Thursday, December 3, 2015

1 Nephi 99-22 - A Primer on Isaiah

This finishes out First Nephi. It’s an interesting segue in that we are introduced to Isaiah. First, Nephi explains how the two sets of records came to be, then he launches into the future-history of the Jews and Gentiles and he uses Isaiah to tell it.

In Chapter Nineteen, Nephi tells us how the Lord first instructed him to make the plates and keep a record on them. Once he did that, the Lord then instructs him to make another set. It’s an insight into how the Lord operates with us. He gives us what we need in the moment then, once we’ve finished that, He gives us the next step. Always He has the end goal, our salvation in mind. I recommend it as an approach we should take too. Keep the eternal perspective, but focus on the now to do the steps which lead to that long range goal.

In Chapters Twenty to the end, we are introduced to Isaiah. Nephi doesn’t actually introduce him other than to say he used Isaiah to more fully persuade them (us) to believe in the Lord. He records Isaiah 48 in Chapter Twenty-One, then he explains it.

This is a personal chapter for Nephi because the prophecies Isaiah wrote are what Lehi and Nephi experienced. Read 1 Nephi 21:1. It's a summary of 1 Nephi 1-2. It's worth pondering.

If you want to understand Isaiah, the last two chapters are a primer on how to do it. In one chapter you have “Isaiah-speak” and in the other you have “Nephi-speak” saying the same thing. Nephi also explains you need the Spirit to understand Isaiah. With all these tools in place and once you master it, all the Isaiah chapters in Second Nephi will be much easier to understand.

No comments:

Post a Comment