14 September, 2026 “Isaiah was a poet, don’t you know it?”
Raise your hand if you have at some point just skimmed over Isaiah in the past. 🙋🏼♀️🙋🏾♂️🙋🏽Welcome to the club.
Then, something stopped me in my tracks. During my mission I read “A commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi 23:1). I noticed that during his brief time with the Nephites/Lamanites he spoke the words of Isaiah. He spent a lot of time sharing Isaiah’s words.
It became apparent to me that I needed to learn the words of Isaiah. But it isn’t easy, there is a lot of symbolism, a lot contextually and historically I didn’t quite understand at 21 years old, and I’m still learning.
Yesterday two missionaries stopped by our house and asked us to open the scriptures to 1 Nephi 1:1. The elder smiled and said, “How many ‘f’s do you see in this verse?” I counted, confident that I had the answer. Then as we all shared, every single one of my family members pretty much had a different answer. Shocked, I went back and started to count more carefully, noticing more ‘f’s than I had the first time. Again, we all had different answers. I looked a 3rd time. This time I slowed down and spent more effort looking. Pleased with my final answer I KNEW I had it right. The Elder smiled, then told us the number, and showed me what I had missed. (If you look yourself for that answer is 1 Nephi 1:1, I’ll tell you in the comments if you are right, HA!)
Isaiah is much like this. Look, learn a little, then look again. Learn a little, then look again. Each time you’ll understand a little more of this amazing prophet’s words and prophesies.
Your Sister in Christ,
P.S. Here is a guide by Elder Bruce R. McConkie “Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah“
