Come Follow Me with Sam

 Welcome! I'll admit it. I made a mistake. I thought we were only doing isaiah for 3 weeks but we are in this for 5. so here is part 4 of the Isaiah readings for come follow me. Isaiah 50 Chapter 50 is my favorite Isaiah chapter. I broke this one down when I was going through 2 Nephi 7 and have nothing to add to that besides this really is Isaiah's 'Abinadai' moment - where he knows he is doing the right thing and knows he will speak the words of life whatever the consequences. Isaiah 51 Isaiah 51 is really fun chapter in a number of ways. Before diving in, read these verses, then read the first 4 verses of Isaiah 51, and let me know what you think. 1  In the land of the  a Chaldeans , at the residence of my fathers, I,  b Abraham , saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of  c residence ; 2  And, finding there was greater  a happiness  and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I ...

 Welcome! This is part three of the Isaiah reading Isaiah 40 will update at a later date Isaiah 41 will update at a later date Isaiah 42 will update at a later date Isaiah 43 will update at a later date Isaiah 44 will update at a later date Isaiah 45 will update at a later date Isaiah 46 will update at a later date Isaiah 47 will update at a later date Isaiah 48 will update at a later date Isaiah 49 will update at a later date Isaiah 50 will update at a later date Isaiah 51 will update at a later date Isaiah 52 will update at a later date Isaiah 53 will update at a later date Isaiah 54 will update at a later date Isaiah 55 will update at a later date Isaiah 56 will update at a later date Isaiah 57 will update at a later date Isaiah 58 will update at a later date Isaiah 59 will update at a later date Isaiah 60 will update at a later date Isaiah 61 will update at a later date Isaiah 62 will update at a later date Isaiah 63 will update at a later date Isaiah 64 will update at a later ...

Welcome! We get to continue the Isaiah Journey! Isaiah 13 - Isaiah 23 Isaiah 13 - 23 start with 'the burden of x' kingdom, or in other words, the oracle or the prophecy that hangs over them. Some of these chapters can be difficult to understand without an event, a time, or an idea to anchor what Isaiah is explaining. Some, like the burden of Babylon and Egypt, have some helpful details to understand what is going on, while others like the burden of Moab, is harder to crack. Here are a couple thoughts. Each Burden may represent a certain people or type of people; Babylon is the decadent materialism and overt power of the world, Moab is perhaps those who are not of the covenant, were invited in, but ignored it for the distractions of the world, Damascus represents those in the covenant, but they have forgotten God and turned back to idols, Egypt represents the secondary main power of evil, following the more cunning ancient rites than the outright babylonian hedonism, the Valley ...

 It's Isaiah time!!! First, as you may well know, I tackled a lot of Isaiah chapters during the book of 2 Nephi back in 2020. This can be a great study guide for this week, but I will not actually be referencing them. at all. I won't even look at them during this time. Of course their will be many similarities to what I write today vs 2 years ago because I can't and wouldn't just magically clear my mind of all previous conceptions, but I won't actively seek to influence my writing by what I said previously. The reason is that I have new perspectives and thoughts and I want to capture them without unduly influencing them with what I already said. This means there may be different foci, interpretations, or even straight up contradictions to what I said previously. At a later date, I will go through both of them and compare what I know then and what I know now and synthesize the sides. But for now, this is a technique for me to put down my thoughts without subconscio...

 Welcome! Proverbs Feel free to share your favorite part of proverbs in the comments Ecclesiastes One of my favorite quotes of Exupery is 'I mourn him who, feeling himself sheltered by the stars of God looks up one night, and realizes in an instant the distance.' This is the key to Ecclesiastes. The writer is pointing out that whatever work we do with the time we have means nothing except inasmuch as it is tied to the greater cosmic principle - in this case, God, the greatest cosmic principle. What gives a thing meaning is how much the plan of salvation manifests in it through the power and spirit of God. thus the conclusion: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty (another fascinating word) of man.