I briefly read a blog that someone recommended. But I am not of their camp — the groups of people who have followed after Denver and feel that they are the remnant — I do not believe they have all truth (though they have some.) I looked at one blog that recommended a variety of books — from Denver to Hugh Nibley to Gileadi’s commentary on Isaiah. Yet, they must not study these last two — Nibley and Gileadi, because if they did, they would see their errors. This one blog talked about how we can reclaim everything that was lost after Joseph Smith died, and they said there is time — God’s hand is outreached still, quoting Isiah 5:25. But the thing is, that they have interpreted Isaiah’s writings to mean God is reaching out to us in a good way. But probably this is not so. God’s hand is the Assyrian King, outstretched with destruction. In this instance, it is the hand of punishment. This is quite clear in Gileadi’s translation of Isaiah:
Although Isaiah uses the imagery of an angry parental God, the truth is that Jehovah is a loving and long-suffering God toward his people (Isaiah 43:4;54:7-10; 63:7-9). But because he is also a just and a righteous God, he must enforce upon them the consequences of their actions. In this instance, the king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah’s anger, acts as his hand of punishment (Isaiah 10:5). Aside from literal earthquakes, it is he who is stirred to anger, who causes the “mountains” (nations) to “quake” and who reduces the wicked to “litter” or chaos (cf. v 30; Isaiah 14:16-17; 37:26-28). (Avraham Gileadi, IsaiahExplained.com)
The traditional LDS heading and interpretation of this section of Isaiah says that God raises his hand, raises an ensign to the nations in a good way —
The Lord’s vineyard (Israel) will become desolate, and His people will be scattered—Woes will come upon them in their apostate and scattered state—The Lord will lift an ensign and gather Israel—Compare 2 Nephi 15. (LDS Heading)
Many have interpreted these verses to mean the missionaries —
None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
But this is probably not correct, as the next verses confirm —
28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. (Isaiah 5)
This is one of the precepts of men, this interpretation of Isaiah that says these are the missionaries — darkness and sorrow?
He who is “stirred up” or “roars” (yinhom) “in that day”—Jehovah’s Day of Judgment—is the king of Assyria/Babylon (Isaiah 37:28-29). Isaiah likens him to the Sea in commotion or a River in flood, sweeping all before it (Isaiah 8:7-8; 51:15). (Gileadi, Commentary on Isaiah)
There are lots of voices out there, and while I am seeking greater light and knowledge, I am not leaving the church and going out into the wilderness where the wild beasts roam (Ezekiel 34.) I may not agree with the traditional interpretations of scripture, but I understand prophecy and believe it will come to pass as Isaiah has cleverly disclosed in his book. It truly is a book of synchronous stories — it tells the story of ancient Israel, and it tells the story of the last days and the restoration of the House of Israel.
