Redeem Jerusalem

To re-establish the promised heirs upon their own land and bring again Zion. And then the prophet Isaiah’s words will be fulfilled, which say: Your watchmen will raise their voice, with a chorus together they’ll sing, for they’ll see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. Announce with joy, sing together you abandoned places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has shown His power before the eyes of all the nations and everywhere to the end of the earth will see the salvation of God (3 Nephi 7:6 CE). In this profound insight and declaration by Christ, readers learn Isaiah was not speaking of the return to the Middle East for these coming events to unfold. Instead, the “waste places of Jerusalem” (that are described in Isaiah’s original verse as “abandoned places”) are nowhere near Jerusalem — they are in another place, far away, where the residue of Jerusalem’s scattered people are wasted and then restored again. “Waste places” (or “abandoned places”) is a plural term; according to Christ’s interpretation, these places are scattered throughout the world. One is in the Americas, on an isle of the sea (2 Nephi 7:5). There is also something odd about this passage — after the removal of the Gentiles, there is joy, rejoicing, singing together, seeing eye to eye, and a return to Zion. This emotional setting seems at odds with what mankind anticipates. It would seem that destroying the Gentiles and experiencing the trauma of those days would produce mourning and lamentation. It does not. Instead it produces singing in joy. Whatever bottle-neck of destruction is needed to bring that triumph to pass will be worth it. So great will be the peace that follows that it will wipe away all tears; truth, saving doctrine, and being fed by Christ’s own message will end all laments, as described in Revelation 2:16, for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (“3 Nephi 16:17–20,” June 27, 2010, blog post). See also NEW JERUSALEM; ZION.