To The Temple: Walking in the Light of the Lord

Lately I've had the opportunity to read through the Isaiah chapters found in 2 Nephi. I know that, at multiple points of my life, I've found myself skimming or even completely skipping this particular portion of the Book of Mormon or the Bible. The complexity and depth of this particular prophet (or collection of prophets, depending on which school of thought you support) is truly dense, and sometimes it seems to be, in the words of my father, "clear as mud".
However, I noticed the introduction that Nephi gives to his inclusion of the Isaiah chapters, found in 2 Nephi 11:4-8. Simply stated, Nephi desires people to build their testimony of Jesus Christ as they read the words of Isaiah. Many members of the Christian community may stagger at this thought: Coming unto Christ through Isaiah is like trying to get a camel through the eye of the needle! they might exclaim, and sometimes for good reason.
However, with that idea in mind (Isaiah's words bringing us closer to our Savior), I decided to once again tackle the Isaiah chapters, using online commentaries as help when needed. As I've read through 2 Nephi 12-15, or Isaiah 2-5, my mind has been opened to the beautiful truthfulness of the Gospel and the Lord's work.
We see Isaiah begin this particular segment by stating that the following chapters are a vision of the future, and that they will be fulfilled "in the last days"--in other words, RIGHT NOW. We then see him portraying a migration of people of all colors, creeds, and kinships traveling to the "mountain of the Lord's house", or the temple of God, to learn His ways and walk in His light. This image is focused on for only a few short moments, followed by two chapters full of wickedness, pride, death, and destruction. We see the proud, the haughty, the worshippers of idols and money, the covetous, the worldly...and then we see the stark reality that is theirs once the calamities of the sixth and seventh seals are poured out upon the world. We see that the children of Israel are not spared from these horrors and tragedies. And then the content of Chapter 14 smiles upon us, as we see a break in the devastation as God holds close and protects His people.
Chapter 15 then depicts the wickedness of the house of Israel, and their ultimate fate if they are not humbled by the desolation of abomination that the Lord has allowed to happen. The closing verses of this chapter depict the Lord raising up an "ensign" or standard to the nations, which in turn flee to that light.
What is the story that we see here? We see many people flocking to the temple of God, the Zion of Israel, and we see the wickedness of the world and the consequent destruction of its evils. What message could possibly be drawn from these passages?
Well, many scholars have already tackled these words, and I'm going to try to as well. We see a contrast between the righteous and the wicked. We see that the wicked are content to remain in the world, and we see a massive migration of those who want to be good and righteous fleeing to the temple. There they are protected and safe, and the glory of God is a defense for His people.
I'm sure that you can find any number of beautiful applications of Christ in these words. I love the fact that the Savior, who is the God of the Old Testament, and who gave these words to Isaiah and to Nephi and to us, states that He has allowed and sometimes even caused the destruction that has afflicted Israel. But you can also see Him bend down, placing His hand upon a weeping, broken, mud-covered and blood-stained individual. You can see Him stating that His anger is not stretched away, but His hand is stretched out still, to cradle and bless and aid those who leave behind the darkness, the sickness, the destruction that the world promises to them (both spiritually, and some day physically, as we brace ourselves for His glorious Second Coming). With the beautiful imagery of Isaiah 4:4, we see the Savior wipe away the grime and filth that cakes our individual, and then lead that man or woman up the hill, towards the glistening temple of God on the hill. Thousands are thronging to its gates, and there they learn to walk in His ways.
That's another wonderful comparison Isaiah draws in this chapter. Those who walk in the light of the Lord will be afflicted and will have hard times too, but they will have light in their lives. Those who "gone astray, every one to his wicked ways" (Isaiah 2:5) are doomed to remain there, unless they "come with speed swiftly" (Isaiah 5:26) to that ensign, that light, that standard, that temple, that mountain of the Lord's house.
We see our individual begin running to the temple, along with the others that are coming to its gates. Panning out, we see a valley, and there are other temples there, and lights shine. The presence of God is upon every dwelling-place on Mount Zion, and He protects and blesses those who come unto Him. Yes, there must be repentance, and yes, there will be tears for sins committed, but God has promised, through the fulfillment of the wonderful Atonement of Jesus Christ, that THOSE TEARS WILL BE WIPED AWAY. There will be no more tears. There will be no more sorrow. And even as the storms and darknesses of the world rage, those who come unto the Lord's house will be filled with light.
I think that there's application here for today, right now, and there will certainly be application in the coming years as we prepare for the triumphal return of the Lord to that temple where we now are thronging. We see our individual once again, preparing to enter into the mountain of the Lord's house--a quick glance backwards, and we see a face that is recognizable.
It's ours. It's us. We now are on the journey to find God's light in our lives and make our way to His temple, to keep and protect ourselves from the raging storms of the world.
From this exercise of faith in Nephi's words, I've learned that prophets really do speak the words of God, and that we are able to follow those if we leave behind the ways of the world and walk in the light of the Lord. :)