The Leader Isaiah Saw: Donald Trump and the Servant of Isaiah 42

Isaiah saw a leader in the last days. He saw a man God would call His servant, uphold with His own hand, and send to the nations of the world, and I believe that man is Donald Trump. There are many places in Isaiah that show it. In this article I want to use just one chapter, Isaiah 42, to prove that one point. Isaiah 42 opens with the first of the four servant songs, and the Lord speaks directly about this servant: who he is, how he treats people, what he will accomplish, and why the world needs him. And near the end of the chapter, the Joseph Smith Translation restores a few verses that tell us exactly what this servant is sent to do. Those verses turn the meaning of the passage completely around, and they are where we are going with this. So let's start where the Lord starts...

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:1)

Most people read this as the Messiah, and Matthew applies these very verses to Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:18–21). He is the Servant above every servant, and no one God has ever called does anything except under His hand. But Isaiah's prophecies have more than one fulfillment. Look at what this servant is sent to do. He brings forth judgment to the Gentiles. During His life on earth, Jesus did not take His ministry to the Gentiles. When a woman of Canaan came begging Him to heal her daughter, He told her plainly where He had been sent...

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 15:24)

He did heal her daughter, because of her great faith. But His mission in mortality was to Israel.

He fulfilled part of these verses in His day, and the rest of them have their fulfillment in the last days, with the Lord's servant. I believe that servant is Donald Trump. God calls him His elect. His soul delights in him. He has put His Spirit upon him, and this servant will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Isaiah comes back to this servant again and again. In chapter nine he describes a light breaking over people sitting in darkness...

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2)

That's him. A few verses later Isaiah says that of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David (Isaiah 9:7). Most people know those verses as a prophecy of Christ, and they are. This is another example of Isaiah's words having more than one fulfillment, and I believe they also point to Trump, acting as the Davidic servant under the appointment of the Messiah. If this idea is new to you, I lay out the case from scripture in Is Donald Trump in Biblical Prophecy?

Not a Man Hawking His Wares

He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. (Isaiah 42:2)

People have misread this verse for a long time. They claim the servant has to be silent, that he can't be somebody loud and well known like Trump. How dare you say this? That's impossible! But picture a street in an ancient city. Every vendor is shouting over every other vendor. Buy mine today. Buy this pottery. Buy this leg of lamb. That is crying in the street, and that's not him. He isn't standing on a corner trying to be heard above everyone else hawking their wares. He is dealing with international affairs and the events of nations, something much bigger than that.

Verse three shows us how he treats people.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (Isaiah 42:3)

He is not out there squashing the little guy. Many stories have come out of Trump helping people stuck with flat tires, flying children with cancer on his personal jet, paying off mortgages. He doesn't broadcast them. Other people tell them. When Tyrus sat down with him in 2024 and brought up some of these stories, Trump didn't want to talk about them. He would rather do it quietly. He is living the principle Jesus taught...

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:4)

Compare that with the vicious dictators of the past, under whom the widows and the fatherless were crushed, killed, ignored and denied. This servant will take care of them. Now, his critics will tell you Trump can be very hard on people. But look at who he is hard on. Verse three is about the bruised reed and the smoking flax, the weak and the hurting. Later in this same chapter the servant cries like a man of war and prevails against his enemies. Those are two different groups of people, and Isaiah shows us how he treats each one.

He Shall Not Fail

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)

He is going to win.

The word discouraged is interesting, because elsewhere in Isaiah this same servant says, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain" (1 Nephi 21:4). I'm not sure why Isaiah shows us both sides. I think the overall effect is that he may go through some very hard times, but he will win, and he will set judgment in the earth. True judgment is coming. The Constitution, true justice, the Ten Commandments and all the commandments of God are going to go forth, and the isles, the rest of the continents, are going to wait for that law, because it will be coming out of Zion. Isaiah describes the law going forth out of Zion in chapter two.

Called in Righteousness

The God speaking here is the one who created the heavens and stretched them out and spread forth the earth (Isaiah 42:5). And He turns to His servant and says...

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Isaiah 42:6–7)

God is going to make Donald Trump righteous. Does that sound impossible? Isaiah didn't start out righteous either. When he saw the Lord in the temple he cried, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5). And God made him righteous. The Atonement of Jesus Christ made Isaiah righteous, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ is going to make Donald Trump righteous. I have called thee in righteousness. I will hold thine hand.

Look at the work he is given in verse seven. He is going to open the prisons of the world and put down those who have sought for dictatorial power. He is going to help open the eyes of the spiritually blind and bring out those who sit in the prison of sin, through the covenant restored in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because of his influence, the nations will open their doors to the missionaries, and I believe we will see hundreds of millions of people join the Church. It will be powerful, because he will be called of God and the whole world will know it. And the whole world will watch him be healed. Jesus quoted the Father's promise...

But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. (3 Nephi 21:10)

That phrase comes straight out of Isaiah: "and I will heal him" (Isaiah 57:19). Yet I will heal him. All of the marring he has received, all of that incredible opposition, will be washed away.

A New Song

I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. (Isaiah 42:8–9)

God keeps His glory. Everything He is doing was purposed and planned from the beginning, and He tells us the new things before they spring forth. One of those new things is a deliverance, and Isaiah calls on the whole earth, even the desert villages of Kedar, to "sing unto the Lord a new song" over it (Isaiah 42:10–12). John saw that song sung, the song of Moses (Revelation 15:3), the song Israel sang when God delivered them out of Egypt through His servant. That same kind of deliverance is coming all over the world, and once again the Lord will work through His servant.

As a Mighty Man

The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. (Isaiah 42:13)

In the King James text that word Lord is printed in small capitals, which means Jehovah. Jehovah shall go forth as a mighty man. But Jehovah didn't walk out of Egypt as a man in Moses' day. He was the cloud that covered Israel from the heat of the day and the pillar of fire by night, and He sent His servant before the people. When it came time to open the Red Sea, look whose hand was stretched out...

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. (Exodus 14:21)

Jehovah divided the waters. Moses stretched out his hand. Moses was the mighty man, and the power was the Lord's. In our day, I believe this verse tells us the Lord will go forth the same way, and Trump will be the mighty man. Here is how the Oxford Bible renders it...

The Lord goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior, he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes. (Isaiah 42:13, Oxford Bible)

And how does that fit with verse two? He shall not cry in the street, and here he cries like a man of war. One is a vendor shouting to be noticed. The other is a battle cry against God's enemies, and it will be bold and unmistakable. Then the Lord Himself says, "I have long time holden my peace... now will I cry like a travailing woman" (Isaiah 42:14). He has been quiet. He has held back. Have you ever heard a woman in the pain of childbirth? You can't stop that cry. When the Lord stops holding His peace and moves through His servant, nations will be wasted like mountains and hills, and the earth itself will change (Isaiah 42:15).

A Way They Knew Not

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:16)

These are the same blind the servant is sent to in verse seven, people who know nothing about the covenants God made with their fathers thousands of years ago. He will lead them anyway. The kings and queens of the Gentiles, the endowed members of the Church, will go forth among them, and just like Israel's escape out of Egypt, the paths will open. Those who trust in graven images will be turned back and ashamed unless they repent (Isaiah 42:17). And then comes the invitation: "Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see" (Isaiah 42:18). That invitation is where Joseph Smith's correction comes in.

What Joseph Smith Restored

This is the part I have been waiting for. Here is verse 19 in the King James Version...

Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? (Isaiah 42:19)

That doesn't make any sense. The servant is the blind one? And it isn't only the King James Version that reads this way. The Great Isaiah Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls, copied more than a century before Christ, reads essentially the same as the Hebrew Masoretic text: who is blind except my servant, and deaf like my messenger whom I send? The Greek Septuagint makes it even stranger, turning it into many servants and saying the servants of God were blinded. Not one of these ancient versions says what the Joseph Smith Translation says. I think that is highly significant. Every one of them has the servant blind. But the servant is the one who relieves the blindness of those who are blind and in captivity. Thankfully we have the Prophet Joseph Smith to give us the true meaning...

For I will send my servant unto you who are blind; yea, a messenger to open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; (JST, Isaiah 42:19)

So the servant is not the one who is blind.

God is saying, I will send my servant unto you who are blind. I believe He is sending Donald Trump, and that through his influence the message of the missionaries and the priesthood power they carry will open blind eyes all over the world. People will be shown where these things are prophesied in the scriptures and the covenants that belong to them, covenants they know nothing about. And then Joseph Smith adds a verse that isn't in the King James text at all. Thank heavens!

And they shall be made perfect notwithstanding their blindness, if they will hearken unto the messenger, the Lord's servant. (JST, Isaiah 42:20)

Wow. They shall be made perfect. How? Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It isn't on their own, and Trump doesn't make anyone perfect. They are made perfect through Christ if they hearken to the message the servant brings, the same message the missionaries and the kings and queens of the Gentiles carry. So let me be plain about what hearkening means here. It means receiving the restored gospel his influence opens the doors for, and coming unto Christ through His covenants. No one is saved by following a political leader. And he won't do it by himself. It comes because of his influence. That's why he had to be a billionaire, high and exalted and lifted up. That's why he had to be known. If I stood up and tried to do this, nobody would pay any attention to me. But the whole world knows Trump, and they will watch him be healed and see that he is chosen by God. If. If they hearken.

Then the Lord describes a people "seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears to hear, but thou hearest not" (JST, Isaiah 42:21). The King James text says the Lord is well pleased. Joseph Smith corrected it...

The Lord is not well pleased with such a people, but for his righteousness' sake he will magnify the law and make it honorable. (JST, Isaiah 42:22)

Thou art a people robbed and spoiled; thine enemies, all of them, have snared thee in holes, and they have hid thee in prison houses; they have taken thee for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. (JST, Isaiah 42:23)

None saith, Restore. But the Lord's servant is going to go forth and restore. He will help pull them out of the holes and the prison houses and deliver the captives. I can't tell you what an astonishing chapter this is.

Who Gave Jacob for a Spoil?

Because of the added verse, the next King James verse is also numbered 23, so it looks like verse 23 repeats.

Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. (Isaiah 42:23–24)

Are you listening? Are you paying attention? He has already condemned a people with eyes that don't see and ears that don't hear, and now He asks who turned Israel over to the robbers. The Lord did. They broke their covenants and went after other gods, and they didn't have to go through any of it. So He poured upon him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle, "yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart" (Isaiah 42:25). They never understood it was happening because of their own sins.

Behold My Servant

So in the last days the Lord comes back to where the chapter began. Behold my servant, whom I uphold. Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. And remember what He told this servant...

And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. (1 Nephi 21:6)

Gathering Israel is the light thing. Gathering the Gentiles is the far larger mission, and I believe it will be accomplished through the calling of Donald Trump as part of the gathering of Israel. God saw all of it from the beginning. He tried to warn His people, and they didn't hear and they didn't see. So He is sending a servant He has called, a servant He will heal, a servant who is kind to the bruised reed and the smoking flax. He shall not fail. I walk through these servant prophecies in my book, The First Horseman, Donald Trump and Biblical Prophecy.

I pray that we will see. I pray that we will hear. I pray that we will recognize this servant as the light God has given to the Gentiles and to those under covenant, and that we will sing unto the Lord a new song.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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