This week’s reading includes the first two chapters that Nephi quotes from the book of Isaiah. Nephi introduces Isaiah 48 and 49 as chapters that he used to “more fully persuade” his brothers “to believe in the Lord their Redeemer” (1 Nephi 19:23).
These two chapters, in fact, repeatedly refer to God as our Lord and our Redeemer. Similar references appear throughout the chapters we will study this week. For example:
- “Fear not, … I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:14).
- “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1).
- “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee” (Isaiah 44:22).
- “Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob” (Isaiah 48:20; compare 1 Nephi 20:20).
- “All flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob” (Isaiah 49:26; compare 1 Nephi 21:26).
The chapters collectively convey a message of hope: God is powerful, and He will rescue us from oppression, including the self-oppression caused by our own sins.
This week, as we study Isaiah 40-49, let’s look for Isaiah’s assurances that the Lord is our Redeemer, that we can rely on Him to deliver us from everything that holds us captive.
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