The Islands of the Sea

Lehi and his family traveled far from home, including a long voyage in a ship. When they arrived in the Americas, they had no idea how large their new home was, only that it was far from Jerusalem. So it’s not surprising that Nephi and Jacob gravitated to scriptures affirming that God is mindful of people who live on islands.

Near the end of his first book, Nephi mentions a prophecy of Zenos, that “those who should inhabit the isles of the sea” would be aware of the Savior’s death, because they would experience three days of darkness (1 Nephi 19:10). He then shares two chapters from the book of Isaiah, including one which is addressed to members of the house of Israel who have been “broken off” and “scattered abroad.” “Listen, O isles, unto me,” wrote Isaiah, “and hearken ye people from far” (1 Nephi 21:1, Isaiah 49:1).

Nephi’s brother Jacob also quotes a chapter from Isaiah that includes the following promise: “The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust” (2 Nephi 8:5, Isaiah 51:5). Commenting on this passage, he says:

But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren.

For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also.

2 Nephi 10:21-22

So there is a scriptural context for the Lord’s preface to the Doctrine in Covenants, in which He says:

Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.

For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men,

Doctrine and Covenants 1:1-2

Of course, there’s more than one way to live on an “island.” I have a friend who has declined multiple invitations to join my family for holidays, preferring to spend them alone. I think Jacob’s assurance applies to her as well: Whether we are isolated geographically or whether we isolate ourselves, the Lord remembers us. We are never forgotten.

Furthermore, we are more connected with each other than we may realize. In 1624, the English poet John Donne emphasized that point:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.

“Meditation XVII,” from the book Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

Today, I will be grateful for God’s assurance that He is mindful of island-dwellers, that He loves all of His children, however connected or solitary they may be. If I fail to coordinate or communicate as effectively as I would wish, if I feel alone, I will remember that God is always with me.