I Trust

Moroni 9 (Moroni 9) (I don’t like this chapter.) I am sitting with the descriptions found in this chapter, and I am asking myself: why? Why is it here in the Book of Mormon? Of what I’ve allowed myself to experience, and even of recent news reports that I’ve read of horrific military actions in …

Secret Combinations

Ether 8 (Éter 8); See also Moses 5:18-52 In the course of his Jaredite narrative, Moroni uses this chapter to expound upon the diabolical tactic of secret combinations. I have found in the footnotes in verse 9, multiple references to secret combinations throughout the scriptures, and how their author is the devil and the origin …

Turn, All Ye Gentiles

3 Nephi 30 This is an inclusive chapter in that Christ would that all the Gentiles would repent of their wickedness and then come unto him and receive his ordinances and be saved, numbered with the house of Israel. Can I see anything in myself in this description of the Gentiles? Do I see in …

There Was No Intercessor; Therefore, His Arm Brought Salvation unto Him

Isaiah 59 This chapter starts off with two very simple statements of fact: the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: So the Lord is capable of both saving and hearing. The next verse then states: But your iniquities have separated between you and your …

Is Not This the Fast that I Have Chosen? To Loose the Bands of Wickedness…

Isaiah 58 (I am much more intimately acquainted with the content of this chapter, probably more so than any other chapter in Isaiah. This chapter offers foundational promises and instruction in regard to fasting and Sabbath day observance.) It strikes me as very important that two of the strongest tools that I have at my …

There Is No Peace… to the Wicked

Isaiah 57 This chapter starts with a consideration of the state of the righteous at the point of death. Isaiah points out that none really give the demise of the righteous much thought. But the blessings that follow the righteous, this is the end of it all, or in other words, this is the point …

O Virgin Daughter of Babylon

Isaiah 47 An entire chapter of Isaiah is dedicated to the demise of Babylon. This is a refreshing break from the previous theme of God verses the idols, but that one full chapter would be dedicated to this theme seems significant. It’s what Babylon represents and what it has represented. Babylon thought it could avoid …

Babylon… Shall Never Be Inhabited

Isaiah 13 The introduction of this chapter (verses 2-5) to me has much to do with temple worship and work. Though this talks of the Lord’s preparations against the world at the last and final battle, the wording in verses 2 and 3 draws a parallel to temple rites and ordinances. This is one of …

Because They Have No Knowledge

Isaiah 5 The first 7 verses of this chapter contain a parable of the Lord’s vineyard. There is also another version of the Lord’s vineyard found in Doctrine and Covenants 101:43–58. Both are compelling and notable for their distinct differences. In the account found in Section 101, the servants were slothful in erecting a tower, …