Teaching In The Savior's Way - Teach Word of God

I recently discovered something in Handbook 2 which says: "The Lord has admonished leaders to treasure up in their minds continually the words of God so they will be receptive to the influence of the Spirit." And then it references D&C 84:85, but before I quote that, look again at the connection between His words and the influence of the Spirit. In other words a teacher must have the words of God in order to be influenced by the Spirit!

The scripture that is referenced says the same thing in a different but expanding way. "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say, but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life (His words), and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion (of His words) that shall be meted unto every man (what words should be spoken)."

The Holy Ghost does not give you 'the words of life...that shall be meted unto every man' if you are not continually treasuring up in your mind the words of God!

Somehow we miss this connection between the Holy Ghost 

and the words of God 

when teaching His gospel. 

We talk about 

teaching by the spirit, 

and yet fail to recognize 

the definition of truth given to us:  

"The word of the Lord is truth...."  

I ask the question: 

Are we really teaching 

by the Spirit (the Holy Ghost) 

if we are not teaching the words of God?  

Why ask? Because without treasuring up His words, the Holy Ghost will not bring His words to our remembrance and will not tell us what to say or when to say it! Unfortunately we too often fail to see the connection between His words and the Holy Ghost. The Lord told Oliver Cowdrey that he did not understand when Oliver thought that all he had to do was ask. He had to study it out in his mind first, and then the spirit would help him.

This is consistent with 2 Nephi 31 and 32 where we are taught that angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, because they speak the words of Christ, and because the Holy Ghost speaks the words of God (John 16:13; 2 Nephi 32:3). Can we honestly say we are teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost when we are not teaching the words of God? This is the reason Nephi tells us to feast upon the words of Christ, so we too, can speak by the power of the Holy Ghost or with the tongue of angels, and therefore the words of God which we have treasured up in our minds. And to what end? So that by hearing the word of God men can begin to exercise faith in Christ.

Moroni tells us that the office of ministering angels is "to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he has made known unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ..." (Moroni 7:31 emphasis added).

And why? 

Because "by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing... (Moroni 7:25 emphasis added).  

Paul also tells us that faith comes by 'hearing and hearing by the word of God.'

His words, spoken by angels, by the power of Holy Ghost, or His words spoken by us by the power of the Holy Ghost), are the basis of men beginning to exercise faith in Christ.

D&C 50 is a link to understanding this relationship between the Holy Ghost and the word of God when we teach. Notice how the word is identified with the spirit, the light, the truth and the Comforter.

The Comforter was sent to teach the truth, and the truth is the word of God (John 14:25-26). We have been ordained to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of Truth (any other way is not of God).

He that receiveth the word of truth, receiveth it by the Spirit of Truth. That which is of God is light, and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light, and the light grows brighter and brighter.

I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you. (D&C 50:13-25). And how do we chase darkness from us? By the light of His everlasting word.

Compare this with D&C 84:45: 

"The word of the Lord is truth, 

and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is spirit, even the spirit of Jesus Christ.

When we understand that because angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, they speak the words of Christ, then we see that without His words there is no spirit of truth (some other way is not of me and is darkness, does not edify or enlighten and does not nourish). 

The Sons of Mosiah searched the scriptures diligently that they might know the word of God, and thereafter prayed and fasted to receive the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, so they could teach with power and authority. (Alma 17:2-3) 

Notice how the word of God cannot be separated from the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, and is the basis for teaching with power and authority.  

The idea that we must first have the words of God before we can teach by the power of the Holy Ghost is set forth by Christ himself in several passages from John 12 thru 17. As He is preparing His disciples for His leaving them he said unto them, 

"Yet a little while 

is the light with you. 

Walk while ye have the light, 

lest darkness come upon you: 

for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 

While ye have light, 

believe in the light (because His words are light, He could have also said while ye have my words, believe in my words), 

that ye may be the children of light" (John 12:35). 

Walking in darkness is walking without light or without His words.

Then He laid the foundation for using the word of God as the basis for all His teaching.  

In John 12, we read: 

"If any man hear my words, 

and believe them not, 

I judge him not: 

for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.  

He that rejecteth me 

and receiveth not my words, 

hath one that judgeth him: 

the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him 

at the last day. 

For I have not spoken of myself; 

but the Father which sent me, 

he gave me a commandment, 

what I should say, 

and what I should speak. 

And I know that his 

commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, 

even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:46-50 emphasis added).

Then He says in Chapter 14 verse 10

"the words that I speak unto you 

I speak not of myself: 

but the father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."

Christ then introduces them to another Comforter. 

"And I will pray the Father, 

and he shall give you 

another Comforter, 

that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth... 

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 

...If a man love me 

and keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear 

is not mine, but the Father's which sent me" (John 14:16-17; 23-25). 

Note again the connection between the Spirit of Truth and the word of God which is Truth.

And then He tells us why He is sending the Holy Ghost, 

"These things (the words) 

have I spoken unto you, 

being yet present with you. 

But the Comforter, 

which is the Holy Ghost, 

whom the Father will send 

in my name, he shall 

teach you all things, 

and bring all things 

to your remembrance, 

whatsoever I have 

said unto you" (John 14:25-26 emphasis added).

Christ then tells us even the Holy Ghost speaks the words given Him of God. 

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; 

it is expedient for you 

that I go away: 

for if I go not away, 

the Comforter will not come 

unto you; 

but if I depart, 

I will send him unto you." (John 16:7) 

And how will the Comforter or Holy Ghost guide them? 

"Howbeit when he, 

the Spirit of Truth is come, 

he will guide you into all truth; 

for he will not speak of himself; 

but whatsoever he shall hear, 

that shall he speak; 

and he will show you 

things to come" (John 16:13 emphasis added).

Then in Chapter 17 we have words that Christ spake to His Father. As part of His prayer for His disciples he prays: 

"For I have given them 

the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them..." (John 17:8). 

And again, 

"I have given them thy word; 

and the world hated them, 

because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 17:14). 

Further, 

"Sanctify them 

through thy truth: 

thy word is truth. 

...And for their sakes 

I sanctify myself, 

that they also might be sanctified through the truth (His Father's words). 

Neither pray I for these alone, 

but for them which shall believe 

on me through their word (Father's words that they speak)." (John 17:14;19-20). 

He concludes Chapter 17 with these words:  

"And I have declared unto them 

thy name and will declare it: 

that thy love wherewith thou has loved me may be in them, 

and I in them (through His Father's words)." (John 17:26)

So if even Christ who is full of truth is speaking the words of His father, how much more shall we, teach His words by the power of the Holy Ghost, who also speaks the words given Him of the Father, after we have treasured up in our hearts His words by 'feasting' upon them, so that His words will be found in us?

This is difficult for so many because our minds are full of dogmas, opinions, tenets, mantras, and all manner of false doctrines. When the mind becomes so corrupted, only the word of God can replace all the noxious weeds that find their way into uncultivated minds.

The sons of Mosiah brought many to a knowledge of the truth, and it was "by the power of their words (that) many were brought before the alter of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him" (vs 4). This came after they had fasted and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them (vs. 9). The Lord told them to go forth 'among the Lamanites...and establish my word' (vs. 11). They undertook the work, that 'perhaps they might bring them unto repentance...' (vs 16).

The entire Book of Alma is about how the word of God is used to teach the members of the Church, non-members, family and even to counter what is taught by Satan. Alma tells us there is no more effective way than using the word of God to teach the people. Even the word of God is used as the basis for converting those who desire to believe and can thereafter exercise even a particle of faith by planting the word of God in their hearts to see if it will grow. And finally the Book of Alma shows us in the last 20 chapters what happens to those who reject or fail to receive His words.

To summarize, 

the word of God 

cannot be separated 

from the Holy Ghost, 

the Spirit of Truth. 

The word of God 

cannot be separated 

from Christ, 

for His words 

are His spirit,

Christ speaks the 

words of God, 

the Holy Ghost 

speaks the words of God, 

and angels speak 

the words of God.

Can we honestly say we are teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost if we do not speak the words of God? 

So the admonition to treasure up His words is given to us so that we too can speak His words by the power of the Holy Ghost. Any other way is not of God, but is darkness.

If You Were to Ask

"Is this all there is?" has been called the Terrible Question. Is there to be an abrupt end of the good life before it's even started? Or of the wonderful life before we can do and experience all that we want to do? Or of the unhappy life before there has been a chance for happiness?  Or of the life filled with pain and sorrow without relief? And will our immense endowment and endless capacities be shut off before we have a chance to fully use them? Are we to settle with the idea that we will be absorbed into the "nothing from which we came?"

What of our minds and emotions? Recorded in what are traditionally the two most ancient writings in existence, the Shabako text of the Memphite Theology, and the Sefer Yetzirah, which was held by most of the early rabbis to be the world's oldest book and a composition of Abraham, both writings tell us of the seven openings of the head, the seven orifices or receptors--two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and one mouth. The Egyptian account tells how these receptors receive impulses, energy quanta from the world outside, organize it in the brain, give it meaning in the breast where values are imparted, the thymos of the Greeks, the seat of emotion. When the individual has thus composed images and impressions of the outside world he/she is prepared to communicate to others.

What comes in by seven receptors, goes forth by the one powerful projector, which is the sacred word of mouth. The logos is more than a myth; it is actually the only way with which we convey our thoughts and beliefs and convictions to others; the only way in which they can have any image of the world we are experiencing. By the word alone we make a common universe of discourse. Through this discourse we spend our time "conversing among ourselves" almost always relying on what we have heard or learned from others, adhering more to those so called experts in their fields, but still just sharing horizontally what we have heard, read or experienced from our paltry and skewed vantage point. But is there more? Much more!

Do we value the treasures of the earth so much, that we can't get past them and begin in earnest searching for the treasures of heaven? But, you might ask, are there such treasures? And are we forsaking them for what we can only see and understand, what we receive from others? There are Treasures of Heaven, and that brings us to why we are sharing this. Why? Because we want for you the same treasures that we have diligently searched for and discovered, and now treasure and value above all else. 

But we can't just go to our treasure chest and show you. Sure, we can try, but we would spend most of the time trying to explain to you why they are treasures! The paradox is that you must desire and search for them yourself.  

For many years, every year, Annie and I would travel to Moab, Utah to hike up to the Delicate Arch. I remember the first time we hiked together to discover this one of a kind treasure tucked away in the hills of Arches National Park.  We had to work to get there by hiking about 1.5 miles, only to walk the final part of the trail and discover this magnificent treasure as our view opened at the end of the trail. We could not see it until we got to it. Unbelievable!  But also indescribable! It has to be discovered, and cannot be fully appreciated until it is. Was it worth traveling 250 miles to see it? Every single time!

And because we treasure it and want those we love to experience it, we tell you about it, show you photos and encourage you to go and discover it. Why? Because we want you to experience and discover the beauty, the majesty, the reverence that we experienced and discovered. Why? Because we want to share this treasure with you. We can all relate to this. We want to share the good things, the treasures we discover with those we love and care about, knowing that we really can't share what we experienced, but we try nevertheless because we need to share, and where we can share our experiences, it makes us happy and glad.

There is, however, a treasure of greater worth that we want to share. Something of real consequence that only an angel could deliver. There is a clinical description of this angel named Moroni, of just what he was like and what happened when he came. And then there is that handing over of solid metal plates--we didn't see them, but they were translated in a work so staggering that it may risk challenging to call it the most remarkable achievement of the human mind--that is, if Joseph Smith was not telling the truth about its origin! After all what everyone really wants is "life and that more abundant," as the Lord says, and not only more abundant than we are getting, but it should be eternal, not cut off in the middle or running down to imbecility the way it always is. It should not end in corruption. 

Fortunately, a brilliant light penetrated the Judeo-Christian world’s centuries-old darkness in a grove of trees in the spring of 1820, when, in answer to a remarkable young man’s prayer, the youth saw and conversed with the Father and the Son, who appeared to him as distinct but identical physical persons. Angels subsequently visited the earth and the Book of Mormon, a record of ancient American inhabitants descended from Jews, was translated from golden plates and published to the world. That scriptural work—a second witness of Jesus of Nazareth—while it accords with the biblical account on all points, eliminates many doctrinal stumbling blocks that have vexed Jews and Christians alike.

But where is the hunger and thirst? Why are people so complacent to settle for that which gives no life, which has no life? We not only find the answers to these questions in the Book of Mormon, which, by the way, is named after Moroni's father Mormon, who received the records which had been kept and preserved, abridged them and gave them to his son Moroni, of which the translation is but a hundredth part of what was recorded, who delivered them to Joseph Smith to be translated by the power and authority of God. Only a hundredth part you ask? Why? To test our faith to see if we will receive what we have, only to receive more if we do! But also to be a witness against us if we won't receive what has been given. 

The Book of Mormon was given to the world, not just as a sign to convert it but as a testimony to convict it. It is given without reservation or qualification as a true history and the word of God: “A record of a fallen people, the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also.” If the Book of Mormon is to prove “…to the world that the Holy Scriptures are true” it must stand firm and unmoved without any external support. And it does. Critics can only attack its origin, but the book stands as a testimony of its existence. It invites any test and it will stand up to all of them.

Aside from records from 2200 BC which were found and kept with their own, their record begins with a man named Lehi and with his family and others who left Jerusalem in 600 BC and came to what is now Central and South America. The record spans over 1000 years ending in about 420 AD and contains a record of Jesus Christ coming to visit some on the inhabitants on the American continent after His resurrection. The story, however, is not in the origin of the Book, but in its content, which like the Delicate Arch, one must put in the work and search the words of the Book to see and receive its treasures. And treasures they are! The main message of the Book of Mormon is that we can be redeemed by Jesus Christ, from our lost and fallen state, if we repent or turn to God, relying wholly upon His merits and not our merits and good works. Why? You must search the words of the Book to find out. It is all spelled out in there--words of God. 

And God's motivation? Because God loves us and wants us to have all that He has. Love is the motivation, just like our love for you is our motivation to invite you to search for the treasures of heaven.The admonition of Mormon to his son holds to the very end, delivered as it was after all was lost:  "And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay...."

But we would never attempt to 'sell' it to you using images of the world or the latest and best techniques to 'convince' you. It cannot be done. By His words alone, however, you can hear and see. His treasures are hidden for a reason--to see if those seeking for more than this world has to offer--will go on a treasure hunt and discover the treasures for themselves. For those seeking comfort in the conventional, the unconventional may be disarming. But the principal guide is certainly the Book of Mormon. The divinity of that work can be sustained by one argument alone, if that were all we had, namely, the sheer outrageousness of the thing: a tapestry unequaled in all the library for its richness and detail, an inexhaustible well of knowledge, and the prophetic book of the age.

The message of the world by comparison has been reduced to its lowest denominator. Electronics and digital media have made no change in the content, just the same message, no matter the hardware, software or resolution, and as a result we keep asking the same question "Is this all there is?"

It should be enough to note that the gift of writing was given to man by God for the express purpose of recording His communications with men. And the Book of Mormon is full of such words, recorded and translated for the world to see, hear, discover and treasure. Definitely not like any other book you have ever read! As I said if this was the work of a man, it would be without question the greatest work in American history, and much more difficult to write than the real book. But it is not and Joseph never claimed that he wrote it. How would an uneducated man like Joseph Smith write of two migrations from two totally different cultures to the American continent, one in 2200 BC and another in 600BC, and be historically and culturally accurate?  

And yet, the most vocal critics have never read the book! They criticize and mock its origins. They ridicule Joseph Smith but couldn't tell you a-b-c about the contents of the Book of Mormon. So don't dismiss this just because you may not believe it, or more likely because you may not want to believe it, or you have heard from others who do not believe it. Belief is irrelevant. The question is not whether we believe or do not believe, but whether it is true or not. To believe something isn’t the same thing as knowing it. We may believe whatever we want, whether it is true or false. But we can’t know something is true unless it is true. Because each of us has the God-given ability to determine truth from error, we have a personal responsibility to do so. This is not something to leave to chance. There is too much riding on it and too little time to waste. This is about seeing and hearing, and you can only see and hear if you have walked the walk. And what do you lose by searching for the treasures of heaven? Nothing. But what do you lose by not searching for them? Everything!  

Joseph Smith gave the world something that nobody else could. That is why I say that Joseph Smith, with nothing going for him and everything going against him, simply could not lose. He told us what the play is all about. If you can come up with a better story than his, more power to you, but up until now no one else has had any story at all to place before us. If only for that reason, I believe, the Prophet's story deserves a hearing.

Life is a personal journey in which we can advance at whatever pace we want toward a more intelligent (light and truth) condition than we started from. And if we become more intelligent, then we become more useful, influential, and powerful in the service of the very truth that makes us so.

What would it take to convince you that there is a God and that He has revealed himself and His truth through His words? Is there absolute proof?

I, Clark, have thought a lot about what it would take to convince me, and I have concluded that it would depend on me. What I mean by this is that unless I was someone who was seeking for something, either knowledge, truth or some type of validation about my life, no matter what was available it would be meaningless without some desire on my part to want to know it. Without this desire no matter what truth and knowledge was out there, I would probably not seek it. What would not help me are stories about believers, famous or otherwise; history, good or bad; believers' testimonies or beliefs. The question for me is not belief, but whether there is truth. It must be either or. There can be no maybe.

The question for me then would be, what would it take to arouse in me a desire to seek for truth? I would first need to know that there is some truth to seek. Not some creed or institutional beliefs, but real truth. So if someone gave me a definition of truth (not what they thought was truth), but real truth, that would be meaningful to me, and perhaps arouse in me a desire to find that truth. 

For example, if someone said to me that the word of God is truth, that would cause me to want to know if there really was a God and if that God has revealed His words to others, and if records of these words have been kept. I believe I would want to test this definition of truth, but would be reluctant to rely on someone's interpretation of these words. If I thought that I could know of myself if these words were truth, perhaps I would be interested enough to find them and search them. It would require for me, however, some instruction on how to come to know if the words in fact were truth. These instructions would have to come from God and not from some person. That person could, however, direct me to these instructions and I could test them to see if I could come to know of some of the truth or the truth of some of His words. I would want to know that the recorded words were His and not commentaries or incorrect translations.

For example, if someone told me that there is an experiment that I could try to test His words, I would want to try it. This experiment would have to be a valid experiment and have a scientific basis with all the necessary elements and controls to measure the results, and through this experiment, I could come to know that the experiment was itself revealed by God. The key for me would be if I could know the truth for myself and not rely on others. Perhaps, then, through these words I could come to know that there is a God and that His words are truth, and then I could know all things I needed to know and do through His words. His words would then be for me the standard by which everything would be judged.

And I have discovered that such an experiment does exist, and it meets all the criteria described above. 

And so we want to share with our dearest friends that which is of greatest worth to us, that which is light and truth, which truth and light can be discerned by you. Whether you desire to try this experiment or not, our love for you will only increase. Our motivation is to share and give you more of ourselves. There are just some things that cannot be shared. Although we are sharing these insights with you, we will understand if you treat them as fiction. Compared to today’s well-worn interpretations, some of these views may seem radical indeed. 

We invite you to put them to the test, however, to see if they are not enlightening, empowering, and freeing to your spirit for that flight to heaven which God has invited every one of us to take. 

Get your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon here and begin your treasure hunt now. Be assured that His treasures await you!

An Example of a ‘Dead’ Prophet’s Relevance Today

Last week I posted Mythical Category of Dead Prophets. As a follow-up I want to show just how relevant Isaiah is today by discussing only the first 6 verses of Chapter 1 of Isaiah. I will let you decide how relevant this ‘dead’ prophet is. Keep in mind that this is the same prophet that Christ said we should search. “Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi 23:1 emphasis added).

These six verses are from the preface of the Book of Isaiah which dates from about 701 B.C., which is almost 3000 years ago. What could be relevant to us today from a record written so long ago?

1 The vision of Isaiah

the son of Amoz

which he beheld

concerning Judea and

Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah:

Earlier, in 722 B.C., Assyria had conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel (10 lost tribes) and taken them captive into Mesopotamia. The first chapter of the Book of Isaiah chronologically is chapter 6, which describes Isaiah’s calling as a prophet in the year of King Uzziah’s death in 742 B.C.

Isaiah’s prophetic ministry spanned about fifty years, and yet he uses the singular term ‘vision” which shows that Isaiah’s writings are one from beginning to end. Isaiah integrates his early oracles and later written discourses into a single prophecy that spells out an end-time scenario. Although Isaiah's prophecy was historical concerning Judea and Jerusalem, it is also an end-time prophecy in which “Judea” and “Jerusalem” are codenames that designate Jehovah’s end-time people. And who are His end-time people? We are, and everything Isaiah prophecies concerning Judea and Jerusalem, He prophecies about us, the Lord's latter-day people. This also is proof that Jesus’ words--that all things that Isaiah “spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spoke” (3 Nephi 23:3) are true. He carefully selected events in history that would repeat themselves in the end-time.

2 Hear, O heavens!

Give heed, O earth!

Jehovah has spoken:

I have reared sons,

brought them up,

but they have revolted

against me.

Isaiah begins his prophecy by calling on the heavens and the earth, which were witnesses of the Sinai Covenant (Deuteronomy 4:26; 30:19). That is the covenant Jehovah made with Israel as a nation, through which the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob became a people of God (Exodus 6:7). The “heavens” and the “earth,” however, don’t refer simply to the physical heavens and earth but to those who reside in them. Heavenly witnesses to Jehovah’s covenant no doubt include Israel’s ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others who would retain the utmost interest in their descendants’ welfare.

Additionally, when Jehovah made the covenant with His people Israel, it included both those present and those not present (Deuteronomy 29:14-15). This alludes to the idea that there existed others yet unborn who were parties to the covenant as much as the people who stood with Moses at Mount Sinai. In fact, even though Jehovah’s people Israel may have at different times alienated themselves from Jehovah, the covenant itself was never annulled. According to Isaiah, even the new covenant Jehovah makes at the dawning of the millennial age is a compound of all former covenants He made.

Isaiah uses the phrase “Jehovah has spoken.” And Jehovah here speaks formally which makes this an official decree. This suggests that at that point in time there had arisen a need for a reassessment or stocktaking. His people’s affairs continued for a time but then noticeably deteriorated. So Jehovah issues a pronouncement condemning His people or warning them of the inevitable consequences that must follow. These consequences take the form of curses or misfortunes that pertain to Jehovah’s covenant with His people, which, after repeated admonitions, become irreversible. And by warning His people at that time, He is warning us as well.

Jehovah says that “I have reared sons, brought them up, but they have revolted against me.” The word “sons” is a legal term common to covenants such as that made at Mount Sinai. As the prophets from Moses to Malachi adopt the emperor-vassal model to define Jehovah’s covenant relationship with Israel collectively and with persons individually, the word “sons,” as used in the present context, implies the breaking of covenant relationships by those with whom Jehovah has covenanted. The term “sons” also denotes God’s “children. Revolted in this sense means turning away from Jehovah. Hence the call of the prophets to return ye, return ye, return ye.

Isaiah prophecies that Judea/Jerusalem are taking their blessings and privileges for granted, and they are “revolting” or “transgressing” against their source—Israel’s God. They have turned from their God. Because Isaiah’s prophecies tell us what did happen, he tells us what is happening now among the Lord’s people in these latter days. This is part of the vision that Isaiah saw concerning us.

3 The ox knows its owner,

the ass its master’s stall,

but Israel does not know;

my people are insensible.

Israel . . . my people. 

We learn that Isaiah speaks on two distinct levels simultaneously, and that the “Israel” he addresses, therefore, is primarily two: (1) those who were Jehovah’s covenant people anciently; and (2) those who are Jehovah’s covenant people in the end-time. Accordingly, Isaiah enables us to read his prophecy as relating to Israel’s past, while his ‘what has been shall be’ structure enables us to read it as relating to the end-time. In that end-time context, names such as “Israel” designate those with whom God has covenanted. While we are identified with the Gentiles in Book of Mormon prophecies, we are identified with Israel in Isaiah’s prophecies. So there is no out for us.

Why does Isaiah use terms  ox and ass? While the ox is a ritually clean animal—because it divides the hoof and chews the cud (Leviticus 11:3)—the ass is not. Such dual imagery of beasts at times appears in Isaiah’s writings to represent (1) Israel’s natural or ethnic lineages; and (2) the nations of the Gentiles, or those lineages of Israel that assimilated into the Gentiles after its exile from the Promised Land. In an allegorical but not a contextual sense, therefore, this implies that Jehovah acknowledges a covenant relationship with both Israel’s ethnic lineages and those lineages that assimilated into the Gentiles. There really is no out for us! We can't claim mistaken identity!

The ox knows . . . Israel does not know. The verb “to know” expresses an intact covenant relationship—as when Adam “knew” his wife Eve and she conceived and bore a son (Genesis 4:1). Israel’s “not knowing,” on the other hand, implies that Jehovah’s people have broken the covenant with their God or, more accurately, voided their relationship with him by turning away from Him (cf. Matthew 7:23). Although righteous individuals (those repenting) among us may come to know Jehovah—as He manifests himself to those who love Him—Isaiah prophecies that most of us appear unwilling to do what it takes (cf. Matthew 25:12).

My people are insensible, which also means non-discerning or uncomprehending, as in “not knowing” how He feeds His people--they being ignorant of spiritual truths. Says Paul, “The things of God no man knows but the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11). Unless one obtains the Spirit of God that comes with entering into and receiving His covenant blessings, by continual repentance, it is impossible to know God or to comprehend His truth. And the truth is His word (D&C 84:45).

4 Alas, a nation astray,

a people weighed

down by sin,

the offspring of

wrongdoers,

perverse children:

they have forsaken Jehovah,

they have spurned

the Holy One of Israel,

they have lapsed into apostasy.

From addressing His people personally as “Israel . . . my people” (v 3), Jehovah now addresses them impersonally as “a nation,” signifying their alienated state, a people who have gone astray and burdening themselves with “sin,” which, over time, ends in outright “wrongdoing.” That occurs collectively and generationally. The “offspring of wrongdoers” turn into “perverse children,” meaning that the rising generation has by now become thoroughly corrupt. “Forsaking” Jehovah and “spurning” Him finally become conscious and deliberate acts. See The Closing of the Mormon Mind.

The title of “Holy One,” together with “Valiant One” (v 24) designates Israel’s God more than thirty times in the Book of Isaiah. In this case, it contrasts Jehovah’s holiness with His people’s unholiness. Still, it points to what Jehovah’s people should become—“holy” or “sanctified,” like their God. Both titles—“Holy One” and “Valiant One”—characterize Israel’s God as His people’s exemplar. We observe this when Jehovah exempts a righteous remnant of His people called His “holy ones” and “valiant ones” from a worldwide destruction (Isaiah 13:3). Those who will not be exempt are those who have spurned the Holy One of Israel.

They have lapsed into apostasy. Jehovah’s people have become entirely “estranged” from Him. They have “gone backwards” to what they used to be before they became Jehovah’s covenant people, when they didn’t know their God. In effect, they have become godless again like the world’s heathen nations, but now more so because they have rejected the light they once had. This is true even though they give lip service and attend to their religious duties. The apostasy into which they began to backslide a generation ago is now complete. They have dwindled in unbelief. 

5 Why be smitten further

by adding to your waywardness?

The whole head is sick,

the whole heart diseased.

To be “smitten” of God or experience covenant curses—through plagues, misfortunes, natural disasters, and enemies—constitutes Jehovah’s final attempt to bring His people back to a state of blessedness by influencing or inducing them to repent of evil. Instead, they persist in their waywardness, which only compounds their plight (Isaiah 42:18-25; 59:8-10). Illness and disease become rampant, reflecting a society sick in mind and body. This is true also of  the people’s “head” or leadership, and their “heart” or core institutions—in short, their entire establishment, political and religious (Isaiah 7:8-9; 9:14-16)—has degenerated to a pathological state.

6 From the soles of the feet even to the head there is nothing sound,

only wounds and bruises and festering sores; they have not been pressed out or bound up, nor soothed with ointment.

Like the wounds, bruises, and sores of an enemy—one who receives no chance of being ministered to—Jehovah’s alienated people find themselves in similar circumstances. When someone in a gulag becomes ill, that is his problem; he is dispensable. That is the condition to which Jehovah’s people are reduced in His Day of Judgment. They have rebelled against Jehovah and squandered their inheritance. Then, when their entire society breaks down, their curse becomes irrevocable. Nevertheless, although a majority suffers misery, there remains hope for some who repent. The idea of head to toe depicts that even religious leaders have gone astray.

The idea of being “soothed with ointment,” which is denied the wicked, Jehovah doesn’t deny the righteous. We observe his healing and anointing His repentant people later in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 30:26; 57:18-19; 58:8; 61:3). 

It is for you to search Isaiah’s words and discover those who are soothed with ointment and those who are not. 

In other words, although Isaiah has us wade through the judgmental parts of his prophecy before he presents Jehovah’s glorious promises, all doesn’t end in gloom and doom. If Jehovah’s people repent in time, they may yet qualify for his divine blessings.

They who have ears to hear let them hear. See Isaiah 6.

Mythical Category of Dead Prophets

Again and again we have been told by our leaders to read the scriptures for ourselves by way of obtaining a testimony for ourselves. But have we shunted our responsibility by creating a mythical category of dead prophets? Perhaps we have done this without actually branding the ancient prophets as irrelevant so much as deferring exclusively to the "living prophets." But when Gabriel and Moroni (who are still very much alive) came with their messages to mortals, what each delivered was a package of quotes from the Old Testament. In fact, when the Lord himself came to the Nephites he insisted on checking their written records and insuring that the prophecies of Malachi and of Samuel the Lamanite where updated. Here was the author of it all present in person, but he did not shove the old records aside. Instead, He deferred His further teaching to the written record and to the prophets of old "for the profit and learning" of future generations.

In fact after the Lord's resurrection when he met with his apostles, and "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27 emphasis added). Here is the author of it all teaching from the scriptures. The effect on the listeners was also recorded, "and they said to one another, did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32)

Even though we are continually admonished to search the scriptures (scripture narrative), or to read them and to ponder them (pulpit narrative), for ourselves, none will deny that good teachers can be of real assistance, especially those with the gift of knowledge:

"And I give unto 

you a commandment 

that you shall 

teach one another 

the doctrine of the kingdom.  

Teach ye diligently and 

my grace shall attend you, 

that you may be 

instructed more perfectly 

in theory, 

in principle, 

in doctrine, 

in the law of the gospel, 

in all things that 

pertain unto the 

kingdom of God, 

that are expedient 

for you to understand; 

Of things both 

in heaven and in earth, 

and under the earth; 

things which have been, 

things which are, 

things which must 

shortly come to pass; 

things which are at home, 

things which are abroad; 

the wars and perplexities 

of the nations, 

the judgments which 

are on the land; and 

a knowledge also of countries 

and of kingdoms--

that ye may be 

prepared in all things..." (D&C 88:77-80).

Who then is to teach us the scriptures? It has always been our boast that we have no professional ministers who have been to school and learned to interpret the scriptures for us. The understanding of scripture is a function, not of office, but of revelation, as is evidenced on a day in May 1829:  "Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the Scriptures opened to our understanding, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed to us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of" (History of the Church, 1:43).

But the scriptures do not deliver their messages to us automatically. The mind must always intervene, yours and others who have used theirs and had their own minds enlightened as the scriptures were opened to their understanding. Again Alma is the example: "For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God" (Alma 36:26 emphasis added).

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