Isaiah 55

This chapter has many phrases and ideas that are very similar to Jacob's and Nephi's writings in the Book of Mormon.

The Free Gospel Feast

Isaiah admonishes everyone to partake of the Gospel. It is free and costs us no money, yet it satisfies more than any work we can do on the earth.

I love the words, "hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." (Isaiah 55:2). That passage sounds so much like Nephi when he commanded us to, "[feast] upon the word of Christ" (2 Nephi 31:20). There are also other passages in the Book of Mormon that command us to "feast" (see 2 Nephi 9:51, 2 Nephi 32:3, Jacob 2:9 and Alma 32:42).

When we ate our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, I could hardly stand up I was so full of food. Despite feeling so full, I could hardly wait until I was hungry again so I can eat more! How often do we spiritually eat until we are so full? I suppose if we were stuffing ourselves with spiritual ham all the time, the Lord would not have told us so often to "feast" on his words.

Sure Mercies of David

As the footnote indicates for Isaiah 55:3d, the "sure mercies of David" means the resurrection. The footnote references Acts 13:34 which refers to the resurrection. Psalms 89:2-4, 27-29 also refers to Jesus being the "mercy of David" which infers the resurrection as well.

Seek the Lord

Isaiah 55:6 says, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." I remember my mom pointing out a scripture to me while I was in high school. It was D&C 88:83 which says, "He that seeketh me early shall find me, and shall not be forsaken."

To me, these two passages mean that we should learn the teachings of Christ and we should not put off that task for some other day. They hint at an urgency of repenting and learning the Gospel. As a teenager, I took D&C 88:83 to mean that because I had taken the time to study the scriptures and to "be a good kid" that the Lord would hold a special place in his heart for me. Maybe that was just one teenager's view of feeling like the center of the universe. But today those scriptures mean we should be more diligent in our personal repentance and scripture study and prayer and that we should feel an urgency to "seek the Lord."

Isaiah 55:7 goes along with verse 6 in that we are called to repent.

Boomerang Effect

Isaiah 55:10-11 talks about precipitation from the heavens and how water does not return back up in the form of water, but in the form of fruit and bread. The water helps seeds grow which in turn grows into food for man to eat. So shall the word of the Lord go out of his mouth. It will "not return unto me void" but will come back as sanctified children of God. Alma 41:14 talks about this "boomerang effect" in that the thing you send out will come back. But the form in which it comes back depends on the person who sent it. The Lord, being perfect, sends out his word and in return, he will yield great and good fruit.

Isaiah 26 & 27

The 26th chapter of Isaiah contains some wonderful verses about trusting in the Lord and prayer.

Trust in the Lord

The first verse about trusting in the Lord is found in Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." To me, this simply means that if I trust in the Lord and constantly remember and think of the Lord, then I will have true peace in my life.

Ezra Taft Benson referenced this scripture once in a talk. He said, "Let your minds be filled with the goal of being like the Lord, and you will crowd out depressing thoughts as you anxiously seek to know him and do his will. “Let this mind be in you,” said Paul. (Philippians 2:5.) “Look unto me in every thought,” said Jesus. (D&C 6:36.) And what will follow if we do? “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.” (Isaiah 26:3.) (Ezra Taft Benson, “Do Not Despair,” Ensign, Nov. 1974, 65)

We trust in the Lord when we strive to remember him in all that we do. This is another reason why we need to partake of the sacrament each week. We will only have the Spirit with us as we "always remember him" (see Moroni 4 & 5). If we can train our mind and heart to stay on the Lord, then remembering Him will be much easier.

One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths."

But how do we trust in the Lord and keep on mind focused on Him?

Prayer

Isaiah 26:9 holds the answer to this question. "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me I seek thee early."

President Thomas Monson often likes to quote the hymn "Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire" (Hymn 145)

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast. …

O thou by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way!
The path of prayer thyself hast trod;
Lord, teach us how to pray.

The Resurrection

Isaiah references the resurrection in this chapter as well. "They dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead" (Isaiah 26:19).

This free gift from God is granted unto all regardless of the life we have lived on this earth.

Leviathan

To point out how little I know, I've always know that Leviathan was a deep sea monster and that there was a movie made about it. I had no idea it is a creature that has roots in the creation and ancient biblical texts.

Isaiah 27:1 says, "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."

As Ludlow points out, the footnote in the LDS KJV notes that leviathan is "a legendary sea-monster representing the forces of chaos that opposed the Creator." The forces of chaos are Satan and his followers.

The Wikipedia entry on Leviathan goes into more detail about how this creature is described in Judaism and Christianity.

Isaiah 24 & 25

An Empty Earth

The main theme of Isaiah 24 is that the earth will become desolate.

Isaiah 24:1 reads, "the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof."

Isaiah 24:3 reads, "The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled."

Isaiah 24:6 clarifies, "the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left."

Isaiah 24:20 also reads, "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard" (see also D&C 45:48; 49:23; 88:87).

We don't know how the earth will be emptied of its people and become desolate, but we do know that many prophets have foreseen the day the earth will be burned. Some suggest it will be by nuclear destruction. Others may think it will be by global warming.

When I read scriptures as these, I always recall 2 Peter 3:10 which states, "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (see also 3 Nephi 26:3; Mormon 9:2). D&C 101:25 goes a bit further and adds, "all things shall become new, that my knowledge and glory may dwell upon all the earth."

Why an Empty Earth?

Isaiah explains why the earth will become desolate. He teaches that the earth is "defiled under the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hat the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left" (Isaiah 24:5-6).

I like how Ludlow explains this verse. He says, "Each gospel principle, commandment, and ordinance was designed by God to help his children grow spiritually. Isaiah emphasizes that their changes have occurred upon three levels of the gospel: the knowledge level (teachings, instruction, or understanding), the action level (laws, commandments, or guidelines), and the contractual level (covenants, ordinances, or promises)" (242).

Not only will the earth become desolate because her people disobey the gospel, but as verse 6 states, "they that dwell therein are desolate." To me, that means their souls become void or are empty and of no worth. The destiny of the earth is linked to the destiny of our souls. If we care for our souls, we will care for the earth.

Many voices today declare that mankind has caused global warming. These same voices advocate a change in everyone's lifestyle. They demand everyone drive cleaner cars, use less and recycle more. Instead, if we want to "save the earth" we must clean the inward vessels first (Matthew 23:25-26).

Zion

Isaiah 24:13-14 talks about those who will be saved in the last days. "When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea."

I searched to see if there was any reference to Zion with regard to these two verses, but I did not find anything. But as I read these two verses, it seems to me that Isaiah saw the establishment of Zion.

A Glorious Worked Finished

In Isaiah 25, Isaiah teaches that we will rejoice in the last day when the victory over death and sin has been fully achieved. Christ will "swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth" (Isaiah 25:8)

There will be many who will have waited patiently for the Lord. They will say, "this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation" (Isaiah 25:9).

Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation.
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam.
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,
And shortly the hour of redemption will come.

In faith we'll rely on the arm of Jehovah
To guide thru these last days of trouble and gloom,
And after the scourges and harvest are over,
We'll rise with the just when the Savior doth come.

Then all that was promised the Saints will be given,
And they will be crown'd with the angels of heav'n,
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
And Christ and his people will ever be one.

(Hymns, "Now Let Us Rejoice", 3)