All things bear record · Isaiah

Isaiah 66

9 witnesses of Christ here.

Creator whose throne is heaven

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? Isaiah 66:1–2

Jehovah, the premortal Christ, speaks as the Creator whose hand made all things and whom no earthly house can contain. Stephen quotes these words before he sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

AttestedJehovah — the LORDHe speaks in the first person

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • quoted by Acts 7:49-50 — Stephen quotes Isaiah 66:1-2 in his final witness.
  • alluded to by Matthew 5:34-35 — Jesus: swear not by heaven, God's throne, nor by the earth, His footstool.
  • interpreted by Mosiah 3:8 — Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things from the beginning.

Contrite spirit over empty sacrifice

For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. Isaiah 66:2–3

The Lord says animal sacrifice without a humble heart is worthless to Him; what He looks for is a contrite spirit. After His Resurrection Christ ended blood sacrifice and asked for exactly this offering of a broken heart and contrite spirit.

AttestedEchoTeaching about Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • alluded to by 3 Nephi 9:19-20 — The risen Christ ends burnt offerings and asks for a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
  • alludes to Psalm 51:16-17 — God desires not sacrifice but a broken and contrite heart.

He shall appear to your joy

Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. Isaiah 66:5

Those cast out for the Lord's name are promised that He Himself will appear, bringing them joy and putting their persecutors to shame. Latter-day Saints read this as His glorious appearing at the Second Coming.

AttestedProphecy or typeA prophecy of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • the same event in 1 John 3:2 — When he shall appear, we shall be like him.

The man child born of Zion

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Isaiah 66:7–8

Zion miraculously gives birth to a 'man child' and a nation in a day. Verse 8 applies it to Zion's children, and the Joseph Smith Translation of Revelation 12 reads the man child as the kingdom of God; many Christians also hear an echo of the Messiah's birth.

AttestedEchoAn echo of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • alluded to by Revelation 12:5 — The woman brings forth a man child who is to rule all nations (JST: the kingdom of our God and his Christ).

Jehovah who comforts like a mother

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. Isaiah 66:13

Jehovah describes His tender care for His people in a mother's image. Jesus used a similar mothering image when He longed to gather Israel as a hen gathers her chickens.

AttestedEchoHe speaks in the first person

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • alluded to by Matthew 23:37 — Jesus longs to gather Jerusalem as a hen gathers her chickens.
  • alluded to by 3 Nephi 10:4-6 — The voice of Christ to the Nephites uses the same hen-and-chickens image.

The LORD comes with fire

For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. Isaiah 66:15–16

Isaiah foretells the Lord coming in fire to judge the wicked. Paul and the Doctrine and Covenants describe the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the same flaming terms.

AttestedProphecy or typeA prophecy of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • the same event in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 — The Lord Jesus revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance.
  • the same event in D&C 133:41 — The presence of the Lord shall be as the melting fire that burneth.
  • the same event in Malachi 4:1 — The day cometh that shall burn as an oven.

All nations see His glory

For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. Isaiah 66:18–19

The Lord promises to gather every nation and send messengers to declare His glory among the Gentiles. This looks ahead to the gospel of Christ going to all the world and to the day all flesh see His glory.

AttestedProphecy or typeA prophecy of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • the same event in Isaiah 40:5 — The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
  • fulfilled by Matthew 28:19 — The risen Jesus sends His disciples to teach all nations.

New heavens, new earth, all flesh worship

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. Isaiah 66:22–23

Jehovah promises to make new heavens and a new earth where all flesh will worship before Him. Latter-day Saints see this fulfilled in Christ's Millennial reign and the celestialized earth, when every knee bows to Him.

AttestedProphecy or typeA prophecy of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • the same event in Isaiah 65:17 — I create new heavens and a new earth.
  • the same event in Revelation 21:1 — John sees a new heaven and a new earth.
  • the same event in D&C 29:23 — There shall be a new heaven and a new earth.
  • the same event in Philippians 2:10-11 — Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Worm that dieth not

And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. Isaiah 66:24

Isaiah ends with the fate of those who rebel against the Lord. Jesus quotes these exact words to describe hell, and the Lord repeats them in modern revelation about the sons of perdition.

AttestedProphecy or typeA prophecy of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • quoted by Mark 9:48 — Jesus: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
  • quoted by D&C 76:44 — Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.