The Words of Isaiah

 

The Dead Sea Scrolls are powerful evidence that the Bible has been preserved by God. Joseph Smith taught that the Bible was corrupted after the time of Christ, by “evil and conspiring men”. That revelation began a journey that dramatically deviated from the theology presented in God’s Word, the Bible. We’ll discuss Joseph Smith’s unique foundational doctrines later.

In 1947 in a cave in Qumran, an Arab shepherd boy discovered the scrolls. Sealed in clay pots, written on parchment and papyrus, were over 800 manuscripts untouched by humans hands for over 2000 years. Nineteen copies of Book of Isaiah were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The team from the UA radiocarbon dated the famous Book of Isaiah scroll at between 335 BC and 122 BC. The Isaiah Scroll, found relatively intact, is 1000 years older than any previously known copy of Isaiah. In fact, the scrolls are the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts ever found.

Here’s the powerful part. They are word for word the same as we have them today. No angel took them away. You can see them online, or in person. God’s word preserved, word for word, just as He promised. Our Savior doesn't lie. He said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away." Luke 21:33  

Jesus is Jehovah of the Old Testament. Since Jesus didn’t specify only preserving parts of His Word, I trust that He meant the whole thing.

Jewish historian Flavius Josephus trusted the Bible. He said,“We have given practical proof of our reverence for our own Scriptures.  For, although such long ages have now passed, no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable; and it is an instinct with every Jew from the day of his birth to regard them as the decrees of God, to abide by them, and, if need be, cheerfully to die for them. 

Time and again ere now, the sight has been witnessed of prisoners enduring tortures and death in every form in the theaters, rather than utter a single word against the Laws and the allied documents.”

Jesus himself quoted from 24 of the books the Old Testament. He said if we will not believe the Law and the Prophets we wouldn't believe even if one rose from the dead.  (Luke 16:31) The New Testament (Jesus disciples) quotes from 34 of the Old Testament books. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon are not directly quoted but as they are grouped as part of a scriptural scroll, they are considered inspired as well. The New Testament doctrine is a clear, direct fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. It was recorded during the life time of the original Twelve Apostles. It was taken through out the world in many different languages, tens of thousands of copies, each holding the others to account in exactness of text and doctrine. There are profoundly more copies of the New Testament than any other book of antiquity that we have today.

Why does the Book of Isaiah matter? Read it. You’ll see a completely different God than you know in the LDS Church.

"Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour." Isaiah 43:10-11

There are no other Gods. There were NONE formed before Him; No separate Elohim. There will be NONE formed after Him, that means US! 

"To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me,  that we may be like? Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." Isaiah 46:5, 9 

 "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." Isaiah 45:5, 21, 22 
 
 There are no other Gods. We will never be a God. He could not have been clearer.
 
"Thus saith the Lord (Jehovah), thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord (Jehovah) that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself" Isaiah 44:24
 
No one helped Him form the earth; not Adam/Michael, not Abraham, not Joseph Smith, not you.
 
These are just a sampling of what God reveals about Himself in Isaiah. There is solid physical evidence that proves Isaiah has not been corrupted. What does that mean about Joseph Smith’s revelations about God? Read Isaiah. Investigate the Dead Sea Scrolls. Investigate how the Bible was put together.
Most importantly…read what the Church records testify are the real revelations of Joseph Smith and the foundation of the Church.