At the time God reverses his end-time people’s circumstances from curse to blessing, what is it that causes their enemies to confess, “Surely God is in you, and no other gods exist!” (Isaiah 45:14)? Is this a reference to the Holy Ghost’s dwelling in them, as when he says, “This is my covenant with them, […]
Lest our hearts fail us and we assume we can’t bridge the divide between where we are today and where we need to be to restore the house of Israel—the Jews, Ten Tribes, and Lamanites—let us recall that the Lord will bring to pass a compression of events. When the days come—in his “own due
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Question: I was wondering, how does your translation of the book of Isaiah fit in with the Joseph Smith translation made to the Book of Isaiah? Answer: The prophet Joseph Smith did not do a translation of the Book of Isaiah. The Book of Mormon chapters of Isaiah are taken from the King James Version,
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Question: You’ve mentioned that in the temple certain elements of the Davidic Covenant used to be more obvious prior to some changes. Was that part of the sealing or the endowment? If I’m married in the temple, am I already supposed to be acting as a father under the terms of the Davidic Covenant? Is
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There are those who say in all sincerity of heart, “I will do anything God asks me to do” and then wait for God to tell them what to do. There are others who say, “The gospel has been restored, and all we need to do is follow the prophet.” Yet others say they look
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Question: Isaiah 41:25 says, “I have raised up one from the north who calls on my name, who shall come from the direction of sunrise. He shall come upon dignitaries as on mud, tread them as clay like a potter.” What does it mean to be “raised up”? Does this mean the Davidic servant was
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When Jesus prayed to the Father for his disciples and for the multitude gathered at Bountiful, they prayed to him directly “without ceasing” (3 Nephi 19:23–32). Only when he asked them to cease praying in order to break bread with them and teach them from the words of Isaiah did they stop: “And it came
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The divine paradigm for happiness and everlasting joy God has revealed in the scriptures tells us that anything less than that paradigm is incapable of bringing his children to their full potential. As a case in point, newly spawning alternatives to male–female identities and relationships are in reality as old as humanity. Making a mock
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Debates about the nature of God have echoed in Jewish and Christian circles over many centuries but without seeming resolution. When prophets and apostles who knew God were persecuted to the point of extinction, their successors, who didn’t know God—among them not a few of the persecutors—decided by committees what they thought God was like
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Just as we are saved by grace “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23), so we are exalted by grace after all we can do through a process of purification and sanctification until we become “holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:33–33). Indeed, “we know also that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior
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Question: Does Isaiah mention anything about the changing of sacred ordinances? Answer: Isaiah describes both the blessings that come with observing pure ordinances and the curses that come from changing them. The purpose of temple ordinances or sacred rites of passage, for example, is to enter into God’s presence—as “when you come to see me”
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Question: Does Isaiah mention anything about the existence of a heavenly Mother? Answer: Isaiah uses a beautiful a–b–a mini-chiasm to identify humanity’s “Maker” as our “Father” (‘av) and his “Wife/Woman” (‘ishah) as she who gives birth to his “sons/children” (banai). Isaiah 45:9–11 Woe to those in conflict with their Maker, mere shards of earthenware pottery!
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