2 Nephi 15:26-30

[pam]

Reference Search: 2 Nephi 15:26-30

26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them.

27 None shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken;

28 Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent, and their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion.

29 They shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver.

30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if they look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Quotes for Discussion

Ensign

Taken in historical context, these verses probably describe Assyrian soldiers in all their terrible power. They come with speed, need no rest, and do not even pause long enough to take off their shoes. Their weapons are ready, their roar is like that of the lion, and, when they lay hold of their prey, none can stop them. The destruction is so swift and complete that even in daylight, darkness (perhaps from the smoke of burning cities) and gloom (or defeat) hangs over the people. If these verses describe the Assyrian army and the fear and destruction it inflicted upon its enemies, this judgment was fulfilled upon Israel and Judah during Isaiah’s day. In 722-721 B.C. Assyria conquered Israel, carrying the Ten Tribes into captivity, and in 701 B.C. she destroyed most of Judah and besieged Jerusalem. (See Isa. 36-37.)

In addition, the raised signal or ensign may represent the assemblage of a future spiritual force….The ancient American prophet Nephi placed this chapter in a latter-day context when he quoted it in 2 Nephi 15….We see that an ensign in the last days can refer to Zion, the gospel, missionary work, the gathering, and the Book of Mormon….In short, the term ensign encompasses the Lord’s whole work, and all aspects of his Church serve as his “standard” to the world.

Victor L. Ludlow, Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982], 122-123

Over 125 years ago, in the little town of Fayette, Seneca County, New York, the Lord set up an ensign to the nations….That ensign was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was established for the last time, never again to be destroyed or given to other people (Dan. 2:44). It was the greatest even the world has seen since the day that the Redeemer was lifted upon the cross and worked out the infinite and eternal atonement. It meant more to mankind than anything else that has occurred since that day.

No event should have been heralded among the people with greater effectiveness and received with greater evidence of joy and satisfaction….

Following the raising of this ensign, the Lord sent forth his elders clothed with the priesthood and with power and authority, among the nations of the earth, bearing witness unto all peoples of the restoration of his Church.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, ed. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 3:254-55

May I take you back 142 years when there was, of course, no tabernacle here, nor temple, nor Temple Square. On July 24, 1847, the pioneer company of our people came into this valley. An advance group had arrived a day or two earlier. Brigham Young arrived on Saturday. The next day, Sabbath services were held both in the morning and in the afternoon….The season was late, and they were faced with a gargantuan and immediate task if they were to grow seed for the next season. But President Young pleaded with them not to violate the Sabbath then or in the future.

The next morning they divided into groups to explore their surroundings.

Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, and a handful of their associates hiked from their campground….They climbed a dome-shaped peak, President Young having difficulty because of his recent illness.

When the Brethren stood on the summit, they looked over this valley to the south of them. It was largely barren, except for the willows and rushes that grew along the streams that carried water from the mountains to the lake. There was no building of any kind, but Brigham Young had said the previous Saturday, “This is the place.”

The summit where they stood was named Ensign Peak out of reference to these great prophetic words of Isaiah:…(Isa. 5:26)….(Isa. 11:12).

There is some evidence to indicate that Wilford Woodruff took from his pocket a bandanna handkerchief and waved it as an ensign or a standard to the nations, that from this place should go the word of the Lord, and to this place should come the people of the earth.

I think they may also on that occasion have spoken of the building of the temple, which today stands a few feet east of here, in fulfillment of the words of Isaiah:…(Isa. 2:2-3).

How foolish, someone might have said, had he heard these men that July morning of 1847….Here they were, almost a thousand miles from the nearest settlement to the east and almost eight hundred miles from the Pacific Coast. They were in an untried climate. The soil was different from that of the black loam of Illinois and Iowa, where they had most recently lived. They had never raised a crop here. They had never experienced a winter. They had not built a structure of any kind. These prophets, dressed in old, travel-worn clothes, standing in boots they had worn for more than a thousand miles from Nauvoo to this valley, spoke of a millennial vision….They came down from the peak that day and went to work to bring reality to their dream.

Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1989, 51-52

Latter-day Transportation

In fixing the time of the great gathering, Isaiah seemed to indicate that it would take place in the day of the railroad train and the airplane (Isa. 5:26-29).

Since there were neither trains nor airplanes in that day, Isaiah could hardly have mentioned them by name. However, he seems to have described them in unmistakable words. How better could “their horses” hoofs be counted like flint, and “their wheels like a whirlwind” than in the modern train? How better could “their roaring…be like a lion” than in the roar of the airplane? Trains and airplanes do not stop for night. Therefore, was not Isaiah justified in saying: “none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken”? With this manner of transportation the Lord can really “hiss unto them from the end of the earth,’ that “they shall come with speed swiftly.” Indicating that Isaiah must have foreseen the airplane, he stated: “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?” (Isa. 60:8).

LeGrand Richards, Israel! Do You Know? [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1973], 182

They saw…our automobiles, our railroad trains; they saw, very probably, the communication that was taking place upon the face of the earth so wonderfully by wireless communication…They saw, I believe, the airplanes flying in the midst of the heavens….(Isa. 5:26-30; Nahum 2:2-5; Rev. 9:6-10)…

The prophets saw the time in the latter days when an ensign should be lifted up that those gathering to Zion should come with speed swiftly; they should not be weary, neither should they be under the necessity of slumber, nor the loosing of their girdle or the shoes from off their feet….

Not because we are any better or more worthy than the saints of former time, nor because we have greater intelligence, but because we are living in the dispensation of the fullness of times, when the Lord is gathering all things in one and preparing the earth for the great millennial reign….

The Lord gave inspiration to Edison, to Franklin, to Morse, to Whitney and to all of the inventors and discoverers….Without the help of the Lord they would have been just as helpless as the people were in other ages.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, ed. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 1:146-47

I think that Isaiah was privileged to live almost more in our day than in the day he was actually here upon this earth. He was able to see so much of what the Lord would do in the latter days….Isaiah saw the railroad train and the airplane and how the people would be gathered to Zion without even being able to loosen the latchets of their shoes.

A few years ago President McKay went to Scotland to help organize the first stake in his bonny Scotland. When he returned, he reported to us brethren of the Twelve, telling us that he left London at two o’clock in the afternoon, stopped for a short period in Chicago, and was here in Salt Lake City that night to sleep in his own bed. Then he compared this to the time his family crossed the ocean; they were 43 days on the water with a sailing vessel and then had to cross the plains the best they could.

Just think of the day in which we live.

LeGrand Richards, Conference Report, Oct. 1966, 42-43

[a mustard seed]

I don't know why but I get very excited reading these verses and understanding that very probably Isaiah was referring to our modern technologies and transportation. I guess I just find it so real, like it hits home, right in the chest; we can liken the scriptures to ourselves all we want and find messages and meanings applicable to our time but right here he is talking about us and the things we are so familiar with, trying to describe them to people who couldn't even fathom what we'd be creating now. This also is how I feel when it refers to "evil being seen as good and good being seen as evil" because of how much it speaks to our current struggles and the events and culture around us.