"Lord, to whom shall we go?" Charting the Course of the Church from Here to the Second Coming: Part 20

So You Wanna See the Future?

If only Doc Brown and Marty McFly had taken their Delorean into the Millennium! 

"Great Scott, Marty!  Can you believe the size of those pearls?!"

   And the twelve gates were twelve pearls;
   every several gate was of one pearl:
   and the street of the city was pure gold,
   as it were transparent glass.

   And I saw no temple therein:
   for the Lord God Almighty
   and the Lamb are the temple of it.

(Revelation 21:21-22)

Wouldn't it be great if Doc and Marty had brought back useful information about how the end times shake out?

Well, since no one has invented a flux capacitor yet, we'll just have to rely on the revealed word of God.

Back to the Future: Isaiah Edition
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What good is knowing the future if we aren't going to prepare for it (i.e., repent)?

Rubbernecking last day prophecies does little good if we are not spiritually ready (i.e., penitent).

Worse, a little preparation may give us a false sense of security.  (We greatly overestimate the United States' military might, as we shall see later on in this post).

Maybe this is why Isaiah is hard to understand unless we possess “the spirit of prophecy” (2 Nephi 25:4).

I think one of the reasons Isaiah is tough to understand is we're using a 500 year old translation (King James Version).

There are far better translations of Isaiah available to us today.  (I like the Isaiah Institute's modern English translation.)

Jesus said that Isaiah "spake as touching all things concerning my people" (3 Nephi 23:2), which certainly includes the destruction and restoration of the Lord's covenant people.

I believe the Book of Mormon was written for our day largely because it is such a superb commentary on Isaiah.  The scriptures help us prepare for what's coming from a place of faith rather than fear.

Egypt and the United States

I want to look at Isaiah 19 in particular (which is not in the Book of Mormon).  

Why Isaiah 19?  Because it deals with prophecies concerning the United States, which is where I live.  And so I am very interested in Isaiah 19.

A key to the text is to remember that Egypt is a type for the United  States in the last days.

In our study of the following verses, I am going to take a literal interpretation (but you may also take a spiritual interpretation since Isaiah often speaks on multiple levels).

Isaiah 19 (Gileadi Translation)

   I will stir up the Egyptians
   against the Egyptians;
   they will fight brother against brother
   and neighbor against neighbor,
   city against city
   and state against state.

(Isaiah 19:2)

This should not surprise anyone acquainted with last day prophecy: America shall be at war with itself. 

Maybe war is not the correct term, since that implies organization and military objectives. 

Instead, it appears that society will collapse into an unprecedented state of unrest and violence.

   Egypt's spirit shall be drained
   from within;
   I will frustrate their plans,
   and they will resort to the idols
   and to spiritists, to mediums
   and witchcraft.

(Isaiah 19:3)

Notice during this turbulent time, the people do not turn to God.  Oh no, they turn to "idols" and to "mediums."  

The nation's strength is "drained" from within.  Secret combinations suck away our resources and our resolve, leaving only a husk.  

Now, after all of this internal devastation, things get scary.  During this time when the nation has dissolved into chaos, an enterprising foreign power takes advantage of the situation:

   Then will I deliver the Egyptians
   into the hand of a cruel master;
   a harsh ruler will subject them,
   saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.

(Isaiah 19:4)

All scriptural prophecy speaks to a time when America will be occupied by a foreign power and its peoples enslaved. 

We will be vulnerable because we could not defend ourselves against this "cruel master" after our internal fighting and warring.  

I know this sounds awful.  After all, we're talking about concentration camps.  Most men will be slain or taken away by this "harsh ruler."

Time of Desolation

Watch now as Isaiah describes the environmental conditions that shall befall the United States:

   The rivers shall turn foul,
   and Egypt's waterways recede 
   and dry up.  
   Reeds and rushes shall whither;
   vegetation adjoining canals
   and estuaries and all things sown
   along irrigation channels,
   shall shrivel and blow away
   and be no more.

(Isaiah 19:6-7)

It appears that water will be short supply, making growing food nearly impossible. 

This leads to famine.  Our foodstuffs shall "shrivel and blow away and be no more."

   Fishermen will deplore their lot
   and anglers in canals bemoan themselves;
   those who cast nets on water
   will be in misery.
   Manufacturers of combed linen
   and weavers of fine fabrics
   will be dismayed.
   The textile workers will know despair,
   and all who work for wages
   suffer distress.

(Isaiah 19:8-10)

Okay, here we get a bird's eye view of what's going on with American manufacturing and productivity.  

Look at the descriptions that Isaiah emphasizes over and over to get his point across about the emotional condition of the people:

   - deplore
   - bemoan
   - misery
   - dismayed
   - despair
   - distress

Not a rosy picture.  This reminds me of something Moroni taught about "despair."

   And if ye have no hope
   ye must needs be in despair;
   and despair cometh
   because of iniquity.

(Moroni 10:22)

Among the wicked, it appears there is no hope.  Why?  Because they are reaping the fruits of the iniquity that we have sown.

You'd think this would produce humility and cause the people to repent, right?

Well, if the Nephites are any indication, that is not what happens.  The peoples' misery does not lead to repentance but to death.

   Their sorrowing was not unto repentance,
   because of the goodness of God;
   but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned,
   because the Lord would not always suffer
   them to take happiness in sin.

   And they did not come unto Jesus
   with broken hearts and contrite spirits,
   but they did curse God, and wish to die.
   Nevertheless they would struggle
   with the sword for their lives.

   And it came to pass that my sorrow
   did return unto me again,
   and I saw that the day of grace was passed
   with them, both temporally and spiritually;
   for I saw thousands of them hewn down
   in open rebellion against their God,
   and heaped up as dung
   upon the face of the land.

(Mormon 2:13-15)

These are sobering words, but I hope you'll continue reading, because it really does get better!

When the Wicked Rule, the People Mourn

Now Isaiah turns his attention to the governmental leaders of the United States:

   The ministers of Zoan have been foolish,
   the officials of Noph deluded;
   the heads of state have led Egypt astray.

(Isaiah 19:13)

Well, this needs a little explanation.  "Zoan" was made a capitol city by Esarhaddon when Egypt was divided; it became a great city ruled over by Rameses II.

"Noph" is translated elsewhere "Memphis," which was the greatest city in upper Egypt.  Memphis, by the way, means "the port of goods."

So we see that the leaders have been deceived, or led astray.  All of their scheming and plans come to naught.

   Jehovah has permeated them
   with a spirit of confusion;
   they have misled Egypt in all that it does;
   causing it to stagger like a drunkard
   into his vomit.

(Isaiah 19:14)

This is a vivid image: the United States "staggers" around like a drunkard, who invariably collapses onto the ground. 

In this case, he face plants into a pool of his own vomit.

A drunkard is unconscious but is not dead, although he appears to be.

​   . . . in the next post, we will finish Isaiah 19 and the wonderful promises that the Lord makes to His people in it.