Below are the quotes that were used in the video.
When Isaiah writes these chapters, his nation is in peril. Isaiah is inspired to share counsel that is relevant and applicable to use today. These chapters also give hope to those in times of crisis. One of the highlights is a prophecy in Isaiah 29 that focuses on our day and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
Sheol
1.The dead are alive.
2.Sheol is the place where all of the dead live.
3.In Sheol there is personal continuity of personal recognition.
4.Sheol is a place of weakness with loss, not enhancement of earthly powers.
5.The dead wait in Sheol for a fullness, or future enhancement (see Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, p. 143-144).
People
1.The saints (trees) may think that the power of their destruction is in the feller (woodchopper or Satan) (14:8).
2.“Consider” or discern who Satan really is and will marvel “Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms…? (14:16).
3.Understand that Satan has little power (14:17).
4.See his worth as a carcass or a diseased and broken branch (14:19).
President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to “sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect (Moses 7:62)” (CR, October 1988, p.3).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie: “Few men on earth, either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness . . . The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it . . . There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modem times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men? We testify that it is.” (The Millennial Messiah, pp. 159, 170, 17)
“The Assyrians in 701 B.C. under Sennacherib‘s leadership faced a revolt of Judah after Ahaz’s death, when Hezekiah, supported by Egypt, refused to pay tribute to Assyria. He invaded Palestine and destroyed a number of cities, but at Jerusalem the Lord did “tred him under foot.” The Lord caused that 185,000 of the Assyrian army died in one night and the king returned home, only to be killed by his sons (see 2 Kings 19:32-37)” (Miller, Isaiah, A Prophet’s Prophet, p. 142).
God
1.“Sweep [the earth] with the besom of destruction” (14:23)
2.Will “break the Assyrian in my land” (14:24).
3.Has a “… purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations” (14:26).
Some Book of Mormon Scriptures on the Relevance and Applicability of Isaiah
President Ezra Taft Benson: “The world will present a scene of conflict such as has never been experienced before. Still, men’s hearts will be hardened to the revelations from heaven. Even greater signs shall then be given to manifest the approaching great day of the Lord. . . .
Earth’s progression towards salvation
01. SPIRIT (Bruce R. McConkie, MD, pg. 210-211)
02. VEIL (D&C 101:23)
03. FALL (Brigham Young, JD, 17:143)
04. BAPTISM (Genesis 7:19-20)
05. HOLY GHOST (Orson Pratt, JD, 1:331)
06. OBEDIENCE (D&C 88:25-26)
07. DIVIDED & BECOMING ONE (Genesis 10:25;D&C 133:24)
08. CLEAN (JST Luke 17:40)
09. DEATH (D&C 88:26)
10. RESURRECTION (D&C 88:26)
11. CELESTIAL GLORY (D&C 130:9)
Elder Robert D. Hales: “In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end.” (“Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 72)
Joseph Smith: “It is not wisdom that we should have all knowledge at once presented before us; but that we should have a little at a time; then we can comprehend it.
“When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 268)
Elder LeGrand Richards: “If you will read that thoughtfully, you will know that he not only saw the destruction of Jerusalem, but he saw the destruction of another great center like unto Jerusalem. Then he adds: ‘And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground, an thy speech shall be low out of the dust and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.’ Nobody in this world could explain that intelligently or know what people Isaiah saw like unto Jerusalem without the Book of Mormon.” (Conference Report, April 1963, pg. 118)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie: "And thou"—ye Nephites, saith the Lord—"shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." Where else in all history are there two better examples of peoples who were brought down and utterly destroyed than the Jaredites and Nephites? And whose voices, being stilled in death, yet speak from their graves for all to hear? Does not their united voice have a familiar spirit? Is it not whispering out of the ground the same prophetic message that is now and always has been the burden of the living prophets? Does not the Book of Mormon proclaim a familiar message, one already written in the Bible? ( A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], 432.)
The Learned
"Soon after this a certain portion of the characters on these plates were copied off by the Prophet, and the manuscript sent, by the hands of Martin Harris, a farmer who lived in that neighborhood, to the city of New York, to show them to the learned, to see if they could translate them. Among those to whom they were presented was Professor Anthon—a man noted for his learning in languages—but he could not translate them. You may here inquire, What was the particular character in which these plates were written? They inform us that they wrote in two separate characters. Some of their plates were written in Hebrew and some in the Egyptian; but both the Hebrew and the Egyptian, after they came from Jerusalem, were reformed by them. I mean the alphabets were altered or changed.
"If they had not done this by design, we know that in the course of a thousand years languages will greatly change, and sometimes new characters will be added to alphabets. We know that none of them, at the present time, are precisely as they were anciently; they have been added to from time to time. The Hebrew, on the eastern continent, had the points representing the vowels added to it after the Nephites left Jerusalem; and no doubt the Egyptian, understood when they left, has been greatly changed since. They wrote, therefore, in the reformed Egyptian—a language that the learned Professor Anthon did not understand. He requested Martin Harris, however, to bring the plates to him, telling him, if he would, that he could perhaps assist him in the translation.
"Joseph translated the few characters that were sent to Professor Anthon, and when the translation and the original were shown to him and he had compared them, he expressed the opinion that the translation was correct, and he gave a paper to that effect to Martin Harris. As Mr. Harris was leaving the room, Mr. Anthon said, "How did this young lad obtain the plates?" Said Martin Harris, "He obtained them by the ministration of an holy angel." Professor Anthon immediately requested him to return the paper that he had given him, and as soon as Mr. Harris had done so, he tore it to pieces, saying, "Angels do not appear in our day." (Journal of Discourses 15:186)
In 1818 Martin was instructed by the Spirit not to join any church until the words of Isaiah were fulfilled in Isaiah 29:13-14 .
Elder Bruce R, McConkie: "[Quotes Isa. 29:13-14] “when these divine words were uttered, they had reference to the restoration of the gospel in our day. And some of these very words were quoted by the Son of God in the First Vision. (JS-H 1:19.) Many latter-day revelations identify the marvelous work here named as the restored gospel.” (|The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982], 106.)
Elder Mark E. Petersen: “Not only did the prophets predict its appearance, but Isaiah set a limit on the time of its publication. That time limit was related to the period when fertility would return to Palestine. Isaiah said that the book would come forth first, and then added that in "a very little while . . . Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest." (Isa. 29:17.)
“The time limit has expired. This new volume of scripture must have come forth before now or Isaiah was not a true prophet, for Palestine is fruitful again.
“Where is that book? (Conference Report, October 1965, Second Day—Morning Meeting 61.)
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “Unfortunately, messengers of divinely mandated commandments are often no more popular today than they were anciently. . . .
“Sadly enough, . . . it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.” (“The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2014, 7)
Following Bruce R. McConkie conference address in which he expounds on Isaiah 33:14-15 (Conference Report, October 1973), President Harold B. Lee got up to introduce the next speaker and said “We have just heard from Elder McConkie of the Council of the Twelve, who has given us the key by which we can gain inheritance into our Father’s kingdom. May we follow his counsel.”
Isaiah 33:15 : How do you get to be in the ‘everlasting burnings’?
(Joseph Smith - Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 346)
1. You walketh righteously = keep your covenants
2. You speaketh uprightly = make covenants
3. You don’t profit by extortion = be honest
4. You stop hearing of blood = commit no murders, violence
5. You don’t be a participant in evil
Ezra Taft Benson: “I realize this is an unpleasant topic on which to dwell. I take no delight in its portrayal, nor do I look forward to the day when calamities shall come with increasing number upon humanity.
But these words are not my own; the Lord has spoken them. . . .
“But to an otherwise gloomy picture there is a bright side—the coming of our Lord in all his glory. His coming will be both glorious and terrible, depending on the spiritual condition of those who remain” (“Prepare Yourselves for the Great Day of the Lord,” in Brigham Young University 1981 Fireside and Devotional Speeches [1981], 66–67; New Era, May 1982, 44).
The Destruction of Sennacherib
Sennacherib’s “false god failed to protect him an ironic contrast to Hezekiah’s prayer at the temple (37:15–20) and subsequent deliverance from his enemies (not to mention the irony of Sennacherib’s message to Hezekiah in Isa. 36:14-20 not to rely on the Lord because the Lord would not save him)” (Parry, Understanding Isaiah, 329)
Assyrian account
“Sennacherib's Prism, which details the events of Sennacherib's campaign against Judah, was discovered in the ruins of Nineveh in 1830, and is now stored at the Oriental Institute in Chicago, Illinois.[2] The account dates from about 690 BCE. The text of the prism boasts how Sennacherib destroyed 46 of Judah's cities and trapped Hezekiah in Jerusalem "like a caged bird." The text goes on to describe how the "terrifying splendor" of the Assyrian army caused the Arabs and mercenaries reinforcing the city to desert. It adds that the Assyrian king returned to Assyria where he later received a large tribute from Judah. This description inevitably varies somewhat from the Jewish version in the Tanakh. The massive Assyrian casualties mentioned in the Tanakh are not mentioned in the Assyrian version.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_siege_of_Jerusalem)
In difficult times, Isaiah taught:
Sheol
1.The dead are alive.
2.Sheol is the place where all of the dead live.
3.In Sheol there is personal continuity of personal recognition.
4.Sheol is a place of weakness with loss, not enhancement of earthly powers.
5.The dead wait in Sheol for a fullness, or future enhancement (see Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, p. 143-144).
People
1.The saints (trees) may think that the power of their destruction is in the feller (woodchopper or Satan) (14:8).
2.“Consider” or discern who Satan really is and will marvel “Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms…? (14:16).
3.Understand that Satan has little power (14:17).
4.See his worth as a carcass or a diseased and broken branch (14:19).
President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to “sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect (Moses 7:62)” (CR, October 1988, p.3).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie: “Few men on earth, either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness . . . The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it . . . There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modem times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men? We testify that it is.” (The Millennial Messiah, pp. 159, 170, 17)
“The Assyrians in 701 B.C. under Sennacherib‘s leadership faced a revolt of Judah after Ahaz’s death, when Hezekiah, supported by Egypt, refused to pay tribute to Assyria. He invaded Palestine and destroyed a number of cities, but at Jerusalem the Lord did “tred him under foot.” The Lord caused that 185,000 of the Assyrian army died in one night and the king returned home, only to be killed by his sons (see 2 Kings 19:32-37)” (Miller, Isaiah, A Prophet’s Prophet, p. 142).
God
1.“Sweep [the earth] with the besom of destruction” (14:23)
2.Will “break the Assyrian in my land” (14:24).
3.Has a “… purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations” (14:26).
Some Book of Mormon Scriptures on the Relevance and Applicability of Isaiah
- 1 Nephi 19:23-24 - Persuade to believe in Christ, hope.
- 2 Nephi 11:8 - Lift up your hearts, rejoice, liken.
- 2 Nephi 25:7–8 - Great worth, understand, for our day.
- 3 Nephi 20:11–12 Words fulfilled then covenant fulfilled.
- 3 Ne. 23:1 - Search diligently, great are the words of Isaiah
President Ezra Taft Benson: “The world will present a scene of conflict such as has never been experienced before. Still, men’s hearts will be hardened to the revelations from heaven. Even greater signs shall then be given to manifest the approaching great day of the Lord. . . .
Earth’s progression towards salvation
01. SPIRIT (Bruce R. McConkie, MD, pg. 210-211)
02. VEIL (D&C 101:23)
03. FALL (Brigham Young, JD, 17:143)
04. BAPTISM (Genesis 7:19-20)
05. HOLY GHOST (Orson Pratt, JD, 1:331)
06. OBEDIENCE (D&C 88:25-26)
07. DIVIDED & BECOMING ONE (Genesis 10:25;D&C 133:24)
08. CLEAN (JST Luke 17:40)
09. DEATH (D&C 88:26)
10. RESURRECTION (D&C 88:26)
11. CELESTIAL GLORY (D&C 130:9)
Elder Robert D. Hales: “In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end.” (“Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 72)
Joseph Smith: “It is not wisdom that we should have all knowledge at once presented before us; but that we should have a little at a time; then we can comprehend it.
“When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 268)
Elder LeGrand Richards: “If you will read that thoughtfully, you will know that he not only saw the destruction of Jerusalem, but he saw the destruction of another great center like unto Jerusalem. Then he adds: ‘And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground, an thy speech shall be low out of the dust and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.’ Nobody in this world could explain that intelligently or know what people Isaiah saw like unto Jerusalem without the Book of Mormon.” (Conference Report, April 1963, pg. 118)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie: "And thou"—ye Nephites, saith the Lord—"shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." Where else in all history are there two better examples of peoples who were brought down and utterly destroyed than the Jaredites and Nephites? And whose voices, being stilled in death, yet speak from their graves for all to hear? Does not their united voice have a familiar spirit? Is it not whispering out of the ground the same prophetic message that is now and always has been the burden of the living prophets? Does not the Book of Mormon proclaim a familiar message, one already written in the Bible? ( A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], 432.)
The Learned
"Soon after this a certain portion of the characters on these plates were copied off by the Prophet, and the manuscript sent, by the hands of Martin Harris, a farmer who lived in that neighborhood, to the city of New York, to show them to the learned, to see if they could translate them. Among those to whom they were presented was Professor Anthon—a man noted for his learning in languages—but he could not translate them. You may here inquire, What was the particular character in which these plates were written? They inform us that they wrote in two separate characters. Some of their plates were written in Hebrew and some in the Egyptian; but both the Hebrew and the Egyptian, after they came from Jerusalem, were reformed by them. I mean the alphabets were altered or changed.
"If they had not done this by design, we know that in the course of a thousand years languages will greatly change, and sometimes new characters will be added to alphabets. We know that none of them, at the present time, are precisely as they were anciently; they have been added to from time to time. The Hebrew, on the eastern continent, had the points representing the vowels added to it after the Nephites left Jerusalem; and no doubt the Egyptian, understood when they left, has been greatly changed since. They wrote, therefore, in the reformed Egyptian—a language that the learned Professor Anthon did not understand. He requested Martin Harris, however, to bring the plates to him, telling him, if he would, that he could perhaps assist him in the translation.
"Joseph translated the few characters that were sent to Professor Anthon, and when the translation and the original were shown to him and he had compared them, he expressed the opinion that the translation was correct, and he gave a paper to that effect to Martin Harris. As Mr. Harris was leaving the room, Mr. Anthon said, "How did this young lad obtain the plates?" Said Martin Harris, "He obtained them by the ministration of an holy angel." Professor Anthon immediately requested him to return the paper that he had given him, and as soon as Mr. Harris had done so, he tore it to pieces, saying, "Angels do not appear in our day." (Journal of Discourses 15:186)
In 1818 Martin was instructed by the Spirit not to join any church until the words of Isaiah were fulfilled in Isaiah 29:13-14 .
Elder Bruce R, McConkie: "[Quotes Isa. 29:13-14] “when these divine words were uttered, they had reference to the restoration of the gospel in our day. And some of these very words were quoted by the Son of God in the First Vision. (JS-H 1:19.) Many latter-day revelations identify the marvelous work here named as the restored gospel.” (|The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982], 106.)
Elder Mark E. Petersen: “Not only did the prophets predict its appearance, but Isaiah set a limit on the time of its publication. That time limit was related to the period when fertility would return to Palestine. Isaiah said that the book would come forth first, and then added that in "a very little while . . . Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest." (Isa. 29:17.)
“The time limit has expired. This new volume of scripture must have come forth before now or Isaiah was not a true prophet, for Palestine is fruitful again.
“Where is that book? (Conference Report, October 1965, Second Day—Morning Meeting 61.)
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “Unfortunately, messengers of divinely mandated commandments are often no more popular today than they were anciently. . . .
“Sadly enough, . . . it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.” (“The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2014, 7)
Following Bruce R. McConkie conference address in which he expounds on Isaiah 33:14-15 (Conference Report, October 1973), President Harold B. Lee got up to introduce the next speaker and said “We have just heard from Elder McConkie of the Council of the Twelve, who has given us the key by which we can gain inheritance into our Father’s kingdom. May we follow his counsel.”
Isaiah 33:15 : How do you get to be in the ‘everlasting burnings’?
(Joseph Smith - Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 346)
1. You walketh righteously = keep your covenants
2. You speaketh uprightly = make covenants
3. You don’t profit by extortion = be honest
4. You stop hearing of blood = commit no murders, violence
5. You don’t be a participant in evil
Ezra Taft Benson: “I realize this is an unpleasant topic on which to dwell. I take no delight in its portrayal, nor do I look forward to the day when calamities shall come with increasing number upon humanity.
But these words are not my own; the Lord has spoken them. . . .
“But to an otherwise gloomy picture there is a bright side—the coming of our Lord in all his glory. His coming will be both glorious and terrible, depending on the spiritual condition of those who remain” (“Prepare Yourselves for the Great Day of the Lord,” in Brigham Young University 1981 Fireside and Devotional Speeches [1981], 66–67; New Era, May 1982, 44).
The Destruction of Sennacherib
- The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
- And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
- And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
- When the blue waves roll lightly on deep Galilee.
- Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
- That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
- Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
- That host on the morrow lay wither’d and strown.
- For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
- And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass’d;
- And the eyes of the sleepers wax’d deadly and chill,
- And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still:
- And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
- But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
- And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
- And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
- And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
- With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
- And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
- The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.
- And the widows of Assbur are loud in their wail,
- And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
- And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
- Hath melted like snow at the glance of the Lord!
Sennacherib’s “false god failed to protect him an ironic contrast to Hezekiah’s prayer at the temple (37:15–20) and subsequent deliverance from his enemies (not to mention the irony of Sennacherib’s message to Hezekiah in Isa. 36:14-20 not to rely on the Lord because the Lord would not save him)” (Parry, Understanding Isaiah, 329)
Assyrian account
“Sennacherib's Prism, which details the events of Sennacherib's campaign against Judah, was discovered in the ruins of Nineveh in 1830, and is now stored at the Oriental Institute in Chicago, Illinois.[2] The account dates from about 690 BCE. The text of the prism boasts how Sennacherib destroyed 46 of Judah's cities and trapped Hezekiah in Jerusalem "like a caged bird." The text goes on to describe how the "terrifying splendor" of the Assyrian army caused the Arabs and mercenaries reinforcing the city to desert. It adds that the Assyrian king returned to Assyria where he later received a large tribute from Judah. This description inevitably varies somewhat from the Jewish version in the Tanakh. The massive Assyrian casualties mentioned in the Tanakh are not mentioned in the Assyrian version.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_siege_of_Jerusalem)
In difficult times, Isaiah taught:
- There is peace in righteousness
- Personal preparation must include God
- Wait patiently on the Lord
- God will always keep his promises
- Be a strength to the needy in their distress, a refuge
- Strengthen the weak hands, confirm the feeble knees
- Seek council from God, and His prophet.