Isaiah chapter 49 addresses the scattered hosts of the house of Israel about to be gathered by the merciful hand of the Lord. It is then that the Lord reaffirms his covenant with them. First let me state that I depart from accepted norms by proposing that this chapter is definitely Messianic, but not "ben Judah." I fail to understand, as in verse 1, that the Lord called Himself. I'm open to anyone's explanation of how this relates to the Lord, messianically. A topic for another discussion is "Messiah ben Joseph." v1 The servant of the Lord who will temporally prepare the earth for the Second Coming speaks of his foreordination to direct the gathering of the Lord's people who have been scattered into distant lands. Isa 42:1-6 rhetorically supports the idea that the servant was called by the Lord. v2 The Lord's latter-day servant tells about being preserved, hidden, and protected until time comes for him to perform his temporal mission, which, according to weapon imagery of sword, arrow, and quiver, could imply rhetorically that he will lead a host of warriors against the forces of evil, being a latter-day Gideon or Joshua. (See Isa48:14 for rhetorical substantiation for a military interp) His mission and his identity have been kept secret from general knowledge. Where better to hide him than in Isaiah? v3 The Lord identifies His servant as being Israel's spokesman, and calls him to be His vassal king (son) who will mediate the Lord's covenant with His people of the house of Israel, as did Moses in his day. (The concept of suzerain-vassal relationships is a topic for another discussion.) The Lord gives him a new name "Israel" because he personifies the covenant with Israel, and is a mediator for his people with the Lord. v4 The servant's labors are initially unfruitful, yet he still trusts that the Lord will eventually prosper his effort. If this verse can be interpreted as Messianic, someone explain why there is a reference to the Lord's "Lord" and the Lord's "God." I'm confused here. v5 Again citing his foreordination, the servant, endowed with strength and power through facing and conquering adversity, identifies his mission to be the gathering and restoration of "Jacob," those members of the house of Israel who are the natural branches yet to be re-grafted into the Lord's olive tree. (cf INe10:24) Note that it is not his primary stewardship to gather "Israel," because the mixed lineage of Ephraim have already been mostly gathered from the Gentile nations, and are numbered among the Lord's covenant lineage. This process of gathering PEOPLE is essential to the first main characteristic of the Abrahamic covenant, ie, the blessing of Abraham's posterity. v6 Adding to the servant's primary stewardship of redeeming Jacob, the Lord instructs him to be a "light" or source of gospel knowledge to those inhabitants of Gentile nations remaining to be gathered, so that the Lord's salvation may come to all who are faithful and true. Light is creation imagery; the creator is the Lord, who is the source of all light and truth. The servant's "light" is as the dawn, before the "Big Light" comes, symbolyzed by the actual sunrise. Isa 42:6 supports this interp. v7 The Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One of Israel are all titles belonging to the Lord of the Old Testament, Jehovah, who directs the work of His servant, whose mission, as verse 4 also indicates, gets off to a rocky start when he gets no respect, but a dramatic turnaround is prophesied: Rulers of nations and heads of state will recognize him and honor him as the chosen servant of the Lord. v8 The Lord again (for the third? time) acknowledges the servant's commission to be a mediator between the Lord and His covenant people. Then the second main characteristic of the Abrahamic covenant is identified, ie, the inheritance of a LAND of promise. The servant, of whom Joshua is a type, will apportion the desolate, unpopulated land to the Lord's people whom he has gathered. It is supported elsewhere that he will also direct the work of the 144,000 who will assist him in the gathering. (See Isa 54:17) v9 An important function of the Lord's servant is to release those who are imprisoned (both literally and figuratively), ie, to free the politically captive, as well as to free those who have been prisoners to ignorance of true gospel principles. Notice the literary parallel: ...Prisoners, Go Forth! ...sit in Darkness, Show Yourselves! Essence: Those who sit in darkness are indeed prisoners because they lack the knowledge of the Gospel to enlighten their lives. (v6) In addition, it is necessary for the people to be temporally delivered before they can be redeemed spiritually. Again, the exodus/wandering imagery is presented, not merely as a historical flashback, but as work to be accomplished by the Lord's servant, of whom Moses and Nephi are types, via Book of Mormon context. The exodus motif is supported rhetorically elsewhere in Isaiah: Isa43:2,5-6, 30:27-29, 5:17. v10 Just as with Moses and Nephi, the people will be miraculously preserved by the Lord's providing them with physical and spiritual sustenance. (See Isa48:21) v11 A continuation of the exodus/wandering imagery. v12 The gathering process will be from all directions. v13 This is a song celebrating the temporal salvation of the people from adversaries, both human and natural. v14 Previously, in their suffering state, Zion (the righteous of the Lord's people) perceived the Lord was ignoring their plight. v15 Beautifully stated here, the Lord expressed that even if it could possibly be perceived that a mother could ever abandon her own baby, the Lord would surely never fail to honor His covenant with His people. Yet, in our day, we see much child abuse, and abortion is commonplace. Are we as a nation ripening in wickedness? v16 Notice the intense atonement imagery, where the Lord tells the people He loves them enough to die for them, which He did, thereby claiming the righteous as HIS children, His jewels. Isaiah references celestial persons as precious metals (gold, silver) and jewels; terrestials as semi-precious items, and telestials as common stones. v17 A third characteristic of the Abrahamic covenant is stated here, ie, physical protection from all adversaries, conditioned, as always, on the righteousness of the Lord's covenant people. Those familiar with Torah will notice a reference to the temporal and spiritual rewards of being obedient to the Law. (Lev 26, Deut 28) v18 The Lord vows, even with an OATH, that the gathering of His people represents the marriage of the Bridegroom (the Lord Himself) to his bejeweled bride, Zion. This occurs after the day of judgement, and after Zion has been established in readiness for the Second Coming. v19-20 A covenant blessing is granted, that they will multiply in numbers even until things begin to get cramped for space. Notice also the absence of adversaries, a covenant blessing. v21 During their exile (scattering) the remnant of Jacob yet to be re-grafted marvels that their numbers are very substantial. This is understandable, considering the Jews don't know of other groups of Israelites, Lehi's descendants are largely unaware of their identity, and the Ten Tribes are yet to be discovered. An additional reference to this concept is found in Isa 54:1. v22 The Lord Jehovah proclaims that a special servant will be His agent to gather the people of the covenant. Notice the literary parallel which uses the metaphorical pseudonyms "hand" and "standard" (or Ensign) to represent the servant, His agent for the gathering. I will lift up my HAND to the Gentiles and set up my STANDARD to the people. --- KJV v23 The "Gentiles" who have accepted the Gospel constitute latter-day Israel. By virtue of their temple endowments, they are potential "Kings" and "Queens." Just as Joseph in Egypt was the temporal savior of his entire family, in the latter days Joseph's Ephraimite descendants will be the "foster fathers" (Kings) and "nursing mothers" (Queens) who will welcome (en masse) the Jews, Lehi's descendants, and the lost ten tribes back into the true Gospel family. These new "converts" will humbly honor, revere, and respect the agents of their spiritual redemption, which was a LONG time in coming, but they endured it (more or less) patiently, having faith that the Lord had not abandoned them, though sometimes it seemed like He really had. (See Isa 40:31 for rewards that come to those who have enough hope and patience to wait for the Lord). I have given this as a figurative interpretation. Literal fulfillment has already occurred when Kings and Queens of Europe, esp England, created the Land of Israel as a place for the gathering of the Jews. v24-26 These verses parallel v9, indicating that the Lord's power of salvation is extended even to those in bondage to their enemies. The righteous will be delivered and the wicked will be the instrument whereby the wicked are to be destroyed. Then will every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who redeemed them from temporal and spiritual bondage. The earth is now ready for the millennial reign of its rightful king. NOW, carefully read 1Ne 22 for a review of Isaiah 48-49, with special note of the chiasm in v8-11. It identifies the great and marvelous work in parallel with the Lord "baring his arm." This is an encoded way of identifying His servant. This is cross-referenced to 3Ne20:35 which is a requote of Isa52:10. 1Ne22:8-11 8 And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles... 9 ...In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 10 ...all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless he shall MAKE BARE HIS ARM in the eyes of the nations. 11 Wherefore the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel. This was partially fulfilled by Joseph Smith, but there's still a lot yet to be done, and many yet to be gathered. --- Bob Westover