There’s no getting around the commandment to search the writings of Isaiah. We run into that commandment while reading the Book of Mormon:

And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah….And all things that he (Isaiah) spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.(3 Nephi 23:1-3)

Why does Christ command us to search the words of Isaiah?  Isaiah prophesied about two time periods — the past and the future. It’s not just a history lesson of what went wrong with Israel. It’s a type and shadow of what will go wrong with the gentiles in our day. And since I am identified with the gentiles according to the Book of Mormon (D & C 109:60), I want to take note. And understand Isaiah.

Often when we are reading Isaiah in the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon (that quotes Isaiah,) we skip a lot of it. I think it’s partly because we believe Isaiah is only talking about his time — and thus something we needn’t be concerned about. However, Christ makes it quite clear that searching Isaiah is His commandment — because it’s also talking about the last days — our time.

I think in a way,  Isaiah is a sealed book, and as such, we need help unsealing it. I believe some of the best sources for learning about how to study Isaiah are the works of Avraham Gileadi. He has uncovered the parallel stories — the past and the future. He has spent years immersed in the Hebrew language searching Isaiah, which is key to understanding the book:

For behold, Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews. (2 Nephi 25:1)

Avraham has an interesting life — converted from Catholicism to Judaism. And then from Judaism to studying the Book of Mormon. He uncovered the sealed message, and in doing so, the words of Isaiah become plain, as Nephi explained.

Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men, and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written them. (2 Nephi 25: 8)

Now, Nephi does not make it crystal clear to us, since we don’t understand the way of the Jews or have his experience of living in Jerusalem. So that’s where alternate translations and commentaries become valuable.

Dr. Gileadi’s work will render obsolete almost all the speculations of Isaiah scholars over the last one hundred years, enabling scholarship to proceed along an entirely new line, opening new avenues of approach for others to follow”—Professor Roland K. Harrison, Wycliffe College, Toronto, Canada. (ref)

And Hugh Nibley commented that:

“Dr. Gileadi is the only LDS scholar I know of who is thoroughly competent to teach the words of Isaiah”—Professor Hugh Nibley, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. (1. 6. 2003) (ibid.)

I’ve attended Gileadi’s webcasts and I study Isaiah using many of his books and the website, IsaiahExplained.com  which has almost everything you need to understand Isaiah. The analytical commentary is helpful, as are the many study resources listed on the right side of the site. I’ve also studied Gileadi’s books, Isaiah Decoded and Studies in the Book of Mormon. 

As Avraham has said in many of his recent webcasts — there’s bad news and there’s good news in the prophecies of Isaiah. We should study them until they become plain to us because they are for our time, as well as past times and it is one of Christ’s commandments  to search Isaiah. In this way we can understand more of the Lord’s plan.