“Judah Is Fallen”

Brant Gardner

“For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen” is the clear conclusion to the calamities that have been listed. Isaiah concludes the detailing of the fall of Jerusalem and Judah with the clear declarative summary that they are indeed fallen. He now turns away from the results and toward the cause. Jerusalem and Judah will have fallen because they have turned away from their God. It is clear that their “doings” condemns their specific actions. What does having their “tongues…against the Lord” condemn? In this case, we should not suppose that they denigrated their God, but rather that the influence of the foreign nations had changed their perceptions and descriptions of the way things ought to be. In other words, they had developed a philosophy that justified their actions. It is that development of a way of justifying their departure from the way of the Lord that is being criticized.

“To provoke the eyes of his glory” refers to the turning of the wrath of God upon the people. The “eyes” because he symbolically “sees” them in their sins. The glory of God is often used as a reference to God’s presence, and therefore person.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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