Watch the video presentation at: https://youtu.be/IkyPhSxJzrc
ICEBREAKER
Magic Eye Activity (Available to download at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeachingWithPower)
The secret is to stare at it and allow your eyes to relax until your fields of vision kind of cross. When you do that, a 3D picture will emerge out of the image.
This is a picture of two hands reaching out to each other with the word TRUST written above it.
TRANSITION
Well, to me, that’s kind of like the Isaiah chapters. At first glance, they may seem like a jumble of meaningless, difficult to understand words and ideas. But, if you know the secret, if you know the right way to look at it, it’s amazing, it’s cool, it’s powerful. And Nephi felt that way about it too. That’s why he includes his writings here.
How would you fill in the blank in this sentence?
My soul ___________________ the words of Isaiah.
Possible answers, my soul is confused by the words of Isaiah, my soul ignores the words of Isaiah, tolerates the words of Isaiah, can’t stand the words of Isaiah, questions the words of Isaiah.
But how does Nephi fill in that blank? See how he does it in 2 Nephi 11:2.
His soul delighted in the words of Isaiah.
My goal is that by the end of this lesson, you will be saying the same thing. That’s my hope and my prayer for this experience.
WHY STUDY ISAIAH?
And using the scriptures I want to first help you understand why this should matter. Why study Isaiah? Nephi and Jesus are going to help you to understand why you should study him. Look up the following verses and find and mark those reasons.
In 1 Nephi 19:23
Studying Isaiah will more fully persuade you to believe in the Lord your Redeemer. Isaiah has much to teach us about Christ, and why we should and would want to believe in and follow Him. So look for Christ in the Isaiah chapters, he’s there.
Also in that verse, studying Isaiah will be for your profit, and learning. When you make a profit, you are getting more out of something than you put it into it. You make a profit. Well, that’s studying Isaiah, whatever amount of effort or study you put into it, you will receive back more than you put it. It will reward you fourfold at least and you learn much.
1 Nephi 19:24
Studying Isaiah will give you hope. The message of the Isaiah chapters is a hopeful one. So keep an eye out for that message.
2 Nephi 11:8
Studying Isaiah will cause you to lift up your hearts and rejoice. Not only can it bring you hope, but happiness as well.
3 Nephi 23:1 with perhaps the most compelling reason to study Isaiah.
Because Jesus commanded us to. And I think that’s a pretty good reason not to ignore Isaiah. And how are we as a church doing at that one? Are we keeping that commandment? Hopefully, we’re trying.
And then he says “great are the words of Isaiah”. Now that’s quite a compliment coming from the Son of God. Jesus wants us to study and hearken to all prophets, but how many does he specifically single out like this?
So hopefully you’re convinced now that the Isaiah chapters are important to study.
And I have one more thing for you to consider and a question.
ISAIAH FACTS
35 % of the Book of Isaiah is found in the Book of Mormon.
If all Isaiah’s quotations from the Book of Mormon were moved into one place and called the book of Isaiah, it would be the fourth largest book in the Book of Mormon.
So here’s my question:
If God knew that we would already have the Book of Isaiah from the Bible to study from, why would he put so much of it in the Book of Mormon? Couldn’t we have gotten pretty much the same stuff by reading Isaiah in the Bible with the help of the JST?
And my answer to that question. Well, by putting so much of his writings in the Book of Mormon, it almost forces us to take him seriously, to focus on his writings as he commands us to do in 3 Nephi. If there were no Isaiah chapters, do you think we would study him much? I mean how much time do you spend studying Jeremiah or Ezekiel? Without the Isaiah chapters, he would probably get as much attention as they do, which I’m afraid is not much. So I’m grateful that they're in there and we can get them twice in our study of the standard works.
HOW TO STUDY ISAIAH
But how do we study Isaiah? Like the Magic Eye activity, is there a more effective way of looking at them to understand more of their meaning? Well, I’m going to let Nephi teach you how. He does just that in 2 Nephi 25 at the end of the Isaiah chapters. But we’re going to start there first.
And Nephi begins this by acknowledging that Isaiah is a little tougher. He says that his people found Isaiah’s words were “hard to understand”. Which is comforting. We’re not the only generation to struggle with his words. But he tells us why they struggled with them.
Suggestion 1 in vs. 1
It’s because they knew not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews. And what does that mean? What is the manner of prophesying among the Jews? It’s poetry. It’s figurative and symbolic language. Much like the Book of Revelation, God uses imagery and metaphor to teach his people. So if you want to understand Isaiah better, approach it like poetry. Don’t look so much for the literal as the allegorical. When he presents you with a symbol, stop and ask yourself why he chooses to represent that idea with that object. Be prepared to approach Isaiah the same way you would Shakespeare, or Wordsworth, or Dickinson. It’s serious poetry and needs to be read slowly, carefully and deliberately. So Nephi’s first suggestion to SEEING Isaiah. Know the manner of prophesying among the Jews.
Nephi’s second suggestion comes in vs. 4
Isaiah’s words will become plainer to you if you are filled with the spirit of prophecy. Well, what does that mean? You might say, I’m not a prophet, so do I have any hope? Yes. John tells us what the spirit of prophecy is in Revelation 19:10. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So if you have a belief and testimony of Jesus Christ and you seek the Spirit, Isaiah will be easier for you to understand. So be sure to have a mind and heart open to the Spirit while you seek the Savior on each page. So suggestion #2 Seek the Spirit of Prophecy (the testimony of Jesus)
#3 at the end of verse 5.
There is none other people that understand the things which were spoken to the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews.
So suggestion 3 is to be taught after the manner of the things of the Jews. It really helps if you have an awareness of their history, their culture, their geography, their religion. The better understanding you have of that background, the better able you will be to know what Isaiah’s message for us is. No, you don’t have to have a degree in Ancient Hebrew studies to appreciate Isaiah, but you should do a little bit of homework to get your bearings. And I’ll help you with some of those things here, but the church has provided manuals, and articles, and the Bible Dictionary to help you with some of the “things of the Jews” you would do well to understand. And let me briefly give you a basic understanding of the setting of Isaiah’s writings. I think that just this little bit of information will do wonders in helping you comprehend a lot of what you will read in the Isaiah chapters.
The house of Israel at this point has been divided into two nations. They’ve split, and you have the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom or the Kingdom of Israel (which is sometimes referred to as Ephraim), and then you have the Kingdom of Judah. And Isaiah is living at a time of military threat. It’s a military or "threat of war” setting. There are three major threats that it will face during Isaiah’s time as prophet. 1. A confederacy or an alliance of the Kingdom of Israel and Syria. 2. Then Assyria. And then 3. Babylon. Well Israel and Syria will not succeed in overtaking Judah and Isaiah reassures them that the real threat is not Syria, but Assyria. Well, Assyria, will come in and destroy the Northern Kingdom and carry them away captive. That’s how they become the lost ten tribes, it’s because of that attack. But Assyria will not be able to take over Judah. They humble themselves and trust in Isaiah and King Hezekiah. But the real threat and the one that will destroy them is Babylon when Judah sinks into wickedness again. Eventually, the Babylonians will overtake Jerusalem and scatter Judah. That’s why the Lord warns Lehi to flee into the wilderness before they come.
This is a very oversimplified background.
Suggestion #4 comes in vs. 7
In the days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled men shall know of a surety, at the times when they shall come to pass.
So the suggestion is to look for the fulfillment of prophecy. When Isaiah speaks of the Mountain of the Lord’s house being established in the tops of the mountains, ask yourself how that may have been fulfilled. When he speaks of an Ensign being lifted up to the nations and an army answering it’s call to go out and conquer, ask yourself how that might be fulfilled. When he speaks of establishing a vineyard with a fence and building a tower in the midst of it, ask yourself if and how that prophecy has been fulfilled. Isaiah’s writings are there to help instruct us about the Latter-days. And that’s part of what makes him difficult. He speaks about his time, Christ’s time, and our time, all at the same time.
Suggestion #5 vs. 8
I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them.
Nephi tells us that we in the last days will be able to value Isaiah’s writings more in the last days because we will understand them. Now I hope that this isn’t too much of a stretch, but I have to ask myself, why will we understand them better in the last days? I think the reason is that we have so much more help and resources to understand his writings. We have prophetic commentary to help us, we have manuals that explain and clarify, we have the study aids right there in our scriptures, the footnotes, the chapter headings, the Bible Dictionary. Use these things. We really don’t have much of an excuse not to understand Isaiah’s writings. The resources are out there, resources that previous generations had no access to. For us, it’s right at our fingertips.
Suggestion #6
Is all over Nephi’s writings. He says it again and again. In fact, let me put all these verses up here at once and you tell me what they all have in common. What is Nephi’s (and Jacob also) #1 suggestion to studying Isaiah? Do you see it? It’s to liken his words to yourself. Seek to find personal meaning in the Isaiah chapters. Look for its relevancy to your life. How does it change you? How you act? What you believe? Compare Isaiah’s time to our time and heed his warnings and counsel.
Suggestion #7
And the last suggestion comes from the Savior himself and it’s from a verse we already looked at. But how does Jesus suggest we study him?
Diligently. Be diligent in your study. It takes effort, it takes time, it takes pondering, it takes digging deep.
ICEBREAKER
And I’d like to start this section of the lesson with the following challenge. I’m a big fan of the game of chess. The classic war game of military strategy. And if I have any chess enthusiasts out there, can you solve the following puzzles?
View on PowerPoint Slides or present some of your own.
TRANSITION
Well, remember that I told you that Isaiah wrote his chapters at a time when the kingdom of Judah was under military attack. And just like the game of chess, in war, you have attacks, offense, defense, a winner, and a loser. And that is how I would like to approach the Isaiah chapters, with that theme in mind. And we are going to liken their situation to ours in the Latter-days. We too are under attack, aren’t we? We are on the battlefield of life, the great chess game of life. And who is our opponent? Satan of course. And you can liken yourself to the kingdom of Judah.
Broad Overview
Satan’s Attack: 2 Nephi 12: 7-8, 2 Nephi 13, 2 Nephi 15:8-25
Our Defense: 2 Nephi 12:1-5, 2 Nephi 14:5-6
Our Offense: 2 Nephi 15:26-30, 2 Nephi 16
The Biggest Winner: 2 Nephi 19:1-7, 2 Nephi 21:1-5
The Winners: 2 Nephi 21:6-16, 2 Nephi 22
The Losers: 2 Nephi 12:9-22, 2 Nephi 23
The Biggest Loser: 2 Nephi 24
SATAN’S ATTACK
Let’s start with Satan’s attack. See if you can do this matching activity. A lot of the problems that the Kingdom of Judah is having are spiritual problems that we still have today. Satan has started to get a hold on their hearts. Read each verse and match it with the problem they are having. (Handout available for download at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeachingWithPower)
2 Nephi 12:7 Materialism F
2 Nephi 12:8 Idolatry K
2 Nephi 13:1-3 Relying on man instead of God D
2 Nephi 13:5 Persecution and Disrespect E
2 Nephi 13:9 Open and proud of their sins. G
2 Nephi 13:14-15 Taking advantage of the poor. A
2 Nephi 13:16-24 Obsessed with having the “right look”, Outward appearance is everything. B
2 Nephi 15:11-12, 22 Drinking and partying. C.
2 Nephi 15:20 Calling good, evil, and evil, good. I.
2 Nephi 15:21 Learned but not wise. J
2 Nephi 15:24 They despise commandments and the gospel. H
Q: Have you seen any of these same attacks in our day?
Q: Which one and how?
Q: So what can we do not to be overcome?
A: My suggestion. Study his tactics and be prepared for them. The better you know your opponent, the less likely you are to be fooled by them. When football teams prepare to play their opponents, they watch film of the other team and how they play. We need to do the same kind of thing. And where can we go to see his strategies and how they work? Well the scriptures for one, right here in the Isaiah chapters you get to see how Satan works. So now that you know what to look for, you’ll be ready. Also, we have the prophets to warn us and point these attacks out to us. Seers that see the attacks coming well in advance and warn us about them. We would do well to listen to them and trust them.
So don’t be Defeated. Know your enemy.
OUR DEFENSE
Despite that attack, we have a defense available to us. God has provided us with holy places of safety. Yes, Satan may attack us, but we have a refuge. The Doctrine and Covenants has instructed us to “Stand in holy places, and be not moved”. Well, what are those holy places? There are 3, and Isaiah will help us to recognize them in 2 Nephi 14:5-6. And look, he even uses that word. Defense in vs. 5. But Can you find the three places of defense?
Every dwelling place of mount Zion- Our homes
Her assemblies- Any place where Saints assemble themselves together. Our stakes, and churches, seminaries, and institutes, the conference center, any time two or more gather together in his name.
And third, a tabernacle. Now, what was the tabernacle to them? What is our modern-day tabernacle? The temple
So those are our three holy places of defense. Our homes, our churches, and our temples.
And what does he promise he will provide on each of these places?
A cloud of smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Well, does that sound familiar to anyone? Has God ever done that before? Yes, remember your Old Testament. During the Exodus, God placed a cloud of smoke by day and pillar of fire by night over the tabernacle or the temple. And what does that suggest? A lot of things. The warmth, light, and comfort God’s protection offers us. Also, if you drove by somebody’s home at night and saw all the lights on or during the day and you saw smoke was coming out of the chimney, what would you assume about that home? Somebody was there. Well, that symbol suggests that somebody is home in these places, the Lord, he’s always there, ready to welcome us. But isn’t that cool, in the Latter-days, that blessing isn’t just upon the temples, but upon every assembly and every home of Zion. Probably because we’re going to need that extra protection and blessing in the last days.
Then look at how he describes the blessings of these defenses in vs. 6. He compares them to what 3 things?
A shadow from the heat
A place of refuge
A covert from storm and from rain
Do you get what he’s saying? He’s saying that life is like a heatwave, and you’re going to need some shade. It’s 115 degrees and your thirsty. Come in, he calls you, cool off, be refreshed, drink from my stream.
Or life is like a battle, and you’re going to need a refuge. So here we are in the world, day by day, at school, at the workplace, and we’re swinging our swords, fighting evil, and the Lord calls “Come home for a moment, come to my refuge, put your sword down, there are no battles to be fought here. Your enemies can’t reach you here, rest. Then you can go back out and fight the battles of life with more strength.
Or life is like a terrible storm, and you’re going to need shelter. A hurricane is moving in and the Lord says “Come, dry off, find shelter here, sit by the warmth of my fire, be cheered, no storm can reach you in here.”
Our holy places can provide this for us.
Sharing activity. Pick one of the 3 holy places and one of the 3 symbols and share how that place has been like one of those symbols for you. So. The home, church, or temple is like a shadow, a place of refuge or shelter from the storm because, and fill in the blank.
Well speaking of the temple, take a quick look at 2 Nephi 12:1-5 and answer the following question.
Q: What object does the Lord compare the temple to here?
A: A mountain
Q: How is the temple like a mountain?
Possible Answers: This is a great discussion question and in my experience always yields great answers.
They’re beautiful, bring you closer to God, they give you a higher perspective, the problems of the world below become smaller, they require climbing or effort.
Look in vs. 3-5 for the blessings the temple can bring us in our lives.
Q: When have you seen the temple bring one of those blessings to you?
OUR OFFENSE
Well, that is our defense. But you know what. God doesn’t expect us to just hunker down in our defenses and hope the enemy doesn’t get through. God also has an offense. We get to fight back against Satan’s kingdom. How is he going to do that? He describes it in 2 Nephi 15:26-30. It’s very visual and symbolic. I’ll read it to you and you see if you can figure out what he’s talking about. How do we fight back against Satan?
"26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far,"
An ensign is a flag, so can you see that somebody lifts up a huge flag for all the world to see
"and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; "
Hiss means to whistle. So the flag bearer lets out a loud whistle, you know like some people can put their fingers in their mouths and whistle really loud. I’ve always wished I could do that. But he whistles. And what happens after he’s raised the flag and whistled?
"And behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them."
So who comes, they, come. Who are they? Let’s figure it out. They come quickly, they’re strong and enthusiastic.
"27 None shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken;"
They are prepared, ready, alert, their belts are cinched up and their shoes tied.
"28 Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent"
They are archers. Their arrows are sharp, and to have your bow bent means it pulled back, ready to let an arrow fly. So this is an army we’re talking about here. God’s army. Who are they?
"and their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind,"
They are archers on chariots, they are coming quickly, they are unstoppable. They are powerful. If you’ve ever seen the chariot race in Ben Hur, that’s the imagery here. Can you imagine thousands of those racing towards you?
"their roaring like a lion.
29 They shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver."
They are like lions, and they roar their message, and they lay hold of the prey, and carry it away not to devour it, but carry it away safe, never to get away again.
"30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if they look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof."
And they will have to fight and roar during dark times.
Q: So did you figure it out? What army is being described here? Who are these archers with sharp arrows? Who are these roaring young lions?
A: They are missionaries. Young men, young women, senior missionaries and couples, and all members who seek to spread the message of the gospel and gather Israel.
So the prophet stands on the hill and raises the flag, and whistles and says, come all worthy able individuals. Come fight for the Lord, come join his army. And they come, right now they come 65,000 strong. And they are powerful, unstoppable, and effective, like 65,000 chariot archers racing toward you. And they are sent throughout the world to fight against Satan’s kingdom. We beat him, by winning souls to our side. That’s our attack, saving souls. And so what kind of missionary are you?
Are you a come with speed swiftly missionary? A girdle cinched, shoe latchet tied missionary? Are you an arrow sharp and bow bent missionary? I love that image. What is a missionary’s arrow? His testimony, right. Is yours sharp, is it ready to fly at a moment’s notice. You see an investigator across the way, and out comes your arrow and thump! And they’re like, uh baptize me. Your testimony went straight to my heart. Are you a roaring lion missionary. That’s another great one. Missionaries are lions. They are powerful, they roar the gospel, not meow it. Their message is clear, loud, and forceful. I love that. Maybe we shouldn’t ask people where they served their missions, but where they roared. I roared in Brazil. My wife roared in Australia. My brothers roared in Peru and Portugal, and my sister roared in Taiwan. Where will you roar? Maybe right there in your own community, on your own street. The Lord needs his archers, he needs his young lions. Will you answer the whistle? Will you flock to the ensign? I hope you will.
ISAIAH’S MISSION CALL
"Wo is unto me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”
He doesn’t feel worthy or ready. This is a common fear amongst many prospective missionaries. And so the Lord sends an angel to him with live coal and places it on his lips. And can you just hear the sound of that? PSSSSSSS. And the angel says:
"Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."
He cleanses him and makes him worthy. I believe that the Lord will do this for all prospective missionaries that desire to serve him but have fears and insecurities.
Then the Lord asks: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
And how does Isaiah answer now “Here am I, send me” I want to go!
And you can just sense the enthusiasm in his response. That’s the kind of missionary the Lord needs. The “Here am I, send me” missionary, not the “Ok, I’ll go if I have to, I’ll go to make Mom and Dad happy” missionary.
Our missionary force, that’s our offense.
THE LOSERS
We’ll start with the losers so we can end on a positive note.
What happens if I choose the wrong side? The wrong army to fight with. If I choose to fight for team Babylon, what will be the result?
Find and mark all the consequences for choosing to fight for team Babylon in 2 Nephi 12:9-22 and 2 Nephi 23
In a nutshell. They lose, they fall, they are brought low, they are destroyed.
THE BIGGEST LOSER
And what about their leader? Lucifer. The biggest loser. What is Satan’s fate? This being that brought so much pain, and suffering, and violence, and hatred to our world. What happens to him? Pick it up in 24:4
"4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon,"
If Babylon is the world, who would the king of Babylon be? Satan. And we take up a proverb against him. A proverb in this sense is a taunt or a satirical song. Like when your team is up 50 to 0 and you the crowd starts to sing “Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey hey, goodbye!” That’s the spirit of these next verses. This is the “in your face, Lucifer, you’ve lost” song. And what are the words:
"and say: How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased!
5 The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepters of the rulers.
6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing.
8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and also the cedars of Lebanon, saying: Since thou art laid down no feller is come up against us."
Everybody is rejoicing that Satan is gone. This being who ruled with anger and persecution is gone. The Lord has ridded our world of his influence. We, like trees, begin to rejoice, because nobody is coming to try and chop us down anymore. And so we rejoice. And what happens to Lucifer?
"9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations."
So Satan is sent to hell, and who is there to greet him, to welcome him? All the evil leaders of history. The chief ones of the earth. So who do picture might be there? I picture Hitler, and Mao, and Genghis Kahn, and King Noah, and Caligula, and Osama Bin Laden, and Stalin, and all the evil leaders you can think of. They all line up to welcome Satan into hell. But are they sympathetic and friendly to him? Nope.
"10 All they shall speak and say unto thee: Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?"
O, poor Satan, you couldn’t hold onto your kingdom either. You lost power just like us.
"11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave; the noise of thy viols is not heard; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee."
There is no party to welcome him or celebrate his existence. Instead of the red carpet, a carpet of worms is spread out form him, instead of a royal robe, they place a robe of worms around his shoulders. And they say.
"12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
This, of course, has reference to the pre-mortal world. Satan had such high aspirations. He was filled with pride and demanded the throne of God. But instead of a throne, a pit, and instead of heaven, hell.
And then this scathing verdict. What will people say when they see Satan for what he really is.
"16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and shall consider thee, and shall say: Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?"
This is the being that caused so much trouble, and heartache, and pain in my life? This worm covered loser? How did I ever fall for his tricks? Is this the man?
"17 And made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the house of his prisoners?
18 All the kings of the nations, yea, all of them, lie in glory, every one of them in his own house."
What’s he talking about here? Many powerful leaders over time have built great monuments to themselves, mausoleums, or tombs so that they would always be remembered. The only way to become immortal, and remembered was to build something that would last through the ages. To make it impossible to be forgotten. Can you think of some examples of this? Or can you name these famous tombs?
The Great Pyramid of Khufu
Lenin’s Tomb
Temple of the Great Jaguar in Tikal Guatemala
The Terra Cotta Soldiers of Emperor Qin
The Taj Mahal
Lincoln’s tomb
Thousands of tourists flock to these sites every day to admire these amazing works of architecture. Or to honor those who they represent. All the kings of the nations, lie in glory, every one of them in his own house. Will Satan get one of these? Will there be a monument or memorial to him?
"19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and the remnant of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet.
20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned."
So no, no monument, no memorial. No sun-burned tourists snapping selfies around his grave. Nobody sitting around admiring what his ambition accomplished. Nobody reminiscing about the good ol days when Satan was around. He will be forgotten. An unpleasant memory from the past.
THE BIGGEST WINNER
Well if Satan is the Biggest Loser, who would you expect the biggest winner to be? Jesus Christ is the biggest winner, and Isaiah certainly has a lot to say about Him. Remember what Nephi told us, one of the purposes of Isaiah is to more fully persuade us to believe in Christ.
A fun way to begin this discussion would be to see if you could complete these famous titles.
Alexander the _________ (GREAT)
Ivan the _____________ (TERRIBLE)
Abraham Lincoln: __________ Abe. (HONEST)
Elvis: The ______ of Rock and Roll (KING)
Babe Ruth: ______, ______,______ (THE GREAT BAMBINO)
Michael Jordan: ______ Jordan (AIR)
Shaquille O’Neil: _________ (SHAQ)
What are Christ’s titles in 2 Nephi 19:6-7?
WONDERFUL
COUNSELOR
THE MIGHTY GOD
THE EVERLASTING FATHER
THE PRINCE OF PEACE
Now, what kind of leader will he be according to 21:1-5? and contrast that with what we learned about Satan. Why would you want to choose Jesus as your leader?
He will have the Spirit of the Lord with him
He’s wise, he’s understanding, he’s willing to counsel us, he’s a strong leader, He’s smart and respectful.
Again, understanding and respect.
He’ll be our judge, but what kind of judge? He’ll judge not by the outward appearance, but the heart. He’ll judge with righteousness, meekness, and justice to the wicked. Now I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of being I want judging me.
He will lead by righteousness and faith.
THE WINNERS
And those that choose Him as their leader. What will be their reward? What do the winners receive? What are the spoils of victory?
I want you to find them in verses 6-16. But maybe a quick commentary on some of them. Look closely at the pairs of animals in 6-8. They are predator and prey. But when Christ overthrows Satan’s kingdom, there won’t be predator-prey relationships. I know we usually picture the lion and the lamb lying down together, but we get it wrong. It’s the wolf and the lamb, and the lion and the fatling. And innocent children will not need to fear poisonous snakes. I know we almost always translate that as literal. And I believe it is literal, there will be peace in the animal kingdom. BUT, more importantly, I think he is saying there will be no more predator-prey relationships among mankind. No more strong nations conquering and dominating the weaker ones. No more rich preying on the poor. No more physically strong exploiting the weak. No more abuser preying on the abused. And like the child and the poisonous snakes, the deceitful and cunning will no longer poison the innocent. The con man won’t swindle the senior out of their retirement savings, the sexual predator will not take advantage of the trusting. The intelligent will not deceive the naive. It will be a time of peace and assurance. The world will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.
Look at vs. 13, the eve of Ephraim shall depart. What was the envy of Ephraim? The temple. Ephraim was the Northern Kingdom and one thing they did not have in their borders was the temple. Why will there be no envy? Because there will be temples everywhere. There already are!
And I’d like to conclude with chapter 22. I would label this chapter “The Victory Song”. This is what we will sing if we have chosen the winner in this conflict.
And I love that phrase in vs. 5. He hath done excellent things. What excellent things has he done for you?
CONCLUSION
So. Have you been persuaded yet to believe more fully in the Lord your Redeemer? Isn’t the choice easy?! Hopefully you’ve gotten the message. Why on earth would anybody in their right mind choose Babylon? Why would you side with the world?
If you got to choose which army to fight with, and you already knew which side was going to win, which would you choose? The winning side of course! Choose Jesus as your leader, your team captain. He will do excellent things for you. Choose the wonderful, the counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace. I can promise you, you will never regret it. One day you will sing chapter 22 in triumph.
