Old Testament # 36
The Glory of Zion Will Be a Defense
Isaiah 1–6
Introduction
Years ago, before I taught early morning Seminary, I drove the young daughter of my boss the 20 minutes or so into Frankfurt so she could attend (her parents were away).[1]Brother Hawkes was teaching and I think it was then (and my memory is hazy) that I first connected Wagner with Isaiah. Now that is a stretch—by all accounts Wagner was anti-semitic—but the complexity of Wagner’s works seem to complement the complexity of Isaiah’s writings, when heard and read together. Try it! I’d recommend Parsifal or Lohengrin—here’s the preludes
And since I am reminiscing, I started this blog four years ago a few weeks after I started teaching. Looking back on it, I see that I posted an excellent article by Elder Bruce R. McConkie on understanding Isaiah—I have reposted it. We are going to be in Isaiah for a few weeks and I know some of you are groaning, and I am going try my best to make him accessible because—and if for no other reason—he is the most quoted prophet in our standard works and what he prophesied has more relevance to us right here and now than ever before. Thought-provoking isn’t it!
Last week we talked about standing against the tide of evil that is sweeping humanity, like turning around against a strong flowing current. We saw that if we were holding hands with others who were doing the same, it would be easier. There is another similar metaphor in this week’s reading—that of standing in holy places. I feel that every place where we take a stand against what we know to be wrong becomes a holy place: it sanctifies us as we sanctify it as a “no more” place. And just in case you are playing that Lohengrin prelude, just thinking of being in a sanctified place and listening to those soaring but gentle chords is having a strong emotional effect on me.
Isaiah lived through the reigns of four kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom based in Jerusalem): Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. His writing is difficult. It is often couched in poetic forms that the King James translators did a wonderful job in preserving, but we need the Joseph Smith Translation to help us. There is an Enrichment section in the Old Testament Institute Manual on Isaiah and I will put a link to that in the additional material.
1.1. Isaiah describes the condition of the world in the last days.
We rarely have time to go through all the assigned reading in our class, but I wanted to emphasize this section from the manual, because four years ago when I taught this lesson, I don’t think we could check all the boxes as vehemently as we can now:
- Isaiah 1:3–5(Rebellion against the Lord)
- Isaiah 1:11–15(Religious ceremonies without meaning or faith)
- Isaiah 2:7–8(Worship of worldly things and military security instead of the Lord; note that horses and chariots were used as instruments of war in ancient times)
- Isaiah 2:11–12(Pride)
- Isaiah 3:5(Oppression of other people and failing to honor older people)
- Isaiah 3:9(No shame for sin)
- Isaiah 3:14–15(Taking advantage of the poor and failing to care for them)
- Isaiah 3:16–24(Emphasis on outward physical beauty at the expense of righteousness and good character)
- Isaiah 5:8(Greedy desires to own more and more material things)
- Isaiah 5:11–12(Constantly seeking worldly pleasures instead of seeking the Lord and his work)
- Isaiah 5:20(Saying that evil things are good and good things are evil)
- Isaiah 5:21(Trusting in oneself instead of in God)
- Isaiah 5:24(Despising the commandments and word of God)
2. Isaiah counsels the faithful to stand in holy places.
Perhaps boldly, I stated above that any place where we take a stand against evil is a holy place, but specifically we can easily see that our meetings houses, temples, and homes are holy places.
Regarding the temple, President Monson once talked of an experience he had during the dedication of the Frankfurt Temple (I was actually sitting right in front of him in the Celestial Room when this happened). I won’t go into the story (and coincidentally the same Brother Hawkes who taught Seminary years earlier also features in the story), but his conclusion was as follows:
My beloved brothers and sisters, communication with our Father in Heaven—including our prayers to Him and His inspiration to us—is necessary in order for us to weather the storms and trials of life. The Lord invites us, “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me.” As we do so, we will feel His Spirit in our lives, providing us the desire and the courage to stand strong and firm in righteousness—to “stand … in holy places, and be not moved. . . . As the winds of change swirl around us and the moral fiber of society continues to disintegrate before our very eyes, may we remember the Lord’s precious promise to those who trust in Him: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. . . . As the winds of change swirl around us and the moral fiber of society continues to disintegrate before our very eyes, may we remember the Lord’s precious promise to those who trust in Him: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”[2]
Elder Bruce R. Porter describes what our homes can be like when we regard them as holy places:
When I was growing up, my father often led our family in gospel discussions around the dinner table. Only with the perspective of years do I understand today the contribution those family hours made to my own testimony. I rejoice in the prophecy of Isaiah that the time will come when “upon every dwelling place of mount Zion” there shall be “a cloud … by day, and … a flaming fire by night” (Isa. 4:5), when the Spirit of God will abide in the homes of His people continually.[3]
We often talk about how to make our home a holy place, but what responsibilities do we have with regard to our Stake Center and the Provo City Center Temple? Does what we do or do not do affect the ability of these buildings to be a “holy place”
Some years ago, our then Stake Presidency had several discussions on garment-wearing and what constituted defiling them. There is a juxtaposition to that promise that has to do with being true and faithful to our covenants—what the Lord ask of us, which we consequently accept responsibility for. I think we go to the temple to learn more about those covenants and perhaps to accept greater responsibility as we learn and understand. We come to Church to partake of the sacrament and to be instructed by the Spirit. When the Bishop asks us to be on time, or even a little early for Sacrament meeting, isn’t that an example of how we can help the building be a “holy place?”
3. Isaiah describes the gathering of Israel in the latter days.Isaiah 5:26–29
Astonishingly, when the manual was written, the Internet was in its relative infancy, and Mark Zuckerberg was in grade school. So the most the writers could say about this was that missionaries were going out to all the world. That is still true, but social media now allows us to send our message out to places where missionaries still cannot go. Not only personal messages, but General Conference, the recent Face to Face series, etc. I stream all my television over wifi; I only have a cell phone. We still have power delivered to the house, but that is all. So we can “gather” like never before.
4. 4. Isaiah responded willingly to his call to be a prophet. Isaiah 6.
I thought it interesting that we had all these wonderful chapters from Isaiah that led up to his calling. Why didn’t we start with that? But remember, with Amos, we didn’t know about his calling until Amaziah tried to banish him.
This is a beautiful, poetic chapter and we need to go to 2 Nephi 11:8 to see one of the reasons why it is important:
And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men.
Being in the cultural hall is going to be a challenge for our class, especially given its size now. But I hope and pray that this blog, going on its 4thyear, might help us all prepare a little better (especially me), so that we can truly learn from that most quoted of prophets, Isaiah.
Additional Material
The Institute Manual has an enrichment section on Isaiah, here
BYU Professor Don Parry put out a book called Visualizing Isaiahwhich you can read here
[1]She now has grandchildren! Makes me think of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” and wonder if I am going to wear my trousers rolled—look it up!
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