Some critics have made the claim that the Book of Mormon’s knowledge of Gentile inclusion into then-future New Covenant is anachronistic, as, based on their (eisegetical) reading of texts such as Eph 3:3-7 argue that it was not until Christ’s time that such was made known. I refuted this claim in my article:
In a book-length discussion of Old Testament authors and their knowledge of Gentile inclusion into God’s people, we read the following about so-called “Proto-Isaiah” (chs. 1-39):
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
“All the nations will flock to Jerusalem.”
Apart from the words of the promise made to the first of the patriarchs, we have so far seen only the faint stirrings of universalism and a missionary outlook associated with the advent of the new covenant and the proclamation of the gospel. Is this still true of Isaiah, who also prophesied in the eighth century, but in Judah, especially in the reign of the first reformer king, Hezekiah?
As we read the book of this prophet, we are made aware that the book of Isaiah includes the work of Isaiah himself and al that of his disciples. It is not always easy to be certain which are the genuine words of the prophet Isaiah, of the time of Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah in the second half of the eighth century B.C. Apart from slight comments from the redactor, the following chapters are normally attributed to him: Isaiah 1:1-11:9; 14:24-23:18; 28:1-32:30. Yet even among these passages, oracles composed by his disciples may have been inserted; this is probably true of Isaiah 19:18-25, which you will find quoted later on. It is also much disputed whether the authorship of 18:7 can be attributed to the prophet of the eighth century B.C. Anyway, the first question whether this or that oracle is the work of Isaiah or of one of his disciples in no way affects the fact of their inspiration. In point of act we shall deal here with the first thirty-nine chapters of the book of Isaiah, except for the two apocalypses (Is 24-27; 34-35), which are probably postexilic.
In insisting that faith in Yahweh is the only hope of Israel’s earthly salvation (Is 7:9; 28:16; 30:15), Isaiah prepares the way for the later doctrine of justification by faith as taught by St. Paul. The latter with good reason is in his epistle to the Romans quotes and comments on this oracle from Isaiah:
See, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a stone that has been tested,
A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation;
he who puts his faith in it shall not be shaken.
(Is 28:16; cf. Rom 9:33; 10:11)
a stone that has been tested,
A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation;
he who puts his faith in it shall not be shaken.
(Is 28:16; cf. Rom 9:33; 10:11)
Several oracles in the first part of the book of Isaiah proclaim more clearly and in magnificent imagery the salvation of all nations. Yet it is often disputed whether these passages can be attributed to the prophet of the eighth century himself. I is difficult to give them an exact date as the variety of opinion spans several centuries.
The oracle of Isaiah 2:2-4, which is also found in Micah (Mic 4:1-3) describes in magnificent terms the conversion of the gentiles and the universal reign of Yahweh. We must notice however that this universalism is not a missionary kind but that it is “centralizing” in so far as it draws all to Jerusalem and her law:
In days to come,
The mountain of Yahweh’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb Yahweh’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in this paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks (Is 2:2-4).
The mountain of Yahweh’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb Yahweh’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in this paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks (Is 2:2-4).
Fundamentally, the prophet’s thoughts run on the hope of a glory comparable to that of the great days of David and Solomon.
Peace and unity here restored carry us back beyond discord and war to the idyllic days in Eden. It is not surprising that the messianic description in Chapter 11 takes us to a second earthly paradise, where universal peace includes the animals as well:
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them . . .
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
the baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. (Is 11:6-8)
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them . . .
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
the baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. (Is 11:6-8)
There is still a centralising tendency in the universalism of the prophecy of the conversion of the Ethiopians, the distant inhabitants of the land of Kush:
Then will gifts be brought to Yahweh of hosts from a people tall and bronzed from a people dreaded near and far, a nation strong and conquering, whose land is washed by rivers—to Mount Zion where dwells the name of Yahweh of hosts (Is 18:7).
The conversion of Egypt is described in similar terms, though on a deeper level. This magnificent fresco shows that land receiving the blessings of Yahweh, after its people have become his people. The centralising tendency makes them even adopt the same language:
On that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing by Yahweh of hosts; one shall be called “City of the Sun.” On that day there shall be an altar to Yahweh in the land of Egypt, and a sacred pillar to Yahweh near the boundary. I shall be a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt, when they cry out to Yahweh against their oppressors, and he sends them a saviour to defend, and deliver them. Yahweh shall make himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that day; they shall offer sacrifices and oblations, and fulfill the vows they make to Yahweh. Although Yahweh shall smite Egypt severely, he shall heal them; they shall turn to Yahweh and he shall be won over and heal them. On that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to Assyria; the Assyrians shall enter Egypt, and the Egyptians enter Assyria, and Egypt shall serve Assyria. On that day Israel shall be a third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, when Yahweh of hosts blesses it: “Blessed be my people Egypt, and the work of my hands Assyria, and my inheritance, Israel” (Is 19:18-25) (In fact, at the end of the seventh century, a Jewish military colony, stationed in Upper Egypt, had its own temple dedicated to Yahweh, not far from present day Aswan, in the island of Elephantine).
It was in this way that the promises made to Abraham was realised (Gen 12:2). This passage, which promises the heathen the knowledge of Yahweh and his blessings, on the same terms of Israel, is beyond all question one of the peaks of the revelation of universalism. Even if these oracles are not by Isaiah himself, it is noteworthy that they are the work of prophets of his school. (A. Rétif and P. Lamarche, The Salvation of the Gentiles and the Prophets [The Living Word Series 4; Dublin: Helicon, 1966], 51-55
