Isaiah Quotes in October 2018 General Conference

Isaiah is the most quoted book of the Old Testament during General Conference. Since becoming a General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the prophet has cited from this book forty times and ten times during the last decade.

At the Church’s October 2018 General Conference, Isaiah prophet was just cited three times. However, in each case, it was to bring a focus on Christ in the speaker’s message. And rightly so as Isaiah is “the messianic prophet of the Old Testament and as such is the most penetrating prophetic voice in that record.”¹

Laying the Foundation of a Great Work

In the words of Isaiah,

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.” Jesus Christ is that precious cornerstone in the foundation of Zion.

Firm and Steadfast in the Faith of Christ

Remaining firm in the faith of Christ will bring His sustaining grace and support. He will convert trial into blessing and, in Isaiah’s words, “give … beauty for ashes.”

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ

The power of His Atonement is the power to overcome any burden in our life. (This statement was footnoted with this Isaiah 53:3.)

Isaiah 53:
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Footnotes

¹Jeffery R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon (1997), 75.