Isaiah 41-42

Isaiah 41-42 Study Guide – To be discussed March 1
Day 1: Read Isaiah 41:1-7 Note: Isaiah 41:7 has reference to those who manufacture idols.
1. Why might it be a good idea, when the Lord speaks, for scattered Israel (the islands) to “keep silence”?


BONUS: How does listening to general conference renew your strength?


2. The “righteous man from the east” in Isaiah 41:2 may refer to both Christ and Cyrus, who was a conquering king of Persia. It may also refer to an unnamed or composite Elias. Regardless of who is meant, what is the question in Isaiah 41:2 and the answer in Isaiah 41:4?


3. Isaiah 41:5 indicated there will be fear associated with the coming of Cyrus’ army and with Christ’s Second Coming. Who will have reason to fear at Christ’s coming?


Day 2: Read Isaiah 41:8-16 (with footnotes 14a, 15a), D&C 33:3-6
4. List promises to gathered Israel in Isaiah 41:9-13.



5. In Isaiah 41:15, the Lord said he would make his people into “a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth.” What does a threshing instrument do?


6. Read D&C 33:3-6. What “threshing instrument” today has power to gather, sift and save?


Day 3: Read Isaiah 41:17-24, D&C 133:27-29, 2 Nephi 9:37
7. Read Isaiah 41:17-18 with D&C 133:27-29. How can an individual be like a desert? Can a family, a ward, or a nation be like a desert?


8. What are the promises to all who thirst in Isaiah 41:17-20?



9. Isaiah 41:21-29 was addressed to idol worshippers. The Lord asked if false gods can prophesy or expound, do good or evil, or anything at all. What kinds of thirst can idols quench? (See also 2 Nephi 9:37.)


Day 4: Read Isaiah 41:25-29, D&C 133:50-51
Note: Although Cyrus of Persia was from the east (see Isaiah 41:2) he conquered from the north. He may have been the “one from the north” mentioned in Isaiah 41:25. We will look at Cyrus more closely in Isaiah 44-45. Again, a dual interpretation indicates the one from the north may also refer to Christ (see D&C 133:50-51).
10. How will Christ be like a conquering King when he comes again?


11. List some of the false gods we worship today. Have any of these false gods prophesied of Christ’s divinity or brought good tidings?
12. How are false gods and idols like “wind and confusion”?



Day 5: Read Isaiah 42:1-8 (with footnotes 2a, 3a), Matthew 12:14-21
13. Read Matthew 12:14-21 with Isaiah 42:1-3. How did Christ, in his earthly mission, fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy?


14. From Isaiah 42:5, what qualifies the Lord to “set judgment” (v.4) and administer righteous laws?


15. List what Christ does for us, as given in Isaiah 42:6-7.



Day 6: Read Isaiah 42:9-18 (with footnote 13a), D&C 84:99-102
16. Read D&C 84:99-102 with Isaiah 42:10. What “new song” will we sing at Christ’s coming? What is new about it?


17. Isaiah 42:11-12 indicates even the most remote places on earth will praise the Lord. How is this being accomplished today?


18. List what the Lord does for the blind, as recorded in Isaiah 42:16-17. Who are the spiritually blind?



Day 7: read Isaiah 42:19-25, JST Isaiah 42:19-23 (p. 801 in Bible Appendix)
19. How can we be perfect, notwithstanding our blindness?


20. Historically, how have the children of Israel been “a people robbed and spoiled,” snared and imprisoned?



21. Why did the Lord allow his people to be robbed and spoiled?



From the Institute Manual: Isaiah 42:9–16 . The Restoration of the Gospel in the Latter Days Foretold
The prophet Isaiah introduced the vision of the restoration of the gospel in the latter days by explaining that the truths and the keys of former days were to be restored. He also observed the restoration of new keys in the dispensation of the fulness of times (see v. 9 ). Using the metaphor of childbirth he described the restoration of the earthly kingdom following a long period of apostasy, during which the heavens had been sealed (see v. 14 ; compare Revelation 12:1–2, 13, 17 ). The Church will be restored in the last days, before the destruction that will make the mountains as plains and dry up the waters, and before the return of the scattered tribes of Israel, when they will come on paths they have not known, and the light of the gospel will dispel the darkness they have so long endured (see Isaiah 42:15–16 ). Isaiah reiterated the Lord’s promise that the restored gospel would not be taken again from the earth and that the Lord will not forsake His own. (See v. 16 ; compare Isaiah 2:2–3 ; 11:11–16 ; 29:14–15, 18–19 ; Daniel 2:44–45 ; Joel 2:25–29 .)