125 for Tues Mar 15

Lesson 125: Isaiah 42–47

Introduction

Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be a light to the Gentiles and free God’s children from the captivity of sin. He contrasted the Savior’s power to redeem His people with the foolishness of trusting in false gods. Isaiah also prophesied of the destruction of Babylon.

I. Isaiah 42–43  The Messiah will be a light to the Gentiles and free the prisoners

---Invite a student to come to the front of the class and stand on a chair. Ask the student:

---If you were to fall backwards, whom would you trust to catch you? Why?

---The children of Israel were faced with a decision concerning whom they would trust: the Lord Jesus Christ or false gods that were represented by idols made of wood, clay, or metal.

---Write Jesus Christ and False Gods above two columns on the board.

---We also must decide whether we will trust in Jesus Christ or in false gods.

---What are some false gods that people put their trust in today?

(Write responses on the board under “False Gods.” $, possessions, physical strength, appearance, popularity, and intelligence.)

---Isaiah 42–47 records Isaiah’s efforts to help the people understand that they needed to place their trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

---As we study these chapters, look for truths that will help you understand why we should trust in the Savior.

---In Isaiah 42, Isaiah spoke about the Messiah. The title Messiah means “the anointed” and is the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament title of “Christ.”

                                                            

---Read Isaiah 42:5–7 aloud and look for what Isaiah said about the Messiah.

---Report

---Write responses on the board under the heading “Jesus Christ.”

---How do you think each phrase describes what the Messiah can do?

---The phrase “to bring out the prisoners from the prison” in verse 7 refers to freeing those in spiritual captivity both on earth and in the spirit world. During Christ’s earthly ministry He taught the gospel, which would enable God’s children to become free from spiritual captivity through the Atonement. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, His spirit went to the spirit world, where He preached the gospel.

---Read aloud Doctrine and Covenants 138:18–19, 30–31 and for what happened in the spirit world shortly after Jesus Christ died on the cross.

---Write D&C 138:18–19, 30–31 as a cross-reference in their scriptures next to Isaiah 42:7.

---What did Jesus Christ do in the spirit world?

---What truth can we learn from these passages?

Jesus Christ’s Atonement makes it possible for all, including those who have already died, to accept the gospel and become free from the captivity of sin. Write this truth on the board under the heading “Jesus Christ.”

---Read Isaiah 42:16–17 aloud looking for the results of trusting in the Savior versus trusting in false gods.

---Report

---Write their responses in the appropriate column on the board.

---Read Isaiah 42:18 aloud looking for how Isaiah described those who depend on false gods.

---Report

---Write their answers under the heading “False Gods” on the board.

---In what ways are people blind and deaf when they depend on wealth, possessions, physical strength, appearance, popularity, or intelligence?

---In Isaiah 42:19–23 we read that Isaiah taught that only those who hearken to Jesus Christ can be healed of their spiritual blindness and deafness.

---Read Isaiah 43:1–5 silently, looking for more phrases that describe what the Savior said He would do for Israel.

---Students to come to the board and write these phrases on the board under the heading “Jesus Christ.”

---The rest of Isaiah 43 says the Lord told the Israelites that they were witnesses of Him because of the great things He had done for them, and He emphasized that there is no Savior other than Him.

II. Isaiah 44–46  Isaiah contrasts the Lord’s power to save us with the foolishness of trusting in anything else

---Consider what problems young people are faced with today.

---Write a few of these problems on the board.

---Where do some people turn when they have problems like these?

---What makes some sources of help better than others?

---As we study Isaiah 44–46 look for doctrines and principles that will help you know where you should turn when you have problems.

---Read Isaiah 44:9–10, 14–20 aloud looking for why it is unwise to seek help from false gods or images.

---These verses describe gods and images that the people were making out of wood.

---What did the Lord say that wood could do for the people?

---According to verse 17, what did the people ask of their idols?

---What difficulties might people face when they seek deliverance from their problems by the false gods of wealth, possessions, physical strength, appearance, popularity, or intelligence?

---Place the picture Jesus Christ next to the heading “Jesus Christ” on the board.

---Divide the class into three groups, and assign each group one of the following references:

Isaiah 44:21–24;

Isaiah 45:5–8;

Isaiah 45:12, 17–18, 20–22  

---In these verses, the Lord taught the children of Israel whom they should trust in for deliverance from their problems.

---Read your assigned verses, looking for what the Lord wanted the children of Israel to know about Him.

---Report

---Notice the phrase “I am the Lord, and there is none else” in Isaiah 45:5, 6, 18 and similar phrases in Isaiah 45:21, 22.

---What truth can we learn about Jesus Christ from this repeated idea in the verses you read?

Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, the only one who can save us. Write this on the board under “Jesus Christ.”)

---What does it mean that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer?

---Why do you think the Lord would repeatedly emphasize that He is the only God who can save us?

Isaiah 45. Jesus Christ as the Redeemer

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helped us understand what the title Redeemer means:

“Among the most significant of Jesus Christ’s descriptive titles is Redeemer. … The word redeem means to pay off an obligation or a debt. Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a ransom. If someone commits a mistake and then corrects it or makes amends, we say he has redeemed himself. Each of these meanings suggests different facets of the great Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ through His Atonement, which includes, in the words of the dictionary, ‘to deliver from sin and its penalties, as by a sacrifice made for the sinner.’

---In Isaiah’s day, many in Israel had turned to two false gods, Bel and Nebo, for help from their problems.

---Read Isaiah 46:1–2 aloud looking for how ineffective these false gods were at helping the Israelites.

---What happened to these idols?

---Not only could Bel and Nebo not help the Israelites, but they also became a burden even to the animals that carried them into captivity.

---Write “becomes a burden” under “False Gods.”

---In what ways can trusting in modern idols—such as wealth, possessions, physical strength, appearance, popularity, or intellect—instead of trusting in the Savior become a burden?

---Read Isaiah 46:3–5 aloud looking for what the Savior said He would do for the Israelites.

---The word “borne” means to carry, and the words “hoar hairs” refer to gray hairs of old age [see Isaiah 46:4, footnote b].)

---What does it mean that the Lord will carry us even to our old age and gray hairs?

(The Lord will always be there for us throughout our entire lives, even to old age.)

---According to verse 4, what will the Savior do for those who trust and worship Him?

If we trust in the Savior, He will carry and deliver us.

---Write this on the board under “Jesus Christ.”

---Read the following statement by Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and listen for what it means to trust in Jesus Christ:

“This life is an experience in profound trust—trust in Jesus Christ, trust in his teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience” (“Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 17).

---What can we do to show that we trust in the Savior?

(Answers might include follow His teachings, repent of our sins, and follow the prophet.)

---Write the answer to the following question in your class notebooks:

---How have I or someone I know been carried or delivered by the Savior?

---Would anyone like to share a time when they were carried or delivered by the Savior, or when someone they know was delivered in this way?

---Testimony or an appropriate experience that has helped you know the truthfulness of this principle.

---Consider what you can do to show your trust in the Savior so you can be carried and delivered.

III. Isaiah 47  Isaiah prophesies of the destruction of Babylon

---Isaiah 47 tells us that Isaiah prophesied that Babylon and the Chaldeans (the inhabitants of Babylon) would be destroyed because of the sinfulness of the people. The kingdom of Babylon is frequently used in the scriptures to symbolize the world. Isaiah’s prophecy that the daughters of Babylon would be destroyed can be likened to anyone who revels in their sins and iniquities and refuses to repent.

EXTRAS:

The Dead Awaited the Atonement (0:34)
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles teaches that individuals who had already died had to wait for the Atonement to be performed in order to receive the blessings of the temple. You might choose to show this video to help students understand that Jesus Christ’s Atonement makes it possible for those who have already died to accept the gospel and become free from the captivity of sin.

Trust in the Lord (0:42)
Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains what it means to have trust in Jesus Christ. Instead of having a student read Elder Scott’s statement, you might show this video from time codes 4:40 to 5:22.

  

The Power of Hope (2:11)
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency shares how hope can encourage and inspire us to place our trust in the loving care of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Consider showing this video to help students understand and feel the truth and importance of the principles in this lesson.