Lesson 96 – Isaiah 6–9

Isaiah’s Call and the Immanuel Prophecy

Isaiah 6: The call of a prophet• This chapter could have been first, but

some think he wanted to lay out his main message first.

• What other recorded calls of prophets have we discussed so far?– Moses, Abraham, Samuel (as a boy), Elisha– How many of these saw the Savior as part

of their call?• Isaiah 6:1

– Notice the printing of the word “Lord” (as oppose to “LORD”)

• v2-4 – He tries to describe the vision…– Mostly temple symbols (train like the veil,

smoke, seraphim)– (sidenote) What is the plural of “seraph”?

Joseph Smith

“Could we read and comprehend all that has been written from the days of Adam, on the relation of man to God and angels in a future state, we should know very little about it. Reading the experience of others, or the revelation given to them, can never give us a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God. Knowledge of these things can only be obtained by experience through the ordinances of God set forth for that purpose. Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject.”

Isaiah’s first reaction

• Isa 6:5 – What is his first reaction?– “Woe is me! for I am undone” (see footnote)– Where else have we seen such a reaction?– Moses 1:10, JS-History 1:20– Basically the usual reaction

• Isa 6:8 – After the Lord assists Isaiah, what is his next reaction?– Immediate willingness to serve.– Do these words sound familiar?

Deliberately difficult

• Isa 6:9-10 (and 2 Ne 16:9-10)• What is the Lord asking Isaiah to do?

– It seems that the Lord wants Isaiah’s words to be difficult to understand, on purpose. Why?

• What did we talk about at the beginning of Isaiah?• 2 Ne 25:4 - The words of Isaiah “are plain unto all those…”

– “…that are filled with the Spirit of prophecy”• “Hearing, but not understanding” and “Seeing, but not

perceiving” are common symbols throughout the scriptures.

• What is the purpose of deliberately difficult scripture?

King Ahaz

• We’ve discussed this history before, but briefly…– The Assyrians (Babylon) have destroyed and captured the

Kingdom of Israel.– King Ahaz made a deal with them, paying tribute for protection.– The Assyrians decide they want to conquer anyway, so they are

coming, making Ahaz very nervous.• Isaiah 7:10-13 – Isaiah approaches the King

– What does he offer? What is Ahaz’s response?– v12 – Is this genuine? Does he really not want to bother the

Lord?– He is more worried about the answer, doesn’t want

interference with his plans, doesn’t trust the Lord.

The Immanuel Prophecy• Isaiah 7:14-16 – Isaiah gives the sign

anyway.– What (who) is it?– What does Immanuel mean? (footnote)– Who is Christ but the God who is with us

(the Israelites)• The prophecy has two purposes1. Show King Ahaz that the Kingdom of

Judah will be preserved until the Savior comes.

2. Provides an overall perspective– What have we been talking about for

the first 5 chapters?– Lots of sin and destruction, but always

with hope, that God will save the righteous. Through whom are we saved?

Cool Hebrew sidenote…• Isaiah 8:9• Why is the last phrase repeated verbatim?• In English, when we want to increase the

emphasis on something, we use a comparative, or superlative.– Good, better, best– Big, bigger, biggest

• In Hebrew, they simply repeat the word or phrase exactly for emphasis.– Good, good good, good good good– Can you think of other examples of this in the

scriptures?– Wo, wo, wo– Verily, verily

More prophecy of Christ

• Isaiah 8:14-15– Who is the

stone/rock?– Why of stumbling

and offence?– Does the rock of

Christ change?– Yet many will

stumble over it, many will have problems with the solid truths

• v15 – What are the 5 descending verbs describing this reaction by many of the Jews?– stumble, fall, broken, snared, taken

Names

• Isaiah 9:6-7 – famous prophecy of Christ• These chapters emphasize many names and their meanings.• What does Isaiah mean?

– Jehovah saves• Isaiah 7:3 – What did he name his son?

– “The remnant shall return”• Isaiah 8:3 – And his other son?

– “To speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey”• Why such complicated names?

– Isaiah 8:18– Even the names of the prophet and his sons is a reminder to the

people.

Summary

• How would you sum up everything we’ve talked about today?– Isaiah’s call as a prophet– Prophecy of Christ– Names with meaning

• “Isaiah was called to show us that we can be saved through the name of Christ”

Notebook Ideas

• How can you follow the example of Isaiah when he was called?

• How can you use scripture that is difficult to understand to increase your spirituality?

• Does the name Immanuel (“with us is god”) have personal meaning to you?