Book of Mormon 9 - “My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah”

The Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon were always the chapters I found hardest to understand as a Seminary student and in Sunday School classes. After my last week of teaching Gospel Doctrine, we had a week break with a special Regional Conference, followed by another week with Papatoetoe Stake Conference. Then, I was called in to chat with the Bishop and I was told I would be released as the Gospel Doctrine teacher. I was a little sad. I had already read through the lesson, the scriptures, and started reading ‘Isaiah for Airheads’ by John Bytheway. For the first time in my life, I had actually enjoyed reading the Isaiah chapters, and, what was even better, they seemed to make more sense to me. I thought of not blogging my thoughts on the lessons anymore, but I issued the challenge to the class. I may not be the teacher, but I can still continue with my own challenge!

I was fascinated to read the following statistics in Brother Bill Beardall’s Lesson 9:

Isaiah's writings are quoted extensively in other scripture:

• Book of Mormon:  quotes 433 verses of Isaiah's 1,292 verses (about 32% of the book of Isaiah. Another 3% is paraphrased)
• New Testament:  quotes Isaiah at least 57 times
• Doctrine & Covenants:  contains about 100 references through quoting, paraphrasing, or interpreting Isaiah's teachings

Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1973) suggested that, “It just may be that my salvation (and yours also!) does in fact depend upon our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and truly as Nephi understood them” (Ten keys to understanding Isaiah, Ensign, October). This statement made me think about this lesson as invaluable. I needed to study the scriptures and understand the content for myself.

Two chapters that I particularly enjoyed were 2 Nephi 12 and 2 Nephi 16.

Chapter 12 speaks of temples in the latter days. Verse 2 reminded me of our beautiful hymn #54:

“Behold the mountain of the Lord

In latter days shall rise

On mountaintops, above the hills,

And draw the wond’ring eyes.

To this shall joyful nations come;

All tribes and tongues shall flow.

“Up to the hill of God,” they’ll say,

“And to his house we’ll go.”

In the church movie, ‘The Mountain of the Lord’, a newspaper reporter who had interviewed President Wilford Woodruff, mentioned the definition of the word ‘Utah’. It is a Ute Indian word that literally means ‘top of the mountains’. When the Saints first arrived in Utah, they named it Deseret. It was the government that formalised the state name as Utah. This is such a strong testament to me of the divinity of the Lord’s work and the revelatory power of the prophet Isaiah. The scripture in 2 Nephi 12:2 could literally be taken to mean that in the last days the Lord’s temple would be built in Utah!

2 Nephi 16 is where Isaiah receives his call. I was particularly humbled by Isaiah’s response to his call in verse 5: ‘Wo is unto me! for I am undone…’. I have experienced a sense of inadequacy when called by the Bishop or Stake President to a calling. For a prophet as great as Isaiah to feel this inadequacy, makes me feel better about myself.

In verses 6-7, Isaiah describes a seraphim ‘having a live coal in his hand… And he laid it upon my mouth’. The coal came from the altar and is a symbol of the Atonement. This is a remarkable image that touched my soul. The image is one of a painful cleansing by fire. The coal’s heat would have burned the flesh, but the result was the beauty of the purification offered by the Lord through His Atonement and through the process of repentance.

I found this video clip from Brother John Bytheway, while studying Isaiah. It is short, but provides remarkable insight into Isaiah. He describes ‘John’s Journey’ through ‘Isaiah National Forest’. In the forest are four trees that all start with the letter C. These trees are the four themes in Isaiah’s teachings. Brother Bytheway suggests that all Isaiah’s scriptures are one of these themes or a hybrid of the themes.

The themes are:

• Covenants or Covenant Israel
• Christ
• Current events (events in Isaiah’s day – usually around alliances)
• Coming events (sometimes current events foreshadow coming events)

Brother Bytheway goes on to discuss four keys presented in 2 Nephi 25. These are:

• Understanding the manner of prophesying among the Jews and the use of complex symbols and imagery
• Having the spirit of prophecy, that comes with a testimony of Christ
• Knowing the geography and referring to the maps in our scriptures; and
• Living in the last days

Lastly, Brother Bytheway lists the four guides to help us understand Isaiah: Nephi. Jacob, Abinadi, and Jesus Christ himself.

I have found this little video a wonderful way of looking at Isaiah. It makes the understanding of the Isaiah scriptures much clearer.