If you haven't listened to the LDS gospel library narration of the scriptures, I would strongly recommend it. I have found over the last few weeks that passages from the Old Testament that are rather hard to comprehend when reading make beautiful impressions (like poetry) when listened to. The book of Psalms is a beautiful illustration of a heart that is dependent on the Lord that I would like to emulate. On the other hand, the book of Isaiah is a stern call to repentance.
Nephi put it this way:
Nephi didn't just tell them what to read, he read it to them. The interesting thing to me, is that I have learned far more from reading Isaiah aloud to my young children and from hearing it read by the gospel library narrator than I have from reading it myself or reading commentaries. Maybe Nephi is on to something!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 19:23)
The second thing is that he read for the intent that they would profit and learn by the experience. He did this by likening them unto his situation, or in other words, treating the messages as though they were meant for him and his family to act on. Now I don't really see God sending prophets and recording scripture with the intent to tell people they are awesome, so the repentance part is what needs to be applied. That means looking at the call to repent as more than just a warning that other people (who were obviously more wicked than I am) were eventually destroyed because they didn't repent when warned. If I treat everything as a warning to me, I might be able to identify areas of personal improvement.
With that background, here is what happened when I turned on Isaiah chapter 1 this morning.
From verse 2, this is a message from the Lord, lamenting that he has nourished and brought up children that have rebelled against him. (I guess that might apply to me, since I have been nourished by the good word of God, and brought up in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Okay, Isaiah has my attention.)
From verse 3, the ox and ass know their owner and how they are fed, but Israel does not know, they don't even consider. (To me, this sounds like a call to really know God better, not just assume knowing about him is sufficient.)
Verse 4 identifies the target audience as "laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters; they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward." (Okay, at this point I am inclined to hope he isn't really talking about me, but what if he is? Laman and Lemuel thought the people in Jerusalem were righteous just before the destruction from Babylon, the priests of Christ's day thought they were doing well when they took his life to stabilize the status quo. It doesn't hurt to assume I might not be doing as well as I think either.)
From verses 5 and 6, "Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more; the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." (This situation seems pretty hopeless. This is the end game, there doesn't seem like much to save. No wonder people didn't believe true prophets back then. Social science shows that we judge ourselves on our good intentions and others by what they actually do. Is the Lord really saying that we are so far gone that we don't even see how much we need to be healed? I can understand that no one would stand for radical medical treatment if they didn't believe it was necessary. They would reject the help, considering it to be an attack instead.)
Verses 7-9 seem to be a prophecy of things to come because our country is not yet desolate, our cities are not burned with fire, nor are we devoured and overthrown by strangers. It also appears there will be a small hope, which rests in the "daughter of Zion" that is left in the midst of the desolation. Without this "remnant", the desolation would be complete. (For me, this is a reason to hope. The remnant daughter of Zion may not be identified until after the destruction, but there is still hopefully time to repent and be numbered with that remnant. I don't believe membership in any particular organized group is sufficient to be considered part of the remnant. Only by complying individually with what the Lord expects can I have any hope of being preserved when the whole body/nation is pretty much beyond repair.)
From verses 9-10 the group (which I am likening unto whatever group I belong to) is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. Now the rulers and people are told to pay attention to the word of the Lord and the law of our God.
At this point in the post, I would remind any readers that anything I write on my blog is the result of my own thoughts at the time I write. The next set of impressions that came as I was listening this morning will be applied to my religion because that is the one I know and can relate to. I would caution anyone who would not want to read possible interpretations of what God may object to in our religious worship to stop reading now, or to skip to a dividing section line that looks like this:
______________________________________________________________
Verses 11 and 12 seem to apply most closely to temple worship. Why do I believe this? Because it refers to sacrifices and burnt offerings. These were offered at the temple. While the sacrifice of our animals is not part of temple worship today, we are commanded to sacrifice. The first question asked is "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord" He is "full of the burnt offerings", and "delight[s] not in the blood of bullocks. or of lambs, or of he goats." (So what is the purpose of the MULTITUDE of our sacrifices? Does the Lord really require us to go to the temple as often as possible? I don't have an answer, but it is a thought-provoking question.) The next question echoes this idea with "When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?" (I firmly believe the Lord does want us to appear before Him, he wants us to know him personally and walk with Him daily. The question then appears to be WHO REQUIRES us to "tread his courts"? As I continue to think about this, I feel more that his objection is not that we have certain places where we go to draw near to him, but the idea that going somewhere specific is necessary to walk with him. It isn't. He wants to be with us day by day, hour by hour, not simply on special occasions when we have removed ourselves from our daily living.)
Verse 13 continues with the religious concerns, but not necessarily in a temple setting. "Bring no more vain oblations..." (This one I thought meant something like pointless offerings, the dictionary seems to confirm this idea. Vain can be used as useless, pointless, futile, and producing no result. Oblations are things offered to God.) "Incense is an abomination unto me..." (I usually think of prayer when incense in mentioned.) "The new moons and sabbaths,..." (New moons happen once a month, so I think of fast Sunday, sabbaths are weekly, so that is how I spend my Sundays.) "The calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." (That might be conferences at any level of organization, whether ward, stake, regional, or general. It might also be ward or youth activities, since I have been more involved in the planning of those than conference meetings. Why not throw in presidency meetings too? My best guess for "solemn meeting" might be sacrament meeting,since it is the most important meeting we attend.)
Verse 14 hits the subject again. "Your new moons (fast Sundays) and your appointed feasts (Christmas and Easter?) my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them." (There are probably many people who would agree with this sentiment, at least some weeks. It would take a lot of nerve to say that publicly, though.)
Verse 15 and 16, "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;" (Well, the most I can say after everything that has already been said is that the Lord doesn't want to embrace dirty kids any more than I do. Wash up, make things right, then we can talk.)
Verse 17 is the contrast showing what he WANTS us to be doing instead of what we have been doing. "Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." (That sounds a bit like James 1:27, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." I admit, I have been much better at attending the temple, and church meetings than I have at seeking out people who need comfort and aid.)
This has been hard to write. The question it leads me to ask is: Is it possible that God is unimpressed by our formal meetings and frequency of temple worship when there are still so many people in need of care. I love the emphasis from Women's Conference on finding a way, individually, to reach out to refugees. To my understanding, that is what is needed before we start planning for mansions in the next life.
___________________________________________________________
Welcome back. In verse 18 we get the good news, the invitation to repent. It isn't too late.
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Thank heaven! There is still hope if we repent and return to God. The previously described destruction might averted, and we can be among the remnant that is prepared to meet Christ.)
Verses 19 and 20 repeat the conditions of reprieve. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (This isn't just Isaiah's imagination or the product of some internet conspiracy theorists. THE LORD hath spoken it!)
The next part of the chapter seems to deal more with the political aspects of the country. In verse 21 the faithful city is become a harlot; where once lodged judgment and righteousness, now reside murderers. (I think this could easily enough refer to the center of our national government, although the comparison may extend to cities throughout the country.)
Verse 22, "Thy silver is become dross (worthless, like rubbish), thy wine mixed with water." (I think that is a pretty exact description of our fiat money supply.)
Verse 23 describes a stereotypical politician: "Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them."
We got ourselves into this mess, so what will happen now? "Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies." (Great, if the description of the country fits, we are now God's enemies and adversaries. I know how that story ends.)
First the punishment in verse 25, "And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin." (At the very least, our money will be as worthless to us as it really is. Bye Bye prosperity.)
Then to complete the story, "I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning; afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. (That sounds good.) Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness." (So this takes place at a time when the remnant daughter of Zion from verse 8 and 9 has grown and others have converted to her ways.)
The bad guys also get a final nod: "And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water." (I don't know why the shift into garden metaphors here, but here is what I found. In 2004, the US Congress passed a bill naming the oak as the official tree of the United States. The oak is s symbol of strength and longevity. People look to it for protection and it was the meeting place of druids and witches. They are slow to mature, but can live for over 1000 years. I think the reference to oaks has to do with a desire to trust in outward power and strength. However, the oak leaf will fade, and the ornamental garden will dry up. Confounded means to be suddenly surprised by unexpected events.)
At the end of it all, "The strong shall be as tow (dry straw for starting fires), and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them." (That's how it ends. There is no middle ground, only people who repent, and those who have desired to become oaks and have trusted in oaks. They will be burned.)
This has been an amazingly educational exercise. I had no idea when I started how hard it would be to actually commit my thoughts into writing with the knowledge that someone might read it some day and be incredibly offended at my plain text interpretations of what Isaiah might be saying to someone in my shoes. I understand better why Laman and Lemuel were so offended at Nephi. He was using the same source, doing the same thing I am, except he really had a vision of things to come and wasn't just guessing.
I guess the only thing I have left to say is a warning. If you search Isaiah (as Christ told us to) and liken the scriptures unto yourself (as Nephi did), you might come to some pretty out of the box interpretations.
