My Come, Follow Me studies for this week took me to Isaiah 40-49. The title of the lesson was “Comfort Ye My People,” and the lesson began with this introduction.
“Comfort” is the first word of
Isaiah chapter 40. It marks the beginning of a different tone, a different
emphasis in the prophet’s message. Where Isaiah’s earlier writings warned
Israel and Judah about destruction and captivity that would come because of
their sins, these later prophecies were meant to comfort the Jews over
150 years in the future—after Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was
desecrated, and the people were taken captive by Babylon. But these prophecies
reach even further into the future than to the defeated, disheartened
Israelites. They speak to us, who also sometimes feel defeated, disheartened,
and even lost.
Isaiah’s message to them and to us is
simple: “Fear not” (Isaiah 43:1). All is not lost. The Lord has not forgotten
you, and He has power over situations that seem out of your control. Isn’t the
Lord “he that created the heavens, and … he that spread forth the earth, and …
he that giveth breath unto the people upon it”? (Isaiah 42:5). Isn’t He more
powerful than Babylon, than sin, than whatever is holding you captive? “Return
unto me,” He pleads, “for I have redeemed thee” (Isaiah 44:22). He can heal,
restore, strengthen, forgive, and comfort—whatever is needed for you, in your
case, to be redeemed.
As usual, this lesson contains
numerous gospel principles, and the one that I want to share is “God’s power is
greater than worldly power.” Isaiah repeatedly reminded the Israelites of God’s
matchless power. He even compared God’s power to the oppressive worldly power
that surrounded them. Isaiah 40:3-8 is one example.
3 The voice of
him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye
the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for
our God.
4 Every valley shall
be exalted, and
every mountain and
hill shall be made low:
and the crooked shall
be made straight, and the
rough places plain:
5 And
the glory of
the Lord shall
be revealed, and
all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it.
6 The
voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all
the goodliness thereof is as
the flower of the field:
7 The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth
upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of
our God shall stand for ever.
Isaiah is difficult to understand
for several reasons. One reason is that he often used symbolic language.
Another reason is that he jumps around in his writing. He may be writing of
events in his time, then jumps to the latter days or the time of Christ before
going back to his own time.
Isiah wrote about valleys being raised up,
and mountains and hills being lowered. He wrote about things that were crooked
that would become straight and rough places that would become smooth. This
sounds like what can happen in huge earthquakes. The Old Testament Student
Manual – Kings through Malachi has the following information.
President Joseph Fielding Smith declared
that before the Second Coming of the Lord, there will be an earthquake that
will be so destructive that mountains will be made low, valleys will be elevated,
and rough places made as a plain. It will be so violent that the sun will be
darkened and the moon will be turned to blood. The waters will be driven back
into the north countries and the lands joined as they were before the days of
Peleg. (see Doctrines of Salvation, 1:85; 2:317; Doctrine and Covenants
49:23; 88:87; 109:74; 133:17-25, 44; Isaiah 54:10; Ezekiel 38:20; Revelation
16:15-20.) (As quoted in the Old Testament Student Manual – Kings through
Malachi [2003]).
The Institute Manual explains that Isaiah’s
statement that “the people are grass.” It explains that the grass grows tall
during the spring rains of April and May. Then the hot days of summer come, and
the grass quickly turns brown. The statement continued, “The withered, lifeless
grass was the metaphor Isaiah chose to describe the wicked whose ways seem to
be so attractive to the world but cannot endure long. Only those sanctified of
the Lord will withstand the glory of His coming, for the wicked will be as the
dried grass before a blazing fire. (Compare Doctrine and Covenants 101:24-25.)
The Lord has the power to change the landscape
of the earth through earthquakes and other natural means. He also has the power
to destroy the wicked and to save His people even if He must use fire.
