Isaiah 30-32

Isaiah 30-32 Study Guide – to be discussed January 26
Day 1: Read Isaiah 30:1-7 (with footnotes 2b, 5a, 6a,b), Jeremiah 2:17-19
Note: Chapter 30 was written approx. 705-701 BC. Sargon II of Assyria had died. Judah joined the Philistines and the Phonecians in rebellion against Assyria. Judah made a treaty for protection with Egypt. Oops.
1. How did the people of Judah “add sin to sin” (v.1) when they relied on their alliance with Egypt? See also Jeremiah 2:17-19.


2. If Egypt represents worldly attitudes and tyranny, how do we sometimes look to Egypt for help today? From Isaiah 30:3, what two things will be ours if we misplace our faith?


3. Read the footnote to Isaiah 30:6a and b. What is the “burden of the beasts of the south”?


Day 2: Read Isaiah 30:8-17 (with footnote 9a)
4. Why was it important for Isaiah to record this message of doom?


5. Why did the people reject Jehovah and His truth? In what did Israel put her trust, according to Isaiah 30:12?


BONUS: How is sin like a crack in the city wall?


6. Isaiah 30:16-17 describes the lonely state of scattered Israel. From Isaiah 30:15, what counsel did the Lord give Israel that, if followed, would have given strength and salvation?


Day 3: Read Isaiah 30:18-26 (with footnotes 18a,b, 20b, 21a, 23a, 24a, 25a, 26a)
7. According to the footnote for Isaiah 20:18a, for what will the Lord wait?


8. List temporal and spiritual blessings from Isaiah 30:19-26. Who is our Teacher?


9. How does the Lord give you the rain for your seed today? How does he “bind up the breach” (v.20)?


BONUS: Make a note of all the metaphors you find in Isaiah 30:18-26.



Day 4: Read Isaiah 30:27-33 (with footnotes 27a, 29a,b,d, 32a,b, 33a), Bible Dictionary entry, “Topeth”
10. When wickedness is destroyed, who will have a sacred, joyful song to sing? (See footnotes 27a, 29a.)


11. According to Isaiah 30:31, what power is greater than the Assyrian army (or forces of wickedness)?


12. Look up “Topeth” in the Bible Dictionary. Where was Topeth and for what was it known? Of what might it be a symbol?
Day 5: Read Isaiah 31:1-9, D&C 45:68-71 (with footnotes 2a, 3a,b, 5a, 8b)
Note from Institute manual: “This chapter follows a theme similar to that of the chapter preceding it . However, “the first warning speaks against trusting the wisdom of man, and the second against trusting the power of man” (Nyman, “Great Are the Words of Isaiah,” p. 118). “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help,” for there is none there ( Isaiah 31:1 ). “The Egyptians are men, and not God”; they themselves and those they help “shall fail together” ( v. 3 ). Only the Lord can save Israel. Isaiah said, “Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted,” and “then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man,” but of the Lord ( vv. 6, 8 ). The “Egyptian” and the “Assyrian” of the latter days may be those in whom a modern people trust rather than in the Lord.”
13. It must have seemed quite practical for Judah to trust in her alliance with Egypt. Why was this a big mistake?


14. What did the Lord compare himself to in Isaiah 31:4? In Isaiah 31:5? Why are these appropriate symbols?


15. Read D&C 45:68-71. Why will the princes of wickedness (or heirs of sin) retreat and be afraid in the face of the Lord’s ensign?


Day 6: Read Isaiah 32:1-8 (with footnotes 2a, 5a,b,c, 6a, 7a, 9b)
Note from Institute manual: Orson Pratt saw this scripture (Isaiah 32) as applying not only to ancient Israel but also to the Latter-day Saints, who were driven from their homes in the East to the deserts of the Rocky Mountains. “Did you see it, Isaiah, as well as the people that live in our day? Did you see a people go into the desert and offer up thanksgiving and the voice of melody? Did you see that desert and wilderness redeemed from its sterile condition and become like the garden of Eden? ‘O yes,’ says Isaiah, ‘I saw it all, and I left it on record for the benefit of the generation that should live some two or three thousand years after my day.’ But Isaiah, are we to understand that the people are to be gathered together in that desert, and that the gathered people are to be instrumental in the hands of God, in redeeming that desert? Yes, Isaiah has told us all this. We will go back to what we read in his thirty-second chapter —’Until the spirit be poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.’ What fruitful field? Why, the wilderness that will be converted into a fruitful field. ‘The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever; and my people shall dwell in peaceable habitations, and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places.’
16. Read the chapter heading to Isaiah 32. Who is the “king” and “man” referred to in Isaiah 32:1-2?


17. From Isaiah 32:3-4, describe what effect this ruler will have on his people. Would you like to be a citizen in his realm?


18. Isaiah 32:6-8 contain an elaboration on the three types of people listed in Isaiah 32:5. Use the footnotes for Isaiah 32:5 to describe the three types of people (liberal = bountiful). Isaiah’s point is that their true worth will be seen clearly.


Day 7: Read Isaiah 32:9-20 (with footnotes 9b, 12a, 14a, 19b)
19. If the women described in Isaiah 32:9-11 represent all the proud and complacent, what counsel and warnings are extended to them in Isaiah 32:9-14? (Note: Isaiah 32:12-14 describe a long period of destruction to come.)


20. Isaiah 32:15-20 prophesy regarding peaceful conditions to come upon Israel in a future day of righteousness. Look again at the chapter heading. When will this promise be realized?


21. What will the works of righteousness bring?