I’m thinking of something. Can you guess what it is? Think really hard. Now make a guess. Nope! That’s not it. No not that either. One more guess. Nope! Wouldn’t it be great if you could just peer into my mind? But that is not an option here in mortality, so we have to use other ways to communicate. Like this picture- it’s a hint.
Now do you have a better idea of what I’m thinking
about? Did you guess something to do
with birds? Why? I mean it’s not like you actually saw a
bird. There are no feathers, claws,
beaks, or flesh and bone. No, what you
see is a collections of pixels arranged so that they visually represent birds. Unlike real birds, this collection of pixels
could be rearranged to represent something else just as effectively. And yet, though what we have here are only
representations of birds, they do effectively allow me, sitting at my computer
in New Mexico, to convey to my friends who can’t be here to see or talk to me,
what I am thinking.
In fact, this representation could very successfully be used
to teach someone who has never seen a bird, say a child, what the essential
characteristics of a bird are so that when they saw their first real bird they
would recognize it immediately as a bird.
It could still be used effectively, even if you were teaching a group
whose members spoke different languages.
It doesn’t matter, either, that you are looking at a pixelated
representation of what was an ink and paper textbook drawing made several years
ago. Even though times have changed and
I can now scan this representation into my computer it doesn’t change how
effectively it can be used to convey the idea of birds. That’s because this representation “conveys
the essential or salient characteristics” or “typifies” birds. (Webster’s Dictionary)
The Lord, of course, is a master teacher and so he makes
extensive use of types to teach eternal truths.
By using types and symbols he is able to teach eternal patterns and laws
and the “essential and salient” characteristics of Christ and His infinite
atoning sacrifice. Nowhere in the scriptures does he make more extensive use of
this than in the words of Isaiah. Jacob, Nephi’s brother, said it this
way: And,
now, behold, I would speak unto you concerning things which are, and which are to
come; wherefore, I will read unto you the words of Isaiah. In other
scriptures this very wording is used to describe eternal truth. (2 Nephi 6:4 also see Jacob 4:13, D&C
93:24) And before quoting the large
section of Isaiah which included these chapters, Nephi further explained that
he:
“Liken(ed) (Isaiah’s) words
unto my people and I will send them forth unto all my children for he verily
saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him… and all things which have been given
of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are typifying of (Christ).
My soul delighteth in
the covenants of the Lord…; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his
justice, and power, and mercy in the great
and eternal plan of deliverance from death… And now I write some of the
words of Isaiah that whoso… shall see these words may life up their hearts and
rejoice for all men.” (2 Nephi 11:2-4 also see Moses 6:63)
Notice there are two ways in which Nephi hopes we gain from
these chapters. One, that we will let
Isaiah’s illustrative types teach us the “essential and salient
characteristics” of the Christ- his birth, mission, and above all, begin to
explore the redeeming, healing depths of His infinite atonement. (2 Nephi
11:5) Second, we are to liken these
words to us. Isaiah spills just as much
ink, so to speak, using illustrative examples that show the “essential and
salient characteristics” of those who refuse to be redeemed, so that we can
recognize which “steps” lead us away from the Lord. This is because Isaiah is illustrating, as
Nephi noted, “the great and eternal plan” or as we most commonly refer to it
today “the plan of salvation.”
That is exactly why
we have to approach Isaiah with the attitude of a student who has much to
learn. It is essential. One thing Isaiah repeatedly stresses is how
complete the Lord’s perspective and knowledge are, while ours is very limited (Isaiah
55:8-9, Isaiah 49 are really great examples.) As Paul taught, even as we try to follow the
Lord, we only “know in part, and we prophesy in part.” But the Lord promises that as we do not
“harden our hearts” we receive more “parts” or “a greater portion of the word until it is given unto (us) to know the
mysteries of God until (we) know them in full. (1 Corithians 13:9, Alma
12:10) The Savior didn’t just suggest
that it might be helpful in this quest to look at Isaiah’s words, He commanded
that “ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of
Isaiah.” (3 Nephi 23:1)
I am so grateful for that command because of what searching
these words has done for my life. I've
written somewhat of years I carried anger and felt filled with frustrating
unanswered questions. During that time I
felt that this quest to understand God and His plan is like being handed a 1000
piece puzzle to solve, and being told that your eternal life depends on
it. It is one of those puzzles with
similar colors all over the place and as you get to work solving it, it seems
impossible and you strongly suspect there are not 1000 pieces in the box you
were given. Now when I think of that
visual I see the scriptures as a priceless resource, freely given, that
identifies pieces and how they fit together, as well as helping me see the
eternal benefits of this often difficult mortal project. I love Isaiah because the more I study these
words the more often I don’t just get direction on a piece or two and how they
fit, but it’s like Isaiah had one of the new digital cameras that doesn’t have
to take a panoramic view in several shots, but allows you in one shot to see
how a whole panorama fits together. These particular chapters are a perfect
example.
The perfect spot to get this panoramic view is to step into
Ahaz’s shoes, for this particular section began as the Lord, through his
servant Isaiah, stretched out his hand and beckoned to Ahaz. Now, as I wrote about last time, you will
gain far more if you stand there with an attitude a bit different from
Ahaz’s. So, for a moment, stand where he
stood, but with an open heart ready to be taught, and let him be an eternal
type for the choices of mortality before you.
He was born into a time and
place where, according to Nephi, he was taught not only about the Law of Moses,
but that “we keep the law of Moses, and
look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be
fulfilled…wherefore, we look forward unto life which is in Christ, and know for
what end the law was given.” (2
Nephi 25:25-27) Remember, Nephi quoted Isaiah to his people to “more fully persuade them to believe in the
Lord their Redeemer.” (1 Nephi
19:23) Isaiah had been teaching these
things as the Lord’s prophet in Judah from at least the final year of Ahaz’s
grandfather’s rule, so for most of Ahaz’s mortal life. And like all prophets before and after him, he
taught that Israel had not reached their full potential as individuals and a
nation because of their “iniquities” (obeying a bit, but then twisting or
changing other commands). The problem
was not with the Lord keeping his promises, but with Israel fully keeping
hers. (Isaiah 50:1, Jeremiah 6:16,
Ezekiel 18:30)
However, there were many other influences in Ahaz’s life
besides Isaiah. The princes of Judah saw
themselves, as people born into prosperous circumstances throughout the ages
often have, as entitled to enjoy that wealth and privilege, rather than as
servants to their people. Moreover, as I wrote of in the last entry, Assyria,
once a smaller city state than Judah, was now the greatest empire the world had
yet known. Israel in its united glory
days, under Solomon’s rule, had never come close in lands or wealth to what
Assyria boasted. Just as they would in
Christ’s time, many of the ruling class and some religious leaders felt that if
Judah were to survive and even thrive, they needed to let go of the
restrictive, old fashioned ideas that were holding Judah back. This view is
just as often repeated in the history of the Lord’s dealing with mankind as the
Lord’s admonitions. Korihor, from the
Book of Mormon, might have had a spiritual twin among those who influenced Ahaz
when he taught:
“O ye that are bound
down under a foolish and vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish
things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything to come. Behold these things ye call prophecies, which
ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold they are foolish traditions of
your fathers…Every man prosper(s) according to his genius, and every man
conquer(s) according to his strength, and…I do not teach this people to bind
themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances which are laid
down by ancient priest, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in
ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads…”( Alma13-23)
Now, Ahaz is facing some serious problems, and deciding
which voices to listen to for council and guidance. He has watched for years as the temple
priests made sacrifice after sacrifice to the Lord. He participated in the worship the way he was
supposed to, first as co-regent, and then king.
Yet his kingdom and army have shrunk.
Economic ruin and foreign conquest both seem real possibilities. From his perspective the argument that, “It is vain to serve God; and what profit is
it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully before
the Lord of hosts? And now we call the
proud happy, yea they that work wickedness (step off the Lord’s path) are set
up; they yea that tempt God are even delivered,” was very persuasive
indeed. (Malachi 3:14-15, 3 Nephi 24:14-15)
And so he is taking matters fully into his own hands and becoming one of
those who are “set up” and “delivered.”
Now the Lord’s prophet stands before Ahaz promising that the
Lord will prove His presence and power to him with any sign “either in the depth, or in the heights
above.” (Isaiah 7:11) When Ahaz refuses this offer, the prophet says
that the Lord will give him a sign anyway to prove that God is still with
Israel (Immanuel) and this great sign will be - a young woman will conceive and
a baby will be born. That’s right, for
Moses there was the parting of the Red Sea.
Joshua had the Lord cast down stones on Amorites when they threatened
Israel. (Joshua 10:11) Elijah had fire come
down from heaven. These things don’t
happen every day and they are very effective in turning away would be conquerors. But at the most difficult and frightening
time of Ahaz’s life he is supposed to believe that the conception and birth of
a baby in the near future is a sign from God?!
Babies are born every day! And as far as those who threaten him, he has planned to stop Assyria from
conquering him by offering himself as an ally.
In the process he will report that Syria (Damascus) and the Kingdom of
Israel, who are supposed to already be conquered vassals of Assyria, have tried to get him to join them against
Assyria. Reporting their defiance to the
Assyrian king and having him take care of Israel and Syria is kind of the game
plan.
No, standing here in Ahaz’s shoes, it becomes pretty clear
that the sign given by Isaiah was not calculated to wow and amaze Ahaz into
reconsidering his course, so why was Isaiah, as the Lord’s servant, told to go
and meet Ahaz and make this prophesy? One
important thing to remember, especially as Isaiah also calls himself and his
children signs, is what the word “sign,” as used here, really means. It is the same word in noun form as the word
used for a mark or signature one would make in signing a contract, or in this
case, a covenant. In the noun form it
meant a token or sign that assured one party in a covenant of the other party’s
fidelity.
For a visual, imagine a written contract for the Lord’s
covenant with Israel. The Lord has
signed the covenant promising eternal life for all his children who enter into
the covenant with Him. Israel was
chosen to have that opportunity from birth so that they could be an instrument
through which that opportunity is offered to the world. In order to do that, Israel must first sign
and keep their part of the covenant.
Although the Lord continually keeps his part of the covenant, each
individual, in a sense, gets the opportunity to sign for themselves. For Israel, the equivalent of a signature is
obedient discipleship – essentially faith in action. Only when they sign, so to speak, by personal
acts of obedience and discipleship, is the Lord authorized to fulfill His part
of the covenant, which was that his guidance, strength, wisdom, redeeming power
and governance, peace and love – in short- His “presence (would) go” with
Israel as they serve the world or Immanuel (God is with us.) (Exodus 24:3,
Exodus 33:14) Above all, Isaiah’s
prophecy was a reminder from the Lord, as he so eloquently put it in our day, “I give unto you directions how you may act
before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation. I the
Lord am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no
promise.” (D&C 82:9-10)
Remember, Isaiah was commanded to take his son to that
meeting as another sign from the Lord.
That son’s name translates to “a remnant returns.” I want to explore that in-depth in a later
post, but for now it is sufficient to note that the word “return” is the word
used for what we define as repentance.
This is living admonition and invitation to be among those who do return
to the Lord, and make and keep their own personal covenant. He stands as a visual reminder next to
Isaiah, whose name and life testified “Salvation is of God.”
So, looking at the scene so far we have a call to be among
those who return to their covenant with God, a testimony that only the Lord God
of Israel (Yahweh) is truly salvation, and a prophecy that the circumstances
surrounding a child born would testify that God remained with all those who
covenanted to be Israel. Next Isaiah
adds the horrible circumstances of economic failure and conquest to emphasize
that for those who do return, despite the adverse circumstances still surrounding
them- Immanuel (God is with them)
(Isaiah 8:8,10) That to those who do
return He will be a sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14). That his salvation cannot be
prevented even by death. (Isaiah 9:3) That even slavery and oppression would
only be temporary and compensated for. (Isaiah 9:4-5) Nothing, absolutely nothing, that man, or
death, or Satan himself can do, can prevent Immanuel because unto us a child is born. (Isaiah 9:6, also see Romans 8:37-39)
Perhaps it is important, given our current cultural use of
the word name, to discuss why the messiah promised in Isaiah 9:6-7 is given
several names. Especially as the
Immanuel prophecy is a dual prophecy, fulfilled in Ahaz’s lifetime and also
repeated by Matthew as a type prophesying Christ’s birth (Matthew 1:23). So by
the time we reach Isaiah 9:7 we have been told several names for this promised
child. I read a scathing critique of the
foolishness of Christian belief that ended by saying that if Isaiah 7:14 and
Isaiah 9:6-7 were prophecies of Jesus Christ, then why was Joseph commanded to
name him Jesus? That shows our 20th
century, American understanding of what it means to name something. The word correctly used in Hebrew as name, in several cases is also
translated as “reputation,” “character,”
or “renown.” It comes from a root that
means “to breathe” and is closely related to the word for “aroma” as well as
“fame.” We still have a remnant of this
kind of relation when we say what a person said or did “stinks.” But we don’t usually relate character and
name.
In the Hebrew culture
a name was considered an insight into essential characteristics of an
individual. This is part of the gospel
culture, too. Thus when we “take upon us
the name of Christ” it does not mean we change our names for legal purposes,
but that we are disciples of Christ and are striving to change our character to
become like His. In the Old Testament
names are often used this way. In this
section “Immanuel” and all the names in Isaiah 9:6-7 name the characteristics
of Christ and what his atonement means to us. Isaiah’s two sons are types for
the choices before Israel: either to be among those that return to Christ or
those who sell themselves for their iniquities.
(I’ll cover all this in more detail in separate posts.)
Now, putting it all together and considering the view before
me as I stand in Ahaz’s shoes, looking at what Isaiah has taught me, I am
struck with how familiar its feels. This
is not an isolated incident. Like Ahaz, I am one of the children of
Israel. I have been raised to see, and
participate in the ordinances of the gospel.
Like Ahaz I have faced circumstances that seemed shattering and left me
fearfully questioning what good my obedience had done. I know what it means to feel like what I
wanted was good, and have felt angry despite my obedience I had not been
“blessed” with those things. Like Ahaz I
have felt that the logical answers were at odds with what I had been taught was
the Lord’s command. I’ve felt tempted by
voices telling me it was those very commands that prevented my happiness. But, like Ahaz I have been taught that I
do have and need a Redeemer and Savior. I have been taught that a child born, in a
place and time that seems to have nothing to do with my current dilemma is the
greatest sign and manifestation of God’s love and commitment to me. (John 3:16)
Standing here I realize that in this way of telling of his
experience with Ahaz, Isaiah has created a type which shows the essential test
of mortality. For everyone, the heart of
the matter, the salient questions are the same as those before Ahaz: Do I want to know truth, even if it isn’t
easy? Do I really believe that God
created this earth with a plan for mankind?
Do I really believe that he knew even the most difficult and shattering
things that could happen here? Do I
really believe that a baby born so far in time, culture, and place from me could
truly be the greatest gift of God’s love and greatest proof that God is with
mankind? Could that one life really be
the source of help and peace for me? And
as I search these words, I find my conviction growing that the answer to each
of those question is a resounding, absolute yes.
But I am finding another question repeatedly arising - one
that feels like it arises because my eyes are seeing a panoramic vista, instead
of a narrow, earthbound flash. This
question, for all I feel the need to explore it, brings feelings of stability,
enduring power, and deep sustaining peace.
It is a question filled with gratitude, wonder and hope. No matter how much I learn, how much more I
come to understand, the question remains :
Could it be that every negative feeling, every moment of discouragement,
every moment that feels dark and dreary is still so because I know so little
about the depth of the infinite atonement?
Thank you, Isaiah and my Savior, for this view.
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