Weekly Newsletter

When first learning how the prophecy of Isaiah informs us today, it is important to understand four basic points. (1) That Isaiah spoke simultaneously of things that “have been”—in own his day or soon thereafter—and also of what “shall be” at the coming of the Lord (3 Nephi 23:3). In other words, even the purely […]

Hugh Nibley used to tell of his grandfather who served in the church’s First Presidency in the early twentieth century that he personally knew of no one who had seen an angel, and that if one should appear to him he would “jump out of that window!” Almost a century earlier, the prophet Joseph Smith

An eminent danger in following a man rather than Jesus Christ is that people so habituated who become disillusioned with one leader will simply transfer their allegiance to another. As false christs and false prophets will be the order of the day (Matthew 24:24), these will find fertile soil among persons who aren’t grounded in

Isaiah’s method of prophesying end-time events based on types or patterns from the past provides a safeguard against counterfeits, which inevitably precede and accompany the real thing. False prophets and messiahs, delusive promises of deliverance, spurious “miracles”—all will test people’s faith in God and their knowledge of the facts. The comforting thing about Isaiah’s prophecies

If we apply the scriptures’ bad news to ourselves first, then there is a chance we can qualify for the good news. Those who do the reverse tend to apply the bad news to others, often exhibiting a peculiar inability to believe what the scriptures plainly say. So when we find ourselves nearing the end-time

The claim that the prophet Joseph Smith is God’s servant in the Book of Isaiah has confused many in a day when fake news is supplanting the truth. Touted by some who hop on the servant bandwagon without feeling a need to search diligently, these persons simply appropriate Avraham Gileadi’s decades of discoveries for their

In a day when the iniquity of the world’s inhabitants has reached surfeit and God is preaching his own sermons by pouring out his judgments without measure, do we really believe that turning to the arm of flesh for a solution will remedy things and not indict us even more? So predicts Isaiah in the

The prophet Isaiah’s going naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and portent against Egypt—the world’s great superpower of his day—contrasts sharply with the comfort zone of Babylon’s high rises that lend a God-like view over the landscape. Isaiah’s extensive literary devices show that ancient Egypt typifies modern America in the world’s end-time

It is no secret that when a person transgresses against God and doesn’t quickly repent, he loses the light he once had. The result is that spiritual blindness sets in, perhaps without the person himself realizing it. Or he may even assume he sees more clearly now—especially the faults of others—as he unconsciously seeks to

I remember a talk by Elder Neal A. Maxwell to the effect that the further a person progresses spiritually, the greater the paradoxes he experiences. Certainly, the descent phase of testing that precedes spiritual ascent on Isaiah’s ladder to heaven increases in intensity so that it matches the spiritual rebirth that follows on the next

As we observe freedoms in our nation being systematically eliminated on a daily basis and political leverage flagrantly overriding law and order—while few in leadership positions evidence willingness to dissent—I am reminded of what brought God’s people together when facing tyranny in scriptural times. Wasn’t it that they “remembered the captivity of their fathers” and