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Isaiah prophesied that “seven women will take hold of one man.” What does that mean? Is it proof that polygamy is of God and is in our future? Or could it possibly have a much more profound and important meaning that we could and should pay attention to? Join us for a deep dive into this one essential verse of Isaiah.

Scriptures

Isaiah 3:16 – 4:1 (2 Nephi 13:16 – 14:1)
Matthew 24:19
JST Revelation 12:7
Matthew 23:27-28
2 Nephi 28: 11-14
Matthew 7:21-23
Genesis 30:22
Luke 1:24-25
Isaiah 35:1
Isaiah 51:3
Isaiah 54:1
D&C 67:10
D&C 88:68
Matthew 5:8
D&C 97:15 – 21
D&C 84:54 – 58
Jeremiah 31:34
D&C 93:1

Links

God, Privilege of Seeing
Disturbing image in case anyone wants it

Summary

In this episode, Michelle Stone explores Isaiah 4:1, a scripture frequently cited to justify polygamy in Mormonism. She critically examines how this verse has been misinterpreted, providing historical and scriptural context to demonstrate why it does not support plural marriage as an eternal principle. Through deep scriptural analysis, she challenges literalist interpretations and exposes the cultural and doctrinal biases that have shaped how polygamy is viewed in LDS history.

Key Themes:

  1. Isaiah 4:1 – The Misinterpretation of a Single Verse
    • The verse states: “And in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”
    • This has been widely used by polygamy defenders as proof that plural marriage is divinely mandated and will be a future reality.
    • Stone argues that this interpretation is deeply flawed and removes the verse from its surrounding context.
  2. Isaiah’s Symbolism vs. Literal Interpretation
    • Isaiah is a highly symbolic book, making literal interpretations problematic.
    • Stone compares this to Jacob 2:30, another commonly misused scripture that is taken out of context to support polygamy.
    • The preceding chapter (Isaiah 3) focuses on judgment against the “daughters of Zion”, describing covenant curses rather than blessings.
    • The seven women in the verse do not symbolize an exalted polygamous society, but instead reflect desperation and social collapse.
  3. The “Daughters of Zion” and Cultural Misogyny
    • The Daughters of Zion are sometimes depicted as prideful women who reject polygamy, leading some fundamentalist groups to claim that women must be “humbled” to accept their fate.
    • Stone rejects this misogynistic narrative, noting how women are unfairly blamed for resisting polygamy while men are portrayed as righteous leaders.
    • She also shares personal experiences of being labeled as a “haughty daughter of Zion” for questioning polygamy.
  4. The Problematic Fantasy of Isaiah 4:1 in Polygamous Circles
    • Stone describes an alarming trend where men in pro-polygamy circles fantasize about a future where righteous men will have multiple wives without needing to financially provide for them.
    • She highlights a disturbing image circulated in polygamy discussion groups, portraying a man surrounded by desperate women begging to be his wives—exposing the entitlement and objectification of women in these interpretations.
  5. Seven Women as a Symbol of Churches, Not Wives
    • Stone presents an alternative interpretation: The “seven women” symbolize different churches or belief systems rather than literal wives.
    • She compares this to Revelation 12, where the Church is symbolized as a woman giving birth to the Kingdom of God.
    • The churches of the world claim Christ’s name but do not rely on His ordinances or true teachings, making them spiritually barren.
  6. Isaiah’s Connection to the Restoration and Zion
    • The true message of Isaiah 4:1 is about the church needing to bring forth righteous fruit, not endorsing polygamy.
    • She highlights scriptures from 2 Nephi 28 and D&C 84, which warn against false traditions and spiritual complacency.
    • The restoration’s true purpose is to establish Zion, where God’s people become pure in heart and able to abide in His presence.
  7. Conclusion: Rejecting Shallow Justifications for Polygamy
    • Stone calls for a deeper, more meaningful study of Isaiah, rather than cherry-picking verses to fit a polygamist agenda.
    • She urges listeners to reject oversimplified, harmful interpretations and to seek greater understanding through prayer, scripture, and study.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to 132 Problems Revisiting Mormon Polygamy, where we explore the scriptural and theological case for plural marriage. Thank you for joining us. Please do remember to listen to these episodes in order, starting with the first one and continuing on until you are back with us. My name is Michelle Stone, and this is episode 8, Isaiah 4:1, where we’ll look in depth at one of the main scriptures used to justify polygamy. Thank you for joining us as we take a deep dive into the murky waters of Mormon polygamy. This episode has surprised me. It has definitely taken on a life of its own. At first I had intended to look at all of the biblical evidences and justifications for polygamy, and then as I got a little more involved, I’d planned to just do the Old Testament. And then as I really dug in, it turned into being just this one verse. So we will have we will continue on in this series and look at more things from the Old Testament. There are just some fascinating important things to cover that I’m really excited to get to and then we will go. on from there, just the more, the more you dive in, the more there is that you learn. And um and, and, you know, the, the more I have found that I think needs to be discussed. So please forgive me because I just, it’s Isaiah, so, you know, it just invites you to kind of geek out on it and and there is a lot here in this one verse that I’m hoping that you will find not only useful and enlightening and inspiring, but also fascinating, so. I hope, I hope you enjoy this episode and you know that you continue on with us to the next ones as well. So we are going to look at Isaiah 41 and I’m just going to have it listed along the bottom of the screen because there’s a lot to talk about here and it helps to keep it straight. So let’s first read it and in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man saying we will eat our own. Bread and wear our own apparel. Only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach. OK, this is one that more times than I can count, probably more than any other scripture other than Jacob 2:30, has, um, has been presented as the ultimate defense of polygamy, that polygamy is in our future and that it is of God and part of the establishment of science. So there’s so much to talk about here. So, um, OK, first, let’s just, for those who study Isaiah, I think that you learn pretty quickly the danger of literal, of strictly literal interpretation, especially when you take one verse out of context and then look at just kind of trying to get what you want to get out of it. Similar to Jacob 2:30, right? That one verse out of context, you can twist it to mean pretty much the exact opposite of what it means. And I think that there is I think that is not only a mistake, but it’s actually dangerous to do and maybe particularly in Isaiah because it is such an important book and also such a complex and deeply, um, well, just deeply meaningful book. So, um So first, the first thing I think we need to do is to put this one verse in context. So it follows immediately after chapter 3, right, which tells us, it goes into depth about many of the covenant curses and focuses mainly on the daughters of Zion.

[00:03:31] So we’ll start in Isaiah 3:16. Moreover, the Lord saith, because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go and making a tinkling with their feet. Therefore, the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. In that day, the Lord will take away the bravery of their ti tinkling ornaments about their feet. It goes on for 5.5 verses from here about their adornment. And their calls and their round tires like the moon, the chains and the bracelets and the mufflers, the bonnets and the ornaments of the legs and the headbands and the tablets and the earrings, the rings and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel and the mantles and the wimples and the crisping pins, the glasses and the fine linens and the hoods and the veils, each of those is included for specific reasons, I believe, and it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink, and instead of girdle, a girdle of rent. And instead of well set hair baldness and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth and burning instead of beauty, thy men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty in the war, and her gait shall lament and mourn, and she, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man. Saying we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel. Only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach. OK, so right there, putting it in the context of what comes before gives it a little more structure, a little more shape that, um, you know, that, that we should apply to how we’re reading it. So it seems to me that in that context, it’s hard to to imply that this is. It’s hard to claim that this is an exalted state of Zion, where the highest laws of exaltation are lived. And yet time and time again that is how it is presented, um, very literally with that attitude and With a strong attitude that women who don’t believe in or who don’t want to live polygamy are the haughty daughters of Zion who are being discussed, so it’s either taken out of context or if it is included in context, the haughty daughters of Zion are specifically women who don’t believe in polygamy, so. And, and who thus need to be painfully humbled to accept their state. So the, I guess I’m going here because I cannot even guess how many times I’ve, this has been applied to me just in online discussions and, um, it’s so amusing because, OK, to be honest, one of the hardest things about doing this podcast for me, you can laugh, but one of the hardest things is the fact that I feel like I have to put on mascara and lipstick, which I never wear. And I have to take a time away from homeschooling my kids and all of the mountains of housework I have to do and all of the work I’m trying to get done and learning to garden and you know, so, so being called a haughty daughter of Zion with all of the, um, implication of all of my ornamentation and, you know, it’s always just amusing to me. I’m like, well then. Who’s not a haughty daughter of Zion? Like, how do we, how do we qualify? I mean, I don’t even think I could qualify for that if we’re taking it literally. I, I would, it’s something I would feel better about myself if I put more effort into my appearance. So anyway,

[00:06:56] it’s just amusing how this is taken. So, um. You know, and, and it also just, you know, some people, I have one daughter who really likes to be beautiful and to put time into her appearance, and she likes trinkets and ornamentation, and I don’t, that’s just her personality the way she is. It’s not something bad about her, right? And so anyway, it’s not that I’m better because I care less about my appearance than she is. So getting maybe sorry to spend too much time on that, it’s just important to recognize how we take this. Isaiah is only condemning women and only condemning women who care about their appearance, and yet any woman who doesn’t want polygamy qualifies in there. It’s sort of the fuzzy way. I don’t think people think about it actually, literally, or specifically, I think it’s just a fuzzy picture that they have to justify what they want to justify. So anyway. I, I really want to just break down a couple of things at the beginning here for anybody who does want to interpret this one verse literally. So, um, first of all, the first thing is, I know that some people say, well, it’s a different chapter. Well, Isaiah didn’t write his prophecy in chapters. That’s not. How it was originally written. Those were added later. I think in the Christian era, it’s hard to get that history. Those were added for like ease of studying and discussing. So they are not original to Isaiah. And I think at some points, they make it a little harder to understand. Like in this one, I think that that chapter heading doesn’t really help. I mean that chapter separation doesn’t really help and aid our understanding. So, um, let’s see. OK. So some of the reasons I think it is not only mistaken but dangerous to claim to understand this one verse and interpret it strictly and literally and out of context is because it is so easy to apply it judgmentally to others. I think that is a danger in all of scripture whether we are reading. And you know, using the wheat and the tears or the sheep and the goats. So anytime that we are reading the scriptures to apply it judgmentally to others, I think that we should rethink that approach because it’s usually problematic. So if we’re reading this to apply the Daughters of Zion judgmentally to others, that, that is a dangerous place for us to be. So, um, there are other dangers with this verse. So, OK, I have to. Some of you might be triggered by this word, but I have to issue a trigger warning right here because I’m gonna put an image on the screen that it might, some of you might just laugh, some of you might like have an unintentional gag reflex. Others of you might feel actual rage. But this is, this is a picture that I encountered in the polygamy discussion group that I started. And um, so, OK, here it comes. Picture up now.

[00:09:48] So an avid polygamy defender had this as his profile picture. Just take a second and look at it. I, I didn’t know if I’d be able to find it again, and when I did, I actually was like, oh my gosh, it’s even worse than I remembered. So I assumed that this was drawn as a sort of joke, but I do have to say that when the discussion about it came up, it was greatly appreciated by many, if not most of the men, young and old in the polygamy discussion group. And I think it exposes both much of the the real truth behind polygamy, no matter how much it’s denied, and it demonstrates the danger of the shallow literal interpretation of Isaiah 4:1. So according to this little literal translation, sorry, I can’t speak, in addition to having all of these women clinging to them. These fortunate men also won’t have any responsibility to provide for them, or, as I heard one highly respected commentator say it, they won’t be burdened by the needs of their wives. I had to breathe deeply at that one, but man, what a deal, right? Isn’t this a lucky guy? He’s just, he’s just because of his righteousness, he will have all of these women clinging for him, not requiring anything from him. It’s really a dream come true if this is where I guess I should say it’s, it’s quite a fantasy, so. OK, strangely, the men who interpret this way, interpret it this way seem to miss the point made in verse 25 that they will all be killed in wars. So, um, their euphoric fantasies, notwithstanding, they won’t be around to have seven beautiful young women desperately clinging to them. Um, however, many people still manage to believe that this is that it’s all the other less righteous men who will be killed, but they, they will be the righteous ones. So, OK, let’s get rid of that picture. That’s enough of that. So, um, I just wanted you to get a taste of what is out there in In some or many polygamy circles that defend polygamy, so. OK, so if we are interpreting it this way, assuming that this state of covenant curse is what God wants for his children, then we also need to take, let’s see, Matthew 24:19, it’s in other places as well, but we need to take that scripture which which says and woe unto them that are with child and that gets suck in those days. We have to take that literally to say that God wants pregnant and nursing mothers to suffer, which it clearly does not. It’s. It’s a warning. They both are warnings of what will happen to the most. Well, this one in Matthew 24:9 is a warning of what will happen to the most vulnerable when societies that should be built up to protect them when things in those societies go really, really wrong. The most vulnerable will not enjoy the protection and security of that that that that society should offer to them because it falls apart. So, OK, we’re gonna move on to a little bit more. Sorry, I’m getting a little,

[00:13:01] that picture makes me just, I have to slow my heartbeat down so I can get back to my place. OK, so then, you know, let’s just take another point that if this were truly literal and all of the men were killed in war, so the righteous men have 7 women providing for themselves but clinging to them to establish Zion, well, please recognize that that could only last for one generation, right, because as we already covered, God established the birth rate to fit perfectly with God’s establishment of marriage. There are equal numbers of men and women, boys and girls, so within one generation. We couldn’t have this blessed state of affairs more of seven women clinging to one man unless we continued with more and more wars, which I hope we can we can agree is not actually the state of Zion, right? So there are just so many problems with this literal interpretation. So, um, uh, so we’re going to just like, OK, let, so let me just ask, is this, in my opinion, unfortunate, oversimplified literal interpretation? Correct. Does it ring true if you really dig in? I know just on the surface it can seem like, well, that’s what it’s saying. But when you really get into it, I think that hopefully, especially if you know, you take some time to ponder and pray about it, I’m guessing that most who really study and pray about, study it out and pray about it will agree that this misinterpretation does not serve us well. So I want to propose, this is why this episode is a little bit longer because perhaps we could. Prayerfully seek a better interpretation, and that’s what I want to share with you here. Obviously I do not by any means claim to be the definitive expert in Isaiah. And the more I have studied, the more I have come to strongly believe that there is no definitive expert in Isaiah and on on the book of Isaiah, and anyone who claims to be and who presents an interpretation as this is what it’s saying, I would say. View that with some skepticism and definitely do your own research and your own prayer because some people that claim to be experts in Isaiah sometimes say things that really don’t ring true to me so we all just need to take what we can take from whoever we can learn it from but really it’s up to us to come to our own truth, so. I’m going to share what has, what I have found as I’ve studied it out and what rings true to me, but please, I, I invite you to do your own studying and you know, any interpretation that you think I may have missed or anything you want to add. I would love to hear it because I think we learned so much in. By engaging with one another. So, OK, so let’s get it down. This the verses on the screen now. So in scripture, woman is often used as a symbol of a church or a belief system. There are so many examples of this like Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom and um. The Church as the bride Paul tells men to love their wives as Christ loved the church. The Book of Revelation uses this symbol often and powerfully, and let me read just one verse of Revelation, but the Joseph Smith translation, which makes it even more apparent. It’s Revelation 12:7, the Joseph Smith translation. And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, nor the child nor the woman which was the Church of God who had been delivered of her pains and brought forth the kingdom of God and of His Christ.

[00:16:31] So the woman is the church. She brings forth the kingdom of God and of His Christ, right? That’s an important thing to remember this entire discussion. So if the woman is the church, the daughters of Zion, which are women, but which are daughters of Zion, I think could well represent the church or communities, the church, churches, community systems of belief that that are that that come into existence among the Lord’s people, right? These, these things that develop among the Lord’s people, so. So, again, different churches are systems of belief or communities, which I think we can all see in Mormonism as just one example. So, So if we take the Daughters of Zion to mean that and and again, there’s so much symbolism and structural importance here and. And I failed to say one thing that um while I, oh this is going out of order, so I meant to say this before, but while I am not a definitive expert on Isaiah while I at all, I do know a couple of things. I know that Isaiah is symbolically extremely profound and important. It relies heavily on symbols. I know it is structurally profound and the structures in it are important, and I also know. That Jesus loved and knew Isaiah. He refers to Isaiah constantly and also in the Book of Mormon, one thing I found fascinating is the only commandment that Jesus actually gives us in the Book of Mormon is the commandment to study Isaiah. So I know that Jesus has a love for Isaiah and refers to it often. So I think a useful way to study Isaiah, I wish I had said this before, is to look at the symbols. The structure and the echoes in the teachings of Christ so that’s what I really wanna do here so um so we already discussed the meaning of woman in those ways and then um let’s just in continuing that discussion so the woman as the church, the daughters of Zion as systems of belief and communities in the church um. It’s interesting because Isaiah 4:1, which we’re looking at, makes the symbol of the woman even more explicit by specifying seven women. So again, let’s look to the Book of Revelation, which is addressed as John to the seven churches, and it’s interesting because that’s Revelation 14, and this is Isaiah 41, and it’s just interesting that they have both the numerical and the symbolic connection, the seven women and the seven churches. I found that interesting. I don’t know if it’s important or not, but I kind of liked it. So, um, the churches, as Isaiah explained in chapter 3, are not sincere. They use adornment to cover what they really are. Um, what they really are beneath his description of them reminds me of Jesus’s description of the churches in his day. So again, the echoes of Jesus. This is Matthew 23:27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are likened unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful, beautiful outward, but are with but are within, full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Verse 28. Even so, ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. That’s what I hear in the description of the daughters of Zion and verse in chapter 3. So, um,

[00:19:56] we’ll move on with these symbols intermingles. We’re going to talk about them kind of overlapping, but 7, the number is often meant said to mean completeness or wholeness. I, my personal belief is that it represents the entire earth. I think it’s. It is important that there are 7 continents and 7 dispensations and 7 days of creation of this earth. So to me it implies something about the entire Earth, the whole earth, so or or everyone, everything, completeness, right? So perhaps the seven women symbolize the churches of the world or all of the churches, and again this sentiment is echoed in many scriptures including. If you hear my kiddos in the background, they’ve been told to be quiet while I record, but I can’t promise there won’t be any interruptions. They’re playing loudly. But, um, this, this all, every, all the churches of the world is echoed and second Nei 28, which has some interesting application to our specific topic that I hope you can recognize. So this is Sei Nephi 2811. Yeah, they have all gone out of the way. They have become corrupted because of pride and because of false teachers and false doctrine. Their churches have become corrupted and their churches are lifted up because of pride. They are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries. They rob the poor because of their fine clothing, and they persecute the meek and the. heart because of the because in their pride they are puffed up. They wear stiff necks and high heads, yeah, and because of pride and wickedness and abominations and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few who are the humble followers of Christ. Nevertheless, they are led that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. I love. Uh well, I love the Book of Mormon, but I love 2 Nephi 28 also 27 chapters 27, 28. If anyone feels so inclined, I think I just want to always invite people, all of us to spend time studying those those chapters in depth and considering the personal application they have for us today, so. So I, I think that that’s an important echo that is so, so, um, closely echoes what Isaiah is describing in chapter 3 about the daughters of Zion. And, um, and he warns in 3:17, however, that the Lord knows what they really are and will expose them. He says the Lord, the Lord will discover their secret parts. I find this so interesting to consider in light of what we see happening all around us with all of. The church scandals and all of the things being revealed everywhere. I think about how the scriptures tell us that things will be shouted from the rooftops and the hidden things of darkness will all be revealed, so. You know this is there are so many examples of this, not only the Catholic Church with the sex scandals, but just more and more and more that we can all think about and that we could go into. So, um, it’s interesting to see the the prophecies of Isaiah in this way being literally fulfilled fulfilled already in our day. So,

[00:23:14] OK, and again, this is, um, let’s see. OK, we’re going to go on to the next part of Isaiah 4:1. So the next part is the one man that the seven churches cling to and to me that is clearly the bridegroom, right? The Savior, that’s Jesus Christ. So in my, in my understanding of this verse, these churches, all these churches of the world want to cling to Jesus Christ, and they want his name, saying we will eat our own bread and wear out our own apparel. Those are both important. symbols of ordinances, right, bread and clothing, um, those can have many different layers, but the first things I think of are, say, sacrament and temple ordinances with robes of the priesthood. They, they say, we’ll take care of this for ourselves. We just want your name. So this again like seems to me to be echoed in the teachings of the Savior. Matthew 7:21 is the first one I’ll read. Not one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, verse 22. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesized in thy name and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. This sounds to me like churches that want to take the name of Christ and claim to have his name, but don’t want to actually have to be dependent or reliant on him, don’t want to have to actually. Use like like like rely on his ordinances, his symbols they just want their own um their own teachings and just to be able to claim his name. I think that this independence isn’t, you know, making it so men don’t have to provide for their wives. I think it’s saying churches that don’t want to rely on Christ but want to take his name. So finally they want to do this to take away their reproach. OK, reproach is an interesting key word that. Especially used applied to women as it is here, conveys childlessness and particularly covenant childlessness. So let’s look at um two examples Genesis 20 or Genesis 3022, and God remembered Rachel and God hearkened to her and opened her womb, and she conceived and bear a son and said, God hath taken away my reproach. So there’s one example. Her childlessness was her reproach. Um, another example is when John the Baptist was conceived by Elizabeth, um, Luke 1:24, and after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach among men. I cannot help, I just feel so strongly the connection in these symbols. So, um, this, this symbol of reproach and this definition of reproach elsewhere in the scriptures of covenant women not bearing. It, it just, it just hearkens everywhere to me. It connects strongly with me to all of the symbolism in Isaiah and elsewhere of barrenness. There’s a lot of it with the Savior, the fig tree that doesn’t bear, and throughout the scriptures, the vineyard that requires so much care and so much effort and yet rarely yields a harvest.

[00:26:57] All of the effort that the Lord puts forth trying to get the fruit that he wants, um, the barren women, the dry and barren desert, there are just so many examples. And then how barrenness is finally replaced with fertility. So here are a few examples from Isaiah. Um, Isaiah 35:1. The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as a rose, right? Um, Isaiah 51:3, for the Lord shall comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Isaiah 541 sing, O baron, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child, for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, sayeth the Lord. OK, so we’re getting a little deeper I don’t want to go into this too much here because it is a huge discussion. But, but, but I, I really believe these symbols of barrenness speak powerfully. To the actual purpose of the gospel and the church and the covenants. They are the gospel and the covenants and the ordinances and the church. They are tools that God gives his children, specifically his covenant people, for specific purposes. God wants to accomplish something through the church. The church isn’t the end, it’s the means, right? And so when we bring forth those purposes in our lives and in our communities and in our church, there’s fertility rather than barrenness. So a central purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to redeem man from the fall from both spiritual and physical death, and the central purpose of the restoration and the scriptures of the restoration is to teach mankind how we are redeemed from the fall. Um, here’s one example. It’s, it’s important. This is, this is maybe the scripture that first kind of started to give me an aha that then. Blew my mind as I continued to study this out specifically and particularly in the Book of Mormon, that this is God speaking to the brother of Jared. Behold, the Lord showed Himself unto him and said, Because, or speaking of the brother of Jared, I’m sorry, behold, the Lord showed Himself unto him and said, Because thou knowest these things, ye are redeemed from the fall. Therefore, ye are brought back into my presence. Therefore, I show myself unto you. It defines what it means to be redeemed from the fall, so. To be very brief, um, I just want to read a few of the, a few of the many, many scriptures I could read that hint or more than a hint at the actual purpose of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. This really could be an entire series of podcasts on its own. So we’re just gonna read a few of these. Doctrine in the Covenant 67:10 says, I just scrolled past. and again verily I say unto you that it is your privilege and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry that is that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from the jealousies and fears and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent, and you shall see me and know that I am not with the carnal,

[00:30:26] neither natural mind but with the spiritual. Sorry. Doctrine of Covenant 8868. Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see Him, for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time and in his own way and according to his own will. Matthew 5:8, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God, which I believe relates to Doctrine of Covenants 97, so. We go on from the first part of the gospel, right, the ordinance is to bring man into the presence of God, and then the fruit that comes from that is that the kingdom of God is established. Zion is established, right, which is the fruit that the church is meant to bear, the woman having the child, right, is to bring forth Zion. And so, um, when we read that the pure in heart shall see God and we relate that to Doctrine Covenants 97 verse 15 to 17 says, and inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it. There are many unclean things that can come into the temple, and I don’t want to be offensive, but perhaps polygamy is one of them. Yeah, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God. But if it be defiled, I will not come into it, and my glory shall not be there, for I will not come into unholy temples. And now behold, if Zion do these things, she shall prosper and spread herself and become very glorious and very great and very terrible. And the nations of the earth shall honor her and shall say, Surely Zion is the city of our God, and surely Zion cannot fall, neither be moved out of her place, for God is there, and the hand of the Lord is there, and the hand of the, and, and he hath sworn by the power of His might to be her salvation and her and her high tower. Therefore, verily thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice. This is the reason we read read. All of them this is the important part, for this is Zion, the pure in heart, relating that back to Matthew saying the pure in hearts shall see God, to the verse just previous saying the pure in heart that come into a temple shall see God, and Zion is made up of the pure in heart. Therefore, let Zion rejoice while all the wicked mourn. There are so many more scriptures that I could go into, so. I’ll include a link below of, um, I think it’s maybe the topical guide, but it’s the God privilege of seeing, which in our very own scriptures we have a huge long list. There are more that are included in this list, but I’ll link that below for anyone who wants to do further study. Um, I know that this is a big deep topic to go into, and, um, I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable or bored. I I just think my studies of Isaiah, this seems to be where I end up most of the time, so I shouldn’t be surprised that this is where we end up studying out this one verse. But if we take this verse in context and in the symbolism of what it is teaching us, I think that it. Has so much more to teach us than this just the oversimplified literal false misinterpretation of justifying polygamy, right?

[00:34:00] It’s teaching us what we really want to be, what we really need to be, and that the reproach of the church needs to be removed and that can only be done by us truly seeing, not just not just taking the name of the Lord but actually recognizing what the Lord has given us so. Let me share just a few more things, um. I do. I hope it’s OK with all of you that I went here because I think it’s important. I think that we as people tend to massively underestimate the purpose and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is literally the guidebook to overcome spiritual death. Which is separation from God. Only when we do that, when we recognize the truth, can we hope to establish Zion and then eventually overcome physical death as well, as did the city of Enoch. I think that’s the true purpose of the gospel. That’s what Joseph Smith was trying to teach us, that we believe in literally meeting the city of Enoch. Those are huge, far off promises that we tend to just not really talk about because we’re just going about doing our good, doing, doing our callings, right? So. These are but those are, those things are all good, but these are the purposes that God has in mind when he establishes a covenant people and restores his true gospel, and we can read throughout the scriptures. We talked a little bit about that in a previous episode about the condemnation we are under for not fulfilling the true promise of what we’ve been given for not fully living up to our privileges, so, um. It’s possible that maybe we aren’t fully embracing the full scope of what we have been given. Maybe there is more that we could. That we could learn to have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to understand. Maybe there are things we could hunger and thirst after and strive for with all our might, mind and strength if we truly understood what the things are that we should be striving after. Um, I think the Covenants 8454 describes well the state that I think most of us are in for most of our lives. And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief and because you have treated lightly the things you have received. Let’s consider that. Do these things sound unbelievable? Are they hard for us to believe? Do we struggle with unbelief? And have we underestimated the gospel that we have been given? Have we taken it lightly? Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation, and this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion like the daughters of Zion, right, even all, and they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, those the Book of Mormon and the commandments are the tools, the path, the instruction book of how to receive these blessings, how to accomplish these purposes. And also, isn’t it interesting that it says because we have disregarded the Book of Mormon with its clear teachings on the topic that we’re addressing, we do tend to disregard it not only to say but do according to that which I have written again harkening back to the people who say, Lord, Lord, have we not done all of these things in your name? We want the name of Christ, but do we really, really want to be reliant on Christ in the way that we have been taught to in the scriptures and the gospel we’ve been given. Then listen to verse 58. Then again, I’m in Doctrine Covenants 84 that they may bring forth fruit, meat for their father’s kingdom,

[00:37:49] that they may be fertile rather than barren. Otherwise there remaineth a scourge and a judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion. For me, I see this applying directly to us where we are in our day. We, I don’t know, it it’s helpful to me to understand that the gospel was restored to bring men and women into the presence of God and then to establish a city, Zion, where God can dwell and walk among the people because everybody there is able to abide His presence, qualifies to be in His presence where all have knowledge of God, where, as Jeremiah describes it in 3134. They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother saying know thou the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord. I, I know that people can be everywhere and interpretation and belief, but for me, I do believe there’s a lot that is literal in the scriptures, and these promises, I believe, are literal. So I’m sorry for diving in so deep and geeking out on one verse of Isaiah. If this was not the episode for you, we’ll get back to some of the more standard themes in the next episode. But um it does, it seems to me that any study of Isaiah leads us here and that is what the savior commanded us to study. So I think that if we have a testimony of the savior of the Book of Mormon, these things are important. It always, it’s it we talk about the fullness of the gospel, maybe without really recognizing what that might mean, so. These are the invitations the Lord gives us throughout the scriptures. Here’s one more, Doctrine Covenants 93:1. Verily thus saith the Lord, it shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins, including false beliefs and traditions, and cometh unto me and calleth on my name and obeyeth my voice and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am. These promises and, and talking about them may seem radical or insane or at the very least unreachable. And it probably does make us all uncomfortable, but maybe that isn’t a bad thing. I think the question that each of us needs to answer for ourselves is, do we believe the scriptures? Do we believe the Lord? So I’m glad that we can step out of the literal interpretation of Isaiah 41, meaning look. God wants polygamy and looking at it in such a shallow lens, and I hope that at least this discussion, if nothing else has invited. invited people to further seeking further considering looking into what these meanings may be. Maybe you agree with my interpretation. Maybe you disagree with it, but I think that the important thing is seeking and considering and studying and trying to learn what we can from. The critically important book of Isaiah and this critically important verse in Isaiah. So thank you for sticking with me and um I will see you next time again. I’m Michelle Stone, and this is 132 Problems.