Isaiah 1

The Book of Isaiah has a reputation for being difficult to understand. It draws on an ancient form of Hebrew poetry, and much of it is deeply symbolic.  However, Jesus Christ has commanded us to study it: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi: 23:1).

So with that, I’m jumping into Isaiah. While I’m not a scholar and don’t speak or read Hebrew (yet), I do love the Book of Isaiah. For several years I’ve been reading the work of Margaret Barker, which has helped me understand more about what Isaiah teaches. I hope this walk through Isaiah will be helpful.

A bit of groundwork first. The prophet Isaiah lived in Jerusalem roughly around 740 BC, during the reign of King Hezekiah. Solomon’s Temple had been in operation for about 300 years, and would be destroyed about 150 years later.

Understanding this context helps us understand Isaiah. He was writing in a time when there were massive changes going on in Israelite politics, temple practices, and theology. He warns against rejecting the Lord and His ways. This is clear in the first chapter of Isaiah. As with much of Isaiah, this falling away applies to the Israelites living during Isaiah’s time and to others who have claimed to follow the Lord throughout history. It also applies to us individually, here and now.

Verses 1-9

-The Lord has nourished Israel, the children of God.
-His children have forsaken the Lord and His ways
-v. 6: They have open sores that haven’t been healed with ointment. This is interesting atonement-related imagery. Oil and ointment are symbolic of Christ (more on that later). He heals our wounds and sins, but only if we let Him. This verse points out that the children of God have rejected the God who could have healed them.
- v. 7: I may be going out on a limb here, but given the reading and studying I’ve done, I think it’s likely that Isaiah is here referring to a rejection of true temple practices, including rejection of a Heavenly Mother.

Verses 10-15

-We can offer all the sacrifices and do all the “works” we want, but they are meaningless if our hearts aren’t truly set on the Lord. While sacrifice and ordinances are necessary, and God has commanded them, they are insufficient to salvation. We must have charity, the pure love of Christ (1 Corinthians 13:2)

Verses 16-20

-The way to happiness and salvation is to turn our hearts to the Lord and become as He is: separated from evil, relieving the oppressed, helping the poor, and obeying the Lord. As Christ submitted His will to His Father’s we should also submit entirely. Rebellion will bring destruction.

Verses 21-31

-v. 21: There are two archetypal women in the scriptures – Wisdom and the harlot. Wisdom is associated with the tree of life, righteousness, and rebirth. The harlot denotes worldliness, evil, death, and destruction. The Israelites have chosen the harlot.
-Israel has become corrupted, mixing water with wine, ignoring the plights of others, seeking riches (sound familiar?).
-v. 25: The Lord will purify the world (and you, if you let Him), and restore things to their original, perfect state. The purification process won’t be much fun for those who remain transgressors and who forsake the Lord.
-vs. 29-30: More wisdom imagery here. Israel has rejected the true tree of life, becoming like a dying oak, withering like an unwatered garden. I believe that losing “water” is losing communication with the Lord and denying His power, revelation, and miracles.

Final Thoughts

The Israelites at this stage kept all the outward trappings of religion, but denied God’s original covenant, watered down their theology, justified themselves in doing wrong, and became self-centered. They stopped believing in God’s ability to communicate with them and reveal Himself to them. Essentially, they lost their faith in God.

Do we assume that because we do the “outward” things like generally being nice people, going to church on Sunday, and living what the world deems to be an upstanding life that it will be enough? Or have we truly been changed, converted, lost desire for sin, and become like Him?

Tree of Life

I’ll shortly be launching into a study of Isaiah. I believe a key to understanding Isaiah, and a lot of scripture, is to understand the imagery and symbolism of the tree of life. Old Testament scholar and Methodist minister Margaret Barker has done incredibly illuminating work in this area. For an introduction to her work, read her book Temple Theology. It’s a quick read and a fascinating look into the pre-Jewish religion of the ancient Israelites. And for my LDS friends, you’ll spot some knock-your-socks-off parallels to our theology and practices.

 One of these parallels is that this ancient Israelite religion had the temple at its center, and this temple included a tree of life (which was later transformed into the menorah). This tree of life had associations with the divine feminine, the love of God, wisdom, and salvation. These associations are summed up well in Proverbs 3:13-19:

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Nephi’s vision of the tree of life expands on this in some amazing ways (that, incidentally, Joseph Smith could not have known about). To understand more about this, read this intriguing paper by Daniel Peterson (http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=9&num=2&id=223).

 

Isaiah draws heavily on this imagery, and it’s easy to spot when he uses images of trees, groves, gardens, vines, oaks, etc.

That’s enough groundwork for now. More later.

 

Souviens-Toi

One of my favorite hymns is one I learned while living in France, called Souviens-Toi. Unfortunately, it’s only available in the French LDS hymnal. It beautifully and simply teaches profound doctrine. It is sung to the moving, ethereal melody of Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Below is my attempt at a translation (definitely not the best since my mediocre French is more than 10 years out of use). Ponder what is being taught here. It will lead into my next post.


Souviens-toi
Souviens-toi, mon enfant: Tes parents divins
te serraient dans leurs bras, ce temps ne’st pas loin.
Aujourd’hui, tu es là, présent merveilleux,
Ton regard brille encore du reflet des cieux.
Parle-moi, mon enfant, de ces lieux bénis
Car pour toi est léger le voile d’oubli.

Souviens-toi, mon enfant des bois, des cités.
Pouvons-nous ici-bas les imaginer?
Et le ciel jusqu’au soir, est-il rose ou gris?
Le soleil attend-il la neige ou la pluie?
Conte-moi, mon enfant, la couleur des prés
Et le chant des oiseaux d’un monde oublié.

Souviens-toi, mon enfant: A l’aube des temps,
Nous étions des amis jouant dans le vent.
Puis un jour, dans la joie nous avons choisi
D’accepter du Seigneur le grand plan de vie.
Ce soir-là, mon enfant, nous avons promis
Par l’amour, par la foi, d’être réunis.


Remember, My Child
Remember, my child, your divine parents
Holding you in their arms, it wasn’t long ago.
Now you are here in the wonderful present,
Your countenance still shines with the reflection of the Heavens.
Tell me, my child, of these blessed places
Because for you the veil is light.

Remember, my child, the woods and the cities,
Can we here below imagine them?
And the evening sky, is it pink or gray?
Does the sun wait for snow or rain?
Tell me, my child, the color of the meadows
and the song of the birds of a forgotten world.

Remember, my child, at the dawn of time
We were friends playing in the wind.
Then one day, we both joyfully chose
To accept the Savior’s great plan of life
That evening, my child, we promised each other
Through love, through faith, to be reunited.

10 Minutes a Day Could Change Your Life

When I started this blog, I intended to share funny things that happened in my life, especially in the context of raising my kids. But I think this is going to go a different direction.

While I’ve been religious for most of my life, in the last six months my “religious feelings” have changed, grown, and deepened. This began when I decided to commit at least 10 minutes every morning to prayer and scripture study, and to attend the temple at least once a month. Because I do better when I track my progress, I made up a spreadsheet where I could write down what I was studying and learning. If you think it would be helpful to you, contact me and I'll email it to you.

Before long, my desire to study and pray grew, and 10 minutes a day was no longer enough. The temple once a month was no longer enough. It’s difficult to describe what this process has meant to me and changed in me, but I feel compelled to share a bit of it. But just a caution – the things I’ll share here are my thoughts and opinions, and I am solely responsible for them.

So, to begin.

It strikes me that the hymns are among the best sermons we have. We can learn a lot just from reading their titles. An interesting way to do this is to read them as poetry. See what you think:

The morning breaks
The Spirit of God
Now let us rejoice
Truth eternal

High on the mountain top
Redeemer of Israel
Israel, Israel, God is calling
Awake and arise

Come, rejoice!
Come, sing to the Lord!

What was witnessed in the Heavens?
‘Twas witnessed in the morning sky
An angel from on High
Sweet is the peace the gospel brings

I saw a mighty angel fly
What glorious scenes mine eyes behold
Awake, ye saints of God, awake!
The voice of God again is heard

Triple Fail in Parenting

I had a triple fail in parenting today.

First, my mom called to inform us that when we were over last night, my 4-year-old and his 3-year-old cousin filled up her swimming pool with gravel.

Second, as my husband and I sat our son down to discuss the situation with him, we asked him who he thought would have to clean the rocks out of the pool and he responded, in all sincerity, “the guhvoment?”

Third, we doubled over in fits of giggles, sending all possibility of effective discipline, well, down the drain.