Insight into Isaiah - You don't need to pull your hair out!

As is common with our Sunday school study we will be hitting the book of Isaiah shortly since we are studying the old testament this year.  The Book and writings of Isaiah are to most very hard to follow and understand.

Could it be that since he wrote it in such a older style; cryptic to a point his writings have stood the test of time.  Many other writings throughout the old and new testaments have obviously been modified down through the ages.  We can clearly see differences in translation and for that matter content depending on the writer and/or source.

Thus what can we do to help us understand the writing and prophecies of Isaiah?


Here is a list of a few good articles that can help.  Beyond that I'll dive into some additional ideas and helps provided over the years by the modern prophets, seers and revelators.

• How Can I Understand Isaiah?
• Technicolor Isaiah 
• Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah 
• Understanding Isaiah 

Isaiah is truly hard because his writings do not contain stories, they don't follow a common narrative.  They clearly more like a compilation of prophecies.  Thus it is hard to really follow.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when dealing with Isaiah.

1.  You may know more then you think.  Much of what Isaiah covers is the basics of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  You may be familiar with many of the basic.  Also many of his prophecies have been fulfilled.  This makes things a bit easier to understand....


2.  Know the main topics.  You have to know the main areas that are covered by Isaiah.  One suggestion is to mark various verses with different colors by topic.  You might use Yellow for Jesus, Blue for the Holy Ghost, or Purple for Gospel restoration, etc.  The topics could be limitless since the topical guide in the scriptures cover everything and anything.  Simplify things down and cover more broad topics.  You can get more detailed as you begin to understand things better.  You may also find that a given verse could have several colors running though it.  Many topics can be covered in just one verse.... keep this in mind.

3. Get help from Modern Prophets and Teachings.   There is a lot of material out there in regard to Isaiah.  There are the manuals and helps given to the teachers and students of say seminary or Sunday School.   Many leaders have also made references to  Isaiah in conference talks and other settings.  These references depending on the source may have explanations given especially if it comes from an Apostle.  Nephi also gives a run down of the verses he had included in the Book of Mormon.




4. Learn about the life and times of Isaiah.   What do I mean by this.  If you want to understand for example why Hitler promoted what he promoted and did what he did you need to learn about what was happening in Germany around the time he came to power.   Quickly you find Germany had lost World War I.  They were broke, in the dumps, rebuilding and wanted someone to blame for all their problems.  He played on those needs and the fears and the anger to his advantage.   You need to do the same with Isaiah.  You need to find out who was in power (Locally and globally), what were some of the traditions of his people at the time.  Why were they doing what they do?  Once you begin to understand the people and culture you can begin to understand his style of writing.  Just as Shakespeare wrote about historical and current events of his day, his plays use a language no longer in daily use.  I'm not saying Isaiah used slang but, reference to certain places, things or habits would make sense to readers of his day but, not necessarily to us.

5. Study by the Spirit.   The writing of Isaiah contain many prophecies.  What better way to study them then in the attitude or prayer and fasting.  As you ask for the spirit in your study you will be enlightened.   It definitely will be easier to understand the writings of Isaiah when you have a spirit filled environment.  Kind of hard to to get tuned in while listening to loud, hard pounding music with other distractions present.


6. Apply his teachings in your life.   Take the time and see how you can apply the teachings of Isaiah in your life.  It might not be as easy as say some of the teachings of Christ.  However, you can clearly look for prophecies that have occurred or appear to be occurring.  Then you can say - How does this apply to my life.  You might be surprised what you find out.  Think of prophecies that apply to the restoration of the Gospel, or the Second Coming of Christ.  Look to the blessing of the fulfilled prophecies.  You be happy as you see your on the right path.  Not feeling your on the right path?  Then do something about it.


Isaiah does not have to be extremely difficult or pie in the sky material you can't understand.  There are so many helps available that you need not feel left out of the blessings of reading Isaiah and understanding his many teachings.  Don't get left out of the Banquet!  Come to the feast and really get filled up.....  you can can do better then to just pick at a few thing here and there.




Buaidh - NO -  Bas