Why Isaiah Is Hard to Understand
I want to say a few things about the words from Isaiah I’ve just written down. The truth is, Isaiah’s writings are hard for my people to understand. They don’t know how Jewish prophets speak.
I haven’t taught them much about the Jewish way of doing things. Their practices were full of darkness and twisted rituals.
So I’m writing to my people—and to everyone who will read this later—so they can understand that God’s judgments fall on all nations, exactly as he said they would.
Listen closely, my people, you who are descended from Israel. Isaiah’s words might seem confusing to you, but they’re crystal clear to anyone filled with the spirit of prophecy. I’m going to give you prophecy too, according to the Spirit in me. I’ll speak as plainly as I’ve spoken ever since I left Jerusalem with my father. I love being clear with my people, so they can actually learn something.
I love Isaiah’s writings. I grew up in Jerusalem. I’ve seen the Jewish people firsthand. I know they understand the prophets in a way no one else can—unless others are taught the Jewish way of seeing things.
But I haven’t raised my children in the Jewish tradition. I lived in Jerusalem, so I know the region well. I’ve told my children about God’s judgments on the Jews—everything Isaiah spoke about—but I haven’t written those details down.
I’m moving ahead with my own prophecy now, speaking as plainly as I can. I know no one can miss what I’m saying. When Isaiah’s prophecies come true, people will know for certain—because the events themselves will make it obvious. Isaiah’s words matter. They’re valuable. And to anyone who thinks they’re not, let me speak directly: I’m writing these things for my own people. They’ll be precious to them in the last days, when they finally understand them. That’s why I’ve written them down—for their good.
The Pattern of Destruction
Generation after generation of Jews has been destroyed because of their wickedness. But they were never destroyed without the Lord’s prophets warning them first.
They were told about the coming destruction right after my father left Jerusalem. But they refused to listen. Just as I prophesied, they’ve been destroyed—except for those carried away captive to Babylon.
I say this because of the Spirit in me: Even though they’ve been taken captive, they’ll return and reclaim Jerusalem. They’ll be restored to their homeland.
The Coming Messiah
But there will be wars and rumors of wars. And when the Only Begotten of the Father—the Father of heaven and earth—appears to them in the flesh, they’ll reject him. Their wickedness, their hard hearts, their stubborn pride—it will all blind them.
They’ll crucify him. After he’s laid in a tomb for three days, he’ll rise from the dead with healing power. Everyone who believes in his name will be saved in the kingdom of God. My soul loves to prophesy about him. I’ve seen his day, and my heart celebrates his holy name.
After the Messiah rises from the dead and shows himself to his people—to everyone who believes in his name—Jerusalem will be destroyed again. It’s disaster for those who fight against God and his people.
The Jews will be scattered among all nations. Babylon itself will fall. Other nations will scatter them.
The Restoration
After they’ve been scattered, and the Lord has let other nations punish them for many generations—down through the ages—they’ll finally be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and in his atonement, which covers all humanity. When they believe in Christ, worship the Father in his name with pure hearts and clean hands, and stop waiting for another Messiah—then the time will come when they must accept these truths.
The Lord will reach out a second time to restore his people from their broken, lost condition. He’ll do something marvelous and astonishing.
He’ll bring them his words—words that will judge them in the last day. These words will prove to them that the true Messiah was the one they rejected. They’ll convince them they don’t need to wait for another Messiah, because anyone else who comes will be a fraud trying to deceive people. The prophets spoke of only one Messiah—the one the Jews rejected.
According to the prophets, the Messiah is coming six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem. And according to the prophets—and also the angel of God—his name will be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
My brothers and sisters, I’ve spoken plainly. You can’t miss this. As surely as the Lord God brought Israel out of Egypt, as surely as he gave Moses the power to heal people bitten by poisonous snakes when they looked at the bronze serpent, as surely as he gave Moses the power to strike the rock and bring forth water—I tell you, there is no other name under heaven by which anyone can be saved except this Jesus Christ I’ve been talking about.
That’s why the Lord God promised me these things I’m writing will be preserved and passed down through my family line, generation after generation. This fulfills the promise to Joseph—that his descendants would never disappear as long as the earth stands.
These writings will pass from generation to generation as long as the earth exists. They’ll go wherever God decides. And the nations that receive them will be judged by what’s written in them.
Grace and the Law
We work hard to write these things, trying to persuade our children and our people to believe in Christ and be reconciled to God. We know we’re saved by grace, after everything we can do.
Even though we believe in Christ, we still keep the law of Moses. We look ahead with confidence toward Christ, until the law is fulfilled.
The law was given for this very purpose. It’s become dead to us now—we’ve come alive in Christ through our faith. But we still keep the law because we’re commanded to.
We talk about Christ, we celebrate in Christ, we preach Christ, we prophesy about Christ. We write down our prophecies so our children will know where to look for forgiveness of their sins.
We teach about the law so our children understand it’s dead now. Once they know the law is dead, they can look to the life that’s in Christ and understand why the law was given in the first place. After the law is fulfilled in Christ, they won’t harden their hearts against him when the law should be set aside.
The Right Path
Listen, my people: You’re stubborn. That’s why I’ve spoken so plainly—so you can’t possibly misunderstand. What I’ve said will stand as evidence against you. These words are enough to teach anyone the right path. The right path is to believe in Christ and not deny him. If you deny him, you’re also denying the prophets and the law.
The right path is to believe in Christ and not deny him. Christ is the Holy One of Israel. You must bow before him and worship him with everything you have—all your strength, all your mind, all your heart, your whole soul. If you do this, you will never be thrown out.
As long as it’s required, you must keep the rituals and ordinances God gave, until the law given to Moses is fulfilled.
Influences
- 25:1 — 2 Peter 3:16 (KJV)As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
- 25:2 — John 19:40 (KJV)Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
- 25:2 — Romans 13:12 (KJV)The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
- 25:3 — Romans 1:32 (KJV)Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
- 25:4 — Revelation 19:10 (KJV)And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
- 25:4 — Romans 1:4 (KJV)And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
- 25:6 — Luke 7:17 (KJV)And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.
- 25:12 — Matthew 24:6 (KJV)And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
- 25:12 — Matthew 24:6 (KJV)And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
- 25:12 — John 1:14 (KJV)And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
- 25:12 — 1 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
- 25:13 — Acts 19:8 (KJV)And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
- 25:13 — Mark 12:25 (KJV)For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
- 25:13 — Malachi 4:2 (KJV)But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
- 25:13 — John 1:12 (KJV)But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
- 25:14 — Acts 23:9 (KJV)And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
- 25:17 — View of the Hebrews 1823 pageAnd it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again, the second time, to gather the remnant of his people
- 25:18 — John 12:48 (KJV)He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
- 25:18 — Luke 9:22 (KJV)Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
- 25:20 — Acts 4:12 (KJV)Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
- 25:23 — Romans 5:10 (KJV)For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
- 25:23 — Ephesians 2:5 (KJV)Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
- 25:24 — Acts 15:5 (KJV)But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
- 25:25 — Romans 7:4 (KJV)Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
- 25:25 — 1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV)For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
- 25:26 — Philippians 3:3 (KJV)For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
- 25:26 — Luke 1:77 (KJV)To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
- 25:27 — 2 Timothy 1:1 (KJV)Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
- 25:29 — Luke 10:27 (KJV)And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
- 25:29 — John 6:37 (KJV)All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
- 25:29 — John 6:37 (KJV)All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Notes
- 25:13
Compare 1 Nephi 22:15, 2 Nephi 26:4,6 with Malachi 4:1, and compare 2 Nephi 25:13 with Malachi 4:2. While Malachi is generally dated to around 400 B.C., the writings attributed to Nephi are said to fall between 588–545 B.C., creating a chronological tension. The Book of Mormon further complicates this issue by indicating that the Nephites did not possess the words of Malachi until after the appearance of Christ. As recorded:
"Behold other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not" (3 Nephi 23:6).
"Write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them... And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi-Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, ..." (3 Nephi 24:1).
Quoting from Malachi 4:1: "For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall" (3 Nephi 25:1-2).
These passages suggest that the Nephites did not have access to Malachi’s writings prior to Christ delivering them.
"According to these verses the Nephites could not have had the words of Malachi until Christ came among them. LDS writer George Reynolds stated: 'As Malachi lived between two and three hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem, the Nephites knew nothing of the glorious things that the Father had revealed to him until Jesus repeated them.' However, if the Nephites didn't have the writings of Malachi until the coming of Christ, how did Nephi quote them in 545 B.C.?" -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 21.
- 25:16-26
Written in approximately 550 B.C., 2 Nephi 25:16-26 provides an excellent example of a "theological anachronism."
LDS scholar, Grant Hardy observes: "In 1831, Alexander Campbell, one of the book's first critics (and certainly the first one to read it carefully), famously observed that it seemed to weigh in on all the popular religious questions of the day, including 'infant baptism, ordination, the trinity, regeneration, repentance, justification, the fall of man, the atonement, transubstantiation, fasting, penance, church government, religious experience, the call to the ministry , the general resurrection, eternal punishment, who may baptize, and even the question of freemasonry, republican government, and the right of the man.' This is a fair list, and references to these topics-or their analogous counterparts-can be found throughout the Book of Mormon." -Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon, p. 184
M.T. Lamb writes, "The whole Old Testament, as we have it, proceeds upon the assumption that these new Testament truths were not fully understood by the Old Testament writers. The entire system of bloody sacrifices, as found in the law of Moses, would have been the silliest nonsense to him had he understood in full the great plan of redemption to which this system looked forward in type... It would hardly seem possible for language to state more clearly or positively that the mystery of Christ's incarnation and the modus operandi or method of human salvation HAD NOT been revealed to the world until the Apostle's day. That while the Old Testament authors had presented the truth, it had been so presented in type, shadow, symbol and figure that it was not an could not be understood by them, not even by the angels of God..." -M.T. Lamb, The Golden Bible; or The Book of Mormon, Is It From God? (New York: Ward and Drummand, 1887), pp. 148.
- 25:19
Biblical scholars agree that meshiha (Aramaic), mashiah (Hebrew), and messiah (English) all mean “anointed one.” The Greek word Christos—from which the English Christ is derived—is simply the Greek translation of the same term and carries the same meaning: “anointed.”
Oddly, the Book of Mormon often appears to treat Christ almost like a surname rather than a translation of the title Messiah. This suggests a possible misunderstanding of the linguistic relationship between these words.
For example, in Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:19 uses both the titles Messiah and Christ together. Because these terms have the same meaning but come from different languages (Hebrew and Greek), placing them side-by-side is essentially redundant.
In modern terms, it would be similar to saying something like this:
“We will know that the sign of a good life is to be next to a house (English word). I have been told by an angel that the house will be known as maison (French translation of house).”
In other words, the statement introduces a word and then immediately “reveals” its translation as if it were a new or different title, even though it means the exact same thing.
- 25:23
From the late 1950s into the early 21st century, Latter-day Saints frequently cited 2 Nephi 25:23 to distinguish their understanding of grace and works from that of evangelicals. The verse was often interpreted as implying prerequisite conditions for receiving forgiveness, eternal life, and exaltation. In more recent years, however, many LDS authors and members have increasingly interpreted the passage to mean, “For we know that it is by grace we are saved, in spite of what we can do.”
The LDS Bible Dictionary tell us that the grace unto “eternal life and exaltation” is insufficient “without total effort on the part of the recipient”:
“This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts. Divine grace is needed by every soul in consequence of the fall of Adam and also because of man’s weaknesses and shortcomings. However, grace cannot suffice without total effort on the part of the recipient. Hence the explanation, ‘It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do’ (2 Ne. 25:23)” (p. 697).
Under the heading “2 Nephi 25:23—We Are Saved by Grace, after All We Can Do”, the CES manual Book of Mormon Student Study Guide reads,
“We are saved by the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We must, however, come unto Christ on His terms in order to obtain all the blessings that He freely offers us. We come unto Christ by doing “all we can do” to remember Him, keep our covenants with Him, and obey His commandments (see D&C 20:77, 79; see also Abraham 3:25).” (p. 53)
Dallin Oaks describes what it means to do all we can do:
“Because of what He accomplished by His atoning sacrifice, Jesus Christ has the power to prescribe the conditions we must fulfill to qualify for the blessings of His Atonement. That is why we have commandments and ordinances. That is why we make covenants. That is how we qualify for the promised blessings. They all come through the mercy and grace of the Holy One of Israel, ‘after all we can do’ (2 Nephi 25:23).” (Oct 2010 General Conference).
For a thorough survey of LDS' treatment of this passage, please see: Mormonism Research Ministry: How Has 2 Nephi 25:23 Been Interpreted?
- 25:24-30
"The Book of Mormon presents a very unusual picture of religious life between 600 B.C. and the coming of Christ. It claims that the ancient Nephites actually worshipped Jesus Christ and established Christian churches during this long period before Christ died and the New Testament was written. Bible scholars find it very hard to accept this claim, and they are even more puzzled when they learn that the Book of Mormon claims that the ancient Nephites also kept the Law of Moses at the same time. Between 559 and 545 B.C." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 206.
Contrast 2 Nephi 25:24-30 and 2 Nephi 31:18 with 1 Peter 1:10-12; 1 Corinthians 2:7-8; John 7:39; and Colossians 1:26.
Wesley P. Walters writes in his Master's thesis: "The transplantation of New Testament material into the Old disrupts the dispensations that God has established in the unfolding of redemption, and confuses the Old and New Covenants and their respective ordinances. The Book of Mormon is careful to point out that the American Hebrew colony 'kept the law of Moses'... Yet Christian baptism was said to be taught among the Nephites five hundred years before Christ... Furthermore by 147 B.C. a Christian Church is depicted as flourishing, of which people become members through baptism... to introduce the New Testament practice of baptism in the name of Christ into the Old Testament period is to confuse the Old and New Covenants and the ordinances connected with each. The Book of Hebrews is very specific that while the Old Testament was in force, the New clearly was not... To introduce the features of the New Covenant into the time-period when the Old Covenant was in force is to confuse the two covenants to the extent of rendering them both meaningless... The Book of Mormon, by injecting the New Testament material into the Old Testament period, completely disrupts the biblical pattern so carefully set forth in the Old Testament itself and so faithfully guarded by the New." -Wesley P. Walters, "The Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Mormon," (Master's thesis, St. Louis: Covenant Theological Seminary, April 1981), pp. 15-17.