1 Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness.
Nephi likens all scripture unto them, and I suppose he sees a
real parallel between the Israel that Isaiah prophesies to and his own
brethren. In this verse Isaiah is addressing his audience, which is pretty
specific: the covenant Israel who do not live up to their covenants. Likewise,
Nephi, through the writings of Isaiah, is addressing specifically his brethren,
who are also covenant breakers. I have mentioned before how Nephi’s brethren
keep repenting and trying again to do the right things (although possibly for
the wrong reasons), so we can gather that they have made covenants with the
Lord. Breaking a covenant is worse than never making the covenant in the first
place. We need to remember Nephi’s purpose in reading Isaiah here. It’s not to
condemn his brethren, but rather to persuade them. My guess is that if they are
sitting still long enough to have Nephi read to them and preach, they are
probably in one of their more teachable moments. So while this introductory
verse may be a mild rebuke, they probably realized the truth of their position,
that they had broken covenants with the Lord, just as the house of Israel, or
the part of that house that Isaiah addresses here. So Laman could have likened
this verse to himself like this: “Hearken and hear this, Laman, who is part of
the Lord’s covenant people, Israel, who also has made covenants, but has made
them falsely, with no real intent to be converted.” These chapters may not
apply so directly to Sam and Jacob, and those others who also kept their
covenants, except as it gives hope to all, or unless they also break their
covenants at some future time. And that’s how it applies to us as well. Either
we are covenant breakers, or we don’t want to be, so we should all give heed to
these words.
