“From the East”

K. Douglas Bassett

(Isa. 2:6; Ps. 106:35)

To the Israelites, “east is the sacred direction. Holy temples are oriented eastward, … Jesus Christ enters his temples from the east (Ezek. 43:1–2; see Ezek. 10:19); and at the time of the Second Coming, the Lord will come from the east (JS–M 1:26; Matt. 24:27; Teachings, 287),” In 2:5, the prophet Isaiah commands the house of Israel to “walk in the light of the Lord,” which comes from the east. Yet the house of Israel attempted to be spiritually revitalized (replenished) through apostate, spurious sources from the east (such as the deities and religious systems of the heathen countries), which constituted mockery unto God.

(Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah [Salt lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 29.)

Commentaries on Isaiah: In the Book or Mormon

References