BIG PICTURE MONDAY: Isaiah 1–12

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1:01That's Q-U-O.com-tek. Welcome to One Minute Script or Study, a Come Follow Me podcast. We are your host, Kristen Walker-Smith, and Kali Black. Hello everyone, welcome to Big Picture Monday. My name is Kali Black. You're with all the context you need to totally rock this week's Come Follow Me readings. This week is September 14th through the 20th, and we are studying Isaiah, chapters one through 12. No biggie. It's just Isaiah. That's it. In fact, that's kind of how I want you to feel for the next, I think, five weeks we are in Isaiah. And I want you to take a deep breath and realize that there is so much beautiful learning to be found in Isaiah without having to become an expert on Isaiah. Yes, there are so many even more greater layers to discover if you want to become an expert on Isaiah

2:02and there are other great resources that can help you do that. But it's almost like the more I've learned about Isaiah, the more I've realized that there is so much to be learned just from a little bit of help. And that's what I want to give to you today. Some specific help for chapters one through 12 specifically that I hope will help empower you that like, yeah, I can read through this and I'm not going to understand every verse. And I'm not going to understand every analogy that he's making. And that's okay. I can still get a lot out of this and be able to invite the spirit into my life. So let's do it. We've all taken a deep breath together. Isaiah chapters one through 12. Let's talk about Isaiah first. This might not surprise you, but he's the most quoted prophet in all of scripture. And in fact, this might be a big relief to you. Almost every chapter this week, except for Isaiah chapter one, is also found in the Book of Mormon.

3:08So you have probably read a lot of these scriptures many times throughout your studies of the Book of Mormon. So there will be phrases and concepts that are familiar to you. He is, Isaiah is known for being difficult to understand at times, but that's mostly because he wrote a lot of his prophecies in poetic form. And he relies a lot on metaphors that aren't always clear. So when he's talking about Babylon, you're like, why is he talking about death and Babylon? He's really talking about like the destruction of worldly influences. So when we can make these connections of what these metaphors are actually meaning, it helps open up a lot more of the meaning that Isaiah is actually talking about because there are always simple truths about Jesus to be found. Let's fit Isaiah into the historical context of the Bible. This actually is going to help us a lot with like the names and places that are mentioned, but also if you've been listening to Big Picture Mondays this year, and you know the whole story of the Bible of the Old Testament

4:11because we've gone through a whole story, let's see if we can fit Isaiah back in. We mentioned him, when we were in the second Kings 16 through 25 reading, if you want to go look back there. This is when Israel had been split into two kingdoms, Israel in the North, Judah in the South, Judah in the South, which is where Jerusalem is, had a series of wicked kings for a while, but then along came righteous King Hezekiah. He was so righteous that he had all of the false alters destroyed throughout the land. He encouraged temple worship of the true God, and Hezekiah's spiritual leader was the prophet Isaiah. So Isaiah delivered messages from God to Hezekiah and blessed him. He even told Hezekiah that because of Hezekiah's righteousness, he would never see his people taken into captivity. But unfortunately, Isaiah did have to prophesy that Babylon would eventually capture Jerusalem, which we know came to pass. This is not confirmed by scripture, but it is a tradition

5:19that Isaiah was likely killed by the next King of Judah, Hezekiah's son, who was a very wicked king named King Menasa. That's just what we know about the gist of what we know about Isaiah's life. Now, starting the book of Isaiah also marks a huge transition because we are now going into the final section of the Old Testament that is called the prophets. We've already read the five books of Moses, right? The historical books we were in those for a while, and then it feels like we just breathed through poetry, which we did. There's proportionately not a ton of poetry. And here we are going into the fourth and final division that is referred to as the books of the prophets, or sometimes the books of prophecy. All of the books in the prophets section, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Zechial, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,

6:20Micah, Neham, Habakkuk, Zefania, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Our focused on prophecies made by a prophet, that is what the focus is on, is sometimes there are stories told within the book, but the stories themselves really focus on the personal experience of the prophets and not like history. So as we move forward throughout all the books of the prophets now, we will fit them in to where they fit into the storyline of the events in the Bible. Now, a part of you might be asking, whoa, whoa, hold on. Isaiah is not poetry? I feel like it kind of fits with all the poetry we've been reading. I mean, yes, Isaiah absolutely uses tons of poetry within his prophecies. You don't need to get too worried about technicalities, but because it is prophecy, it is prophetic, which is very different than like Psalms and Proverbs and ecclesiastes and Job. Those are not prophetic necessarily. Those are

7:21just praising and giving wisdom. This is now focused on prophecies of a specific prophet. Plus, we do actually get a lot of Isaiah's story within these chapters, specifically the chapters this week. So in chapters one through twelve, we're going to look for Isaiah telling the story of his call as a prophet. He's going to also talk a lot about repentance through Jesus Christ, and he's going to prophesy about the destruction that will occur both in Israel, that northern kingdom and in Judah, the southern kingdom, but he'll also prophesy of their eventual restoration. Of course, here's the important thing. Sure, Isaiah is talking about Israel and Judah and their destruction and their eventual restoration, and it helps to know this historical background of what's actually happening. But Isaiah's prophecies aren't just about ancient Israel. A lot of the prophecies can also be

8:23interpreted as being fulfilled during Christ's mortal ministry. Many of them can also be fulfilled in the latter days, like right now during the restoration of the fullness of times, or even later during the millennium. And then we can turn inward. A lot of the prophecies can also be interpreted as being fulfilled in a spiritual sense in our own lives, right? Battles, captivity, redemption, that is not tied to any dispensation that is happening constantly within our own souls. So as you're reading through something, if you're like, hmm, I feel like this might represent blah, blah, blah, you're probably correct. You're probably correct, and it could have more than one meaning, and that's that's why Isaiah is who he is. His prophecies are about everything at the same time, because we have this repetition constantly of sin, bondage, and then forgiveness, and redemption, and coming back to

9:27the light and restoration and sanctification. All of these themes over and over again in every dispensation, and in our personal lives, it's all the same. Doesn't matter what he's literally writing about. So just see where the spirit takes your mind as you read. I'll point out some themes, and some analogies that you should know that I think will help you out, but also just don't put pressure on yourself to get a quote unquote right. It's all right. These themes are repeated everywhere. Okay, let's dive in chapter by chapter to Isaiah chapters one through 12. We aren't skipping anything, so we are just going right in order. And like I said, every chapter besides chapter one, you have read in second Nephi. So they will be a little more familiar. But let's start with chapter one of Isaiah, which is not quoted anywhere in modern scriptures. So it might feel a little bit different. It serves really as a great introduction for the entire book of Isaiah, where there's a lot of

10:29themes of keeping covenants and repentance. And in fact, a lot of scholars predict that Isaiah probably wrote this towards the end of his life as an intentional beginning to his collection of prophecies. Like it doesn't flow into chapter two very well. It's very standalone. So Isaiah probably wrote this as an introduction to all of his prophecies, which is kind of cool because it does seem very different. So chapter one, the Lord has given the people of Judah, which that represents God's covenant people, every opportunity to repent and they haven't. And the Lord does not want rituals and sacrifices without true intent behind it. So repentance through the Lord can truly wash away our sins and cleanse us. That is the theme. Let's go to chapter two of Isaiah. This is quoted in 2nd Nephi chapter 12. This is about the temple. The temple is a place of learning.

11:34It will be established and everyone will want to attend, no matter where it is. The people who choose to forget the Lord will be forced to be humbled. Isaiah chapter three, which is also 2nd Nephi 13. The wicked will be punished for their disobedience, but the righteous will also be blessed at the same time. The Lord will go to judge the people and they will still be prideful and oppressive to other people. In Isaiah four, after all the filth has been purged from Zion, the earth will be made beautiful again, and the Lord will set up a protective place for all the righteous. And in chapter five, Isaiah is finishing up this metaphor, these teachings about what happens with Zion by using another metaphor of a vineyard to talk about the consequences of forgetting the

12:38Lord. He prophesies that the vineyard will become desolate and be taken into captivity, and the people who still choose not to humble themselves will receive even more chastening. So up to chapter five, we have a lot of prophecies about the cycle of keeping covenants and blessings, and then breaking covenants and the consequences of that. In Isaiah six, we now start with Isaiah's story. This is found in 2nd Nephi 16. So Isaiah talks about how he was called to be a prophet of the Lord, King Uzziah was the king of Judah who was a different king before Hezekiah. Isaiah was in the temple, he felt really inadequate to be called at first, but then his sins were forgiven, and he willingly volunteered to serve the Lord. Here am I, send me. In chapter seven, you're going to read more about

13:38Isaiah's experiences with King Uzziah of Judah. Sorry, it now goes to his grandson, King Ahaz. That's what I'm meaning to say. We're going to learn about King Ahaz who was, he made some good choices in Judah, but then he also turned away from the Lord at other times. We're going to talk also about the northern kingdom of Israel, who was also often referred to as Ephraim. Ephraim is the dominant tribe there in Israel. So if you see Ephraim or Israel, that is the same thing. So in chapter seven, we learned that Isaiah delivers news to King Ahaz that the northern kingdom of Israel is teaming up with Syria to come against Judah to battle. Oh no, what should King Ahaz do? Well, Isaiah delivers the message that the Lord once King Ahaz to do nothing and trust that the

14:41battle will fizzle out. And Ahaz refuses to believe this. He is not going to sit there and do nothing. The Lord once King Ahaz to ask for a sign. Ahaz doesn't want to do that either, but Isaiah prophesies of a sign anyways, teaching about the future arrival of a Messiah through a virgin mother. Chapter eight, Isaiah starts by mentioning his wife and his son and the birth of his son kind of represents this rebirth and this idea that the people of Judah need to turn to the Lord to keep their covenants. And the Lord teaches that the Assyrians will attack both Israel and Judah, but Judah will be spared from total destruction for now. Christ will be a safe place for those who believe, but he will be a stumbling block for those who do not trust in him. Isaiah chapter nine, we're continuing at the story of what is what is happening here in ancient Israel. After this great damage from being captured by the Assyrians, there will be relief and light. A savior will come to

15:47rule the government with peace and despite this, the people will still rebel. In chapter 10, the Lord says that the leaders of Israel are forgetting the poor and the needy, which means the Assyrians will be able to take over their lands, but then the Assyrians will be destroyed for their unrighteousness too. And a small remnant of righteous people will be able to thrive because they turn to the Lord. Chapter 11, after the enemy has been destroyed, Christ will come to rule and judge in righteousness. There will be peace everywhere and God will gather scattered Israel. And in chapter 12, this is a beautiful prophecy all about praising the Lord on some future millennial day, the song that people will sing to praise the Lord. Okay, it's your turn, dive into these chapters in Isaiah and see what the Lord is waiting to teach you. I hope that you could see even as

16:52I was telling you what is happening in these chapters that there is so much symbolism, right? And it's like, what, what dispensation are we talking about? We're talking about all of them. We're talking about ancient Israel. We're talking about Christ when he actually came to earth. We're talking about even the Nephites and the Lamanites, right? Nephi quoted these chapters to the Nephites there in the promised land. They needed to be reminded that the Lord had not forgotten them and that he would remember them as he, as they kept their covenants. It's about right now. It's about what's happening in our heart. It, it is all correct. And I hope that that kind of frees you up to see what what symbolism stands out to you. Of course, there are also always great resources if you're wanting to learn a little bit more about Isaiah or some deeper insights into what some of these prophecies might mean through just free resources on the church's website through the student manuals for seminary and institute that the church has actually been redoing that is great. Those are

17:56great resources. Keri Neelstein is an author who's put out lots of great resources as well about learning to love Isaiah that I personally have used extensively. There's, there's a lot out there if you're wanting to dive into it. But if you're not ready for that, that is okay and the Lord can still work with, with where you're at. I think my personal focus question for this week is, Isaiah loves to talk about understanding the Lord's holiness. And I even noticed this connection between noticing the Lord's holiness and then having this increasing awareness of our own need for grace. And I thought like, man, what's the connection there? Why do our experiences with God's holiness often increase our awareness of our own need for grace? The more that I experience God's goodness, the more that I realize I can't do this alone. I need him. I absolutely need him. And that's such like a beautiful cycle to be caught up in. Which means I want to have more experiences

19:00with God's holiness because that's what gets me to a good place. And I think I can do that as I enter his house as often as I'm able to when I read his word and his prophecies, when I have other communion experiences through prayer with him, it is always good, always good to experience God's holiness and the effects that come from that. All right, have a great week this week and happy studying. July, August and September in the Old Testament come follow me are three of the craziest months because we start with historical books where we're keeping track of the story, but then we finish the story of the Israelites, we move on to poetry, and then we even move on to prophets and prophecies starting with Isaiah. Yeah, this all happens with the span of three months and I would love to help you through it. In fact, my third quarter big picture little picture study guide is available now for purchase. You can grab it as a physical study guide on Amazon or get a digital download

20:04at comefollowmeastudy.com. Use the code OMSS for 20% off as a big thank you for our loyal podcast listeners. We appreciate you so much. Big picture little picture study guides help you see what is going on in the scriptures and connect everything together so that you can feel confident as you're studying the scriptures or as you're teaching the scriptures to people in your home or in your church classes. I love to give context. I talk about the important people, the important places, the big themes to focus on, specific chapter summaries and what to know before you read each chapter, as well as seven spiritual guiding questions to help you do the most important thing, which is apply the scriptures to your life. So grab your third quarter big picture little picture study guide right now and let me help you walk through the three craziest months in the old testament. While every other channel is fighting for your customers attention, podcasts are where they've already given it. No one accidentally listens to a podcast for 45 minutes. They choose to be here.

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