Who Hath Begotten Me These?

In moments of frustration when my children have been misbehaving I have sometimes said to myself in my mind, quoting Isaiah 49:21, “Who hath begotten me these?” As I studied this chapter today, though, I realize that in Isaiah the sense is positive, not negative, and that I have not really understood the true sense of the passage. The prophet was not mourning the wickedness of the children which was what I assumed the general idea was behind the question. Instead, the message is that as Israel returns in the latter-days, there will be so many who show up to the covenant that people will wonder where they came from. The student manual describes it this way: “So many people will come, both to Zion and the Old Jerusalem, that they will complain that the land is ‘too strait [narrow] for me: give place to me that I may dwell’ (Isaiah 49:20). This overcrowding has occurred wherever the modern gathering has taken place. The Church has a difficult time keeping up with needs for chapels and leadership because of its many converts. Modern Israel has received so many ingatherers that the land is literally ‘too narrow by reason of the inhabitants’ (v. 19). Thus the reaction voiced in verse 21 is quite real: ‘Who hath begotten me these … ; where had they been?’ In other words, where in the world did all these people (Israelites) come from?” In the latter days the gathering of Israel both to the Church through covenants and to the land of Israel through physical gathering will bring so many people that there will be a feeling of overcrowding. “Who hath begotten me these?” is an expression of joy at the gathering of Israel back into the fold.

                Another verse in this chapter says this: “And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me.” The student manual also suggests that one possible interpretation of the “polished shaft” is the Prophet Joseph Smith. His mission was hidden from the world for centuries until the Lord finally instituted the Restoration in the latter days. One commentator stated, “The ‘polished shaft’ hidden in the Lord’s quiver may be a direct reference to Joseph Smith. As the ‘choice seer’ of the latter day, he was to be the Lord’s servant in a special sense (see 2 Nephi 3:6; 3 Nephi 21:10).” To support this he quoted the prophet’s statement about himself: “I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against religious bigotry, priestcraft, lawyer-craft, doctor-craft, lying editors, suborned judges and jurors, and the authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers, licentious and corrupt men and women—all hell knocking off a corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty, who will give me dominion over all and every one of them.” Surely the prophet wasn’t ignorant of this passage from Isaiah when he called himself a “polished shaft” for God, and Joseph indeed has given us the “sharp sword” of the word of the Lord in his revelations. That imagery was used frequently by the Lord, such as in these words: “Behold, I am God; give heed unto my word, which is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow; therefore give heed unto my words” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:2). It was through the Prophet Joseph that we have these words of the Lord which are “like a sharp sword” because, as the Lord declared to Joseph, “This generation shall have my word through you” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:5).   

                There is another prophecy in this chapter that we may be witnessing the fulfillment of now. Speaking of how Israel will be gathered again in the latter days, Isaiah wrote, “Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim” (Isaiah 49:12). The people of Israel will be coming in from all over the earth to covenant again with the Lord through the waters of baptism. We certainly see that as the missionary work of the Church continues to gather home those who are of Israel. The Bible Dictionary defines Sinim this way: “It is uncertain what country is meant, but it must have been one of the most distant lands known to the writer of the prophecy. China has been suggested, but the identification is uncertain.” If it were indeed China, then we are definitely starting to see that gathering from the land of Sinim taking place. Though there is not a lot of public information about the Church in China, this website says this, “Many individuals from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in other countries. Chinese language congregations are now found in many countries.” It suggests that those who are members of the Church who return to China can indeed meet with other members and as part of gathered Israel. One question on this page asks, “Can a Church member receive a patriarchal blessing in China?” The answer is simple: “Yes.” This means that members of the Church in China are receiving these blessings and having their lineage and membership in the House of Israel declared. As more Chinese continue to come into the fold of God—with a temple soon to be built among them and even a current apostle descended from them—we will surely say of them in astonishment at their numbers: “Who hath begotten me these?”