Old Testament - Isaiah 1-2 - September 5, 2022

 9/5/2022 – Isaiah 1-2

I’m excited to read Isaiah for I have found verses in that book that touch my heart and open my eyes. I read somewhere that reading Isaiah was especially important for those who are living in the latter days.

My study manual gave this wonderful introduction to the Book of Isaiah: “Why study this book? When Jesus Christ visited the Nephites after His Resurrection, He quoted many of the words of Isaiah to them and then said: “A commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi 23:1). He also told them that everything Isaiah had prophesied would be fulfilled (see 3 Nephi 23:3). The book of Isaiah was written during a time of great wickedness and apostasy, and it addresses both events of Isaiah’s era and events that would occur in the future. Perhaps the most important part of the book of Isaiah is Isaiah’s testimony and witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Holy One of Israel, and the promised Messiah. Studying the book of Isaiah can strengthen students’ testimonies of the Savior and teach them to listen to the Spirit as they encounter symbolism in the scriptures. As students mature in their understanding of the gospel, they can appreciate Isaiah’s witness and feel a desire to study his words and say as Nephi said: “My soul delighteth in his words . . . for he verily saw my Redeemer” (2 Nephi 11:2)”

In chapter 1 Isaiah writes describing the apostate condition of Israel. “Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.” (v’s 1-2) The Lord has had such patience with Israel. He has fed them, taught them, and loved them—and they have turned away from Him. They have become “a sinful nation” full of iniquity. They are now corrupters and have forsaken the Lord: “they are gone away backward.” (v 4) 

V 9 is a very telling verse “Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”  It assures us that every righteous person has an effect on humanity.

In v’s 10-14 the Lord points out that while they have performed religious procedures, their hearts and minds have not been a part of them. The Lord gives them the way to “put away the evil of your doings”, “Learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve the oppressed” help the fatherless and the widow. (v 17) And then He gives them the steps back to righteousness with the promise that obedience brings blessings. He pleads with them: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (v’s18-20)

If they don’t change their ways, the Lord tells them that they “shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.”

Then in chapter 2, the Lord gives Isaiah a vision of the latter-days, and of the gathering of Israel, and Millenia judgment and peace. Again His warning: “The proud and wicked shall be brought low at the Second Coming.” In v 3 Isaiah tells us that “in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, …and nations shall flow unto it.” It seems to me that this has happened. 

Then in v 5 the Lord gives us a simple, but so important request: “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” He goes further asking us to put away all idols and worship the Lord. He emphasizes the importance of our being humble, and of trusting the Lord and “trust not in the arm of flesh”. It is not men that will save us, it is our reliance on the Lord. For then we will be able to rely on the gift of the spirit.  This is what David O. McKay told us: “Every man and every person who lives in this world wields an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone; it is not alone what he does. It is what he is. Every man, every person radiates what he or she really is. . . . It is what we are and what we radiate that affects the people around us. “As individuals, we must think nobler thoughts. We must not encourage vile thoughts or low aspirations. We shall radiate them if we do. If we think noble thoughts; if we encourage and cherish noble aspirations, there will be that radiation when we meet people, especially when we associate with them.’ (Man May Know for Himself, p. 108.)