Lord says, “The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these seeing I have lost my children and am desolate, a captive and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these” (Isaiah 49:20-21)?
When the Resurrected Lord visited the Nephite people, he spoke about the fulfilling of Isaiah’s words, in which he declared “it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day, whosoever will not repent and come unto my beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard” (3 Nephi 9 [21:20-21]). However, he also promised that “if they will repent, and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, 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” (3 Nephi 10 [21:22]). May we repent and truly become the sons and daughters of our God.
This is only a portion of the commentary on this verse. Click here to read the full commentary.
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