Time Out for Women

I am currently studying the topical guide, word by word. When a word has a reference to Isaiah, I jump at it, look it up, and read the whole chapter around it and work a little harder to understand than I do with say the writings of Paul or someone else...it is just that Isaiah writes of Christ, almost solely, and Christ put His stamp of approval on it, admonishing us to study the words of Isaiah.

But why now, in the last days? Because now is when we need Him most...and because Isaiah denounces false interpretations of Christ, wrong ideas about his character, and affirms correct ones. You will not see any of "find your own truth" in Isaiah. (can the ax boast itself against him that heweth it? etc.)

Isaiah is passionate and far from politically correct. He denounces vanity (how does it go? cauls and tinkling ornaments, instead of well-set hair, baldness)...how does this go over in an age when we worship ourselves?

Yet he reminds us of our worth in so many ways, and how that is tied to our relationship with Christ,
Isaiah 40
28 � Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

He tells us about the problems of teenagers, in oh so many ways, including this one,

Isaiah 30:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:

And then, in great eloquence, he lets us feel how parenting should be. Do we need this now?

Isaiah 54
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children

Isaiah 52 on pornography and Priesthood,
11 � Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

Tells us in Chapter Uno to get involved, which so many self-righteously refuse to do,
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Um, I think you get the picture. Isaiah is for us now. And I love his words.

elmozhere

Posts: 2574

Posted: 27 Feb 2008 10:38 AM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

These are some powerful statement by Elder McKonkie on why it is important we study Isaiah.

"If as many suppose, Isaiah ranks with the
most difficult of the prophets to understand, his words are also among the most important for us to know and ponder...His prophetic words can and should shine brightly in the heart of every member of the church." Bruce R. Mckonkie, Ensign October 1975 pg. 80

"It just may be that my salvation (and yours also) does in fact depend up our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and truly and Nephi understood them." Bruce R. Mckonkie, "Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah" pg. 78

We are also told over and over in the scriptures to study Isaiah..

3 Nephi 20:11 Ye remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled�behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them�

3 Ne. 23:1-3 And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
2 For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.
3 And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.

2 Ne 6:5 And now, the words which I shall read are they which Isaiah spake concerning all the house of Israel; wherefore, they may be likened unto you, for ye are of the house of Israel. And there are many things which have been spoken by Isaiah which may be likened unto you, because ye are of the house of Israel.

I also LOVE all the topics E pointed out that Isaiah speaks out on that truly are for our day! Isaiah teaches us how to get closer to God and the love that He has for us. I love 2 Nephi 19 -20 (Isaiah 9-10) In these chapters there is a phrase repeated several times that is such a comfort to me. He tells the people of the mistakes they are making and the punishments they are going to receive as a consequence to those choices but then he says "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." His love truly in unconditional. No matter what mistakes we have made He will ALWAYS be there with outstretched arms waiting for us to turn back to Him.

I also think that Isaiah and the Lord have a sense of humor. A few years ago I was serving in the nursery and I disliked it very much. I loved the kids, but I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of church I was just a babysitter for a few hours. I missed SS and RS and the gospel learning I was used to getting at church. I was really struggling with it and praying about it a lot. Then one day I came across this verse in Isaiah and felt an overwhelming sense of peace that it would all be over someday..I wasn't going to be in nursery forever...

Isaiah 14:3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.

LOL!!! Anyway, I'll stop now. I could go on forever about Isaiah. It is my favorite book in all of scripture. It is the place I turn to when I'm having a really bad day and am seeking comfort from my Heavenly Father, because the chapters of Isaiah are full of that comfort!

verily

Posts: 1402

Posted: 28 Feb 2008 11:17 PM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

wow. I love what you guys wrote. I also love Isaiah but have felt intimidated to teach it to the youth. I think you guys gave me the boost I need to get on it! thanks so much! E, you make it seem easy and not intimidating at all. Yeah!

ctr2002

Posts: 14241

Posted: 1 Mar 2008 07:27 PM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

bump

so I can look at this again when I get home. In about... 15 minutes. :)

ctr2002

Posts: 14241

Posted: 1 Mar 2008 09:32 PM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

It's important to study Isaiah because it was written for us, to us and is important to us... as in who we are and who we're to become.

You think?

verily

Posts: 1402

Posted: 2 Mar 2008 08:49 AM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

part two of John Bytheway's article at Meridian Magazine.

http://www.ldsmag.com/bookofmormon/080222isaiah.html

and here is part three:

http://www.ldsmag.com/bookofmormon/080229isaiah.html

I think it is very interesting. and I love John Bytheways style.

ctr2002

Posts: 14241

Posted: 2 Mar 2008 08:54 AM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

verily

how are you teaching this to your class?

i'm stumped to the point of feeling ill. I'm missing something. Or something...

verily

Posts: 1402

Posted: 2 Mar 2008 04:05 PM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

I had larangitis today so we played a game, but I think I am still going to give a quick overview of it. It seems too important to pass up but I think I need to stay with the other class. Haven't you already given the class?

ctr2002

Posts: 14241

Posted: 2 Mar 2008 04:57 PM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

now I have... but I was asking this morning! Before I went.

It went well. We actually had a really good talk about Isaiah, who he was and why... then read some and they worked it out together. THink it went ok.

whitlarson

Posts: 5155

Posted: 3 Mar 2008 10:11 AM
Subject: My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah - BOMSG - Lesson 9

Sorry I didn't post last week... as I have said in another post or two - it was a long and dreadful week. But it's over now and I will post the new lesson. I will take the week following Easter off so that it can get all caught up. :)

Love you guys. Thanks for your great thoughts.

Whit

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