Joseph Smith and the Words of Isaiah Ann N. Madsen The prophet of the restoration was extensively instructed by Moroni, Jesus Christ himself, and in other ways, concerning the significance of Isaiah's prophecies, which Joseph frequently cited. How much did young Joseph Smith know of Isaiah, the man and the prophet? Probably not very much at first. Per­ haps the question should be reversed: How much did Isaiah know of young Joseph, the prophet of the restoration? Surely Isaiah prophesied of him. Isaiah's writing is permeated with restoration imagery. Could he have known that many of his own prophecies would be used to expand the boy prophet's vision? Instruction of the Young Prophet What Joseph Smith as an impressionable young man saw and heard and delivered to the world profoundly links Isaiah to each of our lives. It all began in 1820 when Joseph Smith saw a pillar of light exactly over his head and was visited three years later by the angel Moroni, being called to bring to pass a great and marvelous work. Centuries ago, Isaiah described his own call in ways that also involved heavenly manifestations: he "saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1). Isaiah became God's messenger in an earlier day, and he continues to speak to the people of this dispensation through Joseph Smith. In his first vision, after regaining composure enough to speak, Joseph asked God the Father and Jesus Christ which 354 • Ann Madsen church he should join. He was answered that he must join none of them. He was told by Christ, who paraphrased the words of Isaiah, "They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the com­ mandments of men" (JS-H 1:19; compare Isaiah 29:13). So at age fourteen, in the spring of 1820, in the grove we have come to call sacred, Joseph heard Isaiah's words spoken by Jesus Christ-or rather, Christ's words as revealed to Isaiah 2,500 years earlier. On 21 September 1823 Joseph was first visited by the angel Moroni and was again instructed from the words of Isaiah. The method apparently used by Moroni in teaching the fledgling prophet is interesting. He quoted scriptures and stated when they were to be fulfilled and "offered many explanations" (Joseph Smith-History 1:40-41). In answer to the boy's plea that September evening to know of his "state and standing" before the Lord (see Joseph Smith-History 1:29), Moroni gave Joseph an impressive array of prophe­ cies that sounded like a patriarchal blessing to the young boy. Moroni explained to him that God had a work for him to do that included translating a book written on golden plates. The book, he was told, gave an account of the former inhabitants of the Americas and contained the fulness of the everlasting gospel as delivered by the Savior himself to these ancient Americans. The messenger also quoted several prophecies from the Bible, beginning with Malachi 3 and then moving on to Malachi 4, with a little variation (see Joseph Smith-History 1:36). Malachi 3 announces the coming of a messenger to prepare the way before the com­ ing of the Lord and describes the apostate conditions in the world that will need to be corrected. Malachi 4 speaks of the hearts of fathers and children turning to one another before Joseph Smith and the Words of Isaiah • 355 the "great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Joseph Smith­ History 1:38). Then Moroni quoted all of Isaiah 11, saying the prophe­ cies therein were about to be fulfilled. By way of background, although not quoted by Moroni, the last few verses of Isaiah 10 speak of a scattering and apostasy, using the metaphor of trees being cut down and branches being lopped off, leav­ ing only stumps. In Jerusalem it is common for such stumps to sprout and grow ( one whole garden of such fruitful stumps is called Gethsemane). Emerging out of these im­ ages of destruction, Isaiah 11 begins: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wis­ dom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; ... [and] with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteous­ ness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. (Isaiah 11:1-2, 4-5) In 1838 the revelation now found in Doctrine and Covenants 113:1-2 revealed that these verses refer to Christ. The next few verses in Isaiah 11 speak of the latter days and the peace and enlightenment of the millennium: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leop­ ard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6, 9) 356 • Ann Madsen The Prophet Joseph was to play the key role in the restora­ tion, which would prepare the world for the millennium: And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gen­ tiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, ... And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (Isaiah 11:10-13) Doctrine and Covenants 113 applies these passages to "a ser­ vant in the hands of Christ, ... on whom there is laid much power" (verse 4). This servant is often identified as Joseph Smith.1 After quoting Isaiah 11, Moroni quoted Acts 3:22-23 to Joseph: For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that ev­ ery soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be de­ stroyed from among the people. Moroni explained that "that prophet" was Christ, the per­ fect model for the young Joseph. Among other scriptures, the angel also quoted Joel 2:28- 32, which speaks of the Lord's Spirit being poured out on all flesh and of young men seeing visions. In addition, he "of­ fered many explanations," on which Joseph said he could not elaborate in his writings. Later the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery, in whom Joseph confided the vision, cited thirty-one scriptural references Joseph Smith and the Words of Isaiah • 357 Moroni used to tutor Joseph.2 On this list are nine Isaiah ref­ erences in addition to Isaiah 11. They include Isaiah 1:7, 23- 24, 25-26; 2:1-4; 4:5-6; 29:11, 13, 14; and 43:6. These passages cover the topics of the apostasy, the gathering, the restora­ tion, the Book of Mormon, and a latter-day temple in the tops of the mountains. That was quite a curriculum for the seventeen year old! The Words of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon It is interesting to note how very often Joseph encoun­ tered Isaiah in the formative years of his ministry. Although Joseph received the plates of the Book of Mormon in 1827, the translation of what we now have did not begin until 7 April 1829, when Oliver Cowdery first served as his scribe. As he translated the Book of Mormon, Joseph soon learned the importance and value of Isaiah, just as Nephi had more than two thousand years earlier. Nephi reports: And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.... And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men. (2 Nephi 11:2, 8) What does Nephi choose to copy into his record from the words of Isaiah contained in the plates of brass? He cop­ ies the passage that speaks of the mountain of the Lord's house-a temple (2 Nephi 12). Further in the record, Nephi prophesies using words from Isaiah 29 (paralleled in 2 Nephi 27), which prophesies of events in the last days.