The "Isaiah Barrier" - The First Key

Why is Isaiah so hard to understand? You'd think if it were so important (and it is...), it would be written in a way we could grasp. I'm offering this as purely my own opinion, but here's what makes sense to me. First, let me refer to part of a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott from October General Conference, 1989. In speaking of prayer he said,

"I have discovered that what sometimes seems an impenetrable barrier to communication is a giant step to be taken in trust."

Huh? Where am I going with this? Lemme 'splain... God gives us weaknesses "that [we] may be humble; and [His] grace is sufficient for all ... that humble themselves before [him]..." (Ether 12:27). I believe that Isaiah is intentionally difficult to help us become humble enough to go to the Lord for help. To paraphrase Elder Scott, 'what sometimes seesms an impenetrable barrier to understanding the scriptures is a giant step to be taken in trusting the Lord'. It seems impassable, but with the Lord's help we'll make it through Isaiah...

The Gospel Doctrine manual lists five 'keys' to help understand Isaiah. Those of you in the advanced class might skip ahead to Elder Bruce R. McConkie's "Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah". While I am a huge fan of Elder McConkie, it might be a little much for most of us right now. I want to deal with the keys listed in the manual and see if they can be expanded upon. This is going to turn into one of those "tune in next week" series because I'll probably only be able to deal with one key at a time.

Key #1: 1 Nephi 19:23

This verse was brought up as one of the reasons why Nephi quoted Isaiah so often, "that [he] might more fully persuade [his brothers] to believe in the Lord their Redeemer". It also has the first key in how to make sense out of not only Isaiah, but all scriptures. We, like Nephi, need to "liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning."

If you're like me (which would be a scary thought), you're asking yourself, "How do I liken something I don't understand?"

In the February 2004 Ensign, Elder Henry B. Eyring said, "I have worried about the barrier of Isaiah. In fact, I have pondered this thought: 'Why did Nephi put the barrier there?'"

See... even Elder Eyring calls it a barrier. Now I don't feel so bad. After referring to 1 Nephi 19:23, he continues:

"I have thought perhaps what Nephi is trying to tell us is that he recognized the barrier of Isaiah. He knew that the book of Isaiah is full of imagery. Of all the scriptures, few have as many images; therefore, Isaiah can be very difficult. I believe what Nephi meant by “liken all scriptures unto us” was that they could be directly applied.

"Many are more skilled than I am at putting scriptures in their historic context. There are wonderful techniques of understanding metaphor, simile, and allegory in the scriptures, and I hope you will learn as much about that as you can. But I hope you will learn one more thing. As you read Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, try to believe that Nephi knew Isaiah and he knew imagery. Nephi said to liken Isaiah directly unto you. So I tried it. I read Isaiah’s words again, assuming Nephi picked the parts of Isaiah that I, without worrying about the imagery, could take directly to my heart as if the Lord were speaking to me…" (Henry B. Eyring, “The Book of Mormon Will Change Your Life”, Ensign, Feb 2004, 9)

Elder Eyring seems to be saying that Nephi picked out passages that we would be able to apply to ourselves without being fluent in Hebrew or knowing anything about the culture. Sounds great, but does it work? Let's look at a few passages and test it out.

1 Nephi 21:14-16

14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

Who hasn't felt forgotten or forsaken in this life? I think it's safe to say we all pass through that at one point, wondering if God is aware of what we're doing or going through.

15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

The Lord says a woman would forget her nursing child before He ever forgot about us. That's a comforting thought to me.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

When I was in high school (before the wonder of Palm Pilots and electronic organizers), when I needed to remember important items like homework assignments or a girl's phone number, the only way for me to be assured of remembering it later was to write it on my hands. I had to be careful, because if I wrote it on my palm the writing would wear off or smudge so I couldn't read what I had written. Isaiah says that the Lord has a more reliable method of remembering us. We are written on the "palms of [His] hands", but not with ink. The nails of the cross are His reminders of us, "continually before [Him]."

Another example: 2 Nephi 15:18:

Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope

Imagine someone pulling their sins behind them, tied to the cart by their own vanity. How often do we let our own pride prevent us from letting go of our "favorite" sins? So we often keep hauling them around with us, making our own progress more difficult.

So there's the first key, likening Isaiah to ourselves. Sounds easy enough, right? While it may not seem straight-forward to start out, but with practice and application it becomes easier. Eventually...