UNDERSTANDING ISAIAH

 Imagine being a prophet, a writer and a poet. Now imagine that your revelations and literary works are so great that Jesus Christ himself issues a command that they should be studied and understood. Jesus quoted Isaiah more frequently than any other prophet. He issued the following edict to all who would be his true disciples: ".....a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Nephi 23:1). The operative word in this commandment is to 'search'. To search something means having the intent to find and discover. This takes reading Isaiah to another level. Most people do not like reading Isaiah because quite simply, they do not understand what it is they are reading. Even Nephi of old recognized this predicament. Even though he and his family came from the same geographical area and lived in the same general time period as did Isaiah, Nephi acknowledged that Isaiah was hard for many of his people to understand (2 Nephi 25:1). Nephi loved the teachings of Isaiah and quoted him a lot because he wanted his people to know what he knew regarding his prophecies. For this reason he provided a formula for comprehending Isaiah's writings which is found in 2 Nephi 25:1,4,7. Here Nephi instructs us that we need to:

• Understand 'the manner of prophesying among the Jews'. This manner of prophecy can best be learnt through scriptures and their commentaries: "The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the New Testament - provide quotations and commentaries from 42 of the 66 chapters in the current text of Isaiah. There are also allusions and paragraphs from eight of the other 24 chapters. Thus Isaiah is broadly commented upon by these three sources. No more reliable or enlightening sources are available, and Latter-Day Saints would do well to search these scriptural commentaries along with the book of Isaiah itself to obtain a deeper and fuller understanding of the great words of Isaiah."(Monte S. Nyman, Great Are The Words of Isaiah, GospeLink 2001). Regarding the Book of Mormon, Bruce R. McConkie said: "The Book of Mormon is the world's  greatest commentary on the book of Isaiah. And may I be so bold as to affirm that no one, absolutely no one, in this age and dispensation has or does or can understand the writings of Isaiah until he first learns and believes what God has revealed by the mouths of his Nephite witnesses as these truths are found in that volume of holy writ of which he himself swore this oath: "....as your Lord and your God liveth it is true." (D&C 17:6, Ensign Oct. 1973, p. 81)

• Be 'filled with the spirit of prophecy'. In Alma 17:2-3, we are told that the sons of Mosiah had the spirit of prophecy because they had 'searched the scriptures diligently' and 'had given themselves to much prayer and fasting'. This gives us a perfect formula along with teachings of modern day prophets who have expounded the scriptures and have given new scriptures to the world gives. In particular, "the Prophet Joseph Smith was divinely called to declare God's word to this generation and his writings and teachings should be considered scripture (D&C 5:10). The book Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, a compilation of many of the doctrinal teachings of Joseph Smith, contains at least 35 quotations, paraphrases and commentaries on the text of Isaiah." (Monte S. Nyman, Great Are the Words of Isaiah, GospeLink 2001);

• Live in the days when the prophecies of Isaiah are fulfilled. This is probably the most important one but yet the most overlooked. It is of great importance that we recognise fulfillment of prophecies to gain proper appreciation and testimony of them. Nephi declared that "in the days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled men shall know of a surety, at the times when they shall come to pass" (2 Nephi 25:7). One evidence of this is the fulfillment of a prophecy in chapter 29 of Isaiah concerning a sealed book being taken to a learned man. As Latter-day Saints we know that this fulfillment came through Joseph Smith. Non-LDS scholars, however, are still pondering the meaning of this chapter. Personally, it astounds me to read of events of our day that have been written about so long ago and this particular one about the Book of Mormon is a classic.

One cannot read and study Isaiah without feeling his passionate plea to the House of Israel to come unto their God. We cannot help but see the admonition to repent and turn to Him who longs to forgive us and to encircle us in the arms of His love. How can we not know Him when we read: "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. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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" (Isaiah 53:3-5). And how can we not trust Him when we hear Him say: "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee" (Isaiah 54:10). When scriptures such as these help us find the Saviour of the world, we will come to proclaim with Him, "Great are the words of Isaiah".