Isaiah is one of the most quoted Old Testament prophets—the Savior Himself even encouraged us to study his words (see 3 Nephi 23:1). Yet for many Latter-day Saints, it can feel tricky to sort through the ancient language to find the Savior.
“Every chapter [is] packed with beautiful, complex symbols,” explains Kerry Muhlestein, a professor of ancient scripture and Near Eastern Studies at Brigham Young University.
But unpacking these verses doesn’t require a theology degree—or even plowing through every single verse. On an episode of the Sunday on Monday podcast, Kerry recently shared three steps to help you get more out of Isaiah and see its relevance in your life.
1. Slow Down
Kerry recommends approaching Isaiah differently than other books of scripture.
“Don’t think you’re going to read Isaiah at the same speed you were reading 1 and 2 Kings,” he says. “It’s not a story that you read quickly—it’s not a story at all.”
Because Isaiah uses hundreds of symbols in his prophecies, Kerry suggests taking your time to identify what’s going on in the text. “You just have to be ready to slow down and say, ‘What is this symbol?’”
2. Consider the Symbols in Context
After identifying the symbols, Kerry suggests thinking about them in their original context.
“Spend some time just kind of thinking about it, at the very least. But with internet searches and so on, it’s not hard to learn about some of these symbols. ...
“What would it have meant for people in Isaiah’s day? How would they have taken this?”
3. Apply the Symbols to Your Life
These two steps lay the groundwork for personal application.
Kerry demonstrated this three-step process in an analysis of Isaiah 1:3: “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.”
Step 1
“[This step is] easy to kind of skip over here and say, ‘OK, well, I know what an ox is, and I know what an owner is, and I know what an ass is, and … a crib is probably better translated as a manger or a feeding trough.
“It’s easy to say, ‘OK, I know that. But it’s worth saying, ‘OK, what else should I know to really understand this?’”
Step 2
“In ancient times or even today, … what happens with [a good owner] and his cows or his donkeys? Interestingly, just this Sunday in my ward, we had the guy who was teaching elders quorum [share] … that when he was growing up, they had a bunch of cows. And his father could go out and call … out the name of a cow, and that cow would lift its head and locate his father and start walking towards him. …
“You have to learn to love your [animal] and have your [animal] love you, and you have to trust each other for that to work. And that’s part of what he’s hitting at here.”
Step 3
“And you can then start saying, ‘OK, I see what this means with my relationship with God,’ once you’ve been able to look at the relationship of the ox and the owner.”
While this process might mean reading less verses overall, Kerry believes you can glean deeper insights with this focused approach than simply skimming the chapters: “It’s better to read a little bit well than to read a lot not very well.”
Listen to the full podcast episode with Kerry Muhlestein on the Sunday on Monday podcast, available exclusively on Bookshelf+.
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