Nephi again quotes Zenos. We can learn something of Zenos by examining the evidence of the prophetic themes in Zenos:
"Words of Zenos are most obviously detected in the following Book of Mormon texts: 1 Nephi 19:8-17; 22:15-17, 23-26; 2 Nephi 2:30; Jacob 5:2-77; Alma 33:3-18; 34:7; Helaman 8:18-19; 15:10-13; 3 Nephi 10:14-16. These texts deal with such main themes as God's covenant with his people, the House of Israel; his remembrance of that covenant, preserving his people wherever they may be; the general wickedness of people who will reject God and the testimony of Jesus Christ through pride, hatred, and unbelief; the scattering of branches of Israel to the four quarters of the earth; the existence of a choice, remote land; the recovery or gathering of Israel, the first last and the last first; the joy and fruitfulness of the righteous; and the suffering, grief, and destruction of the wicked, especially by fire." THE ALLEGORY OF THE OLIVE TREE : [Nephite Uses and Interpretations of Zenos: Page 21 ]
Of particular interest is Zenos' themes of the covenants between the Lord and the House of Israel, the scattering, and the gathering. The theme of the gathering of Israel was a moot point until the time of the destruction of the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah is a prophet of the gathering, and he was contemporary with the destruction of the Northern kingdom. If the record of the Southern prophets indicates a lack of concern with the destruction and gathering until the time that the destruction was imminent, it is possible that in the Northern kingdom Zenos was a similar voice, at perhaps a similar time. His restorative theme fits well with Isaiah's timing, and there is no indication of the gathering being an earlier prophetic theme. If Zenos is a "Northern kingdom Isaiah" then it is also quite understandable that he has texts concerning Christ, as Isaiah is also a principle Messianic prophet.