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Covenants

Strangers and Eunuchs

Isaiah delivered a joyful message to two unexpected groups of people: strangers and eunuchs. God’s house is for all people, he said. You will be accepted here. Nephi and Mormon taught a similar message of inclusiveness: None are forbidden. God’s arm is extended to all who will repent and believe.

Atonement of Jesus Christ

Without Money and Without Price

Isaiah taught that God provides His greatest blessings “without money and without price.” He urged his people not to waste energy on things of no value but instead to take the actions which will enable them to receive God’s salvation: seek Him, call upon His name, return to Him.

God – Love

Hearing Isaiah 54 with the Nephites and Lamanites

Isaiah 54 carries a message of reassurance and joy, delivered to people who have endured trauma. When Jesus quoted this chapter, it must have resonated with his audience, who had just survived terrible tempests and floods. But He indicated to them that its complete fulfillment would come in the last days.

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COME, FOLLOW ME

  • The Redeemer Shall Come to Zion

    Christ in a Red Robe, by Minerva Teichert

    Jesus promised to establish His people in the Americas, in a place which He called “a New Jerusalem.” He promised that the powers of heaven would be among them, “yea, even I will be in the midst of you” (3 Nephi 20:22).

    Many years earlier, the prophet Ether had made a similar prophecy:

    And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.
    And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel.

    Ether 13:9-10

    In this week’s reading, we will see how Isaiah concluded his book by prophesying of the same events:

    • “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 59:20).
    • “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1-2).
    • “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Isaiah 65:17-18).

    These chapters also depict the redemption by which our garments are washed white through the Savior’s blood:

    Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
    Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
    I have trodden the winepress alone …
    In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

    Isaiah 63:1-3, 9

    This week, as we study Isaiah 58-66, let’s look for ways that Jesus is establishing Zion among us so that He can come and dwell with us.

FEATURED POSTS

  • A Hundredth Part: Mormon’s Editorial Decisions

    A Hundredth Part: Mormon’s Editorial Decisions

    Book of Mormon authors made it clear how much they were leaving out as they wrote this “abridgment” of their history. Here’s a diagram showing how many words are dedicated to each of the 103 decades in the book.

  • Jesus Christ’s Sermon at the Temple in Bountiful – 3 Nephi 12-16, 20-22

    Jesus Christ’s Sermon at the Temple in Bountiful – 3 Nephi 12-16, 20-22

    Following His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ visited a group of people in the Americas. He taught them principles to help them deepen their discipleship, and He expanded their perspective by teaching them about God’s global, multigenerational work.

  • Names and Titles of Jesus Christ

    Names and Titles of Jesus Christ

    In March, 2019, I studied 20 different names or titles of Jesus Christ which appear in the Book of Mormon. I was particularly interested in the way each name was used, both in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible.