It shall no more be said...

A teacher at our training yesterday shared an insight which I wanted to record and share along with some of my own thoughts.

1 Nephi 21:22-23 (quoting Isaiah 49) says

22 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Verse 22 has some beautiful imagery (as Isaiah is prone to do) of the Gentiles, having been lifted up by the Lord shall go out and save scattered Israel, bringing them back in their arms and on their shoulders. This also is reminiscent of the 4 young men who went out to bring back in those perishing in the wilderness at the sweetwater crossing.

Verse 23, though, says that kings and queens shall be heavily involved in the work. This seems a little inconsistent. Sure the rulers of nations may do things to assist and aid in the work, but rarely will they be the ones who are acting as nursing mothers and fathers to the spiritually infantile Israel. What, then, is meant?

Jeremiah further complicates things. In 16:14-15 (immediately preceding the famous missionary passage), Jeremiah says

14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

 15 But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

For generations and centuries, the children of Israel would use the Exodus as their rallying cry. When they needed their spirits bolstered, their courage rallied, their conscience tickled, or their faith strengthened, they touchstone was always "Remember the great things your God did in bringing your fathers out of Egypt. He plagued Pharoah; He parted the Red sea; he fed and lead them in the wilderness; He drove out the inhabitants of the Promised Land before them. How great is our God!"
What could the gathering of Israel do overshadow that iconic event? Surely the gathering is part of the Great and Marvelous work the Lord is bringing to pass, but for it to be so awesome as to outshine the Exodus?

Deuteronomy 30:3-4 starts to give us some insights.

3 That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

Verse 3 is familiar. Verse 4 I had not noticed before - the gathering includes bringing in those that had been scattered beyond the veil. The gathering includes the work being doing in the temple (a careful consideration of which will yield the answer to the question of the role of kings and queens in the gathering).

How great is our God! He has brought us out from the 4 corners of the world, from sin, and from death! He has stretched forth His hand and parted the veil, bringing us through safely to the other side, the world being destroyed on the far side. He has lead us by His had to the land He has promised. Indeed, how great is our God!!