The Lord calls prophets differently. Once out of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord speaking to them “and they saw him not, for they were shut out from his presence.” (Moses 5:4). Several of the prophets heard the voice of the Lord speaking to them. The list includes Moses hearing the voice of the Lord from the burning bush, Malachi, Haggai, Zephaniah, Joel, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Micah. Some prophets were given dreams and the interpretation of dreams such as Joseph and Daniel. There were also prophets who were given visions. That list includes Habakkuk, Amos, Nahum, Obadiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah.
Isaiah’s name means “The Lord is salvation.” Isaiah received his earthly call to be a prophet in 740 BC.[1] [Isaiah 6] This was the last year of the reign of Uzziah. Some scholars believe that Uzziah was a cousin to Isaiah. Regardless Isaiah was a regular visitor to the royal courts of four of the kings of Judah over a period of fifty years; Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Isaiah was both a prophet and a statesman. The historical records of this time come from three major sources: the second book of Kings, the second book of Chronicles, and the writings of Isaiah. Tradition records that Isaiah died as a martyr by being sawed in two at the hands of Manasseh (see R. H. Charles, ed., The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, 2:162; Hebrews 11:37). The ministry of Isaiah extended to about 690 BC. He was married and had at least two children. His father was Amoz, who was a different person than the Prophet Amos. Isaiah lived during a very eventful in the Bible.
Isaiah 1: The people of Israel are apostate, rebellious, and corrupt; only a few remain faithful—The people’s outward sacrifices and feasts are rejected because they are corrupt in their hearts—They are called upon to repent and work righteousness—Zion will be redeemed in the day of restoration. A key to understanding Isaiah is his difficult task of turning an apostate people unto the Lord. Again and again Isaiah will refer the once Covenant People to the blessing and cursings of Deuteronomy 28. The first fourteen verses of that chapter announce the blessing that God would grant them for obedience to his commandments. From verse fifteen to verse sixty-eight there is a declaration of the hurt, heartache, sorrow and calamities that would befall an apostate chosen people. Isaiah pleads with the people to repent. Isaiah hoped to achieve repentance by pointing the minds of the people to the teachings of the Law of Moses, the messages from the prophets, and by divine knowledge revealed to Isaiah of the coming Messiah.
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. [What better way for Isaiah to begin his teachings than to quote Deuteronomy 32:1,D&C 76:1] 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. [Under the Law of Moses rebellious children could be stoned to death. (Deut. 21:18)] 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: [Even a dumb ox knows who feeds it] but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people 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.
[One of curses that would come upon apostate Israel and Judah would be that other gentile nations would overrun them and they would be stricken and treated as slaves.]
5. ¶ Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head [This is one of the direct references that Isaiah makes to Deut. 28:35] 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. [It would be one thing if they were on the mend, but they were not] 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion [] is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, [Another theme throughout the writings of Isaiah is that the Lord will preserve a righteous remnant of Abraham’s seed. If God would not save that remnant then;] we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. [The Chosen People are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah.]
10 ¶ Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. [Outward performances without true devotion is mocking God.] 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my [Temple] courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 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.
There is hope through repentance. It is not too late, it only requires a willing heart.
16 ¶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge [Have Charity and Justice for] the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
The Hebrew word for Judgment is quite different from that in English. Judgment carries a positive connotation of Charity as well as Justice. Intent is as important as performance.
21 ¶ How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment [Charity and Justice]; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they [have not Charity and Justice] judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 24 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: [who are among the Chosen People]
In order for Zion to be established there will need to be a purge, a refiner’s fire leaving a faithful few.
25 ¶ And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: 26 And 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. 27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment [Charity and Justice], and her converts with righteousness.
28 ¶ And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.[Pagan orgies were carried out as a part of heathen worship in oak groves and gardens.] 29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. 30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. 31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Isaiah 2: Isaiah sees the latter-day temple, gathering of Israel, and millennial judgment and peace—The proud and wicked will be brought low at the Second Coming—Compare 2 Nephi 12.
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house [Temple] shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations [prior to 1978 all nations did not flow into the temple. This prophesy has fulfilled in our lifetime] shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge [Charity and Justice] among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they [those who were rebuked and repented] shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
6 ¶ Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, [East of Jerusalem were the Zoroastrians who worshipped the stars and believed in magic] and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they [the Covenant People] please themselves [marry out of the covenant] in the children of strangers. 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: 8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9 And the mean man [man of means or wealthy man] boweth [not][2] down, and the great man humbleth [not][3] himself: therefore forgive them not.
At the Second Coming there will be a universal accounting for sin and wickedness and there will be no place to hide.
10 ¶ Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: 13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, [Spain] and upon all pleasant pictures. 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. [This is the first of several references that Isaiah will make concerning the earth reeling to and fro and shaking the earth at the Second Coming. See also Isa. 13:13 and 24:19-20] 22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Isaiah 3: Judah and Jerusalem will be punished for their disobedience—The Lord pleads for and judges His people—The daughters of Zion are cursed and tormented for their worldliness—Compare 2 Nephi 13. Isaiah foretells the carrying away of Judah to Babylon, no one is spared. The high and noble and the carpenter are all carried away.
1 For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, 3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. 4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, [The Hebrew word here is Mantle] be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: 7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people. 8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
9 ¶ The shew of their countenance doth witness against them;[The look on their faces] and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. 10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
The social order is turned upside down, the Lord pleads for Charity and Justice.
12 ¶ As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. 13 The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. 14 The Lord will enter into judgment [Charity and Justice] with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15” What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?” saith the Lord God of hosts.
The spiritual backbone of most religions is the devotion of faithful women. Here Isaiah decries that the women have become proud and haughty and overtaken by their love for the things of this world.
16 ¶ Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab [depression] the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls [hairnets], and their round tires like the moon [jewelry in the shape of the moon], 19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets [perfume boxes], and the earrings, 21 The rings, and nose jewels, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples [shawls], and the crisping pins, 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils. 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent [a slave rope around the neck]; and instead of well-set hair baldness [a sign of humility and enslavement]; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning [branding;slaves were branded] instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. 26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. [The term gate here has a dual meaning. The first is the actual city gates of Jerusalem that will be left deserted, the second refers to the gates of life or the womb and since this paragraph deals with women it is more likely the latter.].
Isaiah 4: Zion and her daughters will be redeemed and cleansed in the millennial day—Compare 2 Nephi 14. This chapter continues to counsel the sisters in Zion. Because of the death and destruction of the men, women who lament because as the last chapter stated the gates of life or their wombs are devoid of children, they will be willing to live polygamy in order to bare children, showing how desperate they are to be mothers. In our day and time this seems improbable, however in the Mideast during the time of Isaiah it would have made a great deal of sense.
1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. [The inability to bare children] 2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.[The righteous remnant of women] 3 And it shall come to pass, that he [she] that is left in Zion, and he [she] that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment [Charity and Justice] , and by the spirit of burning [Holy Ghost]. 5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. [The Millennial day promises peace and safety for the sisters in Zion, the Lord will protect them and provide for all their needs.]
Isaiah 5: The Lord’s vineyard (Israel) will become desolate, and His people will be scattered—Wo (means sorrow and sadness) will come upon them in their apostate and scattered state—The Lord will lift an ensign and gather Israel—Compare 2 Nephi 15.
1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5 And now go to; [The Lord’s Chosen are called to help the Lord bless the lives of all of God’s children. However what more could the Lord have done. He can not take away man’s agency, but he can allow the consequences of there poor choices to be visited upon their heads.]I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment [Charity and Justice], but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
There are six “Woes” mentioned in the next two paragraphs. Those who exist to accumulate wealth and power are warned of the impending famine. The second woe is for the drunkards. The third woe is for those who delight in doing iniquity and taunt the Lord with their sign seeking. The fourth is for those who call good evil and evil good. The fifth woe involves those who are wise in their own eyes. The last woe was reserved for the dishonest and those who take bribes to cheat the honest from justice.
8 ¶ Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! 9 In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. 10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. 11 ¶ Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! 12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. 13 ¶ Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. 14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. 15 And the mean man [wealthy] shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: 16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. 17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. 18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: 19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
20 ¶ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. [The Lord’s hand is extended to lift up the repentant but it is extended to spank the rebellious.]
There is a dual interpretation of the following paragraph with opposite meanings both of which are true. It is much like a parable. The positive interpretation is that in the Last Days the Lord will set up a standard in Zion and gather the righteous from the four corners of the world to come to Zion. None will impede them. The land will be filled with darkness and sorrow but God’s Covenant People will be like a lion that no one can stop.
The second interpretation refers to the people of the six woes who are apostates. The Lord will use the wicked to punish the wicked. (Mormon 4:5). He will set up a standard and call upon the wicked armies from the four corners of the earth to punish the rebellious in Zion. None shall be able to stop them. They won’t take bribes and they will show no mercy.
26 ¶ And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: 27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: 28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: 29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. 30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Isaiah 6: Isaiah sees the Lord—His sins are forgiven—He is called to prophesy—He prophesies of the Jews’ rejection of Christ’s teachings—A remnant will return—Compare 2 Nephi 16. A “seraphim” is a “messenger angel” whereas a “cherubim” is a “guarding angel.” Also in Hebrew magnification is achieved by repetition. Rather than say holy, holier, and holiest, the Hebrew says “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Covering the face and the feet are signs of humility in the presence of the Lord.
1 In the year that king Uzziah died [c740] I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the [Temple] door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house [Temple] was filled with smoke. [Symbolic of the presence of the Lord].
Isaiah acknowledges his unworthiness before the Lord, however he is forgiven of his sins and hears the question from the Lord, “Whom shall I send” to serve as a prophet unto Judah. Because agency and love are the two grand governing principles of the universe, Isaiah volunteers. When asked how long should he serve Isaiah was told until the houses were without man.
5 ¶ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 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.
9 ¶ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat [Preach to them until their ears are stuffed with your words and their eyes are sick of seeing you], and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest [who knows, perhaps] they [will] see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking [apostasy] in the midst of the land.
13 ¶ But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Teil is a type of an oak tree that is very tough. A tithing or a tenth only of the people will comprise the righteous remnant. The faithful remnant will provide the foundation for the establishment of Zion in the Last Days.