How Can One Understand the Words of Isaiah?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to the first twelve chapters in the book of Isaiah and a lesson titled “God Is My Salvation.” The following information introduced the lesson material. 

Even if this is your first time reading the book of Isaiah, you might find passages that sound familiar. That’s because, of all the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah is the one most often quoted in other books of scripture, including by the Savior Himself. Isaiah’s words also appear often in hymns and other sacred music.

Why is Isaiah quoted so often? Surely one reason is that Isaiah had a gift for expressing the word of God in vivid, memorable language. But it’s more than that. Isaiah has inspired prophets for generations because the truths he taught transcended his own generation (between 740 and 701 BC). He wrote of God’s great work of redemption, which is much bigger than one nation or one time period. From Isaiah, Nephi learned that he and his people, though separated from the rest of Israel, were still part of God’s covenant people. In Isaiah, New Testament writers found prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled right before their eyes. And in Isaiah, Joseph Smith found inspiration for the latter-day work of gathering Israel and building Zion. When you read Isaiah, what will you find?

The scripture block teaches numerous principles, including the following: (1) The words of Isaiah will all be fulfilled (Isaiah 1-12). (2) Prophets warn about sin and promise hope through repentance (Isaiah 1; 3-5). (3) God will do a great work in the latter days (Isaiah 2; 4; 11-12). (4) Prophets are called by God (Isaiah 6). (5) God promised to send Jesus Christ to be my Savior (Isaiah 7-9). This essay will discuss principle #1 about the words of Isaiah.

The Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ teaches much about the words of Isaiah. In 3 Nephi 23:3, the Savior taught that “all things that [Isaiah] spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.” The prophecies of Isaiah can be divided under headings like these: Isaiah’s day, the Savior’s mortal ministry, and The latter days. Many of the prophecies of Isaiah are fulfilled in more than one way. President Dallin H. Oaks taught the following:

The book of Isaiah contains numerous prophecies that seem to have multiple fulfillments. One seems to involve the people of Isaiah’s day or the circumstances of the next generation. Another meaning, often symbolic, seems to refer to events in the meridian of time, when Jerusalem was destroyed and her people scattered after the crucifixion of the Son of God. Still another meaning or fulfillment of the same prophecy seems to relate to the events attending the Second Coming of the Savior. The fact that many of these prophecies can have multiple meanings underscores the importance of our seeking revelation from the Holy Ghost to help us interpret them (“Scripture Reading and Revelation,” Ensign, Jan. 1995, 8). 

Isaiah is written in such a way that many people have difficulty understanding what his words mean. The Savior said, “Search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah”

(3 Nephi 23:1; see also verses 2-3). The following ideas might help in understanding Isaiah:

·       Ponder the symbols and metaphors Isaiah used.

·       Ask yourself, “What am I learning about Jesus Christ?” (see 1 Nephi 19:23).

·       Look for topics that feel relevant to our time.

·       Use study helps, such as a dictionary, the footnotes, chapter headings, and the Guide to the Scriptures.

What Nation Leads the World in Protecting Life and the Family Unit?

Families are stronger when governments are pro-life and pro-family. Strong families strengthen communities, states, and nations. The Geneva Consensus Declaration supports life and family. According to an article by Virginia Grace McKinnon, the main objectives of the declaration “are to secure meaningful health and development gains for women; to protect life at all stages; to defend the family as the fundamental unit of society; and to work together across the U.N. system to realize these values.” 

In 2020, 32 nations signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration….

In 2021, President Joe Biden removed the United States from the declaration, encouraging others to do the same. Rejoining the declaration was one of Trump’s first moves when he came back to office in 2025.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., retiring from Congress in January, announced he is passing the torch to Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., to lead the Geneva Consensus Declaration in Congress….

Daines told the Daily Signal it’s important for the United States to be back in the Geneva Consensus Declaration because “the world looks to the U.S.” Daines, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he sees this when he travels the world.

“Everywhere I go, the U.S. is looked up to as the leader in so many areas, economically, militarily, but in this case, fighting and leading on behalf of the pro-life and pro-family movement. So, we are the world’s leader. It’s important that we continue to project that leadership, beyond just the economy, beyond just the military, but on behalf of the pro-life and pro-family unit.”

The nations signing the “Geneva Consensus Declaration gathered on Capitol Hill this week to sign the sixth annual declaration on the sanctity of life and the importance of putting families first.” Because the United States is “this year’s secretariat, Congress and the Institute for Women’s Health hosted 43 member countries standing for the right to life, family, women’s health, and national sovereignty.”

Vince Haley, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council read a letter from President Donald Trump that included the following information:

As the Secretariat, the United States will work closely with our allies and partners to advance the Declaration’s vital mission….

My Administration will always stand for the dignity of human life, the health and well-being of women, the strength of the family, and the right to defend these values and traditions. I commend the work of the Institute for Women’s Health to strengthen this growing coalition. Together, we will carry these principles forward and build a stronger, healthier, and more prosperous future for generations to come.

Why Is Illegal Discrimination in Law Schools Bad for America?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns illegal discrimination in law schools.

According to Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell at The Daily Signal, the Department of Justice discovered that the “University of California, Berkeley School of Law illegally discriminated against Asian and white applicants based on race during its 2024 and 2025 admissions processes.” They did this “after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.” 

“Berkeley Law School’s deliberate efforts to circumvent the Supreme Court’s decision in [Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard] demonstrate a complete disregard for the rule of law,” said assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, Harmeet K. Dhillon. “The department will continue to aggressively pursue compliance from schools who attempt to racially manipulate their student bodies in violation of federal law.”

The DOJ opened a compliance review into the University of California, Berkeley in March 2025 to determine if its admissions practices complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The investigation was expanded shortly after to include the university’s law school.

The findings reveal that Berkeley Law uses race, essay prompts, and other tactics to further its admissions diversity goals.

The DOJ is now seeking to enter a voluntary resolution agreement with the law school “to ensure that admissions and oversight practices are brought into legal compliance.”

The admissions application asked applicants to specify their racial identity, so that admitted students could be “grouped” with others of the same “primary identity” in class.

“How will you (your perspective, experience, Voice) contribute diversity in our classrooms and community? Feel free to address any factors or attributes you consider important and relevant. In the past, applicants have included information about characteristics such as: race/ethnicity….” The application asks.

This is exactly what Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said colleges needed to do to maintain diversity quotas after the Students for Fair Admissions Ruling eliminated affirmative action.

“What colleges and universities will need to do after affirmative action is eliminated is find ways to achieve diversity that can’t be documented as violating the Constitution,” Chemerinsky said in a June 2023 article printed in the Los Angeles Times.

The DOJ also reviewed a video of Chemerinsky in 2020 admitting “unstated affirmative action” practices in faculty hiring.

“You can think it, you can vote it, but our discussions are not privileged, so don’t ever articulate that that’s what you’re doing!” he said.

The DOJ’s analysis of admissions data found highly statistically significant racial preferences in 2024 and 2025.

In 2025, black applicants had 5.8 times the odds of admission as comparable white applicants with similar qualifications. In 2024, a black applicant had 6.5 times the odds of admission as a comparable white applicant.

“The Department finds that Berkeley Law deliberately discriminated against Asian and white applicants based on race in its law school admissions. This discrimination is apparent from the significant disparity in objective academic metrics between racially preferred applicants, and applicants from non-preferred races,” the letter to Berkeley reads, adding that the discrimination is “ongoing.”

The DOJ will continue to investigate law schools’ compliance with Title VI.

“Where a violation has been found, the department will engage in settlement negotiations to ensure the school’s admissions practices are brought into compliance,” a press release obtained by the Daily Signal reads. “If those efforts fail, the department will file suit.”

Chemerinsky, the law school dean, told the Daily Signal that the Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t stop universities from pursuing diversity.

            “University of California, Berkeley School of Law in its admissions decisions scrupulously                     complies with Proposition 209, federal statutes, and the United States Constitution,” he said in a              statement. “Our admissions policy is clear that race is not considered in any way in admissions             decisions. Proposition 209, federal statutes, and the Supreme Court’s decisions do not preclude                schools from pursuing diversity so long as they give no preferences based on race. Berkeley                    Law does not do so.” 

Articles of Faith: What Do Latter-day Saints Believe About the Atonement of Jesus Christ? 2

Article of Faith 3

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved,

by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

This is the second essay about the Atonement of Jesus Christ as stated in the third Article of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Last week, I discussed the importance of understanding how the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as the third pillar of eternity, is essential to Heavenly Father’s plan for the eternal happiness of His children. The discussion this week comes from the words of Elder James E. Talmage (Articles of Faith [1913], 74—76).

The Atonement of Christ is taught as a leading doctrine by all sects professing Christianity. The expression is so common a one, and the essential point of its signification is so generally admitted that definitions may appear to be superfluous; nevertheless, there is a peculiar importance attached to the use of the word “atonement” in a theological sense. The doctrine of the atonement comprises proof of the divinity of Christ’s earthly ministry, and the vicarious nature of His death as a foreordained and voluntary sacrifice, intended for and efficacious as a propitiation for the sins of mankind, thus becoming the means whereby salvation may be secured….

The structure of the word in its present form is suggestive of the true meaning; it is literally at-one-ment, “denoting reconciliation, or the bringing into agreement of those who have been estranged.” And such is the significance of the saving sacrifice of the Redeemer, whereby He expiated the transgression of the fall, through which came death into the world, and provided ready and efficient means for man’s attainment of immortality through reconciliation with God.

Nature of the Atonement – The atonement wrought by Jesus Christ is a necessary sequel of the transgression of Adam; and, as the infinite foreknowledge of God made clear to Him the one even before Adam was placed upon the earth, so the Father’s mercy prepared a Savior for mankind before the world was framed. Through the fall Adam and Eve have entailed the conditions of mortality upon their descendants; therefore all beings born of earthly parents are subject to bodily death. The sentence of banishment from the presence of God was in the nature of a spiritual death; and that penalty, which was visited upon our first parents in the day of their transgression, has likewise followed as the common heritage of humanity. As this penalty came into the world through an individual act, it would be manifestly unjust to cause all to eternally suffer therefrom without means of deliverance. Therefore was the promised sacrifice of Jesus Christ ordained as a propitiation for broken law, whereby Justice could be fully satisfied, and Mercy be left free to exercise her beneficent influence over the souls of mankind. All the details of the glorious plan, by which the salvation of the human family is assured, may not lie within the understanding of man; but man has learned, even from his futile attempts to fathom the primary causes of the phenomena of nature, that his powers of comprehension are limited; and he will admit, that to deny an effect because of his inability to elucidate its cause would be to forfeit his claims as an observing and reasoning being.

Simple as is the plan of redemption in its general features, it is confessedly a mystery in detail to the finite mind….

            However incomplete may be our comprehension of the scheme of redemption through Christ’s                vicarious sacrifice in all its parts, we cannot reject it without becoming infidel; for it stands as                the fundamental doctrine of all scripture, the very essence of the spirit of prophecy and                            revelation, the most prominent of all the declarations of God unto man. 

What Has the Trump Team Accomplished Since January 2025?

The Trump administration released a compilation of “Historic Results for the American People” this week. All GOP candidates should use “this impressive (albeit non-exhaustive) list of public policy victories” in their campaigns. Here is a partial list of Trump administration historic results. 

·       The border is closed. “The Trump Administration … has not released a single illegal alien into the country for 15 straight months.”

·       The “illegal alien population is down by at least 2.3 million” thanks to deportation and self-deportation.

·       Under Trump, “asylum is now granted in just 7% of cases – a historic low” vs. more than 50% under Biden’s “Everybody in!” policy.

·       “ICE has arrested more than 10,000 illegal alien gang members.”

·       Tren de Aragua and MS-13 cartels have been designated as terrorist organizations.

·       Trump signed the Laken Riley Act to hammer violent illegal alien criminals.

·       Trump “launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal alien Commercial Drive License [CDL] fraud” – stopping unvetted illegals who cannot read plain English signs – such as “Road Closed” or “Do Not Enter – Wrong Way.”

·       “The U.S. murder rate fell to an historic low in 2025 – the lowest level” since 1900.

·       For the first half of 2026, “violent crime slipped another 10%, versus 2025’s like period.”

·       Rapes are down 18.6%, and murders are 23% lower.

·       Team Trump has captured nine of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives – more than twice the number caught by Biden’s “Social Justice Department” in four years.

·       The Republicans’ “One Big, Beautiful Tax Cut” established No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, and No Tax on certain Social Security benefits.

·       The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 also extended the personal and business tax rate reductions first established via the Trump/GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. [Remember that every Democrat in Congress voted against both tax-cut bills.]

·       Trump and the GOP launched Trump Accounts – tax-advantaged accounts that parents can open for children born in 2025-2028. Other adults may deposit up to $5,000 per account.

·       The “manufacturing sector has expanded for eight straight months.”

·       In 2026 alone, 58,000 factory jobs have emerged.

·       Under Trump 47, some 100,000 factory-construction workers have been hired, and 1 million private-sector jobs have bloomed.

·       Companies increased domestic investment: Amazon ($340 billion), Apple ($600 billion), and UAE ($1.4 trillion).

·       “The White House cites $11 trillion in domestic and foreign investment in America, none from U.S. taxpayers, all with the smallest federal workforce since 1966.”

·       Regarding Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: “boys in girls’ sports, biological men in women’s locker rooms; child sex-mutilation surgery, and Planned Parenthood all have withered beneath the wrath of Trump and lost their federal subsidies.”

·       “Trump’s deregulation will save Americans $1.3 trillion this year. The Green New Steal is dead, and U.S. energy independence is alive and well. Last year, America became the first nation to achieve 100 million metric tons of annual liquefied natural gas exports.”

·       “The U.S. Armed Forces jointly met 103% of its recruitment goals. America’s intrepid Gis whisked Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro from his Caracas palace to a Manhattan prison. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, and his son does not feel too well. Their atomic ambitions glow uselessly in the dark beneath tons of rubble.”

VOTE REPUBLICAN – PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT!

Why Is Victor Davis Hanson Considered to Be a Trump and MAGA Historian?

Victor Davis Hanson has been a “commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics.” He is a “professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno,” a fellow in “classics and military history at the Hoover Institution,” and a “visiting professor at Hillsdale College. 

Hanson is known for his work on war and ancient Greece, and he recently wrote a history on President Donald Trump. 

In her article published at Deseret News, Jennifer Graham reported on a discussion with Hanson. The first thing that Hanson made clear his relationship with Trump. He voted for Trump, but he writes as a historian when he writes about the POTUS. In fact, he intentionally does not talk with Trump about what he wrote in his book. He gives Trump “the same dispassionate eye” as he does when “writing about warfare in ancient Greece.”

“My interests are not in defending or attacking Trump but in offering an explanation of why he did not disappear from the political scene and likely will not for quite some time,” Hanson writes in his latest book, “The Counterrevolution,” which chronicles what he calls Trump’s “wilderness years” between presidencies and the factors that led to his political resurrection after the 2020 defeat.

Hanson calls it the “greatest political comeback in American presidential history.”

… Hanson … sees Trump’s fall and rise as a counterrevolution – a reversal of liberal ideologies that had seized the country – and says that although Trump might not be the hero that people wanted, he was what the country needed to change course.

“He’s done some fundamental things that no one else can do, and he doesn’t care what people say about him,” Hanson said in an interview with the Deseret News.

When Deseret News asked about Trump’s favorability ratings, what happened, and how it affects what Trump wants to accomplish, Hanson replied:

I think that was a result of his decision, not necessarily to go into Iran and deal with that problem, but more importantly, there was the expectation by both his adversaries and also his supporters that the operation would be similar to his taking out, in the first term, of (Hasem) Soleimani, or (Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi or the Wagner Group … or the bombing last year in June of the nuclear facilities.

And I think the administration underestimated two things. First, that Iran is the largest area in the Middle /east; it’s the size of Oklahoma and Texas. It has the second-largest population, 93 million. And it’s invested essentially a half-trillion dollars in a nuclear industrial military complex. It’s a vast country, and it terrified everybody….

So I think they underestimated the challenge that was posed. They thought they would do some damage and then these people will be rational. That didn’t happen.

I don’t think he was every going to win any of the left, but the fall in the polls I think reflects three things: The war is too long for the MAGA base. There are some defection there…. And I think the independents were for the elimination of the threat, but they wanted it, like the other operations, quickly.

Then there’s the affordability question; for five months, (the administration) did not address these issues. They didn’t address those defections and the economy.

When asked about a “forever war,” Hanson reminded his listeners that the war was “not 20 years in Afghanistan, or eight or nine.” However, the US is in a “test of wills with Iran,” and Iran thinks that it can “delay, delay … and drag it out.” Trump will either hit Iran hard and leave “containment to the Arabs and Israel and our bases in the area,” or forget about it and emphasize

the economy. “Iran is losing $100 million a day. They don’t get the message out that the embargo is in place, the sanctions are in place, the debanking is in place,; they bombed all the bridges to Russia and China. There’s no import, no export. And they’re just about at the brink of bankruptcy.

When asked where the situation leaves the president politically, Hanson said, “The only thing that is saving him right now is, he has been given a number of gifts that he didn’t expect. Thirty-nine of the last 41 midterms, the incumbent president and party in the White House have lost seats – (but for) Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Frankline Roosevelt, as I remember.

Nobody anticipated there would be more red-state legislatures gerrymandering than blue states, so (Republicans) could pick up three or four seats. We never thought the Supreme Court would outlaw racial gerrymandering; they may pick up one or two seats from that. In addition, people were talking about the Democrats getting a whole lot of money, but the Republicans have raised more. So they’re going to have a lot of money, and that’s aside from people like the so-called tech oligarchs, like Elon Musk, who have pledged to put hundreds of millions of dollars in.

And then finally, he was given a great gift by the prominence of these democratic socialists. Everybody thought they were kind of an isolated phenomenon, but they’re in the news, people like Hasan Piker and Zohran Mamdani.

Ironically, I think there’s more pressure on Trump now, because now people are saying you could win the midterms, you could hold it, if you get out of Iran. That’s the dilemma they’re in.

When asked about the economy, Hanson explained that most people do not follow the Iran war “because it’s not really a war.… What they’re following is affordability of houses, insurance, food, fuel. Donald Trump promised to lower them.” Even though inflation is half what it was during the Biden administration. “They thought Donald Trump was going to come in and not just have lower inflation, but lower the price. He’s saying the inflation is a lot lower (than under Biden), but that’s a bad argument. It’s almost impossible historically for a president to get into a deflationary cycle and lower the prices of his predecessor.”

In answer to a question as to how overcomes the problem of high prices with Iran continuing, Hanson said, “It’s going to be very hard.” He thinks that the US might hit Iran really hard for a week or two to knock out Iran and cause them to cave. Then announce that they will leave Iran as it is and work on affordability getting the price of fuel down.

There is more to the interview, and you can find it here if you are interested in reading more. 

How Do We Protect the Constitution from Sharia Law?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the creep of Sharia law in the Unitd States. The Sharia-Free America Caucus is helping to preserve the U.S. Constitution beyond Washington in the 120^th Congress. Pedro Rodriguez explained the news in his article published at The Daily Signal. 

The caucus, which has previously raised awareness of the controversial Islamic rule known as Sharia law and pushed legislation to protect the U.S. Constitution from it, is looking to work with state leaders to codify legislative efforts.

Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith told the Daily Signal that the Hoosier State could be a potential partner for the caucus, saying that he would “100 percent [be] all in on this.”

Beckwith said the idea to partner with the congressional caucus to protect his home state from a foreign law that enforces female genital mutilation and creates a hostile environment for those of other religions is not just his personal desire, but one shared by his Indiana constituents.

“I’ve gotten so much support, not just from Republicans, but also Democrats who see that the rise of Sharia is a problem,” he continued.

However, Beckwith explained that people need to raise awareness of what the law entails. “Islam is not just a religion; it is a political and military ideology,” Beckwith said.

During his phone interview with the Daily Signal, Indiana’s lieutenant governor referred to some uninformed constituents as people who don’t realize the extent of the threat posed by Sharia law, adding that it “will destroy our Constitution.”

“Hoosiers are people who are normally reactive to things instead of being proactive,” he said. “But we don’t have the luxury of being reactive here – we have to understand the issue. Raising awareness will be important.”

One roadblock to defeating Sharia law in America, Beckwith continued, could come from Democrats aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, whom he called “useful idiots for Sharia.”

He cited the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 as a prime example of “what the red-green alliance will look like,” adding that, at the time, the Islamic revolutionary forces used socialist propaganda to secure sufficient public support to overthrow the government. The revolutionary forces then turned around and suppressed the same crowd of people who lifted them up, especially women.

“The only difference between Islam and the [Chinese Communist Party] is that Islam will hide behind a false religion to build a military ideology,” Beckwith said. “We saw it sine Muhammad immigrated from Mecca to Medina; they immigrated, populated, and dominated.”

Despite the potential backlash, the lieutenant governor said he believes that “it’s in the realm of possibility” that Indiana will follow Florida and Texas in standing up to the Islamic rule. “I see an appetite for it,” he concluded.

The idea might have support with state lawmakers. Previously, Indiana state Rep. Andrew Ireland told the Daily Signal that he is ready to work with colleagues to solidify the push in the Indiana Statehouse….