2 Nephi 11-12

(January 30, 2015)

                For a long time, I didn’t really understand why Nephi and others found the words of Isaiah so great.  They seemed confusing to me at times, and though I was able to learn and remember the symbolism it still seemed like the messages would have been better conveyed in clear language.

                Then I read through Isaiah with the idea of identifying the speaker of each portion of the book (as I am doing with all of the scriptures).  The vast majority of the book of Isaiah is not the words of Isaiah, but rather the words of the Lord.  He is the one who is speaking throughout the book – the words of Isaiah are, for the most part, just Isaiah repeating the words that the Lord puts in His mouth.  The sheer volume of teachings directly from the mouth of the Lord in Isaiah must rival what we have from even the New Testament.