Looking to Understand Isaiah? Start Here:

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David Ridges Give Insight Into Looking to Understand Isaiah

David Ridges, LDS scholar, and longtime Seminary and Institute teacher suggests three things to get into the Book of Isaiah. These include:

Go to 1 Nephi 19:23-24 to search for the two main reasons, according to Nephi, that Isaiah is so valuable for us.

23 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the ^abooks of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet ^bIsaiah; for I did ^cliken al scriptures unto us, that it might be for our ^dprofit and learning.24 Wherefore I spake unto them, saying: Hear ye the words of the prophet, ye who are a ^aremnant of the house of Israel, a ^bbranch who have been broken off; ^chear ye the words of the prophet, which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off; for after this manner has the prophet written.

(Answers: Isaiah persuades us to more completely believe in Christ.
And, he gives us hope that we can make it. Example: Isaiah 1:18.))

Isaiah is deliberately symbolic which gives several possible levels of meaning. An example again from Isaiah 1:18 where “crimson” is a colorfast dye in that culture.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet [cloth dyed with scarlet, a colorfast dye], they shall be as white as snow [even though you think your sins are “colorfast,” the Atonement can cleanse you]; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool [a long process is required to get wool white, but it can be done]. Ridges, David J., The Old Testament Made Easier

So, even though you may think your sins are “colorfast,’ the Savior’s Atonement can cleanse them too!

3. Open your scriptures to Isaiah 6, which has only 13 verses, and work through it verse-by-verse, making notes right in your scriptures (as seen in Isaiah Made Easier).

1 In the year that king Uzziah died [about 740 BC] I [Isaiah] saw also the Lord [Jesus—see footnote 6c in your Bible] sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up [exalted], and his train [skirts of his robe; authority; power. Hebrew: wake, light] filled the temple [symbolic of heaven—see Revelation 21:22, where the celestial kingdom does not need a temple but, in effect, is a temple itself].

2 Above it [the throne] stood the seraphims [angelic beings]: each one had six wings [wings are symbolic of power to move, act, and so forth, in God’s work—see Doctrine & Covenants 77:4]; with twain [two] he covered his face [symbolic of a veil, which shows reverence and respect toward God in biblical culture], and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts [a word repeated three times forms the superlative in Hebrew, meaning the very best]: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved [shook] at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke [shaking and smoke are symbolic of God’s presence in biblical culture, as at Sinai, Exodus 19:18].

5 ¶ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone [completely overwhelmed]; because I am a man of unclean lips [I am so imperfect], and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal [symbolic of the Atonement; also symbolic of the Holy Ghost who guides us to the Atonement; we often say that the Holy Ghost “cleanses by fire”] in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar [the “altar cross,” representing the Savior’s sacrifice for our sins]:

7 And he laid it [the Atonement] upon my mouth [inadequacies, sins, imperfections], and said, Lo, this [the Atonement] hath touched thy lips [Isaiah’s sins and imperfections—see verse 5, above]; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged [the results of the Atonement].

8 Also [then] I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I [Isaiah], Here am I; send me [the cleansing power of the Atonement and help of the Spirit gave Isaiah the needed confidence to accept the call].

9 ¶ And he [the Lord] said, Go [this is the official call], and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10 [In your imagination] Make the heart [A] of this people fat [unfeeling, insulated from truth],
and make their ears [B] heavy [deaf to spiritual matters],
and shut their eyes [C] [spiritually blind];
lest they see with their eyes [C’],
and hear with their ears [B’],
and understand with their heart [A’], and convert, and be healed.

11 Then said I, Lord, how long [will people be like this]? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate [in other words, as long as people are around],

12 And the Lord have removed men far away [people are gone], and there be a great forsaking [many deserted cities] in the midst of the land.

13 ¶ But yet in it [the land] shall be a tenth [a remnant], and it [Israel] shall return [includes the concept of repenting], and shall be eaten [in other words, pruned—as by animals eating the limbs, leaves, and branches; in other words, the Lord “prunes” his vineyard or cuts out old apostates, false doctrines, and so forth; He destroys old unrighteous generations so new may have a chance to grow]: as a teil [lime?] tree, and as an oak, whose substance [sap] is in them, when they cast their leaves [trees that shed the old, non-functioning leaves and look dead in winter but are still alive]: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof [Israel may look dead, but there is still life in it].

These three things should help get anyone excited about Isaiah.

Ann Madsen – Relatable Passages and Metaphors

By

Kelsey Wilding

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Search Isaiah - Ann Madsen - Relatable Passages and Metaphors

Kelsey Wilding: So, when you teach students are there like passages, that are ‘aha’ moments for them?

Ann Madsen: Oh yes.

Kelsey Wilding: Do you have one that really hits hard?

Ann Madsen: Well, it’s different for different students. They come with their own needs and they go away, and I say to them, that metaphor may say something totally different to you than it does to the person sitting next to you, because of your life experience. If you’ve seen someone die, then death has a whole different meaning to you than it does to someone who’s never seen anyone die before. Or if you’ve seen a birth and Isaiah uses the birth metaphor again and again. I think of him as a wonderful husband and father because he really knows what it is to bear a child. All the different stages of labor are mentioned by Isaiah and every time I read one I think, the boys in the class, the young men in the class, will not understand this, but someday the girls will, and the women will, they’ll know what he’s talking about. So, I try to point it out so that when they reach that stage, and often I have a young father who’s just seen his wife give birth, comment on the images that Isaiah uses, as birth metaphors, and it never fails. He will say I had no idea that it was like that, I didn’t know it was that way. And I fill in because I’ve had three children. So, I want them to know, I want them to understand what Isaiah is getting at with that metaphor. He says, for instance, ‘shall I bring,’ this is God speaking, ‘shall I bring to the birth and then not birth to child.’ I’m not quoting exactly, but that’s the idea. Well that’s a great dangerous moment. If the baby cannot get through the birth canal, both the baby and the mother are likely to die. So, if you know that, then what he’s talking about is saying to you, why would I bring you through life and not help you get to eternal life. That’s what I want to do. Anyway, there are a lot of metaphors like that. They all come rushing into my head when I tell you that one.

Four Idioms for Women’s Apostasy Used by Isaiah

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Kelsey Wilding

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4 Important Idioms in Isaiah’s Condemnation of the Women’s Apostasy

Shon Hopkin – Why is Isaiah Hard to Understand?

By

Ken Krogue

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Isaiah Scholar Shon Hopkin Explains Why Isaiah is so Hard to Understand in the Modern Day

Ken Krogue: Let’s talk about…again, one of the things I do…my background is social and digital media, and I want to make Isaiah cool.

Shon Hopkin: Yeah.

Ken Krogue: I want to get it out there, and we did a survey recently and it’s the top read book of the Old Testament, it’s the top quoted book. It comes from the Old Testament, but it’s the one that seems to be the most difficult for people to get their head around.

Shon Hopkin: Sure.

Ken Krogue: Why do you think that is?

Shon Hopkin: So, besides the book of Genesis, you pick just about anywhere in the Old Testament, and we are…these are still human beings and children of God, like we are, but we are foreigners in a foreign land, trying to understand the way they saw the world and the way they talked, and the way they thought. Now, the prophets, that being said, the prophets have a deeply profound understanding of who God is, of what His identity or His attributes are. And so, it’s not like their understanding is old or outdated. That’s not the case. I would say that I’ve learned more about who God is from Isaiah, and from Joseph Smith, than from any other place, right.

Ken Krogue: Wow, that’s a profound statement.

Shon Hopkin: I was just talking about it in class yesterday. We read this from Isaiah 16, it’s a prophecy against Moab, and there’s this beautiful moment that we dug into it a little bit and said, look, what he understands about God’s nature, and it was revelatory I think to many of us in the room, to just see God in ways that felt appropriate and inspiring and edifying, but that maybe we hadn’t considered before, and I just think it helps us then approach Him more powerfully, more effectively. So, yeah, but it is a foreign way of talking, it’s a foreign culture, and then I would say the other challenge is also the blessing of Isaiah, and that is that once you start digging in as people of the house of Israel, we want to see ourselves in Isaiah, which is absolutely what we’re supposed to do, but we’re going to read Isaiah a little bit differently than Nephi read.

Ken Krogue: The whole concept…

Shon Hopkin: Absolutely, yes, yes. And so, typically what we’ve done historically, is we’ve just jumped straight to us, just sort of said, look here we are and who exactly are we seeing. And that’s not wrong, but Nephi also saw us, but he said the reason I can liken Isaiah to my situation is because Isaiah talks about all of the house of Israel, and he talks about the Gentiles, so we’re a branch of the house of Israel, so his words can be applied to our situation. That’s one of the things that I try to do in my classes, and I think others try to do and what we try do with this harmony, is start from…if Isaiah is a prophet in his own time, his words have to have meaning to them. They can’t just be gibberish intended for two thousand years from now.

Ken Krogue: Yes.

Shon Hopkin: That’s not how prophets talks. President Monson and President Nelson, they’re not talking just to people a hundred years from now. They’re talking to us, for our needs today, and there’s also prophesy of the future. And so, we said, well what was Isaiah doing and then once you see that, then all of a sudden you can do what Nephi trained us to do, and that is liken it to us, and it becomes very powerful.

Ken Krogue: Yes.

Shon Hopkin: And I don’t want to talk too much, but I can give a couple of examples, if you would like.

Ken Krogue: Please.

Shon Hopkin: So, Elder Holland just talked about the famous Messianic prophecy, a virgin shall give birth.

Ken Krogue: Yes.

Shon Hopkin: And he sees that, as do I, as a duly fulfilled prophecy. It’s been fulfilled most powerfully in the birth of Christ, but that had to have a meaning for Ahaz in Isaiah’s day, right. And so, there is a woman, an almah, in Hebrew a young maiden probably, possibly Isaiah’s wife even. The very next chapter talks about her giving birth. That is going to give birth to a child and Ahaz is terrified of all of the threats in his day, but look Ahaz, this woman will have faith in God, and continue to have children, we’ve got a family, we’re going to trust in God. God is with us, and these threats that you think are going to destroy everything, if you don’t cater to them, they’re going to blow away like smoke, right?

Ken Krogue: Yes.

Shon Hopkin: So, and in the very next chapter, it talks about Isaiah’s wife actually having a child, interestingly enough.

Ken Krogue: Which chapter was this again?

Shon Hopkin: This is Isaiah 7, and then Isaiah 8 goes onto talk about Isaiah’s wife having a child. Well at any rate, so then…and Elder Holland talks about this, and there’s a tradition that Isaiah’s wife is even of the royal lineage.

Ken Krogue: Oh wow.

Shon Hopkin: And so, then that makes him more powerful because she is of this line of David potentially, and it just points beautifully to a future young maiden, a virgin Mary, who is going to exercise her faith in God, in the midst of great threats and God will be with us. Emmanuel, God with us.

Ken Krogue: Yes, wow. Which as the whole, handles Messiah?

Shon Hopkin: Yes, indeed, that’s one of the phrases we’re most familiar with in Isaiah. So, that’s fine and good, dual fulfilment, but then once we’ve started with the historical context, now watch what can happen as we come to the modern day and here we are also of the house of Israel surrounded by threats, all kinds of threats of war, and danger, and how do you raise a family in this environment and we can’t do it, and people are really struggling with anxiety and even terror about their future in this very difficult world and Isaiah’s message to us, like it was to Ahaz, is, it’s going to blow away. It’s smoke that’s going to blow away, you have trust in God, continue to have children. A young woman, and throughout the Church, right, there are young maidens so to speak or whatever age they are right, who are willing to continue to have families and exercise their faith in the Lord, and the house of Israel will continue in steadiness to trust in the Lord and let the threats of the world go by. And we can do it even more powerfully because the young woman, Mary, did bring forth Christ, who then has made all things efficacious as we have faith in God. And so, you sort of have Christ as the center moment, but being of the house of Israel, all of a sudden, this prophecy, if you understand the historical context, means so much more for me today. Yes, it testifies of Christ, but because of Christ, I can do what Ahaz did not, I can move forward with faith.

Where are the Lost Verses of Isaiah?

By

Darryl Alder

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In his book “Great Are the Words of Isaiah,” (p. 191), Monte Nyman listed a significant addition to Isaiah found on the Plates of Brass:

Monte Nyman explains lost Isaiah verses

“As Nephi commented on Isaiah 49 in 1 Nephi 22, he quoted or paraphrased three verses from ‘the prophet,’ obviously Isaiah. We do not have these verses in the present Bible text, but they fit very well into the context of Isaiah 49 and 50.

“We can illustrate this by placing [1 Nephi 22:15–17] between the last verse of chapter 49 and the first verse of chapter 50.”

	1 Nephi 22
15 xxx	…the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as ^astubble; and the day cometh that they must be ^bburned.
16 xxx	For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the ^awrathof God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
17 xxx	Wherefore, he will ^apreserve the ^brighteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.

In the Book of Mormon Made Easier, David J. Ridges, wrote, “One of the greatest blessings of having the book of Mormon is that Nephi explains many chapters of Isaiah for us. This gives us a great advantage over all other people on earth as far as understanding Isaiah is concerned. In this case, Nephi will explain what Isaiah said in 1 Nephi, chapters 20-21 Nephi. Having Nephi as our teacher will greatly increase our ability to understand other chapters of Isaiah.

“By the way, since the Brass Plates were likely produced approximately 100 years (or less) after Isaiah lived, the writings of Isaiah on the plates would be a much more original source of the earliest manuscripts of the Bible. In fact, the Brass Plates even had three verses appear as 1 Nephi 22:15–17. Nephi quotes them as he explains this segment of Isaiah.”

Isaiah Chapter 6 / 2 Nephi 16

By

Darryl Alder

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Tree Pruned - the oak and the teil-tree, can have all their leaves eaten off, can even be chopped down, but will regenerate because the sap or substance is still within to help them regrow

Click here to read the Isaiah Chapters in the Book of Mormon

This chapter could be confusing because historical facts are intermingled with some prophesying and Isaiah’s call to be a prophet; Isaiah’s call is filled with strange symbolism. For example, in the prophet’s call, he comes to understand the atonement as his lips are anointed with fire.

So some history first. In the years leading up to this time, the ten northern tribes of Isreal had formed an alliance with Syria in hopes to stave off the growing power of Assyria. This coalition worked to subjugate the southern tribe of Judah. During that era, Ahaz ruled with his father, Jotham, son of Uzziah.

Then in about 740 BC, the same year Isaiah was called to be a prophet, Jotham and Ahaz began ruling jointly. However, King Ahaz was an idolatrous leader who even sacrificed some of his children.

The Lord sends angels to help Isaiah partake of the Savior’s Atonement.

After his father’s death, Ahaz attempted a political alliance with Assyria to keep them from attacking Jerusalem, but in the end, it was all to no avail. (To get a better historical context read 2 Kings 16:1-20).

In the period Ahaz and his father took the throne, Isaiah had a dramatic vision where saw the Lord on his throne and received his call to be a prophet (to see what must occur for someone to be a prophet read Jeremiah 23:18–22). Recorded in Isaiah 6, you can tell that Isaiah, like many of us, felt inadequate to his calling. Stating that both he and his people (the Jews) are unqualified and unworthy, the Lord sends angels to help him partake of the Savior’s Atonement.

Healed from unworthiness, Isaiah says “Here am I, send me,” (see Abraham 3:27). In this Isaiah is a type for the Savior who offered the same response in the Council in Heaven. Then Isaiah was told he must cry repentance all the days of his life even though the people will harden their hearts and reject his message. However, he learns that eventually, a remnant of the house of Israel will return to the promised land.

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH CHAPTER 6 Isaiah sees the Lord—His sins are forgiven—He is called to prophesy—He prophesies of the Jews’ rejection of Christ’s teachings—A remnant will return—Compare 2 Nephi 16
King James Version	Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 16	Expanded Notes and Commentary
Joseph Smith Translation (JST) corrections in the Book of Mormon are in RED; commentary and notes are GREEN
1^aIn the year that king Uzziah died I ^bsaw also the ^cLord sitting upon a ^dthrone, high and lifted up, and ^ehis train filled the temple.	1 ^aIn the ^byear that king Uzziah died, I ^csaw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.	It was the usual practice in Isaiah’s time to date events by the regnal year of a king. Here, Isaiah dates the theophany recorded in the verses that follow to the year in which King Uzziah died, about 742 B.C.—Hoskisson, Paul Y., “A Latter-Day Saint Reading of Isaiah: The Example of Isaiah 6” The “train” refers to the hem of his garment, symbolizing that his robes, his power, his light filled the temple.—Bytheway, John. Isaiah For Airheads, Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition.
2 Above it stood the ^aseraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.	2 Above it stood the ^aseraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.	D&C 77:4 their wings are a ^drepresentation of ^epower, to move, to act, etc. The word “seraphim” is not used anywhere else in the Old Testament … Isaiah employed the …root from which this noun is formed denoting in its verbal aspect to burn or be fiery …Latter-day Saints should have no trouble recognizing that seraphim represent celestial beings who attend God at His throne—Hoskisson, Paul Y., “A Latter-Day Saint Reading of Isaiah: The Example of Isaiah 6”
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the ^aLord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his ^bglory	3 And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his ^aglory	A word repeated three times forms the superlative in Hebrew, meaning the very best—Ridges, The Old Testament Made Easier
4 And the ^aposts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with ^bsmoke.	4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.	Another rendering of the first phrase from the Hebrew suggests more clearly what was intended: “the foundations of the thresholds trembled” (Isaiah 6:4a). The presence of smoke was symbolic of the presence and glory of God (see Exodus 19:18; Revelation 15:8). Fire and smoke are frequently used to depict the glory of celestial realms. Old Testament Student Manual
5 ¶ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am ^aundone; because I am a man of ^bunclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have ^cseen the ^dKing, the Lord of hosts.	5 Then said I: Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have ^aseen the King, the Lord of Hosts.	The expression “Woe is me! For I am undone” is an idiom declaring Isaiah’s overwhelming feeling of unworthiness before God.— Edward J Young, Book of Isaiah, vol 1, pp 247–48 The live coal from the sacrificial altar represents the element that makes the burnt offering possible, the element that cleanses our soul, fire. With this cleansing Isaiah is able to stand with confidence in the presence of the Lord.—Hoskisson, Paul Y., “A Latter-Day Saint Reading of Isaiah: The Example of Isaiah 6”
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live ^acoal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:	6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar;	The purging by a live coal is symbolic of purifying, cleansing, and forgiveness—Edward J Young, Book of Isaiah, vol 1, pp 250–51
7 And he laid it upon my ^amouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is ^btaken away, and thy sin purged.	7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said: Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine ^ainiquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.	“…the Lord symbolically cleanses his lips with a burning coal, representing the cleansing by the power of the Holy Ghost.”—Christensen, Unlocking Isaiah
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I ^asend, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; ^bsend me.	8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ^aWhom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said: Here am I; send me.	The cleansing power of the Atonement and help of the Spirit gave Isaiah the needed confidence to accept the call—Ridges, David J., The Old Testament Made Easier Part 3
9 ¶ And he said, Go, and tell this people, ^aHear ye indeed, but ^bunderstand not; and see ye indeed, but ^cperceive not.	9 And he said: Go and tell this people Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not.	The Book of Mormon version of this verse helps us understand that the Lord is not telling Isaiah to confuse the people but rather informing him that they will choose to reject his words.—Ball, Making Sense of Isaiah.
10 Make the ^aheart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and ^bshut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.	10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes – lest they see with their eyes, and ^ahear with their ears, and understand with their ^bheart, and be converted and be healed.	The Hebrew verb translated as “be healed” in the King James Version of verse 10 can also be translated, and perhaps is better translated, as “heal themselves.” This alternative translation suggests that as the people reject Isaiah’s words, they also reject the healing power of Christ’s Atonement, choosing rather to try to heal themselves, perhaps through the works of the law and their own righteousness—Ball, Making Sense of Isaiah.
The command to “make the heart of this people fat, … their ears heavy, and shut their eyes” is used to describe the process of making the people accountable. The command, of course, refers to “their spiritual sight, spiritual hearing, and spiritual feeling.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 7:1:200). “There is a self-hardening in evil. … Sin from its very nature bears its own punishment. … An evil act in itself is the result of self-determination proceeding from a man’s own will.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 7:1:201). An individual cannot resist or reject the truth without eventually becoming spiritually hardened (see History of the Church, 4:264). Isaiah’s indictment of the kingdom of Judah was cited again in the New Testament to show that the people of that time were no different. The inability of many to understand the parables is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (see Matthew 13:10–17; Luke 8:9–10). The significance of many of the miracles was also misunderstood (see John 12:37–41). The testimony of the Messiah and His Sonship was understood, at least in part, by the disciples, but it was rejected by others (see Luke 10:21–24).— Old Testament Student Manual
11 Then said I, Lord, ^ahow long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,	11 Then said I: Lord, how long? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate;	Is it possible that Isaiah was not only asking for more details of his mission, but that he was allowing his humanness to show? Well might one ask the Lord, if one had the necessary chutzpah, for how many years he was to deliver this message.—Hoskisson, Paul Y., “A Latter-Day Saint Reading of Isaiah: The Example of Isaiah 6″
12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land	12 And the Lord have ^aremoved men far away, for there shall be a great forsaking in the midst of the lan	The consequence of rejecting the Lord is to be scattered. This verse alludes to perhaps both the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C., and the Babylonian captivity of 587 B.C. (And maybe even the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred after the Savior’s resurrection in A.D. 70)—Bytheway, John. Isaiah For Airheads, Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition.
13 ¶ But yet in it shall be a tenth, and ^ait shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.	13 But yet there shall be a tenth, and they shall return, and shall be eaten, as a teil tree, and as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves; so the ^aholy seed shall be the substance thereof.xx x x	The trees mentioned here, the oak and the teil-tree, can have all their leaves eaten off, can even be chopped down, but will regenerate because the sap or substance is still within to help them regrow (see Terry B. Ball, “Isaiah’s Imagery of Plants and Planting,” in Thy People Shall Be My People and Thy God My God: The 22^ndAnnual Sperry Symposium, Deseret Book, pp 24–25)—Bytheway, John. Isaiah For Airheads, Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition.
Well, did Jacob in the Book of Mormon declare “that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning Christ” (Jacob 7:11). In this verse, Isaiah recorded one of the more clear prophecies concerning the Messiah. The Lord declared to Isaiah that after he had given his message of accusation all the days of his life and after the land had been devastated and Isaiah was dead, there would be a tenth[40] of the people who would return to the land of Palestine. This remnant is symbolized in the King James Version by dormant trees,[41] signifying that this rest of the house of Israel will be spiritually fallow. The key to understanding that this verse also refers to Christ lies in the words “the holy seed.” As Paul states in Galatians 3:16, the “seed” referred to in the Old Testament is Christ.[42] And it is that “seed” that comprised the substance, that is, the life of Israel, here symbolized by trees. In other words, the Messiah of Israel would be born of the spiritually dormant remnant of Israel living in the land of Palestine, and He is the life substance of Israel.[43] As depressing as Isaiah’s message for the people could have seemed to him, the Lord did not leave him reason for despair. Isaiah was told that after his death, a remnant of the house of Israel would be in Palestine, and out of this rest would come the promised Messiah, the life and light of God’s chosen people in Israel and on the isles of the sea.—Hoskisson, Paul Y., “A Latter-Day Saint Reading of Isaiah: The Example of Isaiah 6″

¹ Christensen, Reg. Unlocking Isaiah, Covenant Communications Inc., Kindle Edition.

Isaiah the Prophet for Today

By

Flora Alby

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Is Isaiah the Prophet of today looking through pop culture?

Let’s talk a bit about “pop culture”. It is an idea or ideas written for the masses to understand via social media. Many feel it applies only to younger people, but that is not necessarily so. It is for anyone who doesn’t want to wade through the heavy, yawn inclining stuff.

We want everyone to know about the Old Testament book written by the Prophet Isaiah in a pop-cultish type of way.

Enter “POP ISaIAH”

When I again read Isaiah quite recently, I wondered what was so complicated about all this. People much smarter than me have written many books about the interpretation of Isaiah. So who do I think I am to say something that probably nobody else happens to write about?

I’m just an everyday grandmother who reads the Bible. While reading Isaiah, I became very aware of the fact he was a Prophet. A Prophet advises us about the future. Sure, he spoke of the people of his day as well as the coming forth of Immanuel, the Son of God, being born of a virgin. He spoke of God’s anger towards many people for their lack of morality and falling away from His laws. He also spoke of how God was planning to punish those sinners. He emphasized God’s love of his true believers, and how he begged those who had fallen away to return to him.

I would like to write a series of short blogs about how Isaiah is as applicable today as it was when written. If you think that most of the people in the world are super great, and you don’t recognize the series of severe natural disaster around the world as being unusual, that crime and drugs and the flu are not pandemic, then don’t bother to read any of my future postings. After all this is “POP ISIAH”.

Shon Hopkin – Why Isaiah?

By

Ken Krogue

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Isaiah Scholar Shon Hopkin Explains why Isaiah is Important

Ken Krogue: Why in the world did you choose to get involved with Isaiah, and maybe some of your… I mean, why is this thing such a question mark?

Shon Hopkin: Yeah, well, so I think like most latter-day saints, when Jesus comes to the Nephites, they’ve been waiting for him for about thousand years…six hundred years.

Ken Krogue: Yeah.

Shon Hopkin: And, Mormon says, I can only write one one-hundredth part and twice Jesus in those pages searched the words of Isaiah, great are the words of Isaiah. I think that matters to us. I think we’re more Isaiah oriented than just about any other people. And Nephi models how to interact with Isaiah. He loves it. I feel like Nephi, his simplicity, his plainness, he got to on the other side of absorbing Isaiah, so he loved those words and he loved the way Isaiah taught and the doctrines that he espoused and that became who Nephi was as a prophetic figure. And he took of course Isaiah and talked about Isaiah in his own way and those doctrines in his own way, and that becomes the book of Mormon that we love so much, but it’s not possible without Isaiah, and then of course we have this giant chunk in there.

Ken Krogue: Yeah, it’s huge.

Shon Hopkin: That acts almost like a barrier for many readers…

Ken Krogue: There’s jokes about it.

Shon Hopkin: Oh yeah, absolutely…he got shot at the door, but the bullet couldn’t get through the Isaiah chapters.

Ken Krogue: Yes.

Shon Hopkin: Yeah, nothing does. So, I mean that’s part of it as far as Isaiah goes. Early on I was a seminary and Institute teacher and my undergrad studies here were ancient eastern studies and so the Hebrew Bible is very important to me. I did Hebrew studies for my PHD and so I was motivated by all things Hebrew Bible early on, then Isaiah, of course just, I think because I’m latter day saint, became a focal point of those studies. But there are other books that just really draw me. Psalms is one of those, the book of Leviticus, oddly enough, but I love to see the ordinances that were practiced in ancient times and try to see connections with what we do today.

Ken Krogue: Gotcha.

Shon Hopkin: There was a funny moment I had. So, the LDS scholar Robert Millet is my award.

Ken Krogue: Oh.

Shon Hopkin: Yeah, we’re in an award together and he’s actually the gospel doctrine teacher.

Ken Krogue: Oh my gosh, what a thrill.

Shon Hopkin: Oh, it’s great. Hard to have enough space in that gospel doctrine. We’ve got people from other wards trying to come and take some of the seats. So, anyway, we were in the temple, just in the chapel waiting to do an endowment session and he and his wife were sitting in the row behind, and me and my wife were sitting in the row ahead of them. And he leaned over and tapped me. All of us were just reading our scriptures waiting for the endowment session to start and he sort of pointed at our wives, both of them were reading in the book of Mormon, then he showed me what he was reading. It was in the book of Romans, because he is sort of a New Testament guy. He dialogues with evangelicals a lot and then he laughed at me. I was reading in Leviticus, so…sort of like unique. Anyway, so…but the Isaiah stuff really does…it’s the intersection of my academic studies and my latter-day saint faith. So, that’s how it works.

Ken Krogue: I see. Wonderful.

Top 5 Isaiah Valentines Memes to Impress That Special Someone

By

Kelsey Wilding

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Valentines Day Memes from the Search Isaiah Team for that Special Someone

Love it or hate it, Valentines Day is here in three days…

Sure, we know there will be sappy love post and lots of romantic gestures, but don’t let that ruin your day. Instead feel the love of the scriptures with our Isaiah v-day cards instead of running to Hallmark.

We hope you enjoy!

Impress that special someone with a valentines meme from Isaiah - My soul years for you in the night. — Isaiah 26:9

Do not Fear for I am With You - Isaiah 41:10. Perfect card for your valentine. — Isaiah 41:10

Send Isaiah 54:10 to your Valentine and they'll know that although the mountain may crumble they will not. — Isaiah 54:10

Isaiah 61:10 valentines day ideas for that special someone — Isaiah 61:10

Send this Valentines meme to that someone special: Isaiah 45:2 - I will go before you and make crooked places straight. — Isaiah 45:2

Do you have any clever Book of Isaiah Valentines memes? Share in the comments below. And make sure to share these v-day cards with that special someone.

How to Use Wide-Margin Scripture Tools

By

Darryl Alder

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Want to make studying Isaiah easier? Download this wide margins document to make notes as you read.

To create your own copy, I’d suggest you print these out double-sided, and have them spiral bound so the volume can lay flat when open. If you’d like, split the printing into two or more sections and bind separately (especially with the Old Testament) for easier writing. Alternatively, you can three-hole-punch them and put them in a binder, but that just doesn’t look as cool. I printed my own copy at home, but I had mine bound at the UPS store for somewhere around $5, with a stiff cover for the front and back to protect the pages. The nice thing about these is that you can do whatever you want with them! If you find some creative use, just come back and share it in the comments so others can use your nifty idea as well.

Years ago a professor at BYU, teaching New Testament, required us to purchase a wide margin version of the scriptures. Sadly, back then, only the New Testament was available and it was quite expensive, but I loved it for taking notes.

Brad Jackman
explains how to
use his wide-
margin scriptures

Enter the Wide Margin Edition of the Standard Works. Brad Jackman, at his blog,”The Garden Tower,” explained that he took official PDF versions of the scriptures, from LDS.org, then placed each page on a standard 8½x11 page layout without increasing the text size. This provides readers with a page that has the same text and page numbers as each of the official standard works, but with ample space for notes.

Jackman suggests you use the “huge margins… [to] write your thoughts, study notes, questions, quotes, lesson guides, references, or whatever you can come up with!” He offers these “free of charge” at his blog, “The Garden Tower” and tells the story behind the project.

I used a copy I made (see header image above) at my adult Isaiah Institute class last week and found that for a change I could keep up. I didn’t have to worry about how it would look forever in my personal scriptures, so I marked and wrote whatever I felt like.

I must admit it seems pretty messy now looking back, but the nice thing is the exact same page numbers and layout matches my personal edition. That way I can go back and mark lasting ideas I collect.

I do not know how I can recommend these any higher, get a copy for yourself now: The Book of Isaiah, LDS Authorized King James Version

1 Nephi 22

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH CHAPTER 6

King James Version

Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 16

Expanded Notes and Commentary

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH
CHAPTER 6

Book of Mormon
2 Nephi 16