Title: Isaiah and the Mountains
1Isaiah and the Mountains
2Bruce R. McConkie
- If our eternal salvation depends upon
our ability to understand the writings of
Isaiah as fully and truly as Nephi understood
them and who shall say such is not the case! how
shall we fare in that great day when with Nephi
we shall stand before the pleasing bar of Him who
said 'Great are the words of Isaiah'? . . . - It just may be that my salvation (and yours
also!) does in fact depend upon our ability to
understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and
truly as Nephi understood them. For that matter,
why should either Nephi or Isaiah know anything
that is withheld from us?
3Who was Isaiah?
- The name Isaiah means "The Lord is salvation" or
"salvation is of Jehovah." - Preached for 40 years, 740 BC to 700 BC
- Isaiah suffered a martyr's death, being "sawn
asunder." - 30 percent of the Old Testament writings of
Isaiah are found in the Book of Mormon. - there are differences in more than half of the
433 verses of Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon
4Great Isaiah Scroll- Dead Sea Scrolls
5Chapter 1- The Indictment
- Its a preface to the rest of the chapters
- Considered to have been added later
- Chapter 1, lists the wrongs of Israel and why
they would be destroyed.
6Chiasmus in Isaiah 2
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days when
the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations
shall flow unto it3 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
-
- Their land also is full of silver and gold,
neither is there any end of their treasures - Their land also is full of idols they worship
the work of their own hands, that which their own
fingers have made. - And the mean man boweth not down, and the great
man humbleth himself not therefore forgive them
not. - O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and
hide ye in the dust for the fear of the Lord and
his majesty shall smite thee. - And it shall come to pass that the lofty
looks of man shall be humbled, - For the day of the Lord of hosts soon cometh
upon all nations yea, upon everyone yea,
upon the proud and lofty, and upon everyone who
is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. - And upon all the high mountains, and upon all
the hills, and upon all the nations which are
lifted up - And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon
all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant
pictures. - And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
and the haughtiness of men shall be made low
7Which mountain do we chose?
Mountain of Pride
Mountain of the Lords House
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds I will be like
the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to
hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 1412-14)
8Question
- Is there such thing as Righteous Pride?
9President Benson
- In the scriptures there is no such thing as
righteous pride. It is always considered as a
sin. We are not speaking of a wholesome view of
self-worth, which is best established by a close
relationship with God. But we are speaking of
pride as a universal sin. - (Cleansing the Inner Vessel," Ensign, May 1986,
p. 6.)
10Question
- How do we present, to the world, the ideas of
- We are the Covenant People or
- We have the Only True Church!
11President Hinckley
- Let us never act in a spirit of arrogance
or with a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather,
may we show love and respect and helpfulness
toward them not of our faith. We are greatly
misunderstood, and I fear that much of it is of
our own making. - We can be more tolerant, more neighborly, more
friendly, more of an example than we have been in
the past. - (A Time for New Beginnings, Ensign, May 2000)
12Orson F. Whitney
- Perhaps the Lord needs such men on the outside of
his Church, to help it along. They are among its
auxiliaries, and can do more good for the cause
where the Lord has placed them, than anywhere
else - Hence, some are drawn into the fold and receive a
testimony of Truth, while others remain
unconvertedthe beauties and glories of the
gospel being veiled temporarily from their view,
for wise purpose. The Lord will open their eyes
in his own due timeGod is using more than one
people for the accomplishment of his great and
marvelous work. - The Latter Day Saints cannot do it all. It is
too vast, too arduous for any one peopleWe
have no quarrel with the Gentiles. They are
our partners in a certain sense. -
- Conference Report, April 1928
13Saints in Africa