Isaiah 51--"Look unto the Rock Whence Ye Are Hewn"

Isaiah quickly identifies his audience in this chapter. He addresses the children of Abraham. Is Abraham your father? Do you follow after righteousness?

A quick look back to Abraham, chapter 1 will identify those who want to be like Abraham. In his own narrative he shares his desire.

"And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers" (Abraham 1:2).

You get the idea of the cyclical effect of righteousness producing pure knowledge, and greater knowledge producing more righteousness. It's one of those great gospel secret treasures.

Isaiah, of course, agrees and identifies Abraham as a follower of righteousness. Now he speaks to his seed--heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant.

"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

 "Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him" (Isaiah 51:1-2).

Isaiah must have had a copy of the brass plates mentioned in the Book of Mormon or a similar text, because other Biblical texts don't mention the term "followers of righteousness." Genesis 15 is the closest resemblance I can recall: "And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness" (verse 6). A quick search in a Strong's Bible Concordance confirmed my suspicion here. The phrase does not occur in the King James Version. I have attached a link to confirm this:

http://www.blbclassic.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=followers+of+righteousness&t=KJV&sf=5

Look Unto the Rock

Isaiah just paid you a nice compliment. You come from awfully good stock. You are hewn out in the image and magnitude of righteous Abraham and Sarah. You inherited eternally sublime qualities. You will find them with your lineage in your patriarchal blessing.

But it gets even better!

You are hewn out in the likeness of the Rock. And it's the same Rock Helaman speaks of in the Book of Mormon:

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall" (Helaman 5:12).

He dug you and me out of the pit. I remember being in the pit as a practicing alcoholic. He dug me out! He dug you out too. You are His precious jewel (see Malachi 3:17). He dug you out and is now polishing and refining you.

So we have a choice. We can look back to the pit and feel remorse. We can refuse Him and stay in the pit. Or we can "shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children" (Ether 6:3).

The choice is yours.