1 Nephi 22:1 - 22:5
1 Nephi 22:1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had read these things which were engraven upon the plates of brass, my brethren came unto me and said unto me: What meaneth these things which ye have read? Behold, are they to be understood according to things which are spiritual, which shall come to pass according to the spirit and not the flesh?
After Nephi had read the previous two chapters from Isaiah, his brothers began to asked him what they all meant. Specifically were the prophecies actually going to take place in a physical sense or were they to be understood in some kind of spiritual context?
1 Nephi 22:2 And I, Nephi, said unto them: Behold they were manifest unto the prophet by the voice of the Spirit; for by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets, which shall come upon the children of men according to the flesh.
Nephi tells them that they will happen in a physical sense. These are real events that will happen if you were there. They were revealed by the spirit as that’s how the Lord reveals events of the future.
In fact the boys were actually part of the prophecies. They were part of the house of Israel that is broken off. The prophecies of Isaiah were about them! I wonder if they were hoping it would be in spiritual sense so they could say it really didn’t apply to them and they would not be held accountable for their actions?
1 Nephi 22:3 Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual; for it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations.
Nephi further says that the prophecies of Isaiah apply both in a physical and a spiritual sense. That means Israel will be lost in the world both physically from their lands of inheritance and spiritually from God himself. They will be all over the world and live in many places that were not their lands of promise. They will be among the nations of the world and may not even know of their own heritage.
1 Nephi 22:4 And behold, there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of those who are at Jerusalem. Yea, the more part of all the tribes have been led away; and they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea; and whither they are none of us knoweth, save that we know that they have been led away.
Even as Nephi writes, many of the house of Israel have been driven from Palestine. In fact their numbers are a majority of Jacob’s descendants. Where they are now living is known only to them if they have any records or oral traditions among them.
Evidences of their locations have been found in China, in the south of the African continent and all over Europe. With Lehi’s descendants, they will be found all over the Americas.
1 Nephi 22:5 And since they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them, and also concerning all those who shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded, because of the Holy One of Israel; for against him will they harden their hearts; wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated of all men.
Because of this scattering, the prophets have prophesied concerning the eventual fate. Because of their heritage, they are not forgotten, but their future is recorded. The promises made to their fathers will be remembered and they will not be forgotten in the lands they now live in.
But the Jews who will be scattered after Lehi leaves Jerusalem will be hated by everyone no matter where they live. It’s almost like it is instinctive that they are hated. I wonder if this is the way the Lord has to keep them separated from those in whose midst they live in. Make sure they do not feel at home, but are strangers in strange lands and that their real home is Palestine. “Next year—Jerusalem” has been their cry for many, many years. Of course there are still more Jews living in other parts of the world than are living in Israel today. But they are still hated, not only in other parts of the world, but in Palestine by their Arab neighbors. It is not easy to be a Jew. One wonders why they remain loyal to their heritage when they could just blend in with their neighbors and lose these persecutions? I’m sure the Lord uses traditions to keep their heritage alive in them so as to keep them from mixing in an disappearing like the other tribes of Israel.
