Reading the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon is like going for a hike in the mountains. Sometimes you're not sure why you're there, but then you see something unexpected and beautiful--an eagle soaring, an unexpected wildflower, a hidden waterfall--and it touches your soul.
When I say I love the Isaiah chapters, it isn't because I understand all of them. It's because my eyes are open for the hidden treasures. Treasures are worth the effort of finding.
In the following pages, five times I have written my "treasure verse" in the margin.
In 2 Nephi 12:3, Isaiah speaks of latter-day temples, saying, "let us go up to the mountain of the Lord." In the margin, I drew a sketch of the Philadelphia Temple (Apologies. The colors are more saturated in person). Underneath, I wrote a verse that reminded me of our East Coast overnight temple trips:
"Sanctify yourselves; for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you," (Joshua 3:5).
Thanks to the chapter heading, I know that a lot of chapter 12 is about the latter-days and the second coming. In the next margin, I wrote:
"It is supremely important to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ," (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "Preparing for the Lord's Return," Conference 2019).
Chapter 13 seems to be a description of a people who are proud and materialistic. I wrote the opposite in the margin:
"And the Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them," (Moses 7:18).
2 Nephi 15:20 is the first "treasure verse" I wrote in the margin.
"Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (2 Nephi 15:20).
I outlined the cupcake with a pink Micron pen, a green Micron pen for the stem, and used pink and blue Mildliner highlighters for most of the coloring, with a touch of colored pencil.
In 2 Nephi 16:8 (or Isaiah 6), Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?" Isaiah replies, "Here am I; send me." That reminded me of Abraham 3:27, where Jesus said those same words in the Council in Heaven. It's a good example for all of us. When the Lord calls, when the prophet preaches, when the bishop assigns, I can answer, "Here am I, send me." I did a speech bubble in the margin, and wrote:
"Here am I, send me--Jesus, Isaiah, Us!"
The chapter mentions the Biblical king Uzziah. I couldn't remember anything about him, so I did a little research and recorded wrote it in the margin.
"Who was Uzziah? The 10th king in the southern kingdom of Judah. He began to rule at the age of 16 (~767 BC) when his father was killed. He followed the council of the prophet Zechariah. Near the end of his life he tried to offer incense in the temple without proper authority. He was struck with leprosy. Died ~742 BC." Here is the Bible Dictionary entry, with Bible links.
In 2 Nephi 18:6 (and Isaiah 8), it mentions the people refusing "the waters of Shiloah that go softly." Who is our living water? Jesus! I had seen this type of journaling before on Pinterest. I used a blue Micron pen to write the waves and spell "Jesus" (draw it lightly with a pencil first) and then used blue colored pencil to fill the letters and the waters below.
In 2 Nephi 20:2 (and Isaiah 10), we learn that some of the "grievousness" of the wicked people is that the injure the widows and the fatherless. In the margin, I wrote the opposite-what God expects of us:
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world," (James 1:27).
In 2 Nephi 21 (and Isaiah 11), we learn about the Second Coming and Millennium. Verse 6 tells us that "the leopard shall lie down with the kid." Feeling ambitious, I drew animals that might be recognized as a leopard and a baby goat (the look a lot like baby sheep). In the margins, I wrote verse 9:
"Thou shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," (2 Nephi 21:9).
A facing page with an illustration! (Illustrations always take more time than I think they will. Often, after a decent one, many pages will pass before I'm willing to put in the effort again). I used a gray Mildliner highlighter (try a fine-tip gray marker) to trace a pencil outline I had done of a well. The grass and fill color are from colored pencils. In the margin, I wrote another treasure scripture:
"Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." (2 Nephi 22:3).
In 2 Nephi 24 (and Isaiah 14), we read about the pride and fall of Lucifer. Verses 14 and 15 read, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." In the margin I wrote:
In chapter 25, Nephi is done reading from Isaiah and is now adding his own words, including the famous, "My soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah." Then he prophesies to his people about the coming Christ. In the margin, I did a drop-caps letter A and used a banner stencil. Tip for those stencils: use pencil first. They look disjointed until you figure out how to connect the pieces. This was the "treasure quote" I wrote:
"After he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings," (2 Nephi 25:13).
Later in the same chapter are words that bring joy to every who loves Christ:
"We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ," (2 Nephi 25:26).
To see previous chapters, check out my Book of Mormon Journaling board on Pinterest, or browse my blog.
Happy journaling!
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