Isaiah 1-12 • Dr. Jeff Chadwick • Sept 14-20 • Come, Follow Me

He is for the 8th century BC, the Shakespeare of his era.

“He will somehow develop a literacy in Hebrew, a poetic literacy that is astounding, that”

ascends above anybody else of his era. His writings in Hebrew are simply sublime. Hello, my friends. Welcome to another episode follow him. My name is Hanksmith. I'm your host. I'm here with my Isaiah. Loving, co-host, John, by the way. John, welcome back to follow him. Five lessons on Isaiah. Tell me what you're looking forward to. Isaiah 6 or 2nd E516 is one of my favorite chapters in all of the standard works. I love how

much there is in his call. I love his reaction to his call. I love what happens with the seraphim. I love how the Lord tells him it's going to be hard and I love how Isaiah says how long. It's just such a great question. It's Almond Amilek, his Joseph Smith, the Liberty Jail, same question. Well, how long is he going to be like this? A lot of people listen to our podcast and

“say, "How long?" That's what I'm looking forward to, that we get to do Isaiah 6 today.”

I am excited for the next five weeks and to kick us off. I wanted to find an Isaiah expert. We got him. His name is Dr. Jeff Chadwick. Jeff, welcome back. We're happy to have you back on following him. It's a pleasure to be back with these two great of the three Nephites. That is John John does not age. There's something happening. Jeff, tell us what you've been thinking of. You've been studying Isaiah for how long? Well, 50 years actually, literally 50 years ago

in the summer of 1976. I was a missionary in Germany. I just got transferred out of West Berlin being there for a year. I was sent to Brayman and another guy, elder Matthew Galt, who's a great friend still and was an area authority down in Georgia. Galt and I were there, 220 year olds,

“you know, on the senior side of our mission, what to do for companion study there in Brayman?”

We decided we're going to do Isaiah. We sat down for the whole summer and we read every chapter

of Isaiah, went through it with a fine tooth comb. First time for either of us, of course, we're

total rookies at this. There weren't many resources. We had elder Maconkeys, old ensign article, 10 keys to understanding Isaiah had some passages in Talmadges, articles of faith, some passages in Marvel's work in Wonder by Legrand Richards. But somehow we got through it, mostly not understanding context, but looking for the restoration, I would recommend it to every 20 year old I know, to read Isaiah now and digest it. 50 years. Yeah, professionally, I started a seminary teacher in 1979.

It was Old Testament, so the first time professionally was then 47 years ago. Yeah, we've been doing this a while. There's nothing better. Yeah, it comes recommended by the Lord Himself. It doesn't be. Jeff, we want to get into all of your expertise. Not only do you understand Isaiah, you understand Isaiah in its original language. That's going to bless our lives today. John, it's been a while since Jeff's joined us. There might be some listeners who don't know him. Tell

us all about him. Jeff, characteristicly says, use a short bio. He already told us he's been teaching in the church educational system as a religious educator since 1979. That's when I was in seminary. He serves at the U.I.U. is the Jerusalem Center Professor of Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies, also as a professor of church history in Jewish studies. Hank, before we hit record, Jeff was showing us. He's going to have to tell us about this. He was examining the Isaiah scroll. I didn't

realize how long that thing was. But I want to add, he's served another faculty here at the BYU Jerusalem Center currently 24 to 225 during the current conflict with Iran. He taught in his 25th student program there, and in June, July of 226, returned to the field of archaeology in Israel as a senior consultant to the new archaeological expedition at Tel Ash Dodd on Israel's southern coast.

Can you tell us about that scroll and that experience? Where was that? I've never seen this whole

summer, they put the whole scroll on display again in a climate-controlled room that you had to go through

“an air lock. They only let 10 people in a room at a time. Here you are looking at a scroll of Isaiah”

from the time that Jesus was reading from a scroll of Isaiah. 2000 years ago, the leather of the scroll, the Hebrew is perfectly legible. You can read it today just as easily as 2000 years ago.

That was amazing and it really got me psyched to talk with you two brethren about Isaiah today.

I bet that was such a touching moment for someone who loves this as much as you do. I had to pinch myself. That's the touch, the pinch of them. Am I really getting to do this after all these decades in Israel? So great. Well, we're glad to have you back. Let's get started. Come follow me, Maniel. The lesson this week, God is my salvation. The first 12 chapters of Isaiah. Even if this is your first time reading the book of Isaiah, you might find passages that sound familiar.

That's because of all the Old Testament prophets. Isaiah is the one most often quoted in other books of Scripture, including by the Savior himself. Isaiah's words also appear often in him's another sacred music. Why is Isaiah quoted so often? Surely one reason is that Isaiah have a gift for expressing the word of God in vivid, memorable language. But it's more than that. Isaiah has inspired prophets for generations because the truth he taught transcended his own generation.

He wrote of God's great work of redemption, which is much bigger than one nation or one time period. For Isaiah, Nephi learned that he and his people, those separated from the rest of Israel, were still part of God's covenant people. In Isaiah, New Testament writers found prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled right before their eyes. And in Isaiah, Joseph Smith found inspiration

“for the latter day work of gathering Israel and building Zion. When you read Isaiah, what will you find?”

I love it. That is a passionate paragraph about Isaiah and we have a passionate guest. Yeah, what do you want to go from here? Chapter one is interesting in that it is very much like section one of the doctrine and covenants. It serves as a preface to the whole book of Isaiah. It's not in chronological order. Isaiah chapter one actually is about a good 40 years in Isaiah's ministry. The earliest of his prophecies, begin with chapter two. This is also interesting to me because

that's where Nephi begins with Isaiah. He knew that's the natural beginning of the book. From Isaiah chapter two to Isaiah chapter 12 is one big chiasum. You start with this glorious picture of a latter day temple, the time of the Lord's presence in glory again in Israel, then it goes back and it goes down the X axis to ancient Israel and its wickedness and how it's struggling through there, then it will come forward to Isaiah 11 and 12, which you're probably just kind of one chapter

together, of the restoration of the gospel and the coming of the Messiah in the last days. So it

starts big and ends big and in the middle it says Repender Die. We always go for those great

restoration parts in Isaiah, but it's the Repender Die parts that are kind of important to keep in mind living in the time we do. It's also in the second part of Isaiah, the comfort and promise parts that we have to constantly be nourished by. I'd like to start today with 3523. When Jesus is visiting the Nephites, he's going to be with them in his resurrection visit for three days. What do you do with only a finite amount of time in three days and you can't preach all night?

How does this a viewer use his time with the Nephites? Well, of course he teaches his sermon on the Mount, but then what does he do? He quotes lots of Isaiah to them. Now, if you only got so much

“time and you have to figure out what am I going to do that's most valuable, look at what Jesus thinks is”

most valuable. He teaches from Isaiah when he's teaching the Nephites. He teaches primarily from Isaiah 52 and 54 about the gathering of Israel. He doesn't even teach about himself. He knows people have got that covered. He teaches about the gathering of Israel, the greatest thing that's going on

in these latter days. Here's what Jesus says to them. Now behold, this is the verse 1. I say unto you

that you ought to search these things. Yeah, a commandment I give unto you, that you search these things diligently for great are the words of Isaiah. You ought to all get a two or three books on Isaiah

I always ask my students how you're doing on this commandment. Most people say, well, that's

something that's still down the line for me. Yeah. As a church we have to do this. Verse two tells you why he's so great, why you have to study it diligently, why it's a commandment. Or surely, he, Isaiah, spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel.

“Everything you need to know about the scattering and gathering of Israel that is important.”

Isaiah teaches about. Jews have a heritage that goes back genealogically to the house of Israel. It is a remembered connection. Latter day Saints have the same real connection and descent from the lost tribes of Israel. But we don't have the paper trail. For us, rather than a remembered heritage, it is a restored heritage. But it is just as valid. We carry two names in the church. We carry the name of Jesus. That is our personal name. When we're baptized, we become his sons

and daughters by adoption. It is his name that becomes our name. But we also carry the name of Israel. That is our family name. Jesus is our personal name. Israel is our family name. Those are eternal. It's really wonderful. Jesus explains the Nephites. Why you need to understand Isaiah because you're a Israel. Jesus is speaking to you through the book of Isaiah. Jeff, let's back up. Let's say I'm a brand new member of the church. This is all new to me.

Can we do just a brief? Lead up. The Bible opens. We get to this man Abraham. The Lord says, Abraham, you are family, which is going to be known as the house of Israel. They're going to bless all the families of the earth. The book of Genesis says that family. They don't do so great at blessing of the families of the earth. Then they're taken to Egypt. They come out of Egypt. The Lord puts them back in the promise line saying, "Okay, now is your chance to bless all the families of the earth."

“They fall apart a little bit. They choose kings. At what point then does Isaiah come on the scene?”

Has that recently happened? They've chosen kings and they fall on a part. They broke into two kingdoms. Isaiah comes a thousand years. Maybe even 1100 years after Abraham. You have a thousand years for that covenant of Abraham, the covenants of Israel, to cook and obtain

it's saver. I'm diverging here, but let me go over to first Nephite 22. Where Nephite,

who's been teaching from Isaiah to laymen and lamule, tries to help them understand something. I'm in first Nephite 223. He's going to tell laymen and lamule that he's been reading in Isaiah and he says in verse 3, "The things which I have read are things pertaining to both temporal and spiritual. For it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth." And also among all nations. Not all nations, but India, not all the

face of the earth, but Africa, all nations. President Nelson could tell us we're sending out you missionaries into every part of earth and you are gathering Israel and it's the greatest

“work that's ever happened. Which again, coming back to Isaiah is why Isaiah is so important.”

It's the thing that let's us know. I'm still glad you're talking about this because when I was really young, I remember people wondering where the lost tribes were and when they were going to come forth. Are they hiding under the polarized cap? Like you said, line up on line with learned wait a minute. We are the lost tribes. I'm a lost tribe. I need from them. We were lost. It's lost that we didn't know who we were. Like you said, I get my pet truck of blessing. I find out who

I am. Here's Nephite talking in first Nephite 22 and in verse 4 he says, "They're many who are already

lost. This early is 600 BC. Tribes are already going all over the earth. Nephite even says upon the aisles of the sea as well. No, there isn't some group of lost tribes all living together." I remember being in the upper room of the Salt Lake Temple when you used to go on a mission, you used to go to Salt Lake Mission Home and go to the Temple of Salt Lake City in a general authority would host you and you got to ask and answer questions. I remember saying to my companion

as I sat next to him there and it was like the third day of our mission. I said sit on your hands, don't ask anything seriously. This is a trap. Sure enough, some elder raises hand and he said, elder so and so I actually know who the 70 was. It was teaching us but I won't mention his name. Elder so and so, where are the lost tribes of Israel? You can guess what he said. Well,

Finally, like 10 years later, Elder Bruce Armaconke wrote this wonderful book called

a new witness for the Articles of Faith. In his head, this whole section on Mormon myths about the scattering and gathering of Israel. Three or four of the ones that he shoots down are the broken off the planet and hiding behind the moon theory or the underneath the polarized cap theory or all types of crazy things that we used to try and do because it wasn't obvious where lost

“Israel is. Well, it is obvious if you're an anthropologist everywhere in a planet. That's what happens”

when you take one people and deport them as the Assyrians did with the Israelites into a different

population and they start to intermingle. That's what happens with humans is we produce other humans

and they become then of multi-heritage, a Syrian but also Israelite or Babylonian but also Israelite or Elonite but also Israelite. Those people move in through migration dynamics because in the Middle East people are going every which way to China, to Africa, to Europe. Pretty soon that hidden lineage of Israel spreads just like the old Sham Poo commercial. You tell two friends and they tell two friends and so on and so on and so on. Literally wherever you go on your mission you're gathering

Israel. It's important that we tell all of our missionaries whether they are senior missionaries or young folks going out at 18 or 19 that that's what they're doing because John and Hank you will

“remember that no one told us 50 years ago that we were gathering Israel. We were teaching a gospel,”

we were happy to do it but nobody said your gathering Israel. I wish I had known then what I know now. As recently as a couple of weeks ago somebody had asked me about that idea of they're all hiding

somewhere. You mentioned it just a second ago that initially perhaps the scattering was in the

North countries so sometimes when we see a verse that way we think they are only in the North countries well that's where they maybe went initially but now all over the planet. If you folks would like to hear a really beautiful big picture summary of going back to the Abrahamic covenant and all this we're talking about. Go to Ensign College find Hank Smith's talk on this because he did a really beautiful with characteristic Hank like energy. They're thinking of

bottling that and putting it in a prescription stream but you can see Hank describe a really great big picture of history what I like about what you did there Hank was then you see your part in it

“that we're going to go gather Israel knows Jeff just said now we know oh that's what we're doing”

as President Nelson emphasized so beautifully. I did it because I believe what Jeff just said that especially a missionary but really any member of the church. You have to know this story this is the why of the entire thing. We frequently talk about the restoration of Christ's New Testament church we're okay there but when Maronai appeared to Joseph Smith Jeff what does he say we're going to do? He doesn't say anything about restoring a New Testament church he says we're going to fulfill Isaiah

chapter 11 right yeah we're going to do Isaiah chapter 11 at some point during this surprise yet but that's it and he quotes it to him all the times he appears too every time he re-quotes at their Joseph Smith knew what Isaiah 11 was about the gathering of Israel John you just pointed out something that really fun Israel began scattering to the north. There's another thing happening too is that everybody didn't go north some people went to the east some people went to the west some people

the south we emphasize north as later they say it's because of section 133 but both Isaiah and Jeremiah emphasized that Israel we turn from the north and from all the other directions that God spread them and I don't want to take anybody's thunder away from Isaiah later on in the program but in Isaiah 43 you have this wonderful promise by God to lost Israel in Isaiah 43 5 fear not I am with thee I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west I will say to the north

give up and to the south keep not back bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth even everyone that is called by my name that little passage is just one of dozens in Isaiah that tells you what's going on with the scattering which is to all locations on earth and what's going on with the gathering is that they're going to be brought from all the corners of the earth but what's

would be impossible really we did it a little bit as pioneers and we found out really what we

“eventually want to do is gather in place then what's the function of the gathering to become”

called by his name Isaiah 43 7 even everyone that is called by my name once you have the name of Jehovah the name of Jesus upon you because you've made that covenant then you are gathered to your ancient family of Israel all over the world north southeast west that great Isaiah 43 folks verse 567 you talked about the Abrahamic covenant which he does in his talk to what was the point the last part to bless all the families of the earth that's another thing missionaries I hope

we'll love to know is that that's the point we're bringing to pass the Abrahamic covenant to bless all of the families of the earth and the greatest blessing we can offer them is to be sealed as families and temples that's the point of the gathering when layman lemma you're asking Nephite ask well is this temporal or is this spiritual and Nephite says uh-huh everything is spiritual

“but God's doing this for real it's temporal gathering doesn't necessarily mean temporally you have to”

move from England to Salt Lake City gathering means you are gathering to the house of Israel being gathered in the last days and them becoming called by the name of Jehovah which is the name of Christ I'm stating thunder here but just do very quickly Isaiah 44 Isaiah 44 is also talking about the gathering of Israel who just did Isaiah 43 now in 44 in your bump over to Isaiah 44 five the people who are being gathered goes like this one shall say I am the Lord's notice it says

hello are the encaps there now I am Jehovah's another shall call himself by the name of Jacob

Jacob Israel now Isaiah always says the same thing in synonymous couplets in poetry we'll say

that same thing again I am the Lord's and another call myself by the name of Jacob another shall subscribe his hand unto the Lord under Jehovah and surname himself by the name of Israel surname is the family name in the gathering Israel is gathered and they get two name one is Jehovah or Jesus and the other is Israel but the gathering of Israel is inherently becoming belonging to the Lord Jehovah the Lord Jesus Christ it's a gospel it's all raised to it

Jeff again for a brand new member of the church I've been following the timeline this year Israel chose kings didn't go so well they broke into separate kingdoms now you're losing the northern kingdom and you're a date guy what are you dated at you lose the northern kingdom and but 721 is that what you'd say somewhere around there the loss of the tribes of Israel is much more complex there are three big attacks two on the north one attack is in 732

that drains about half of the northern kingdom of Israelite population and then the second attack

on the north is on the reduced kingdom of the north the area of Ephraim and Manasa in what we would call Samaria that drains the rest of the north the rest of the northern kingdom around 722721

“as you say then there's a third attack that we don't talk so much about we ought to because it's key”

it's right in the middle of Isaiah it's in 701 BC and that's when the Assyrians attack Judah and carry away 90% of the population only a sliver of Judah is left to muddle on many of what we would say are the tribal heritage of Judah the tribal heritage of simian the southern tribes

Benjamin et cetera also go into dispersion and become lost Israel in Jerusalem after that third

Syrian attack in 701 BC a small sliver of ancient Israel was preserved didn't get taken away Jerusalem was miraculously spared you've already talked about this in the lesson on Hezekiah and Jerusalem the Lord spares Jerusalem inside the city of Jerusalem in 700 BC were maybe 20,000 people behind those walls at Hezekiah had built they were of every tribe of Israel not just of the tribe of Judah many had fled south from the northern kingdom and settled in Judah after 720

only to then face another Syrian war 20 years later Jerusalem was a multi tribal heritage city

this shows up then in Jewish history forever after because Lehigh a hundred years later as Manassite heritage Lehigh's friend Ishmael had Ephraim and of course you know there's Judah there and Nephi says that he's a Jew that is family or Jews I say Jew I mean then from once I came Nephi says to be a Jew didn't mean being of the tribe of Judah specifically but it meant

“being a citizen of Judah citizens of Judah even in 600 BC were of all tribes and that's why”

Jews today all these years later understand themselves correctly to be of all the tribes of Israel not just of the tribe of Judah we get that wrong a lot in our conversation I teach Judaism it might be why you saw this is a standard lecture that I give it. Latter day saints are also legitimately descended from lost Israel and from all 12 tribes of lost Israel Jews are descended from all 12 tribes of Israel who were the remainder of Judah that didn't get taken away by the

Assyrians. Latter day Saints are connected to those who were taken away. Let's keep going then Jeff so

the Assyrian Siege happens you've taken away what you're saying 90 percent of the people

by 700 Hank only Jerusalem of the entire two kingdoms of Israel only Jerusalem is left by 700 BC

“20,000 people out of half a million during Isaiah's lifetime that's in the middle of Isaiah's ministry”

then 100 years later that's where the Book of Mormon comes in the Book of Mormon plugs into the Bible right there right in Jeremiah's time a century after Isaiah Isaiah is as fresh and new to Jeremiah and Nephi and Lehigh as Joseph Smith and the Doctor and the Covenants is to us it is recent history yeah they in their recent history know that Jerusalem was miraculously preserved Lehigh has a tough sell saying Jerusalem is going to be destroyed this is the hard thing to talk

about with Laman and Lamule because they you know the cultural history they know that 100 years before

600 BC God had spared Jerusalem Jerusalem's never been successfully conquered they don't think that

Babylon is going to be a threat to Jerusalem well they're wrong but there's a logic in their mistake let's run this to the other side of Nephi and Lehigh's voyage to ancient America I'm bumping now as the last little introductory bit here to second Nephi 25 because we already talked about how Jesus felt about Isaiah great of the words of Isaiah let's do what Nephi does because Nephi lived so close in time to Isaiah in second Nephi 25 here's Nephi teaching

the people of ancient America who are his new society he's converted them to the

Covenants of Israel which we would say is the gospel second Nephi 25 and this is after he's

quoted all those chapters of Isaiah in second Nephi 12 through 24 Nephi says now I Nephi do speak somewhat concerning the words which I have written which have been spoken by the mouth of Isaiah behold Isaiah spoke many things which were hard for many of my people to understand for they know not concerning the manner of the prophesying among the Jews that's not something you would say of the people of Lehigh's party that got on the boat they were all Jews

Ishmael knew about the Zoram knew about the prophesying of Jews Lehigh knew he taught Laman and Lemiel Saraya all the women folk they all understood Isaiah it was their culture who Nephi's been teaching that don't know anything about the manner of the Jews is the native Americans that are now his little kingdom verse five Nephi says yay my soul delighteth

“in the words of Isaiah that's what I hope everyone is listening to us will come to feel”

most people say my soul is terrified of them I get that that's why you're not into the commandment of reading Isaiah because you're terrified of it this is not unusual among us it's certainly not unusual among any Christians either Isaiah is tough that little story from the Korean war which is apocryphal but very instructive about the servicemen that was saved when a bullet was shot at him and it happened to hit his servicemen's copy of the scriptures it was in his front

pocket and when he opened it it was a book of more of it it had stopped exactly at second Nephi 12

that's like us is really hard to pierce through those chapters nothing gets the second Nephi

they will become delightful to you but Nephi explains why and this is where the work part of this comes in folks you're going to have to do some work Nephi says in verse five my soul delighted in the words of Isaiah for I came out from Jerusalem mine eyes had to be held the things of the Jews

“you have to be taught after the things of the Jewish context and then when I talk I then talk about”

ancient Judah not today's Judaism you have to know a little bit about the land of Israel you have to know a little bit of the history now in verse six Nephi says I have not taught my children after the matter of the Jews but I have myself of dwelted Jerusalem I know concern the regions round about I have made mention of my children concerning the judgments of God which had come to pass among the Jews by the way things which come to pass among the Jews that's history

that's the history of the time of Isaiah that's Old Testament history the things which have come to pass I know concerning the regions round about I know about the land I know the geography I know something of the context of Isaiah I know something concerning the manner of prophecy that Isaiah speaks like a poet that he speaks in synonymous couplets that often he is speaking metaphorically

“interweaving it with things that are literal you have to know how to process both of those the literal”

and the metaphoric the real and the symbolic and you'll be able to see God's purposes including the gathering of Israel on every page that's wonderful we've set him up he's in the middle of the scattering the lie is yet to come on the scene he's 100 years away Isaiah's life opens is that where we are right now his ministry his text his book it's a little complicated but let's do the book let's just go to Isaiah one we pointed out already that Isaiah one is a chapter that's unique because it's

not in chronological order the rest of the book of Isaiah from two forward will have a chronology to it

but Isaiah one was a special revelation gets put into the first chapter position

“like a preface to the whole book and then with chapter two of Isaiah you have the oldest of his”

prophecies just the way in doctrine and covenant chapter two you have the earliest of the revelations of the prophet Joseph Smith let's deal with Isaiah one first now Isaiah one belongs to that year of the aftermath of the third a Syrian attack against the Israelites the attack on Judah of 701 BC Isaiah one the year there is gonna be 700 BC and on the first morning of 700 BC the people of Jerusalem woke up and they're all that's left of two whole kingdoms

of the house of Israel the northern kingdom of Israel and southern game of Judah which have been destroyed thousands killed and literally hundreds of thousands carried away as captives deported by the Assyrians to become essentially state slaves and be resettled in other lands who will very quickly over just a few generations lose their Israelite identity as you said by the time you get to 600 and Nephi Nephi says where they are we know not that assimilation

in that loss of identity was was rather quick just three or four generations lost Israel did not get lost because they didn't know where they were they knew where they were even the Bible knows where they were taken lost Israel became lost because over a very short period of time they forgot who they were they lost their identity as we opened in Isaiah one we're looking at a summary of Isaiah's ministry up to 700 up to 700 BC he starts out around 742 BC so he's been

prophesying for over 40 years in Isaiah 6 which I know you live John that's his first vision

he says in the year the King was iodide that's 742 BC he sees the Lord in the temple now in Isaiah 1 we're in 700 BC we start out with the vision of Isaiah the Son of Amats which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of uzaya jotham ahe's and he's a kaya kings of Judah that's a summary statement of 40 years by the way I'm going to come back to this

it will fix this in a minute but it's not about Joseph and Jackson County it's not about Ephraim

and Utah it's about Judah and Jerusalem that's the setting that's the context of Isaiah and that's

“why Nephi said you have to come to know those things of the Jews to get the contact Isaiah is a”

applicable across societies across millennia Isaiah teaches as much about the latter day restoration and the latter day Saints as you could ever pocket but that's by application it's by what Nephi calls likening unto us the context of all of Isaiah is Judah and Jerusalem while it's great as I did as a 20 year old missionary 50 years ago to read Isaiah and see yourself in it and we should and we should apply it to ourselves and liken it to ourselves if you

want to get to the first level of Isaiah you have to get to it on the Judah and Jerusalem level and I promise you once you get it on its context level the application becomes even richer and more possible Jeff I want to pause and emphasize what you just said in biblical scholarship it's called

exegesis we're not exegesis it's a Latin term but this is crucial because often Jeff we jump

to application without understanding author and tense what the audience would have heard

“and the application isn't as rich Nephi gets context that's why his application is so wonderful”

he made every attempt that he could to apply Isaiah to his people but while they were able to accept that from him they didn't ever really get good at it themselves or what you don't see lots of book of Mormon people doing Mormon for example or Alma or Helaman or King Mozaia or King Benjamin they don't use Isaiah the user own profits because they're comfortable with them but they're

not using Isaiah there's only four people in the book of Mormon that use Isaiah and three of

were born in the Middle East Nephi Jacob and Jesus there's this one odd guy out called Abinadi who is a mysterious character Abinadi in book of Mormon situation is a lot like Elijah

“in Judaism he's a mysterious person we can't quite figure him out but Abinadi quotes Isaiah 53 and that's”

all we get from him on that but it's Nephi and Jacob were both native Middle Easterners and Jesus obviously native Middle Easterner born in Bethlehem who know how to deal with Isaiah and they were all Jews to the extent that any latter they seen out there will try to do what Nephi did and learn those things of the Jews which would help them that Old Testament context which would help them understand Isaiah you'll be blessed with that contextual layer that becomes this foundation for building

your understanding of the restoration and the gathering then you go now I see why they're saying great or the words of Isaiah because he could prophesy the attack of an Assyrian army in his time and missionaries going out in the latter days and army of missionaries for totally different reason and he's the same words no wonder they say great or the words of Isaiah size just one example Isaiah is the ultimate glass onion it has so many wonderful layers there like crystal you can

see through some layers to get to other layers it's wonderful what we just read in Isaiah 1 verse 1 the vision of Isaiah the son of a moths which he saw about Judah and Jerusalem in the days of the 4 Kings from 740 to 700 who's Ayah Jotham, Ayah Zezekiah that's the ancient chapter hitting verse 1 is actually the ancient chapter hitting we have a modern chapter hitting there but verse 1 is the actual ancient chapter hitting now Isaiah's prophecy and exhortation begins in verse 2 here oh heavens

give ear earth now what does that sound like to you Harken O ye people just like section one of the doctrine coming then he let some have it because this is why Israel has been defeated Judah has been defeated smashed to smithereens and deported because they've been wicked for 500 years we're in 700 BC Moses leaves and Joshua takes over

ancient house of Israel had its moments that look promising but in general weren't quite able to get

“up to those high covenant values that the law of Moses required the law of Moses is the basis of the”

gospel let's not play any games with this the 10 commandments are the gospel after hero heavens give ear earth Harken my people I've nourished and brought up children I've raised the house of

Israel and they've rebelled against me that's first two that's the whole rest of the chapter after chapter

you guys got this because you earned it you earned the disaster that has come upon you verse 4 a sinful nation people laden with an equity a seed of evil doers onward nonward we could tear apart every verse here but what you do see in verse 6 is indicative of where the land is on the first morning in 700 BC because the land of Israel and the two former kingdoms that

“existed there Israel and Judah Isaiah or the Lord here likens unto a victim that's been severely”

beaten and left for dead verse 5 why should you be stricken anymore you will revolt more and more

the whole had a sick the whole heart is faint from the soul of the foot even at the head there's no

sound is in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores they have not been closed need to bound up neither modified with ointment this is a beaten up victim that's got wounds all over and nobody's treating him this is the injured body image of what's happened to the land of Israel the people of Israel and if you're too dense to get that the Lord then goes from those metaphors to the literal verse 7 your country is desolate because it's been deported both north and south

your cities are burned with fire your land strangers devour it in your presence it is desolate as overthrown by strangers there's not a city of Judah that wasn't destroyed other than Jerusalem the emperor senacribe declared that his armies had destroyed 46 major cities in Judah just in Judah along with countless villages and had deported from Judah in seven o' one B.C. two hundred thousand one hundred fifty people the land was desolate only Jerusalem was spared which is what verse eight

says the daughter of Zion as Jerusalem is left this is very beautiful because King James uses beautiful language like a cottage in a vineyard a large in a garden of cucumber what it actually says is a harvest shack in an empty field this is a shack in an empty field that's what Jerusalem is it's so beautiful you think oh this is so lovely but that's not really what it's saying it's a harvest shack in an empty harvested field where everything else has been taken away

then God says except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant which means if God had not spared Jerusalem in seven o' one B.C. we should have been like Sodom we should have

“been like Gamora totally extinct that's how important that thing was that you just studied when”

you did second kings 18 through 20 the Hezekiah adventure is that God spared Jerusalem so Israel would

not become extinct so there would be a tiny bit left from which he could restart the program but then he goes on to say to even those of Jerusalem here the word of the Lord you brewers of Sodom you didn't get saved because you were any better than the people that God deported you got saved what did Jesus say there in Isaiah 37 in second kings 19 I will spare this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake not because the people are any better than the

ones I let be killed or get deported but I have God said a mission for the house of Israel and I need some of them to be spared here in seven o' one B.C. but there's still wicked too so what does he say jump over to six day and it will be done with which after one wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings now wash there rachtu is the word that is used rachtu is the verb in Hebrew to wash your hands but also to immerse yourself in water if you are

washing ritual immersion as a Jew it's not only to be loud which is immersion but it's rachatah it's

wash you is to get in the water and become clean to say wash you make you clean put away the

“evil of your doings is the backward Hebrew way of saying repent and be baptized”

right there in Isaiah 116 we see Nephi using the word baptism in first Nephi this was not unusual

to him all of ancient Israel was told that they should wash spiritually ritualy as a sign of cleaning themselves from their sin from their wickedness wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before my knife cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment verse 18 come now sayeth the Lord let us reason together though your sins be scarlet they shall be white as snow this is all about the blessings of repentance of forgiveness though they

be redlight crimson they shall be as wool there's the promise repent this is what's being said to Jerusalem in 700 BC I kept you here everybody else is gone repent be baptized take advantage of that covenant that gospel covenant of the love Moses and you'll be forgiven and though your sins be scarlet they could be white as snow but right now house of Israel what happened to you is because I asked you all these years repent and you didn't and repent or die came to happen

that's the preface to Isaiah because the whole first part of Isaiah is repent or die and it didn't

repent so they die but now the Lord's telling those that were left in Jerusalem here's how we're going to move forward I still have a plan for Israel Jeff the difference between you said something like over a thousand years from when the covenant is first established with Abraham to Isaiah why doesn't the Lord in your opinion why doesn't the Lord just get a new family this is not working he said Abraham your family is going to bless all the families of the earth here we are

how many hundred years later I actually don't think it would have worked any better with anybody else people are people his ways are not our ways I haven't any answer for what you just asked I don't discern one out of scripture he just made the decision I'm sticking with this one

“Abraham Isaac Jacob and of course he has because that's how the covenant has come down to us”

Abraham Isaac Jacob let's not forget Sarah and Rebecca and Leah and Rachel Joseph and his wife us and not those are our patriarchs and matriarchs in whose name this covenant would become established in spread throughout the earth we praise everyone from Abraham to Joseph and our grandmothers from Sarah to us and not we realize that that's our family this is the one that he was going to go with maybe when we're in Sunday school in five hundred years we can ask

and he made a promise and it's eternal yeah it's the whole part of the world that says this covenant of Israel are superseded that somehow the church replaces Israel no no no no no no no

if you've got ups and downs in your family it was ever thus there have always been ups and downs

in the family of God so there might be ups and downs in yours too the Lord will work with you the way he worked with them yeah I like his patience even though it's hard for Israel sometimes he's like this is gonna hurt but you are going to learn I have not given up on you I like that what you said Jeff you're not extinct I still love you I'm still here as you go to the Old Testament rather than looking as many people tend to looking at it as a

multi-generational failure I actually am intrigued by and lifted by how in each generation you

“have successes I think we're a little harsher on their failures than we are on our own failures”

we'll go after Moses for smiting the rock twice the Lord's a lot more merciful with them than we are what was Moses's punishment for smiting the rock twice well he doesn't get to go to the promised land oh let's see what did he get instead he got translated yeah that's a tough choice to make promised land or translated well which would I rather have I remember the story of Bob Matthews many people will recognize the name Robert Matthews one of the greatest religious

educators in latter days history great dean here at BYU patriarchy I was sitting in the Ogden High Seminary with a whole group of seminary teachers this is back in the mid 80s in an in service

when he first became a religious educator this is in the 1950s okay yeah dev a general authority

interview as we still all do a general authority that interviewed him was Joseph Fielding Smith

“who was president of the corps of the 12 of the 1950s as you all remember and Joseph Fielding Smith”

is one of my great heroes as he's interviewing young Robert Matthews Bob said that they were discussing scripture things and somehow the conversation turned to David somehow in the conversation young Bob Matthews said well David won't go to the celestial kingdom Bob said that president Smith looked at him and said oh won't he Bob Matthews understandably sat back and was now very worried ever mighty because that's not an answer you would have expected from Joseph

Fielding Smith questioning whether David has lost his exaltation oh won't he and Bob Matthews said

“he then said well will he he said that president Smith said maybe I don't know Bob said that he”

took that throughout his career as a reminder that he's not the judge how many people in modern days have done things that would essentially put them in the situation that David would be and you think you've lost at all then work their way back into fellowship into activity into even contributing and leadership and being redeemed those are the highlights of the Old Testament that I love David is obviously as he is writing those Psalms that he is moving through his later years

is a man of spirit if I can see that in David if Bob Matthews could see that in David if Joseph Fielding Smith could see that in David that's a light for me all through the Old Testament right the way the Lord deals with his role in this text it's the same Lord dealing with Israel today he is not going to give up as it says in Isaiah the Guardian of Israel does not slumber nor sleep

he will never give up maybe the Savior is really good at saving maybe the Savior redeemer to

“liver is really good the advocate is really good at all of that stuff yeah maybe that's why he's the one”

no one else could have done it everything's returning the remnant is what would remain after the 701 BC attack Jeff this has been fantastic one we now know all the background we've been through the preface what do we do next one of the things to understand is how the book of Isaiah is put together obviously this chapter that belongs in context around 700 BC is bumped back to the beginning of the book just the way section one is bumped back from 1831 to the beginning of

the doctrine of the covenant but now you begin with chapter two as the natural beginning of Isaiah's prophecies you go all way through 66 going back a couple of hundred years scholars begin to look

at the differences between the first 33 or four chapters of Isaiah the last 25 chapters of Isaiah

and they say these look real different the ideas the conversation in Isaiah two through Isaiah 34 maybe even Isaiah 35 a little bit is like repent or die Israel has just not kept his covenant and the Lord's gonna allow the a series to smash you guys if you do not repent but all of a sudden with Isaiah 40 it's oh house of Israel be comforted you have value yet and some day Israel will be regenerated it change themes completely some of the conversation is different enough between this earlier

part of Isaiah and the later part of Isaiah that scholars naturally said maybe there are different authors at work here most scholars now do not attribute Isaiah 40 to 66 to be the writings of Isaiah of Jerusalem 700 BC not saying that some later-day Saints scholars aren't also multi-authorship scholars I know some I disagree with him from a later-day Saint perspective the book of Mormon

was always meant to be that tool which bears witness of the Bible the book of Mormon demands this

now I know there will be even some I own colleagues it will say we don't think it demands it in the

“way that you say it does well you have to come up with how it's possible otherwise nobody has”

successfully from my perspective there are four chapters in Isaiah that are not the product of Isaiah they are Isaiah 36 37 38 39 and they are simply a word-for-word repeat of material from 2 Kings 18 through 20 but what they do is they serve as an explanatory bridge between the chapters that are essentially the Repenter die chapters chapter one through 35 and the chapters after the destruction and deportation is done the chapters from 40 to 66 which are the

become for the Israel God still has a purpose and Israel will flourish and God will gather Israel in his own time those four chapters from 2 Kings tell the story of the

destruction of Judah and the salvation of Jerusalem they basically are right there in that 700 BC

they're in the later I would say 2 Kings 18 through 20 was written around 620 BC I look at it as a biblical scholar as part of the due to ouronomic history that we ascribe in the best conservative terms to the creation of the text that comes out of the reign of Josiah they make sense in terms of being around in 600 BC but they're not authored by Isaiah they're the bridge you have to recognize that there are two very different parts of Isaiah the first 35 chapters are this

“repent or die warning you have to also recognize how the theme changes so drastically starting”

with chapter 40 because chapter 40 recognizes the damage is done Israel is now scattered and we have

to look to how we progress forward but if you understand the context of the destruction of both kingdoms in those three a Syrian attack 732 722701 you understand why Isaiah 40 starts out with saying be comforted all my people that have been so decimated for Israel will be gathered again so this is how the book of Isaiah is put together and here's a visual on this it'll be available is chapter one is the preface it's written around 700 BC but it's kicked to the front because

is the preface then there's chapters 2 through 35 a big block that you can call Isaiah part one it's the repent or die part it's the part before 700 BC when there's still a chance for Israel but a last God will allow the Assyrians to attack and deport both kingdoms then you have the little bridge that's written in there from 2 Kings 18 through 20 that's Isaiah 36 through 39 then you have a big block that you can call Isaiah part two it's the part where Isaiah changes

themes because the situation is changed the kingdoms are gone now Jerusalem's all that's left there will be a dispersion of the tribes of Israel that will become lost because the loser identity and be blended in with the whole world over centuries and the promise in Isaiah 40 through 66 is that blending that dispersion and scattering of Israel will bless all Gentile nations

“now one of the things you should see happening in the second part of Isaiah is that a theme moves from”

about oh Isaiah 43 through 55 from talking about the gathering of Israel to an additional theme in 56 through 66 which is that the scattering of Israel involves the Gentiles and the Gentiles now are invited to the temples and invited to the house of Israel that's Isaiah simply following the theme the Lord's giving him which is that the entire earth all the families of the earth the Gentile families will be blessed in Genesis 17 where God says I will make you father of many

nations Abraham yet that actually says in Hebrew it says I'm home going which is I will make you a father of many Gentile nations go aim is the word for Gentile nations Jewish people use the word going to describe non-Jews means Gentiles well it's not just that Abraham would be a father many

of how modern going that's what Isaiah is moving as you move from 40 to 50 to 66 and especially

from 50 to 66 the idea that the covenants of Israel now disperse to all the Gentiles Isaiah is now

“pushing forward the theme of the eventual gathering of Israel from all over the planet that's how”

the book of Isaiah is put together what do you want to do next Jeff let's do Isaiah 2 it is the context of Isaiah 2 and I call it the great Jerusalem temple prophecy this then in Isaiah 2 is how Isaiah kicks off his book with a bang the greatest prophecy well I won't say it's the greatest prophecy in the entire book of Isaiah because I think that it has a parallel in Isaiah 11 and that's why I talk about the whole section of Isaiah here from Isaiah 2 to Isaiah 12 essentially

as a chiasum because it starts with a bang and it ends with a bang both have to do with the coming of the Lord God of Israel the Holy one of Israel this is the coming of Christ basically

“but we tend to read Isaiah 2 as Latter-day Saints in reference to ourselves in reference to a very”

valid application of Isaiah 2 a very valid likening of Isaiah 2 but we often don't see is that Isaiah 2

versus 2 through 4 are talking about a temple in Jerusalem the temple in Salt Lake which we always

use as the archetypal temple in the tops of the mountains which every commentary points to when we look at Isaiah 2 we don't often recognize that what we're doing with that which we're allowed to do in which we're encouraging to do is we're likening Isaiah out of context into where we're at now everybody fastener seat belts let's do Isaiah chapter 2 in context then how much more will appreciate that newly redesigned Salt Lake temple and every other temple we have in the

tops of our metaphorical mountains wherever we're at Isaiah 2 versus 1 is again an ancient chapter

heading the word that Isaiah the son of a Mozart concerning Judah and Jerusalem again doesn't say

Joseph and Zax and County doesn't say Ephraim and Salt Lake City it says Judah and Jerusalem verse 2 it shall come to pass in the last days it is a Latter-day thing Isaiah is not now talking about his own day they've got a temple in his own day is the temple of Solomon it sits there on the mountain of the temple the temple mount the hara bite in Hebrew he's talking about something that will happen in the last days when a temple will be at that place now both of you and many of your

listeners have been to that place to that temple mount in Jerusalem verse 2 it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house okay this is the hara bite yoyo the mountain of Jehovah's house will be established in the top of the mountains now this is about Judah and Jerusalem the mountain of the Lord's house is already known in Old Testament language it's the place where Solomon's temple stands we call it in English the temple mount in Hebrew is called hara bite which

means the mountain of the house they don't have to say the mountain of the house of Jehovah because that's understood they just say the house to temple the mountain of the temple that will be established in the tops of the mountains in other words in the latter days that place which itself sits among mountains as anybody's visited Jerusalem alone the temple mount there since between the amount of olives and between the high mount that is in the western part of the old city and sits

in the tops of the Judean mountains surrounding this is a great him that says Zion stands with hills

“surrounded remember that one that's true ancient Zion ancient Jerusalem was a mountain top location”

that sat among surrounding mountains the temple mount sits among its surrounding mountains but it's called the temple mount because the Lord's house is there the mountain of the Lord's house should be established in the top of mountains and should be exalted among the hills that's Isaiah seeing the same thing twice now look what it says all nations shall flow into it

every nation on earth will have a part in that latter day temple on that sacred spot

“all nations will flow into it that's not something that ever happened with Solomon's temple”

only people who were identifiably ancient Israelite flowed to Solomon's temple it's not a thing that has happened with Herod's temple in Jesus' day that was a Jewish temple this is a temple that will be there in that place that all nations will call theirs and that's because all nations will understand they are of Israel that will be universally accepted by everyone of Israel verse three many people will go and say come ye let us go up to the mountain

of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob understand they're they're identifying as Israel not only is it the mountain of Jehovah but it's the God of Israel Jacob is Israel

“people coming to there will know their heritage they will know who they worship”

and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths the temple that will be there in Jerusalem on that sacred mountain and I point out that there is no other location that qualifies as this spot in Isaiah 22 other than that one which is identified in the Old Testament as the mountain where that temple stands in the latter days and this is obviously in a day to come that's not anything that's happening right now we don't even

proselyt in Israel now but a day will come when a temple will stand there again people will go there to be taught by the God of Jacob he will teach us of his ways we will walk in his paths why because he will reign personally on the earth he is coming to Jerusalem in addition to wherever else he goes because he has interest everywhere including here he is coming to Jerusalem then of course you have the ending couple out of Zion shall go forth the law

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem now Zion is the synonym for Jerusalem Zion's the other word no Bible for Jerusalem Zion every time it occurs in the Bible refers to Jerusalem from its first occurrence in 2 Samuel 5 right through really until you get into the book

of Revelation in the New Testament Zion is always the synonym for Jerusalem the only time when Zion

in the Bible does not refer to Jerusalem is when it's used in the wider sense of the land in which Jerusalem exists the land of Zion or as Nephi would say the land of Jerusalem the Hebrew word for perfect in modern Hebrew is Mitsuyon and the way you say Zion in Hebrew is Tsiyon that Tsiyon not Tsiyon Mitsuyon perfect Zion means perfection a city of some type of perfection that's also what Jerusalem means because the word shalem is the word for wholeness or perfection

you rule shalem the city of wholeness the city of perfection we always say city of peace that's nice that's not exactly what it is it's not you rule shalom it's you rule shalem the old word for it in Genesis is simply Salem shalem not shalom shalem this type of inherent perfection and what happened to the city of shalem of Melchizedek they had reached a certain

“perfection but that's what Zion and Jerusalem are is they are synonym names for a city where the”

Lord's ultimate perfection is personified in his own presence and by those who are perfected by him but this passage this great Jerusalem temple prophecy goes on in verse four to say he will judge among nations rebuilt many people repent but at this point they'll respond to it they'll beat their swords into plow shares their spirits of pruning hooks nation will not lift up sword against nation neither shal they learn war anymore why because we are in that area that metaphoric

thousand years when the Savior reigns personally on earth and peace prevails we're looking at the coming of Christ and the millennial temple here in Jerusalem now understanding that we're talking

about Jerusalem is not something you see in our commentaries we always focus on our own temples here

that's okay because our own temples are the prelude to Christ coming our own temples are the

personally on the earth it's going to take a long time to get everything done brother Maconkey talks

“about that and his book the new witness for the articles of faith the gathering will go on”

and will ultimately be a millennial work but in any case the context of Isaiah 2 is Jerusalem in the

temple that Christ himself will ordain there when he comes everything else that we do with this passage is permitted and also inspired likening we look at our Salt Lake temple there and we see it in this passage we're perfectly justified in it but doesn't it make it even more delicious to see what the context is this now is not historical context this is future prophetic context this is telling you there's an end in sight and it's coming the other component of this is when you

get to Isaiah 11 when you get the branch of the stem of Jesse who will come that'll be the Messiah

“and he will usher in that same period when they don't learn more anymore Isaiah 2 starts a”

chiaism that will conclude in Isaiah 11 and in between Isaiah 2 verses 2 through 4 and the Isaiah 11 one it's one long totalage one long repent or die situation which is why I wanted to open with the great Jerusalem temple prophecy because by the time you get to verse 6 we're again into will you forsaken thy people the house of Jacob and your old flaws and problems now let's address those I love the way that the great Jerusalem temple prophecy ends up there with that little flourish

in verse 5 oh house of Jacob come ye let us walk in the light of the Lord now again this is what Nephi starts out with when he's going to quote a whole bunch of Isaiah for the purpose of his people learning to like and Isaiah unto themselves he starts with Isaiah 2 in 2 Nephi 12 he doesn't start with a preface that's not germane to where his people are at he starts with Isaiah 2 the natural start of the book and the great Jerusalem temple prophecy which again is a

sign of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon because most people don't understand that Isaiah 1 is not the beginning of the book especially at what a 23 year old in upstate New York Jeff Isaiah 2 1 through 5 there's the book end on this side and then I go to Isaiah 12 and there is a similar book end is that right then in between here is going to be a lot of repent repent repent let's just do Isaiah 12 now begins with Isaiah 11 it's a long book end because there's nothing in Isaiah 11 and 12

that actually is repent or die this is simply a longer triumphal prophecy if we hadn't artificially broken Isaiah into chapters beginning with 11 one you'd go all the way down to verse 6 of chapter 12 and it would be one big book end let's start with Isaiah 11 1 then we'll do the intermediary stuff so the opening was Isaiah 2 1 through 5 and then this is the other side

starting at 11 1 right in chapter 10 you've got basically a very dramatic and scary

geographical countdown to the threat against Jerusalem and Isaiah 10 what you see is essentially that the Assyrians are coming city after city and they're all in the Jerusalem area I got Mickmasch, Ramah, Gumi of Saul, Anathoth and in verse 32 it says he shall remain at nob the Assyrians he shall shake his hand against the Mount of the daughter of Zion in other words the Assyrians will do this there go I'm against Jerusalem I'm ready to get you but

he won't get him behold verse 33 of chapter 10 says the Lord of hosts shall lock the bow with terror like if he's got that hand up the Lord gonna cut that arm right off he's gonna smite the Assyrians you had this lesson already in second Kings 18 and 19 he smote the Assyrians

“he has a Christen and they didn't get Jerusalem knowing about that 701 BC attack is key and we”

don't teach it and we teach about the loss of the northern kingdom but we never focus on how badly

the southern kingdom was hit every city was destroyed 200,000 people deported and there are ancestors

I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake what is

“the purpose of that the purpose is the eventual blessing of the world with the lineage in the”

covenant of Israel the culmination of that will be the coming of the Messiah after Jerusalem at the end of chapter 10 is threatened but not taken you jump from that moment 700 BC all the way to the end times again when chapter 11 verse 1 there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots we know that this is talking about the coming of Christ that's not the coming of Christ in his mortality although chapter 11 verse 1 will be used by Matthew

as a reference to Jesus' birth in Bethlehem but chapter 11 is ultimately about the coming

of the Lord the rod in the branch who will be the Christ and at this coming what will happen

“verse 4 he will judge with righteousness he will judge the poor reproove with equity the”

meek of the earth he'll smite the earth with the rod of his lips with the breath of lips he shall slay the wicked jump to verse 6 the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the kid the calf and the young lion and the fat lean together and little child shall lead them this is the millennium this is the coming of Christ Christ is that rod in branch then you also see the same thing because chapter 10 does not just a couple it in lines but he does a couple it in paragraphs

verse 10 talks about the root of Jesse which will stand for the enzyme to the people that too will be Christ to it shall the Gentiles seek the actual Hebrew word is going again the Gentile nations but that's the gathering of Israel the Gentiles seeking Christ is the gathering of Israel

verse 11 goes on to say the Lord will set his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his

people from everywhere from the time of the Assyrians Egypt, Cush, Elim verse 12 he shall set up an enzyme now the word in Hebrew there is Ness which is a word for a signal flag but it's also the word used in Hebrew for a miracle he will set up an enzyme for the nations he'll set up a miraculous signal to the Gentiles and he will assemble the outcasts of Israel now think about that because Isaiah says things in couplets synonymous couplets that are synonyms says the same thing twice when he

says in verse 12 he will set up an enzyme for the nations the going the Gentiles and assemble the outcasts of Israel that's the same thing setting up a sign the great gospel the enzyme to the nation and gathering from the Gentiles is the gathering of the outcasts of Israel it's a synonymous couple of sarin verse 12 and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth that's

“a very important thing too because this is a third part of what is essentially a three for because”

you're gathering the descendants of lost Israel the going but you're also gathering people who

have always known they were Israel you're gathering Judah that is a very important component

of the latter day gathering of Israel the latter day saints are busy with the work of gathering lost Israel but the latter day saints are not gathering Judah the Lord himself is gathering Judah in his own way as section 45 says he is scheduled to appear to them in his own time and wait in such a way that verse 13 the envy of Ephraim shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off the envy of Ephraim is the hostility toward Ephraim

and Ephraim is basically the umbrella name for the gathering of lost Israel. Ephraim is the umbrella name for the church basically Joseph and Ephraim Judah is the umbrella name for Jews in all of our latter day saints speak that's correctly so even though the Jews are of all 12 tribes well so are the lost tribes of all 12 tribes that's not a problem but it says the envy of Ephraim shall depart which means the hostility toward the restored church will depart because when Christ comes

be cut off as Judah gathers they have a very adversarial situation that they have to address and

endure and in verse 13 going back to it just to close it off Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim here's an important thing I see right now in Christianity and

“general and even among some latter days saints a general disdain for Judah and honestly as a”

person charged with teaching about Jews and Judaism this is something that is a problem in our conversation as latter days saints were often very kind and very generous and brotherly to our Jewish friends yet in our conversation about Jews historically we're generally very negative we're very

negative about Jews when we teach the new testament we tend to be negative about Judah when we

teach the Old Testament we don't stop and think that the successes of the Old Testament were Jewish successes the church of the New Testament was all Jewish for decades all of those people that joined in the book of Acts with a very small number of Gentiles really maybe 5% of the church

“was Gentiles by the year 60 was mostly Jews it was a great success story who were all those people”

converted on the day of Pentecost who were all those people that were seeking after the hem of Peter who were all those people that were baptized at every holiday in the book of Acts they were Jews in general even the ones that didn't wind up being part of the church brought forth a heritage of the Old Testament that comes down through the Jewish ethos and what we would call the Judeo Christian tradition that blesses the world everywhere when I see in verse 13 that it

says Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim I see that those barriers that we still have are gonna break away we'll understand things better and we'll understand things

“better because we'll understand that we are all Christ's this is a marvelous thing where you get”

the branch coming it's the Messiah he gathers Israel he has dealt with the enmity toward Israel he has reconciled the various parts of Israel to each other and in chapter 12 in that day O Lord I will praise the though that was angry with me the whole ancient problem with Israel and even

ever since we've never really measured up can we really say as Latter Day Saints that we're measuring up

isn't the word repent still the first word that we need to do right the second principle of the gospel now if you're looking at people that get chastised by the Lord who in the history of the restoration was chastised more than Joseph Smith it opens with that section 3 yeah so that was angry with me that applies across the board but that anger is turned away and that was comforted me Isaiah 12 to behold God is my strength I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah

or in Hebrew it says yeah Yahweh is my strength and my song he has become my salvation therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation the water of salvation if this thing that verse reads it's very popular song in Israel a shoved in mind Bissa Son Mimane Haya Shua it's called the water song in Israel shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation a shoved in mind Bissa Son Mimane Haya Shua shoved in mind Bissa Son Mimane Haya Shua

my my my my my my hey my Bissa Son water water water want to be wonderful when everyone of all the house of Israel realizes that the water of their salvation is the living water I'm pretty sure this is the verse that Jesus was referring to when he referred to himself in John 4 as living water yeah during the Feast of Tabernacles when they drew water out of the pool of siloam and went back up to the temple isn't this

the verse they cited at least yeah I don't know if they're singing the little tune I sang but but yeah that's the verse that they quoted I was standing once by the pool of siloam trying to

Hank Smith walked by and took a picture of me it's so glad I have that picture and you put

“that one and get that visual in there oh I Hank I see I know I was like hey there's John”

by the way you're funny seeing you here the people you run into in Jerusalem you know I've run into Jeff and Jerusalem you say it's a small world well Jerusalem is where that small world meets it really is it's amazing I was walking out of get 70 once it saw this guy sitting get 70's pretty big area this area near gets 70 walk out man oh it's like Daniel Peterson hey brother Peter Daniel was Daniel Peterson sit there so that's so funny because I ran into Michael Wilcox right

there and that exact spot I directed you to follow him check it on Jeff one thing that bridge

from Isaiah 10 to 11 you did that for me and I'd never seen it before for some reason those

chapter headings really clear the slate and you're like okay now we're talking about a new subject but he's not he's saying I have to stop a Syria because this route is gonna grow the Messiah or else they would have been as Sodom and Gomorrah they would have been completely extinct but he's gonna preserve this route so the Messiah can come how long has that been there and I hadn't seen it I would love to spend time in Isaiah 5 with this beautiful parable it's not an alley where

he's simply a parable likeening one thing to another the people of Israel are likened to a vineyard which brings forth bad grapes now what's the Lord gonna do with this vineyard of bad grapes in Isaiah 5 well because he's tried again and again and again with it he's simply gonna allow it to be torn down and then he ends up by saying verse 7 the vineyard of the Lord of hosts his house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant they just wouldn't be righteous so he's gonna allow them to

be torn down by the way this is very poetic in verse 7 the Lord says he looked for judgment that behold oppression for righteousness but behold a cry that's basically with the covenant demands you do to have godly judgment and godly righteousness and God had looked to Israel for

500 years for this but it had never really worked in this vineyard either Israel or Judah

instead of judgment mishpat he got oppression mishpat they rhyme instead of righteousness said

“that ca he got a cry and out cried saaka everything rhymes in in Isaiah that's what's fun”

about his poetry Isaiah 5 is using this wonderful little parable of the vineyard basically to say the vineyard is toast because it just wouldn't bring forth good fruit by their fruits he shall know them this is very important where does that same come from well basically from here by their fruits they that we either live or die that's that beautiful one in Isaiah 5 that's easy people can do that John loves this what is the Hebrew for wild grapes

oh let me just get that for you because it's not grapes I mean we say wild grapes we don't have a word for it it's bell bell sheen that was sheen yeah musheem I learned it from Terry ball yeah you would because Terry ball is a botanist and loves that stuff then the our kale botany there's nothing quite like it I'm reading now from my Hebrew Bible and chapter 5 and we're going to go to verse 4 what it says is I was looking for on a vine grapes but what I got was bell sheen

which means something shameful and that's something shameful is able to be used with all kinds of things like bad fruit we had no way to make that work I was looking for grapes and I got garbage so King James has done here something that makes the literature of the King James version so beautiful instead of saying I was looking for grapes and got garbage fruit he just says wild grapes oh I have the grapes that's not that bad I was hoping for grapes like

I make good wine from but I got garbage and Jerusalem is like a harvest shack in a empty field what do you want to do next let's do six here we are then in the middle of this repent or die section like from about the middle of chapter two of Isaiah all the way through chapter 10 of Isaiah this

“crucial repent or die section Isaiah reports how he got this job everybody that I know”

understands is to be essentially Isaiah's first vision it's a parallel to what happens to the

prophet Joseph Smith and it happens very early in his life chapter six verse one says in the year

the temple that's a marvelous thing well the year that King Uzaya died is reliably in the

“due to height chronology 742 BC 41 years before the attack on Jerusalem we've been talking about”

it's at least 54 years prior to the first year that's possible for Isaiah's death King has

a Kaya dies in 687 BC he's succeeded by his son Manasa who was the worst king ever in the history of both houses of Israel Manasa is said to have executed the age of Isaiah who would be by that time 80s 90sish we're looking for a time when Isaiah is probably having this vision he's probably in his very young adulthood if we look at the prophet Joseph Smith when he's starting his work first vision when he's 14 in his 15th year he's working with Maronai from age 17 on

I would feel comfortable with looking at Isaiah as about age 18 to 20 in chapter six which means

“he's probably born sometime around 760 BC that will mean that he is easily 70 years old”

by 690 and into his 70s or maybe he's even born a little bit before 760 BC and he's into his 80s before he's executed by Manasa but in any case he's a young man and we already know in chapters seven and eight of Isaiah that he's having young sons he has a wife and he has young sons because one is named Shirya Shove and he takes him on a walk and go meets with King A has outside the walls and then he has a new little baby boy in Isaiah eight that will have the unfortunate name of my

hereshal al-Hashbaz destruction is coming quickly Mrs. Isaiah must have been unhappy with those names but we know that he's still a young fatherhood guy by Isaiah seven or eight to kind of put this calling in perspective this is the time when any of us would be called on a mission oh yeah this is the time when Joseph Smith was working with the angel Maronai to prepare to receive the plates age 18 and you can go one or two years aside of that but that's when Isaiah

sees the Lord sitting in his temple of course the angels the seraphemer in there and their singing holy holy holy and Isaiah is upset because he can't believe he's seen the Lord and he gets the message which in verse eight is whom shall I send to do what well to be God's warning to Israel whom shall I send verse eight Isaiah says here are my send me so

good you've got the calling you're willing first nine it says in Hebrew you hear indeed

but you don't understand you see indeed but you don't perceive I've given you all of this but you're just not getting it make the heart of this people fat make their ears heavy that's actually the wrong way of translating this the heart of this people is made fat their ears are made heavy they shut their eyes less they see with a eyes less they hear with their ears they've cut everything off basically they've shut me out God is saying and he's telling this to Isaiah because

this is the people he has to go teach to in other words Isaiah I'm sending you to a hard crowd

“and chances are they're not gonna listen but you have to go on the mission anyway did anybody ever”

feel like this on their mission yeah like this is now working try working in West Berlin in the 1970s slam slam slam slam slam this is the way that being a prophet of the Lord is and especially a young called emissary of the Lord we all go through it on those missions where we are not mostly received we're mostly rejected there's something that we ought to liken to ourselves in this Isaiah will have undoubtedly some successes but it's gonna be a hard mission and yet it's

got to be done because the Lord cannot visit the punishment without adequate warning Isaiah gets to be the Warner now why Isaiah because he's also a remarkable individual he is for the eighth century BC the Shakespeare of his era he will somehow develop a literacy in Hebrew

his writings in Hebrew are simply sublime there are other prophets that prophesied real good

but it's not like reading Shakespeare Isaiah in Hebrew is like reading Shakespeare he is a master of the language everything rhymes everything has meter our friend Vic Ludlow wrote Isaiah

“prophets here in poet and that's what he was he was an amazing poet Jeremiah he's a good”

workday prophet Jeremiah is a lot like Joseph Smith but Joseph Smith was not Shakespeare Isaiah was Shakespeare there's a reason maybe that he's chosen at this young age for a very hard mission and that is because the message to the house of Israel can be couched in language that is language for the ages language that is so sublime and captures the mission so well that Christ would say great are the words of Isaiah but is the tough mission you're going to go to this people who don't

here and won't listen to you won't convert to be healed and in verse 11 Isaiah says oh okay

Lord how long two years 18 months and the answer is this he answered and said until the

“cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the land be utterly”

desolate and the Lord have removed men far away and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land now we've discussed that because it was in the preface how everything's going to be desolate destroyed and deported and Isaiah your mission is until it's all gone Jeff could you do a quick translation for me because students frequently have the question on chapter 6 verse 10 it sounds like the Lord wants this to happen and I liked what you just said you're saying

that's not what it says make the heart of this people fat almost like he's saying but I don't want them to see what they're rising here with theirs but you did not put it that way yeah that's not the way that I read the Hebrew here it's more like the heart of this people is fat the word make is in the

second line but not in the first the heart of the people is fat in sassy their ears have been made heavy

they've shut their eyes it's them the re-morning is it's not the Lord that's caused this to happen they've done this themselves yeah they are shutting their ears so they can't hear sometimes we quote these verses that you get them quoted and paraphrase in the new testament as if the Lord intentionally made this so that's not what the language is really conveying it might be that you have a little bit on to part of the King James scholars in both the old in the New Testament giving the unspeared

duality a causation in other words God makes some people unspeared shall in this case because it's a Christian translation it's God made those Jews unfaithful there's a latent anti-semitism in many translations that is not really justified in terms of what the Hebrew says it was their own choice to have fat hearts and heavy ears very similar to the Lord heart and the heart of Pharaoh are you like no he didn't yeah yeah even in Hebrew that exists that's a literary advice but it's

“not even really here this is a King Jamesian thing hey I think you have a relative named Paul”

Hoskasin right isn't he I do yes that is my mother's one of my great mentors by the way right soul Paul Hoskins was so kind and good to me I quote Uncle Paul in my book I liked what he said here too he said because of peculiarities in the Hebrew language this has been translated make the heart while some scholars believe it should be declare the heart of this people to be fat that's in an article Paul Hoskasin wrote called a latter-day saint reading of Isaiah in the 20th

century in fact I have a note here that the calling of Isaiah seems to be so important that it's quoted or something close in Matthew in Mark in Luke in John and in Acts my favorite one is in Acts because it puts the responsibility for hardening hearts and for closing off ears on the people themselves not the prophet this is Acts 28 27 for the heart of this people is

close the eyes the people did less they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them it's amazing to me that

“this verse was so important that it's in Matthew Mark Luke John and Acts it's repeated”

this is the whole point this is what Jesus wants to do he wants us to be converted and to be healed the frustration is that people have close their ears and close their eyes and their hearts are insulated from the truth that's a favorite verse of mine let me if I could go back to that question of Lord how long for this difficult mission the answer that the Lord gives in

verse 11 and 12 is until everything's gone till everything's desolate until both the kingdoms of

Israel are dead and gone until every house of Judah has been destroyed all the people are desolate far away I have excavated at numerous sites in Israel where at the end of the eighth century everything was devastated with huge burn levels as the Israelites towns in both the north and the south between 730 to and 701 we're being destroyed I brought with me something interesting here today I want to show it to you see what that is that is a rock but it's a very

carefully shaped rock that is a sling stone that is an a Syrian sling stone out there are so many thousands of these that are found at the cities in the levels that were destroyed at the end of the eighth century BC that it's like finding civil war bullets at Gettysburg they're just everywhere I brought this as a reminder that the destruction we're talking about is real someone who was my very distant ancestor 2700 years ago was being attacked by the Asserians survived the attack to be

led away on a 500 mile march to be resettled among other people have to learn a different language have to be a state slave for the rest of their life and whose grandchildren would forget they were ever of Israel this is Isaiah to me is very personal now that we have seen how difficult Isaiah's mission would be that he was going to have to do this in a essentially is that he's a voice of warning that's going to be ignored sometimes as missionaries today we have to process that we aim for

success we're trying to gather Israel but not all of Israel is going to gather the elect will

“hear his voice and you have to reconcile yourself to the fact that sometimes those missions”

are going to be a little desolate like Isaiah's would yet somehow in your mission you will plant seeds that will develop in the future that's what you find in verse 13 the last verse of this chapter six of Isaiah's mission call unfortunately it's horribly translated in the King James version

and nobody can ever make any sense of it so let me read the horrible translation first

then I'm going to try to give you a better one verse 12 the Lord will remove men far away there'll be a great forsaking in the midst of the land 13 but yet in it shall be a tent and it shall return and be eaten as a tile tree and as an oak whose substances in them when they cast their leaves so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof what yeah it's supposed to be this beautiful message right it's supposed to be the good part of this destruction and it's gotten butchered

we had this discussion earlier is the word return which of course is a very into the Hebrew particle's shoved which can be used for turn or return but it's also the particle that is the

“basis of your shave which means to dwell rather than use it as return here which I think the King”

James scholars thought was justified because so much of what happens later in Isaiah.

the context of the 701 BC attack or even the context of much of the scattering, much of the deportations

what they didn't pick up is that Jerusalem not falling to the Assyrians would remain

“that's what you should translate return as in verse 13 is remain but if you want to make it”

really remain dwelling I would prefer to translate verse 13 as follows yet in it in what in the land last word of verse 12 is land yet in it meaning in the land shall a tent remain dwelling now that's going to be Jerusalem in 700 BC maybe 20,000 people were behind the walls of Jerusalem safely and didn't get taken away by the Assyrians whereas 200,000 150 were taken away by Sinakrib's own accounting that's about a tenth the tide of the kingdom of Judah would actually

remain safe in Jerusalem that's what God's going to start over with so let me do this again yet in it meaning in the land a tenth shall remain dwelling that will be the people of Jerusalem who were not conquered and didn't get carried away and it shall be consumed like an oak tree

“that's what a tile tree is actually an oak tree they have oak we call them to bore oaks in the land”

of Israel and they're kind of a low and shrubby tree so you don't see it translated oak in the way you think of the oak of Sherwood forest in England they put tile tree there but it's a little shrub oak it shall be consumed like an oak tree what will be consumed that tenth that remained in Jerusalem those people that remain in Jerusalem in 700 BC will grow up into a thriving society again over the next century by 600 BC Jerusalem will be full again it will be thriving

but what will happen is the Babylonians will come and will consume it the second line

it will be consumed like an oak tree is the Babylonian destruction and they will deport

“they will take the Jews away in 586 BC now Babylonian deportation was not like a Syrian deportation”

the Assyrians deported as a matter of policy and in order to strip identity Babylonians only deported as a matter of exception it wasn't to strip identity the Jews did not forget their identity and Babylonian captivity I would say if we might put it this way they had a very harsh rehabilitation program the Babylonians did they were saying to the Jews we're not trying to change you into something other than Jews we just need you to be loyal Jews loyal to the Babylonian

realm we're taking you from where we couldn't trust you and bringing you to Babylon where you will be still Jews but you're going to learn to be the citizens of the realm and by the way that worked the Jews thrived in Babylon so much so they may stay there Daniel thrive others thrive but there is a return after the Babylonian realm falls in 539 Cyrus in 537 directs Jews to

return to Jerusalem they do they build the second temple so we come to the third line here now you

read it says as an oak who substances in them as an oak tree which casts its own regeneration with its leaves the holy seed is in that regeneration now I've just done a different job from when they cast their leaves the holy seed it shall be in the substance thereof that oak tree course oaks send out a corns in those acorns are the new trees the Babylonians destroyed Judah in Jerusalem and take them away but they leave a corns because they don't become lost Israel they have acorns that will grow again and Judah grows back

even though the Babylonians will destroy it that growth back will be the holy seed I'm going to read this again and I'll send you a visual yet in it a tenth show remained dwelling and it shall be consumed like an oak tree and as the oak tree which casts its own regeneration with its leaves the holy seed is in that regeneration which means though Judah will be taken away by the

that regeneration in other words that tenth that remained in Jerusalem was there not for the people

sake but for my servant David's sake and David of course referring to the ultimate son of David

“the Christ that's what verse 13 is saying a tenth is going to survive in 701 BC they'll get”

taken away the Babylonians like an oak tree casting its leaves but it'll regenerate because oaks send out their acorns the holy one of Israel will come from that regeneration that's the rainbow that's the silver lining in Isaiah's dark cloud he will witness Jerusalem be spared and he will produce the document that will help not only with the eventual coming of the Messiah but with the ultra eventual finishing of the Messiah's work which will be the gathering of scattered Israel

in the last days that's the middle point of this great chias and it starts out with a great Jerusalem temple prophecy ends with the coming of Messiah and the gathering in the middle is Isaiah's mission call in which he's told that it's a tough mission but it looks forward to that Messiah and that gathering you've got hope in the beginning hope at the end and this hope in the middle

“and everybody who ever goes on a mission should realize that's what we're doing it's all about”

that gathering it's all about that hope every bad day you have remember Isaiah had a worse one he got saw an half yeah this is bad day let me back you up on that with Old Testament scholar Paul Y. Hoskusen he wrote as Paul states in Galatians 316 the seed referred to in the Old Testament is Christ and it is that seed that comprise 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 well that's why he's Paul Hoskusen because he's so smart I also like that Terry Ball said the tealtree and the oak tree can have all their leaves eat

enough you can even be cut down and they'll grow back yeah that shrub oak never goes away you can't

kill everyone around you Jeff this has been fantastic I like that we take in this little section of scripture said here's how it's organized here's a message of hope in the beginning a message of hope at the end right in the middle as Isaiah's call and it really is like you said it is rough things are going you're going to be ignored but there are going to be seeds of hope

“that will one day grow into the Messiah and into the gathering that's what we have to remember”

ultimately about our own missions is that there is a reason for all of this there's a reason to be faithful there's a reason to be joyful even with the bad days part of your mission extends to having

your own family your own children and sometimes things don't always work out the way you'd

like to but in the end God is at the helm and this is going to work it's going to work I was wondering how my wife I would work today because my daughter's home MTC you know one floor below me right now learning some French vocabulary out to French you know so well good luck because that's a tough mission it is her oldest sister went there it's kind of a fun thing that my oldest daughter and my youngest daughter going to the same mission it's kind of the

beautiful thing Jeff thank you we've got five lessons on Isaiah this year our first one you've really given us a good place to start you've also not only intellectually and with your scholarship but also with that message of we're a lot like Isaiah it's hard but the Lord is going to give us beauty for ashes out of this forest fires gonna come new growth John I'm excited I'm more excited now for these next four lessons yeah let's see with our eyes let's hear with our ears let's

understand with our heart let's be converted and be healed that's what the Lord wants well you'll get into those lessons and you'll hit those marvelous works and wonders and folks you'll have a great time with Isaiah all the way through just enjoy these weeks in September

your enthusiasm for Isaiah has proved highly contagious we want to thank Dr Jeff

Chadwick for being with us today we want to thank our executive producer Shannon Swarmson our

“sponsors David and Verla Swarmson and every episode we remember our founder Steve Swarmson”

like we said we've got more Isaiah coming up next week on follow him

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