Avraham’s Mailbox

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, […]

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

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

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”

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!

Question: How do the two witnesses of Revelations 11:3 fit with the end-time servant prophecy? Do they follow the end-time servant? Are they some of the servants he calls as mentioned in Jacob 5:70? Where does their ministry fit in the timeline of the last seven years before Christ comes? Answer: Because a majority of

Question: An author recently made a convincing case that the newly crowned king of England is the Antichrist. Is that possible? Answer: The king of England does not fit the scriptural pattern of the end-time Antichrist. Isaiah depicts the Antichrist as the tyrannical ruler of a militaristic world power from the North—from an end-time “Assyria”—who

Question: Is it possible that the Servant in Isaiah’s prophecy is the people of Israel? Answer: There exist two “servants” in Isaiah’s prophecy: (1) the collective servant, who are God’s people on the Jacob/Israel level of Isaiah’s spiritual ladder; and (2) the individual servant, who is on Isaiah’s seraph level. At a time when God’s

Question: If Abinadi quotes chapter 53 of Isaiah to the priests of King Noah to convince them that the Holy One of Israel will be born on the earth as the Son of God, why does Abinadi quote the last two verses of chapter 53 about God’s Servant. Isn’t all of chapter 53 about Jesus

Question: I recently read an article on an LDS Internet site that viciously vilified Brother Gileadi. It stated that the servant in the book of Isaiah is Jesus Christ and that Brother Gileadi is wrong about the latter-day David. Joseph Smith, the article claimed, said this David or servant is Jesus Christ. What is Brother

Question: How do we know from Isaiah when the Davidic Servant described therein is referring to Jesus Christ, or Joseph Smith, or some future person; or maybe all three at once? Answer: First, having imbedded many literary features in his book that prove his prophecies form an end-time scenario—one that uses the history of his

Question: Some say members of the church are no longer experiencing the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost that should accompany the ordinance of baptism by one having authority. Because of that, they throw into doubt whether priesthood authority still exists in the church. Answer: Fulfilling Jesus’ prediction about false prophets arising before