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COMFORT YE MY PEOPLE
ICEBREAKER
As an icebreaker, I like to begin by asking my students about fears-different kinds of fears. I might ask them what some of their biggest fears are? I may even do a little phobias quiz with them. Do you know what people with the following phobias are afraid of? If you wanted, you could even give this to your students as a handout and challenge them to match the phobia with the fear.
Acrophobia=heights
Arachnophobia=spiders
Achluophobia=the dark
Claustrophobia=the fear of
Brontophobia-Fear of thunderstorms.
Glossophobia-fear of public speaking
Another fear that I feel a lot of members of the church may have is the fear of failure. I know I feel that at times. The fear that I’m not enough. That I’m not fulfilling my divine destiny in the way that I should. That I’m not going to quite make it to exaltation
TRANSITION
Well, as rational or as irrational as those some of those fears can be, fears can be paralyzing, fears can hold us back, and fears can make us very unhappy. But there are things that can help us to overcome our fears, calm our anxieties, or get us through our worrying circumstances. If you want to get a good idea of what this week’s chapters of Isaiah are all about, all you have to do is read the very first verse of our scripture block: Isaiah 40:1. And what does it say there?
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
And the beginning of verse 2:
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
That is exactly what the Lord is going to do for the remaining half of the book of Isaiah. There is a noticeable shift in tone from Isaiah chapter 39 to chapter 40. In Isaiah chapters 1-39, the prophet speaks with more of a voice of warning, urgency, and correction—while chapters 40-66 speak with a softer more comforting tone. That tone is so different that some Biblical scholars even theorize that there were two Isaiah’s—two different authors that were later combined into one and labeled Isaiah. Now I don’t buy it. Prophets can emphasize different messages at different times but that doesn’t make them different people. What this does tell us though, is that we’re going to be looking for some different themes this week. Last week I introduced you to the stringing pearls technique of teaching the scriptures and we’re going to be doing the same kind of thing this week, but with a different string. This week we’re going to be looking for “Messages of Comfort” in Isaiah—things the Lord says and does to help his children overcome their fears and endure their anxieties. As you read these chapters, you’re going to want to look for and mark as many comforting messages and ideas as you can find.
SEARCH
Now if you were just studying the scriptures on your own here, that’s what I would encourage you to do. Just go through chapter by chapter and mark those messages and insights that you find comforting. But if you’re teaching, we’re going to have to narrow down our reading a little bit. There are some sections of these chapters that I find particularly noteworthy. I would guide my students to these specific references, read them together as a class, and ask the same question for each before it’s read. What’s comforting about this section?
40:11
We’ll start with 40:11 One of the most comforting things we can know is a true understanding of the nature of God and his character. What kind of God is he? Here we get a good idea of one aspect of that.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Now that’s a comforting image, isn’t it? He’s a feeding, gathering, carrying in his bosom, gentle God. He’s a good shepherd. This is the way he leads his people. Maybe you’ve watched different people work with animals. There are different methods people use to get animals to do something. Some yell, some use mild electric shocks, some strike the animal with something. Jockey’s in a horse race come to mind. Is that how Jesus leads us? No, he leads us gently along. He’s patient and takes his time. He gently and slowly leads us along. A good example of that gentle, shepherd like voice can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18:
17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;
18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.
When I read that, I picture Christ tenderly and quietly leading his flock of sheep.
40:12, 15, 18, 22, 25
I like to lump these verses together because Isaiah has a very specific point to make about God in this part of the chapter. Now that he’s introduced us to the personal, gentle God, he also wants us to see the powerful, omniscient, and mighty God that he is as well. So he’s going to give us a number of visuals to help us comprehend and feel the nature of that power. You’re going to hear me say this often as we study Isaiah. You’ve got to SEE Isaiah rather than READ Isaiah. He’s a visual, poetic, symbolic writer. So it’s important to picture his words. Let’s be sure to do that with the following verses.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
Can you picture that one? God is so big, so grand, so powerful that he could just reach down and scoop up the Pacific Ocean and hold it in the palm of his hand. He could measure it—and tell you just how big it is.
and meted out heaven with the span,
To mete something out is to measure it and the span was the distance between the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger spread out. So it’s as if God is up there saying, “Oh, you want to know how big the universe is? You mortals down there haven’t figured that out yet? I could tell you. Here let me measure it for you.” And he just puts his hand up and starts counting and says, “It’s about this big.”
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
So here he says, “Would you like to know how many specks of dust there are on the face of the earth, how many grains of sand on the sea shore? I could tell you. The number’s too big for your mortal minds to comprehend, but my mind comprehends, I know the exact number. It’s not unmeasurable for me.”
and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
“So you want to know how much Mt. Everest weighs? Or the Rocky Mountains? Or the Alps? Let me tell” And he reaches down and scoops up the Rocky Mountains in his hand and puts them on his heavenly scales and measures exactly how much they weigh.
Do you see what Isaiah’s doing here? He’s very poetically illustrating the majesty and power of God.
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
The earthly powers of the world are really nothing compared to him. The China’s, the Russia’s, the United States’s, with all their military, economic, and political self-importance, are like a drop in a bucket or so much dust that is easily blown away in the wind compared to him. They are a very little thing.
Now jump to verse 22
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Can you visualize that one?! Think of that picture of the earth that the astronauts took from the moon—where you can actually see the circle of the earth. Now can you picture God, just sitting down on it, his legs dangling over the side? That’s how immense he is! He looks down with a Google-earth type perspective at all us grasshoppers. All the works and cities and affairs of men are spread out before him like a person surveying ants on an anthill. The scriptures sometimes say that earth is his footstool. He can just prop his legs up on it. The heavens are also like his tent, and he stretches out the doors of it to encompass all eternity.
Then, the big question. A rhetorical question. He asks it twice in this chapter. In both verse 18 and verse 25
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
What’s the answer to that question? There is none like Him. There is none greater—no one as powerful. And yet, with all of that influence and authority and capacity,
:26
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Do you understand that image. If you were to go out at night and look up at all the stars in the heavens, he would be able to call them by names. We too have stars that we call by name, but the vast majority of them, we delineate with numbers. Star #59368. But not God, he calls each by their specific name. And he can do the same for each person on this earth. No one is beyond the gaze of God. No one escapes his care and knowledge. He knows every single one of the nearly 8 billion people that reside on this planet right now, as well as all the spirits of the Spirit World and all the spirits of the yet unborn. He knows them by name.
He’s still that gentle, shepherd-like, ever-present and caring being in the lives of those who trust in Him. Isn’t it amazing that a being of that kind of power and omniscience, you and I probably talked to casually this morning on our knees. The fact that a being with that omnipotence and ultimate authority over the universe is warmly and comfortably aware of who we are and all that we experience and go through. That may be one of the MOST comforting and wonderful things about him. The fact that he is so grand and so impressive, and yet so personal and so intimate. To whom then will ye liken God? Nobody. Nobody is like HIM!
40:28-31
Now what comforting thing do we learn about our God in verses 28-31?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
So, it’s not God that gets weary or faint even with all the work he has to do. He never gets tired. We get weary, we get faint, and he’s the one providing the strength and the power. And what can he give us the power to do? He can not only give us strength to walk, not only to run, but to fly as with the wings of eagles. He can help us do all three. Sometimes we just need enough strength to keep walking, to just endure, and he can give us that. Sometimes we try to run and push harder and further as his disciples. He can provide us with strength to do that. And if we trust in him enough, if we have the faith and the desire, he can even cause us to fly! We can do the impossible. We can mount up as with the wings of eagles. Have you ever felt God help you to fly! Those moments when everything just seems to come together. When you find success and accomplishment and triumph. He’s the wind beneath our wings.
41:10-14
What do you find comforting from Isaiah 41:10-14? And by the way, “worm” here just means meek and humble as per the footnotes. It’s not derogatory. There are some repeated thoughts in these verses. Can you see them? How about this:
In verse :10 “Fear thou not”
And in verse :13 “fear not”
And verse :14 “fear not.”
That’s a comforting command. He specifically tells us that there is no need for us to be afraid. But what reasons does he give for why we shouldn’t be afraid?
From verse :10 “For I am with thee, I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Verse :13, “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand. I will help thee.”
And in verse :14 “I will help thee”
It’s always nice to know that we’re not alone in our journey. God is not sending us off into frightening territory to single-handedly face our challenges and hardships. He’s going to hold our hand and help us. Like a little child that wants to hold your hand when you’re in a new place or a crowd. They feel comfortable in that kind of situation knowing that you’re there to help them through it. Without you, they would be afraid, but with you, they walk with confidence.
42:2-4
Here’s yet another aspect of his character.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up (his voice, is what’s implied there)
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
He’s not going to lift up his voice against us. He’s a soft-spoken God—unobtrusive, peaceful. When it says a “bruised reed shall he not break”, that’s an image of gentleness. A bruised reed would be like a piece of grass or a stalk that already has a little contusion or weak section in it. But he’ll be a breeze so gentle, that even a bruised reed wouldn’t fold over or break from his force. A smoking flax would be a small spark on dry tinder. The kind that if you blew on it with even just a little too much force, it would go out. I was just at young men’s camp last month, and one of the activities we did was to teach the boys how to light a fire with flint and steel. And once they were able to get a piece of that tinder to light and smoke a little, they had to be so gentle and careful with it to keep it going, or else the ember would quickly die. Jesus is the kind of Lord that will fan the flames of our faith so subtly, that he won’t blow us out with his breath.
And then in verse 4, “he shall not fail nor be discouraged.” That’s a very comforting message to me. Sometimes I wonder and worry if God is disappointed in me—if he ever gets discouraged with my progress or lack thereof. With all my faults and shortcomings. Isaiah tells us here that he will not get discouraged with us. We will only ever see the glimmer of hope and confidence and encouragement in his eyes. I remember when I was young and learning to swim that I really, really struggled to overcome my fear of being in deep water. And as I got older and older, I believe my parents started to worry if I would ever eventually learn how to swim. I still remember times when I’d be standing on the side of the pool, bawling with fear, while everyone around me encouraged and cheered me on to jump in. And during those years of struggle, I never remember seeing discouragement in my parents eyes. I not sure I would’ve ever learned how to swim if I had seen disappointment or despair in them. But I never did. I always saw hope, I always saw the belief that I could it, that I could overcome. And eventually, I did.
42:16
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
Can you imagine being taken on a hike through the mountains with cliffs, rivers, and sharp branches all around blindfolded? Can you imagine how terrifying that would be? But we’re not alone. Jesus can lead the spiritually blind through the dangerous terrain of mortality safely. He can help us navigate a dark and crooked world.
43:1-5
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
(A lot of repeated themes in that verse that we’ve already seen)
2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
Here is yet another promise of protection. Jehovah promises that he will be with us even through flood and fire. In the United States it seems that we’ve seen a lot of these kinds of natural disasters in the last decade or so. Floods in the east and fires in the west. Too much water in one place, not enough in another. The Savior can protect us through these dangers. We can walk through the flood, and it won’t overflow us. We can walk through the fire, and not be burned.
And why will he do that for us? Because we are precious in his sight. The worth of souls is great unto Him. He has loved us. We may sing “Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer” but we are precious to Him as well.
43:21-26
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.
24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins.
This is an interesting set of verses. There is a bit of a rebuke in it. The people have been weary with their God. They’re kind of getting tired of his demands on their time. Do we ever get that way? Weary with God’s requests? Oh boy, church again, every week. Do we really have to study our scriptures EVERY day? In the Jewish faith, the people were instructed to bring animal sacrifices to him. But here, they aren’t. What are they bringing him instead? They’re bringing him their sins. Instead of THEM laboring to honor HIM with sacrifices, HE is having to labor under the burden of THEIR sins. But, even then, he says, “That’s all right, I’ll accept them anyway. I’ll take upon myself your sins. I’ll accept that offering.” And he blots them out and will not remember our sins. Back then, if you were a scribe and you made a mistake in your writing, you couldn’t just pull out your eraser, or white out, or hit the delete button. No, you had to blot out your mistakes. Cover them up with ink so that what was behind it couldn’t be seen. Jesus can do this for our sins. He covers them. He covers them so well that he can’t even remember what was under the blot.
44:3-4
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
More water imagery here. The Middle East, as we all know, is a very dry place and water is one of the most precious commodities you can have. Here Jehovah promises to POUR out water upon the thirsty. And it’s a very liberal offering. He’s not just dripping, or trickling, or drizzling his spirit upon them. He’s pouring it on them, drenching them in his spirit. And the result is the springing up of life and vegetation.
46:3-4
Here’s one of my favorites. I know many of you are familiar with the poem “Footprints in the Sand” where a man has a dream that he is walking on the beach of his life, and he notices that there are two sets of footprints in the sand as he walks—His and the Saviors. But then he notices that during the darkest times of his life that there is only one set of footprints in the sand. And so he objects in frustration and disbelief. This is when the Lord reveals that it was at those times that he was carrying him. That’s why there was only one set of footprints—the Savior’s, not his. Well as beautiful as that thought is, I like Isaiah’s version of “Footprints in the Sand” even better. It’s an improvement on it. He says:
3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me (carried by me) from the belly, which are carried from the womb: 4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs (or gray hairs) will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
So you see, In Isaiah’s version, there is only ever one set of footprints. He carries us from the womb to our old age. From our birth to our gray hairs. He never abandons his children. He’s a carrying Christ.
And to LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES unto ourselves here:
When and how has Christ comforted you?
What aspect of his character that we’ve discussed here do you find the most comforting?
CONCLUSION
Now, do you have a better visual understanding of the nature of God, or Christ? Has Isaiah painted a more detailed portrait of his visage for you? I hope so. And it’s a stunning, exquisite portrait, isn’t it? It’s a comforting image—the kind that dispels your fears and draws you into it. The kind that “more fully persuades you to believe in the Lord your Redeemer” (1 Nephi 19:23) right? I bear witness that this IS an accurate and faithful portrayal of his character and countenance.
A COMFORTING FUTURE
There’s another comforting message that I wish to add from chapter 47 but merits its own treatment here. This chapter presents us with a bit of a shift. We’re still working under the theme of comforting messages but now he’s going to focus on one particular comforting message. I might call these subsequent chapters, “A Tale of Two Cities”. Those two cities? Babylon and Zion. He’s going to compare and contrast the attitudes and destinies of these two spiritual settings.
Chapter 47 is the Lord’s message to Babylon. And I know that these other chapters aren’t a part of this week’s study, but I really like to compare what the Lord says to Babylon, here, with some of the promises he makes to Zion in chapters 52 and 54.
So in verse 1, he says to Babylon:
1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
Compare this now with the message to Zion in chapter 52:2
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
Whereas Babylon is being invited to come down from its exalted place to sit in the dust where there is no throne, Zion is being called on to arise and shake the dust off, and to sit down—sit down where? The implication is on a throne. In the future, it is Zion that will be enthroned and exalted, while Babylon will be cast down into the dust and lose its former glory. Isaiah is pointing out a future role reversal between the two cities.
Now back to 47:2-3
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.
So Babylon will no longer be clothed in its fine and luxurious dress. Instead, its nakedness will be uncovered. Their guilt and shame will no longer be hidden. Nakedness in the scriptures is often used as a symbol for culpability or susceptibility to judgment. When they stand before God to be judged, they will no longer be able to hide their sins, and that will be very unpleasant—like being naked in front of a crowd, how would you react in that situation? You’d be embarrassed and try to hide yourself. But Isaiah is saying they will not be able to. They will be exposed to the full view of the judge.
But Zion?
52:1
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Zion, on the other hand, is clothed in beautiful garments. In life, they may have been physically clothed in plain or unassuming dress, but now they will be decked out in a more splendid covering. But it’s not silk or cashmere. What do the virtuous wear when Christ returns? Revelation 19:8 tells us that they are clothed in their righteousness. Those are the beautiful garments they wear. So every act of righteousness and service and sacrifice that we perform in this life is adding a thread to the beautiful robes we will wear to the second coming of our Lord.
Then, back to Babylon, 47:8-9
8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
Another consequence for Babylon. The loss of their children and husbands. Remember that posterity was of major concern to these people in those days. To not have children, to not be able to carry on your name and family was a major disgrace. Even though Babylon has bragged that, “there is none else beside me” and “I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children,” she won’t be able to say that anymore. For many years she has boasted that men would always be interested in her, that men couldn’t resist her lure—that she would ways have hordes of admirers and and plenty of children. Yet Isaiah warns that her memory will be wiped out and forgotten. Rather than the saints suffering all the loss and persecution, she will be the one abandoned and alone.
But Zion? 54:1-3
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
Zion, you are going to have so many children that you won’t even have room to hold them all. You’re going to have to get a bigger tent. You’re going to break forth on the right hand and on the left. Cities that were once desolate, will be filled with all the children you are going to have.
Do you sense the message in that contrast there? Isaiah is being very deliberate in helping us to see this.
The remaining verses in chapter 47 continue to describe the fall and destruction of Babylon and we could sum up that message in the final four words of that chapter? None shall save thee.
So what’s the major message of comfort from chapter 47, especially in light of those other two later chapters? Babylon will fall and Zion will rise. Though it seems at times that the world is winning, and Zion is losing. Though wickedness appears to have the upper hand and boasts of its power and preeminence, it will not remain such forever. In the end, it’s Zion that will triumph. Zion will take the throne, and Babylon will crumble into the dust. The legacy, heritage and posterity of Zion will continue into the eternities, while Babylon will be widowed, orphaned, and forgotten.
OUR PART
ICEBREAKER
To introduce us to a bit of a different idea, I like to do the following activity as an icebreaker. It’s important for us and your students to know that we are expected to do some things as a result of the loving, comforting, and gently leading nature of the God we worship. There are some actions that Isaiah expects us to take in these chapters. What’s “Our Part” in all this. Let’s focus on that now. The activity is simple. There are three major things from these chapters that Isaiah invites us to do. Can you figure them out with these picture riddles. You could do this as a handout and scripture references are provided to show you where these invitations are to give you a hint if you need them.
So #1 starts with a picture of a present, but then you subtract the -sent from that word leaving the prefix, PRE behind, and then add PEAR to that word and you get PREPARE. Prepare what? Prepare the . . . and you have a picture of scales there. But what do you do with scales? You “Weigh” things with them. So what’s the message? PREPARE THE WAY
#2 What’s this strange looking insect here? It’s a FLEA. Flee from what? You’ve got a baby here, and then what does this grass picture represent. The word is LAWN. The message? Flee from Babylon?
And #3 BEE a “LIGHT” to the what? You’ve got a genie here but you subtract the “ie”, leaving you with GEN. Then that last picture is a picture of TILES. A tile floor. The message? Be a light to the Gentiles.
Those are the three things Isaiah expects us to do as disciples of our comforting God.
DISCUSS
Now after you’ve introduced those ideas with the activity you can discuss the meaning and importance of each as a class.
40:3-4 PREPARE THE WAY
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
These verses may sound familiar to you as they are what John the Baptist taught the people of Jerusalem at the time of Christ. And we usually interpret them to mean the mission of John the Baptist himself. To prepare the way for Christ. But we can also interpret those verses on a personal level as well. We all should prepare the way for Christ to come into our lives. Unfortunately, there are often obstacles in the way of him getting to us quickly. Valleys, mountains, hills, and crooked or rough places are all things could slow down someone’s travel time considerably if they were trying to get to us. Sometimes we place these kinds of things between ourselves and Christ. Our sins, our skepticism, our negativity, our bad habits, etc. can all slow down his entrance into our lives. So what does Isaiah encourage us to do? Fill in those valleys, dig down those mountains and hills, straighten those crooked places and smooth out those rough ones. We don’t want the Grand Canyon between us and the comfort of our Savior. We want a straight shot through the Salt Flats to our hearts.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
You may want to ask yourself and ponder: What obstacles do I need to remove from my life to prepare the way for the Savior to come more quickly into it?
48:17-22 FLEE FROM BABYLON
These verses come in chapter 48—the chapter immediately following Isaiah’s description of the fall of Babylon. Therefore, if Babylon is going to fall, what should we do if we find ourselves there? Get out of it!
17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.
The major message is plain? GET OUT OF BABYLON! Don’t align yourself with the world. Keep God’s commandments, keep your feet firmly planted in Zion, and in those verses, he promises us some things.
(:17) I will teach you things that will profit you
(:17) I will lead you by the way you should go
(:18) your peace will be like a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea. These are both images of constancy and steadiness. Rivers are always flowing—they never stop. The waves of the sea continually crash onto the shore. And though both rivers and waves can flow and rush with great power and sound, both provide peace and comfort. If you’ve ever at next to a river or on the beach, you know what I mean. There’s a calm and a tranquility that accompanies the experience.
(:19) you will have posterity as the sands of the sea
(:20) you will be redeemed
(:21) you will not thirst
And then that final refrain, we find a message reminiscent of Alma’s words in Alma 41:10. Wickedness never was happiness. Who knows, maybe he got that idea from reading this chapter from Isaiah. “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked”.
So leave Babylon and you will find peace. Don’t get too comfortable in the world. Don’t reflect the values, the attitudes, the beliefs, or image of Babylon in your life.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
What “Babylonian” or worldly influences do I need to flee from?
49:1-23 BE A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES
Our final message of comfort is found in chapter 49 here. And this chapter is so good that we’re going to spend a little more time here and almost go verse by verse. If we have made ourselves citizens of Zion in these last days, then we have a work to perform. And that work is glorious. And I understand that these verses initially begin by referring to the mission of the Messiah or Jesus Christ. But he invites us, his people, to join in that work. So I feel comfortable in applying these verses to us as well.
1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
We have been called since before we were born to do this work. Your patriarchal blessing probably has something to say about that. You have been chosen to be a part of his work from before the foundation of this earth.
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
He’s given us the sword of truth and put his word into our mouths. He’s shielded us with his hand from the heat and glare of the world, like a loving parent holding their hand out to block the sun from shining into the eyes of their baby. He’s made us like arrows in his quiver. We’re his weapons, or his tools for good in the last days. He’s going to use us to fight against Babylon because we are his servants—called and chosen.
5 And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
That is what we have been formed to do! He says the same thing in numerous different ways. We need to bring Jacob again to him, gather Israel, raise up the tribes of Jacob, restore the preserved of Israel, be a light unto the Gentiles. What are we talking about here? Missionary work. The gathering of Israel in the last days. We have been called upon to be “the light of the world” and to shine that light into the dark places of the earth.
9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
This is what we need to do with that light we’ve been given. “Show yourselves!” he beseeches us. We don’t want to “hide our light under a bushel but put it on a candlestick so that all that are in the house may see it and glorify their Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16) as Jesus taught us on the Sermon on the Mount. He implores us to feed them and lead them to the high places. Yes, there may be some climbing involved but the views and the food and the water are so much better, clearer, and more nourishing there. Our call is to lift the people of the world to these better things. To get them out of the pollution, and filthiness, and degradation of Babylon. To save them from the violence, and the drugs, and the cynicism, and the hatred of the world. To lift them to the light of temples, and scriptures, and prophets, and truth, and their divine destiny.
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
This is a joyful work. An inspiring work. And there we see that message of comfort once again. We don’t want to go serve the Gentiles begrudgingly. We work with joy, and rejoice in the safety of his standards and the satisfaction of honest labor for the souls of men.
But Zion is going to protest a little bit here. Because it’s not always going to seem to them that things are going their way. Babylon will appear to be winning. Zion will be persecuted. It will be outnumbered. They’re going to be mocked constantly from the windows of the great and spacious building. In fact, it may even seem at times that God has abandoned them. Think of how the early saints might have felt in Ohio, Missouri, and Nauvoo.
14 But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
How does the Lord respond to that accusation?
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Or in other words, can a mother forget her own child, her own infant. The answer?
yea, they may forget,
I suppose that even that is possible. There are mothers who forget or abandon or don’t have compassion on their children. But he assures us that he’s not that kind of mother . . .
yet will I not forget thee. Why not?
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;
Ahhh. Now there’s an image I think we can all understand. How did Jesus engrave us on the palms of his hands? It’s a reference to the crucifixion. It’s like he’s saying that even if he ever was tempted to forget us, every time he stretched forth his hands, there would be those scars, those lesions of love as Elder Holland referred to them, the reminders of his sacrifice.
thy walls are continually before me.
The walls of Jerusalem is what’s implied there. He assures them that their walls are always right there at the forefront of his thoughts.
And then, remember the earlier concerns about children that we talked about? The Israelites, at Isaiah’s time, would have been concerned about the destruction of their city, the fate of their posterity and their future. Later in their history, Jerusalem will be destroyed, and the house of Israel scattered. They will lose their kingdom. I also think of the early Saints who were persecuted, pushed out of their homes repeatedly and attacked. But here we have this moving and poignant imagery of God’s latter-day promise of Israel’s future.
20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
He promises them that they are going to have so many children that there won’t even be enough room for them. The place will be to strait or narrow for them all. He says, “You’re going to need to arrange for more land for them to dwell in.” We’re going to have to split the stake, create a new mission, build more churches and temples to fit them all.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
Incredulously, Israel will ask? Where did all these children come from? And I imagine you know what I’m talking about here. All these amazing and wonderful converts throughout the world that have been brought into the tent of Israel since the Church was restored in 1830. The gathering of Israel in the last days is an incredible miracle to behold. It may cause us to look around and ask with wonder, “Where did they all come from!” Go to a meeting in the conference center, attend a temple dedication, consider the number of saints that fill our chapels around the world every Sunday. Who hath begotten me these? These, where had they been?
22 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Oh, I love that image. Can you see that? Loving fathers and mothers carrying their little babies in their arms or up on their shoulders. I remember doing that with my kids when they were little, big smiles on their faces. It’s a beautiful image of love, unity, and family joy. That’s what missionaries do with those they teach. Can you just see those young elders and sisters and senior couples and member missionaries carrying their converts in their arms and on their shoulders, bringing them to Zion to join the family of Christ.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
How could I take a more active part in the Gathering of Israel?
CONCLUSION
The point of this section I suppose then is that even though our Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ are gentle, leading, comforting deities, they still have expectations. We too have something to accomplish and do in this life. So at least in the spirit of gratitude, I pray that we can do these three things to show how grateful we are for their comfort. Prepare the way, flee from Babylon, and be a light to the world. If we strive to do these three things, God will always be there to take us by the hand and lead us gently along.
