Isaiah's Call to Holiness

One of the themes of the largest section of Isaiah chapters in the book of Mormon, from 2 Nephi 12-24, is a call to become holy and rid ourselves of worldliness.  Isaiah suggested that in the last days we would “go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”  To do that we would need to “walk in the light of the Lord” or follow Him in holiness and righteousness (2 Nephi 12:2,5).  Isaiah declared, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts” and recognized that we too must become holy and clean, lamenting that he himself was “a man of unclean lips… in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”  He described how he became symbolically holy, with a seraphim purging him and declaring, “Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged” (2 Nephi 16:3-7).  Of the Savior the prophet declared, “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins” (2 Nephi 21:5).  Righteousness and holiness define him, “the Holy One of Israel.”  To be part of the “remnant of Jacob” which shall return “unto the mighty God” we must too “overflow with righteousness” and become holy like unto Him (2 Nephi 20:20-22).

And so to become holy like He is, we must rid ourselves of the worldliness that Isaiah denounced in these chapters.  He wrote of the kinds of people who would be destroyed in their wickedness, and the descriptions surely describe well the state of our society today.  For example, “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands” (2 Nephi 12:7-8).  Seeking wealth and the riches of the world is surely at the heart of worldliness and it will all one day vanish at the coming of the Lord.  He also described the costly apparel and jewelry with which we adorn ourselves and ascribe great worth to: “In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and cauls, and round tires like the moon; The chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers; The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings; The rings, and nose jewels; The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins; The glasses, and the fine linen, and hoods, and the veils” (2 Nephi 13:18-23).  Though those words might be a bit archaic for us today, the sense is clear and perfectly applicable—our obsession with looks and what we wear and the gadgets we hold on to is a part of the worldliness that Isaiah condemns in us.  He further described, “And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands” (2 Nephi 15:12).  Again, we may not play very often those specific instruments, but the imagery is clear—the worldly music and parties and revelry that we focus so much prevents us from seeing and being a part of the much more important work of the Lord.  It will indeed all come to naught: “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave; the noise of thy viols is not heard; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee” (2 Nephi 24:11).  Another part of our worldliness today is seen in the way we seek all manner of help from the wisdom of the world but fail to go to the living God for help: we “seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter—should not a people seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead?” (2 Nephi 18:19)  We are far too much like the ancient kingdoms of Isaiah’s day that sought for glory and prestige and wealth and beauty, but who were in the end destroyed: “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” (2 Nephi 23:19).   

We may sometimes struggle to understand specific parts of these passages in Isaiah recorded by Nephi, but the overall themes of purity and worldliness are certainly clear.  If we want to be the people of the Lord we must be holy and reject the worldliness and sin all around us that Isaiah described so accurately.  Then we will be able to, as Isaiah wrote, “With joy… draw water out of the wells of salvation.”  As an “inhabitant of Zion,” cleansed and purified through Him, we will be able to “cry out and shout” that “great is the Holy One of Israel” and become even as He is (2 Nephi 22:3-6).