Old Testament

Hurricane UtahAdult Religion Class

Week 25: Isaiah (part 5 of 5)Chapters 56–66

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Trito-Isaiah (“Third Isaiah”)

• Written after return from Babylon (?), 538–519 B.C.

• Messages: First Isaiah: Judgment on foreign nations. Second Isaiah: Forgiveness and restoration. Third Isaiah: Bringing foreigners into the

people of God; how to live the Law as God wants.

• No quotations from Third Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.

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Structure of Trito-IsaiahMessage Chapter

sPericopes

Genuine worship 56–59 56:1–856:9–57:1357:14–2158:1–1459:1–21

Zion’s glory & destiny 60–62 60:1–2261:1–1162:1–12

God’s coming intervention

63–66 63:7–64:1165:1–2566:1–466:5–16

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Foreigners among Israel• Isaiah 56:6–8.• People of mixed heritage who were

descendants of Jews not taken to Babylon and foreigners resettled in Israel.

• 2 Corinthians 5:17.

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“High places” • Isaiah 57:7–8, 15.• “High place”: a pagan altar/worship

site constructed on a hill.• True vs. false “high places.”

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The Sabbath• Isaiah 56:2; 58:13–14.• What four things does the Lord

require for true Sabbath observance?• D&C 59:9–13.

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Genuine fasting + moral reformation

• Isaiah 58:5–10.• Only OT passage on purpose and

method of true fasting.• Four requirements & two blessings of

the fast day.

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God’s response to prayer• Isaiah 59:1–2.• Why does God sometimes not

respond to our prayers?

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God’s response to prayer“When we call upon [God], though he may be remote from us, dwelling in his holy habitation in the midst of the eternities, the very thoughts of our hearts, the very conceptions of our minds, the feeble whisperings of our voices, they ascend to him, are carried to him, his ear comprehends them; his bowels of compassion are moved towards us his children, his all-piercing eye penetrates eternity, and the glance of his vision reaches us.“There is not a single thought of our hearts which he does not comprehend; there is nothing connected with us he does not know. We may hide ourselves in the bowels of the earth, but we cannot conceal ourselves from his all-piercing sight. We may climb the highest mountains or descend into the deepest valleys or we may go to the uttermost parts of the earth, but wherever we may go he is there, his power is there, his vision is there to hear and to comprehend the desires and the wishes of our hearts.” —President George Q. Cannon, October 1879

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Lord’s Spirit is upon his Servant

• Isaiah 61:1–3.• Immediate fulfillment + reapplication

and later fulfillment.• Luke 4:16–22.

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The Divine Warrior• Isaiah 63:1–6.• Not comforter, but

conqueror.• Bozrah of Edom.• Red apparel: Revelation

19:13; D&C 133:48.• “Trodden the winepress

alone”: D&C 76:107; 88:106; 133:50.

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God’s blessing, man’s inconsistency

• Isaiah 64:4–8. (Portion of 63:15–64:12.)

• Our own righteousness insufficient to save.

• Our willingness + Christ’s righteousness and perfection: 2 Nephi 25:23; Moroni 10:32–33.

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The millennial earth• Isaiah 65:17–25.• Creation undone; replaced with a

new creation (Revelation 21:1; Ether 13:9).

• Long life; no early death.• Time of great revelation

(D&C 101:27, 32–34).

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“Great are the words of Isaiah.”

—3 Nephi 23:1

Next week:Prophets of the impending exile:

Joel, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Obadiah