Lesson 126: Isaiah 48–50
The Lord invited the Israelites to
return to Him and keep their covenants. He promised scattered Israel that He had
not forgotten them and that He would restore them to their covenant blessings
and gather them back to their lands of inheritance through the efforts of His
servants.
---List in your class notebooks
things that cause you to feel worried, stressed, or afraid.
---Share some ideas for the board.
---Do you think it is possible to
have peace even if these difficulties are present in your life? Why or why not?
---As you study Isaiah 48 look for a principle that can help you have greater peace
in your lives, even during times of trouble. Isaiah 48 is the first full chapter of Isaiah that the prophet Nephi
quoted in the Book of Mormon
(see 1 Nephi 20). Nephi stated that his reason for reading Isaiah to his
brethren was so that he “might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord
their Redeemer” (1 Nephi 19:23).
Isaiah 48. Isaiah in the Book of Mormon
“Isaiah 48 is the first chapter of Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon
and is found there as 1 Nephi 20. Every verse in the Book of Mormon reads differently from
the way it reads in the King James text, and many of the differences are
significant. It can be assumed that the Book of Mormon text is more correct
than the King James Version because Nephi lived just a little more than one
hundred years after Isaiah’s time and most likely possessed a purer text than
the one the King James translators worked from. Carefully compare verses 1–2,
6–7, 11, 14, 16–17, and 22 in both versions to see the significant changes”
---In Isaiah 48:1–8 we read that the Lord addressed the Israelites who broke
their covenants and described their rebellious behavior.
---Read Isaiah 48:1, 4–5, 8 aloud looking for words and phrases that show how the house
of Israel had rebelled against the Lord.
---Report
---Display a piece of metal that is difficult to bend.
---What do you think it means for
someone’s neck to be “an iron sinew” or for someone’s brow to be “brass” (Isaiah 48:4).
---A sinew is a tendon, which
connects bone to muscle. Just as iron does not bend easily, prideful people
will not bow their necks in humility.
---According
to Isaiah 48:5, what did the Lord say about why He prophesied or declared
events before they happened? (So the Israelites could not attribute the Lord’s
acts to their graven images and idols.)
---Isaiah 48:9–15 says that the Lord told the people that despite their
wickedness He would not abandon them.
---Read Isaiah 48:17–19
aloud and look for how the Israelites would have been blessed if they had kept
the commandments.
---What blessings would the
Israelites have received if they had been obedient to the Lord?
If we hearken to the Lord’s commandments, then we will have
peace.
---Why do you think Isaiah used the
image of a river as a symbol of peace? In what ways can righteousness be like
“the waves of the sea”? (Isaiah 48:18).
---Think about times when hearkening
to the Lord’s commandments has brought you peace.
---Does anyone want to share what
you came up with?
---Think about times when you may
have lacked peace because of your own disobedience.
---Testify that the Lord will bless
us with peace as we obey His commandments.
---Consider one way you can choose
to be more obedient to the Lord’s commandments so you can feel greater peace.
---Have any of you ever been
forgotten or left behind?
---How did you feel as a result of
it?
---Ponder how you would respond to a
friend who felt like the Lord had forgotten him or her.
---Isaiah warned the Israelites that
because of their wickedness, they would be scattered.
---Read Isaiah 49:14
aloud looking for how the Israelites (referred to in this verse as “Zion”)
would feel in their scattered condition.
---How would the Israelites feel in
their scattered condition?
---What are some reasons that people
today may sometimes feel that the Lord has forgotten them?
---Read Isaiah 49:15–16
aloud looking for truths that can help us when we may feel the Lord has
forgotten us.
(Because the Savior has “graven [us]
upon the palms of [His] hands.”)
---Write the word graven on the board.
---To engrave is to cut or carve
something into an object so the imprint remains there permanently.
---In what way have we been graven
upon the palms of the Savior’s hands?
---How might this demonstrate the
Savior’s love for us?
---What can we learn from these
verses that can reassure us when we may be tempted to feel that the Lord has
forgotten us? (
The
Lord loves us, and He will never forget us.
---What experiences have helped you
know that the Lord loves you and has not forgotten you?
Isaiah
49:16. “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained a purpose of the Savior’s wounds:
“Even though the power of the Resurrection could
have—and undoubtedly one day will have—completely restored and made new the
wounds from the crucifixion, nevertheless Christ chose to retain those wounds
for a purpose, including for his appearance in the last days when he will show
those marks and reveal that he was wounded ‘in the house of [his] friends’ [Zechariah 13:6; see also D&C 45:52].
“The wounds in his hands, feet, and
side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the
perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It
is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to
our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love, the
emblems of humility and forgiveness is the Captain of our Soul. That evidence of pain in
mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt
and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends”
---In Isaiah 49:17–26 Isaiah prophesied
that in the latter days, the descendants of Israel will be gathered in great
numbers. Isaiah 49:22–23 specifically refers to how the Gentiles, or non-Israelite
people, will assist in this process. The Lord testified that the time will come
when all people will know that He is the Savior and Redeemer of mankind.
II. Isaiah 50 Isaiah
speaks as the Messiah to the Israelites, who are in captivity as a result of
their sins
---List in your class notebooks
several items you own that have some value to you.
---Write next to each item the
amount of money you would be willing to sell that item for.
---Does anyone want to explain to
the class some of the items and amounts of money they listed?
---When something is sold, who
becomes the owner? (The person who purchased the item.)
---Write your names at the bottom of
the lists you created.
---Who owns you?
---Through His atoning sacrifice,
the Savior purchased our souls with His blood [see 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 1 Peter 1:18–19].
---When we sin we may feel like the
Savior has sold us or that He may not want us anymore.
---Read Isaiah 50:1
aloud looking for what the Lord said to those who felt they had been sold or
abandoned by the Lord.
---What do you think the Lord meant
when He said, “For your iniquities have ye sold yourselves”?
(The Lord had not sold or forsaken
His chosen people; they had sold themselves into the captivity of sin.)
When
we sin, we sell ourselves into captivity.
---What are some examples of how we
might sell ourselves into captivity through sin?
---What do you think it means that when we sin, we sell
ourselves for naught?
(By sinning we trade our freedom and
happiness for that which is of no real value.)
---Once we have sinned and sold
ourselves into captivity, what needs to happen in order for us to regain our
freedom?
---Write the word redeem on the board,
---What do you think it means?
---To redeem means to buy back or to
deliver from captivity.
VIDEO Redemption (1:45)
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains several meanings of the title redeemer. To prepare students to read Isaiah 50:2, consider showing this video from time codes 0:00 to 1:45.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains several meanings of the title redeemer. To prepare students to read Isaiah 50:2, consider showing this video from time codes 0:00 to 1:45.
---Read Isaiah 50:2
silently and look for what the Savior said about His power and ability to
redeem us, or buy us back, from the captivity of sin.
---What do you think the Savior
meant when He asked, “Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or
have I no power to deliver?” (
The
Savior has the power to redeem us because of His Atonement.
---In Isaiah 50:4–7 we read the Lord’s explanation of some of the things that
would happen to Him as part of the Atonement.
---Read Isaiah 50:4–7
aloud looking for words and phrases that describe what would happen to the
Savior.
---Report.
---How is the Savior’s willingness
to endure the suffering involved with the Atonement evidence of His commitment
to us?
---Remember
that while the Savior performed the Atonement and therefore has the power to
redeem us from the captivity of sin, each of us must choose to repent of our
sins in order to be redeemed.
---Write in their class notebooks your
feelings about any verses or phrases of this hymn that stand out to you.
---Does anyone want to share with
the class what you wrote?
---Ponder whether you have any sins
you need to repent of. Allow the Lord to redeem you by choosing to repent.
No comments:
Post a Comment