#3 - Liken Isaiah To Yourself
Isaiah Unplugged Series
A journey into the study of Isaiah and understanding his prophesy, particularly as they relate to you and to me.
Likening Scripture
Nephi truly understood the scriptures, and their application to his own life. When teaching his people, he said on multiple occasions he wanted to “liken” the scriptures to themselves. “And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him” (2 Nephi 11:2).
Applying Scripture to Yourself
What does it mean to liken the scriptures to yourself? It simply means to put yourself into the scriptures and apply their teachings into your lives.
Nephi loved to liken the scriptures to his people because they were a remnant or offshoot from the house of Israel, so he knew that Isaiah was speaking about his people. He could easily insert himself and his people in those writings. The Savior said, “For surely he [Isaiah] spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel” (3 Nephi 23:2). Nephi knew he was a descendant of the house of Israel
Nephi’s brother, Jacob, also knew his lineage. Jacob taught, “And now, the words which I shall read are they which Isaiah spake concerning all the house of Israel; wherefore, they may be likened unto you, for ye are of the house of Israel. And there are many things which have been spoken by Isaiah which may be likened unto you, because ye are of the house of Israel” (2 Nephi 6:5)
Are you of the house of Israel? If so, you can also take the writings of Isaiah and liken them to yourself. How do the writings of Isaiah apply to you?
Nephi said the following of his people:
I did read many things to them, which were engraven upon the plates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old. And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning
1 Nephi 19:22-23
As you read the book of Isaiah, does his prophecy help to “more fully persuade” you to believe in Christ? Imagine that Nephi is speaking to you directly as he continues to address his people.
Wherefore I spake unto them, saying: Hear ye the words of the prophet, ye who are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch who have been broken off; hear ye the words of the prophet, which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off; for after this manner has the prophet written
1 Nephi 19:24
The Plain and Precious Things
When Nephi was commanded to make a second set of records, he did it not knowing what the Lord may have in store for those plates. He did know that he was to write only sacred things upon that second set of plates. He records, “I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord” (1 Nephi 19:3).
Nephi had limited space on those second plates he crafted. Why did he copy so much of Isaiah’s text over when the records were already written in the Brass Plates? Nephi wrote, “Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred” (1 Nephi 19:6). To Nephi, the writings of Isaiah were deep and personal. They precious to him.
The writings of Isaiah were also precious to Mormon. Mormon, the ancient Nephite historian, compiled the records of his people which spanned over 1000 years of their history. After he had completed his compilation, he found the writings of Nephi and added them onto the records he had already completed. In the second paragraph of the title page of the Book of Mormon, Mormon recorded the intent of the record was to “show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord…, And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
After the death of his father, Moroni took up the record of his father and continued the work his father started. Moroni records a profound prophecy of our day, stating that he has seen our day. In his plea to us to come to God, he writes, “Search the prophecies of Isaiah. Behold, I cannot write them. Yea, behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, shall cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made with them” (Mormon 8:23).
The covenant Moroni mentions is the covenant that is also embedded in the book of Isaiah. Why would Moroni exhort us to read Isaiah’s prophecy?
Hidden Truths in Isaiah - Nephi’s Viewpoint
Nephi also saw our day. In his vision of the events that would lead up to the second coming of the Lord, he described everything he is allowed to share (see 1 Nephi 11-14), but he was restricted from writing the full account of what he saw. Instead, he sees in vision John the Revelator, whom he is told “the Lord God hath ordained…that he should write them” (1 Nephi 14:25).
Years after that vision, Nephi fills both of his books with word-for-word transcriptions out of Isaiah’s records from the brass plates. He ends up quoting more than 25 percent of Isaiah’s book, carefully hand-carved in golden sheets of metal. That is a lot of work. What truths are embedded in Isaiah’s writings that are so precious to Nephi? What is Nephi trying to tell us through Isaiah’s writings about what is to going to happen?
There are a few themes Nephi centers on as he transcribes Isaiah’s writings and gives his own commentary of those words, including 1) the physical redemption of his people, and 2) a warning of things to come for his people, and 3) a warning of things to come for our people.
1) Physical redemption of his people:
Why did Nephi copy specific chapters of Isaiah? We gain the most insight from reading his own commentary on Isaiah. He quotes Isaiah chapters 48-49 (see 1 Nephi 20-21), which are about the scattering and gathering of Israel. He says the following about those chapters. “And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture” (1 Nephi 22:25).
Keep in mind that Nephi had seen the destruction of his people 1000 years before it happened, then he sees in vision that his seed and his brothers’ seed are going to be scattered. This passage is going to be a comfort to Nephi because it provides hope that his own posterity will be brought back to God. He had just transcribed the following from Isaiah’s writings:
Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
1 Nephi 21:22-23 (see also Isaiah 48:22-23)
Nephi summarizes in his own words what he believes is important in Isaiah 48-49 using a chiastic pattern of writing, encompassing the ideas of Isaiah’s quote above (see 1 Nephi 22:8-12). We see in his summary that Nephi shows that the covenant of the Father (C/C’) will be made fulfilled unto those who are of the house of Israel (B/B’) through the gatehring of those scattered tribes by the Gentiles (A/A’) after the Lord makes bare his arm in the eyes of all nations (D/D’).
A And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.
B And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel,
C unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
D And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless he shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations.
D’ Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations,
C’ in bringing about his covenants
B’ and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel.
A’ Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
2) Warning of things to come
Nephi was commanded not to write what he saw in vision. Instead, he is shown John the Apostle who will write the details of this vision. “And behold, the things which this apostle of the Lamb shall write are many things which thou hast seen; and behold, the remainder shalt thou see. But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write; for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God that he should write them. And also others who have been, to them hath he shown all things, and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own due time of the Lord, unto the house of Israel” (1 Nephi 14:24-26).
Just as a side note, notice how he is told others have also seen the vision and they have written them and sealed them up. We know a few of these records, such as the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. This is supposedly the writings of the brother of Jared. Another record is undoubtedly the book of Isaiah, which has been sealed up in plain sight for thousands of years.
Though Nephi was commanded to not write what he saw, he was very clever in relaying that vision in a coded message. Since he couldn’t write it down, he quoted someone who did see it, Isaiah. Below are some of the chapters that Nephi transcribed and one-line synopsis of the chapter. See if you can piece together what Nephi is trying to forewarn his people and ours.
The Warning, the Scattering, the Gathering of Israel (Isaiah 48-49)
First, Nephi quotes Isaiah 48-49. These two chapters give a full overview of the rebellious state of Israel, the tribulations and afflictions that rebellious Israel will receive, a call for the repentant to come back to the Lord, the call of an end-time servant who will be a light for Israel and the Gentiles, the establishment of a Zion place and people, and the gathering of scattered Israel back to Zion and to the Lord. Here are some brief quotes of some of those events.
A Call To Rebellious Israel (Isaiah 48:1-2 or 1 Nephi 20:1-2)
Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name.
A Call To Flee Babylon (Isaiah 48:20 or 1 Nephi 20:20)
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
A Call To the Outcasts of Israel (Isaiah 49:1 or 1 Nephi 21:1)
And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
Establishing of Zion (Isaiah 49:13-16)
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
The Rescue and Gathering of Scattered Israel (Isaiah 49:22-25 or 1 Nephi 21:22-25)
Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their faces toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord; even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for the mighty God shall deliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord, I will contend with them that contend with thee, and I will save thy children.
The Condemnation of Israel and the Call To Rise Up (Isaiah 50-52ish)
After Nephi was commanded to make the new plates, he transcribed Isaiah 50-51, and a couple verses from chapter 52. In a way, this is a continuation of the quotes he did before, but it is on the new plates. Here Isaiah almost repeats himself, but in different words. Remember, the ancient prophets did not write linearly, but concentric.
Nephi records the condemnation of Israel, the comparison of rebellious Israel to the righteous end-time servants, the call to the righteous to heed God, the call of the end-time servant to stand up and be a Davidic savior, a call to oppressed Jerusalem to throw off their oppressor, and a call for Zion and Jerusalem to stand up and sit enthroned in glory.
Condemnation of Rebellious Israel (Isaiah 50:1-2 or 2 Nephi 7:1-2)
Yea, for thus saith the Lord, Have I put thee away, or have I cast thee off forever? For thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement? To whom have I put thee away, or to which of my creditors have I sold you; yea, to whom have I sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away; wherefore, when I came there was no man; when I called there was none to answer. O house of Israel, is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem; or have I no power to deliver?
A Call To the Righteous Disciples (Isaiah 51:7 or 2 Nephi 8:7)
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
A Call To the Davidic Servant (Isaiah 51:9-10 or 2 Nephi 8:9)
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
A Call To Slumbering Zion and Jerusalem (Isaiah 51:17 and 52:1-2 or 2 Nephi 8:17, 24-25)
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
The Fall of Rebellious Israel and the Rise of Repentant Zion (Isaiah 2-14)
The biggest section Nephi transcribed from Isaiah’s writings was chapters 2-14. Almost in a chiastic pattern, Isaiah starts with the fall of rebellious Israel (Isaiah 2-3) and ends with the fall of Babylon (Isaiah 13-14). Yet his story progresses concentrically from the condemnation of rebellious Israel to the fall of Babylon and the world, from the call of prophets to preach to a closed-hearted people to raising of the Davidic servant to establish Zion, from the scattering of Israel and oppression of the people to the liberation and scattered Israel and the establishment of Zion, and finally to the reign of millennial peace upon the earth.
Call To Rebellious Israel (Isaiah 2:5-6 or 2 Nephi 12:5-6)
O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways. Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
Fall of the Rebellious People (Isaiah 2:13-16 or 2 Nephi 12:13-16)
Yea, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, for they are high and lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan; and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills, and upon all the nations which are lifted up; and upon every people, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
Continued (Isaiah 3:1-2 or 2 Nephi 13:1-3)
For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole staff of bread, and the whole stay of water, the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children unto them to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
Fall of the Daughters of Zion (Isaiah 3:16-24 or 2 Nephi 13:16-24)
Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretchedforth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet; therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of tinkling ornaments, and cauls, and round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils. And it shall come to pass, instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth, burning instead of beauty.
Fall of Babylon (Isaiah 13:1-2, 6-9 or 2 Nephi 23:1-2, 6-9)
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Lift ye up my banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt; and they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
The Call of Prophets to Prophecy to the Hard-Hearted (Isaiah 6:8-9 or 2 Nephi 16:8-9)
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not.
Raising Up a Davidic King and Servant (Isaiah 7:14-16 or 2 Nephi 17:14-16)
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
Anointing the Davidic King and Servant (Isaiah 9:6-7 or 2 Nephi 19:6-7)
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there is no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Gathering of a Scattered Remnant of Israel (Isaiah 10:19-22 or 2 Nephi 20:19-22)
And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, yea even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
Establishing Zion and the Continued Gathering (Isaiah 11:10-13 or 2 Nephi 21:10-13)
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
Induction Into Millenarian Peace (Isaiah 11:6-9 or 2 Nephi 21:6-9)
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
It is evident from Nephi’s transcriptions of Isaiah’s writings that he had a clear understanding of Isaiah’s vision. He truly likened those scriptures to himself. Can you piece together what Nephi saw in Isaiah’s writings? What do you see in Isaiah’s writings? How will you liken these plain and precious truths to yourself? May God bless you as you ponder how Isaiah’s prophecy may deeply impact your life and bring you closer to Christ