Book of Mormon Feast
God in 1 Nephi 21
my God • He that hath mercy on them • Holy One
my Lord • Lord • Lord God • Mighty One of Jacob
thy Redeemer • Redeemer of Israel • Savior
1 Nephi 21:7
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, the Holy one
The Book of Mormon teaches that God will glorify those who are despised
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One,
to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth,
to servant of rulers:
Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship,
because of the Lord that is faithful.
This verse is a triplet of triples. First, God names Himself with three names: the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy one. Second, He names the entity whom He is addressing with three names: him whom man despiseth, him whom the nation abhorreth, and servant of rulers. And finally He gives three promises to this entity, promises that belie its former humble status: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful (because the Lord is faithful to this entity).
The nation of Israel fits in well with this verse (but certainly not in the preceding one), for what people on earth have been more despised than the Jews? Jesus may fit in, because Isaiah says He was “despised and rejected of men.” But is the Redeemer speaking to Himself? Joseph Smith fits in well, because what group was so abhorred by the American nation than the pioneer, polygamous Mormons?
As citizens of the American empire, it may be difficult to see America in these humble descriptions. But recall when the New World was a place to dump the garbage – to send the undesirables out of civilized Europe. Recall when the Old Country citizens spoke sneeringly of “Colonials.” Recall when the purpose of the New world was to serve the interests of the Old; when individuals arrived on our shores as indentured servants, but the whole colony owed its existence and its profit to overseas interests. Several European countries laid claim to sections of the Promised Land. This verse describes the meek, early days of American colonization, and the greatness that would come after.
1 Nephi 21:8
I have heard thee
The Book of Mormon teaches
that God will use His servant to establish His covenant
Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea,
and in a day of salvation have I helped thee;
and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people,
to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
This chapter began with the Promised Land addressing the isles of the sea, those who are cast off and scattered, those who do not have the full knowledge of Christ. They were to listen to the saga of the Promised Land.
Now the Lord addresses them, explaining how all this applies to them, and that He intends to help them by His servant, the Promised Land.
“The earth” is a symbol. The phrase, “to establish the earth” makes no literal sense in any context except Creation. Creation has been accomplished, so how can the earth now be “established” in the midst of whatever Isaiah might be talking about?
Doctrine & Covenants section 88 explains that the sun, the moon, the stars, and the
earth are kingdoms. The first three are the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial
kingdoms. The earth “abides a celestial law.” It is the kingdom of God on earth,
institutionalized as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
The way that the Promised Land will help and preserve the scattered isles of the sea is by the restoration of the fullness of the gospel – the establishment of the earth.
The idea of inheriting desolate places is parallel with the establishment of the earth. Perhaps they are both symbolic ideas.
God, the King of the universe, has great gifts to bestow upon His faithful children, including the power to inherit eternal life, the kind of life He lives. While He gave many gifts throughout history according to people’s faith, it took the restoration of the gospel to make it possible for people to have power and authority to receive the ordinances leading to eternal life. His heritages had been desolate, but can now be given to those who choose to follow Him completely. Of course, through temple blessings, this includes the many hosts of people through time who did not have this opportunity in their lifetime.
Like any individual person, the United States of America on the Promised Land has
doubtless made many mistakes. However, in spite of casting the newly-
1 Nephi 21:9
They shall feed in the ways
The Book of Mormon teaches
that God will free the prisoners and give sight to those in darkness
That thou mayest say to the prisoners: Go forth;
to them that sit in darkness: Show yourselves.
They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
We have just seen that the idea of inheriting the desolate heritages goes hand in hand with the establishment of the earth, or the restoration of the gospel. This verse lends itself to a more literal interpretation. America’s westward expansion was concurrent with the establishment of the Church, and its movement to the desolate valleys of Utah. This was followed by great missionary work in Europe, where tens of thousands of people, still in the lands defined by the Book of Mormon as “in captivity,” came flooding to Zion, first in covered wagons and handcarts, and then on the train (1 Nephi 13:13).
Because the original Church was driven from pillar to post, from New York to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois, and then finally through the great American desert to the desolate land of Utah, and there began to make it “blossom as the rose,” there was a place prepared for those thousands to come, there was plenty of room for peaceful pasture.
1 Nephi 21:10
He that hath mercy on them shall lead them
The Book of Mormon teaches that God gives revelations to guide His people
They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them;
for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them,
even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
This verse is incongruous literally with the Latter-
But spiritually they were the most sated of any people on earth. As Jesus said,
“I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst.” The pioneers, step by step, were coming to Christ through
His restored Church. “With faith in every footstep” they followed Christ the Lord.
(https://www.lds.org/new-
Isaiah further explains that the Lord would guide them to springs of water. In the
scriptures, “water” represents revelation from God. “For prophets have spoken and
angels have come,” and the Latter-
1 Nephi 21:11
My highways shall be exalted
The Book of Mormon teaches
that God will make a way to lead people to the fulness of the restored gospel
And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
“Mountain” in the scriptures is often a symbol for kingdoms, for the place of rule which sends down laws. It may sometimes refer to the Kingdom of God and His laws, including the idea of the holy temple, but more often than not it represents worldly kingdoms, and the pride and dominion that accompany them.
Verse 9 spoke of the prisoners, those in captivity which were first defined as those from the regions of Europe which first settled North America, going forth to the Promised Land. Now He expands the group to include all nations, all mountains.
Isaiah spoke of the Lord’s highways. In Isaiah’s time, the King’s Highway, an important trade route, crossed Israel from north to south. In fact, the King’s Highway was the cause of an important incident during the Exodus period. The Israelites requested of the King of Edom to cross his land: “Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.” (Numbers 20:17) When he refused, “the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.” (Numbers 20:19) He continued to deny them access, so they peaceably took the long way around. Later, they made the same request of the king of the Ammorites: “Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders.” (Numbers 21:22) He not only refused them passage, but came out to battle against them. So they conquered him and took his land, and before they entered their own Promised Land later, they assigned his land to two of their tribes.
This was the highway and its Jewish nation history that Isaiah and his contemporaries knew. They would also have known of the Assyrian highway system, built and maintained to enable them to continue their military dominion of their empire. This road system included bridges and leveling work, but apparently no paving.
If Isaiah kept up with current events, he would have known that during his time the Carthaginians had begun to build roads of stone.
But as a prophet, Isaiah was not limited in his own understanding of his current world. Just as the Lord could show him future events, He could also use future developments to enhance the rich symbolism of Isaiah’s writings.
As the Assyrians’ power faded and the Persians ascended, they found it expedient to build a great highway across their empire. This Royal Road was most improved by Darius I (5th Century B.C.) We know Darius as the king who lost the Battle of Marathon against the Athenian army. The prophet Ezra credits Darius with encouraging the returned Israelites to rebuild their temple, and in funding the project.
The Royal Road was a communication route, a military route, and a trade route. Mounted couriers could travel the 1677 miles in seven days, or 240 miles per day. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote, “There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers.” He praised them, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” The journey took 3 months on foot. We may also compare it with the Pony Express, which took 10 days to gallop 1840 miles, or 184 miles per day. This is the difference between a highway and rugged mountain trails beset by hostile natives.
Roman roads are legendary, but in their time were not the stuff of myths but of careful planning and hard work. “All roads lead to Rome” in order to keep the empire informed and enriched.
The Inca road system lasted only a little over 100 years, but covered a vast region. The Inca did not use animals for transportation, so foot runners traversed the great distances. They could run up to 150 miles per day. These roads were primarily used for official business; commoners had to get special permission to travel on the government roads.
In contrast, “In England, in the Middle Ages, a highway did not imply a physical
structure. It was instead an especially protected space, on which people were allowed
to travel. . . . safe from molestation. . . . This legal understanding . . . first
made its appearance in the Anglo-
A highway may be more than a physical place for peaceful and efficient transportation.
In examining the Maya “white road” system, Steve Mizrach writes “I found more interesting
the fact that . . . for the Mayan people, roads were important in a metaphorical,
even metaphysical, sense. They felt anguish when the Spaniards destroyed these roads,
as ‘blood came forth’ when they were severed. This insight gave me the key to realizing
that the sacbe road-
“In other words, while the remnants of the terraced causeways found by archaeologists may have been physical roads for the transport of people and goods, I do not feel that the physical road in itself is the sacbe. Rather, the sacbe is the conceptual alignment or connecting link between two (or more) sites and other points. . .
“Today, in our era of new information technology, we are busy erecting our global
communication networks and World Wide Webs. But in the Yucatan peninsula the Mayan
people succeeded in dealing with the same problem that computer network managers
face today: how to keep their 'network' of culture and civilization from 'crashing.'
Their solution was to create their own sort of world-
All of these precedents of highways may inform our understanding of Isaiah’s description of the Lord’s exalted highways. They will lead to the central place, to Zion, or to Christ. They will facilitate fellowship. Travelers may go swiftly, protected from adversaries. The goods desired by the central government will flow to it. What are these goods? “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21) As we join the kingdom of God we give Him our hearts and our willingness to obey.