Isaiah's Prophecies of Last Days

More of Isaiah’s words: “In the last days, which are the days of the Gentiles, all the Gentile nations and Jews throughout the world will be drunken with all types of sin. When that day comes, the Lord of Hosts will visit them with thunder, earthquake, great noise, storms and devouring fire. All the multitudes of the nations that fight against Zion and distress her will not be satisfied! All you sinners, stop and wonder, for you will shout in distress and cry. You will be drunk and stagger, not full of alcohol, but full of all types of sin—the wine of Babylon. The Lord will allow the spirit of deep sleep to come upon the wicked, for they will close their eyes to the truth, rejecting the prophets and rulers. And when the people refuse to listen to the prophets, the Lord hides them.”

In the last days, the Lord will bring these plates to the Gentiles—words written by those who lived long ago. Part of these plates will be sealed—parts containing a revelation from God, describing everything from the beginning to the end of the world. Because of wickedness, this revelation will remain sealed. However, the unsealed plates (the first part of The Book of Mormon), will be given to a man (Joseph Smith) who will deliver its words—the words of those who lived long ago—to another man (Martin Harris).

At first, none of the sealed plates will be translated. They will remain sealed by the power of God until the Lord reveals them. When the sealed plates are translated, they will be read throughout the world by the power of Christ. From this new book (the rest of The Book of Mormon), all things will be revealed to the people of the earth—things that have been and will be among them, until the end of the earth.

When the plates are given to Joseph Smith, they will be hidden from the world. Besides Joseph, three other witnesses will see them by God’s power. They will testify that the plates exist, and that the translation is true. God will allow others to see the plates, who will also bear testimony of God’s word to the world. This translation will fulfill the prophecies that say that the faithful forefathers’ words will speak as if from the dead.

To fulfill this prophecy, the Lord God will begin to bring the words written on these plates to the world. The Lord will establish His word with as many witnesses as He needs, and cursed are those who reject God’s word! For the Lord will say to Joseph Smith, “Give some of the unsealed words to another (Martin Harris), so that he may bring them to an educated man (Professor Charles Anthon) to read.” The educated man will say, “Bring me the whole book, so that I may read it.” He will say this, wanting money and glory from the world rather than to glorify God. The first man will say, “I cannot bring you the book, for it is sealed.” And the educated man will reply, “I cannot read a sealed book.”

After this, the Lord will again give the plates and the power to translate them to Joseph, who will have little confidence, saying, “I am not a scholar.” The Lord will answer Joseph, “Scholars will not be allowed to read them, for they have rejected them. I am able to do my own work, so you will read the words that I will give to you. Do not touch the sealed plates, for I will bring them to the world in my own due time. I will show all people that I am able to do my own work. After you have translated the words that I have commanded you, and after you have shown the plates to the witnesses I promised you, hide the plates up to me again so that I may preserve the sealed words that you have not read. For behold, I am a God of miracles. I will show the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that I work among people according to their faith. The Lord will say: This people speak well of me, but they do not know me. Their hearts are far from me, and they fear me according to their own false ideas. Because of this, I will begin to do a marvelous work and a wonder among them. It will cause the wisdom of their wise scholars to vanish and their powers of reasoning to fail them. And cursed are those who work in darkness, trying to hide their ways from me, saying, ‘Who sees us and knows what we do? Surely, this new scripture will amount to nothing.’ I will show the people of the world that soon Lebanon—the Jewish settlements—will be turned into a fruitful field and esteemed as a forest.”

Isaiah’s words: “For in the last days, those blinded by living in spiritual darkness—deaf to the voice of the Spirit—will listen to the words written in this book and will see the Lord’s light and truth. The humble will be given an increase—their lands of inheritance, and their joy will be in the Lord. The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, for as surely as the Lord lives, they will see their terrible enemy brought to nothing.

“Also, those who mock others, and who look for a chance to sin, will be cut off from the land. Those who trick people in their words, making them law breakers, entrapping those who stand up for righteousness, who reject justice for money, will be destroyed from the face of the land. Then the Lord who redeemed Abraham will say to Israel’s descendants, ‘You will no longer be ashamed or afraid.’ His children will be with Him, fearing the God of Israel and sanctifying His name—the Holy One of Jacob. Then those who were in spiritual darkness will come into the light, and those who complained ignorantly will learn doctrine.”