The Scripture Study Project

Isaiah 58-66 - Ways

There are some pressing questions we must address this week: how can you make shapes and animals out of pancake batter, what's the best way to eat a strawberry, and how cay you maximize the milk-to-cookie ratio of an oreo. These questions, as outlandish as it sounds, will help us better answer other questions. How can I fast with my eye single to God's purpose? How can I truly delight in the Sabbath? How can I better recognize and emulate the Savior's ministry? This week we study our final block of scriptures from Isaiah in search of answers to these questions.
 
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Music: by Steve Oxen

Isaiah 50-57 - Servant

Years ago I studied Isaiah 53 with a group of teenagers in a seminary class. As part of our experience I gave students a small piece of cardstock with a silhouette of Jesus printed on it on which I had asked them to write descriptions of the Savior they had found in their study. After class, as I was picking up the room, I noticed one card lying on the ground. I picked it up, turned it over, and read the words, "Are you really there?" That question has lodged in my mind and heart and has dramatically shaped the way I seek to study and teach the scriptures. In this episode, we have perhaps some of the best text in the Hebrew Bible answering that exact question.
 
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Music: by Steve Oxen

Isaiah 40-49 - Comfort

I once watched as someone illustrated Isaiah's visions and prophecies by drawing him as a stick figure then drawing a telescope in front of his face which indicated that Isaiah could see, both what was really close at hand, but also what was coming in the near future (for him, 150 years away) and the distant future (our day). In our study this week we dive into what scholars often call 2nd Isaiah because his focus seems to shift to the future. While some contend that this shift indicates a different author writing at a later time, many others, including our Book of Mormon prophets, knew him to be visionary and blessed with the spirit of God.
So what happens, then, when you take a telescopic prophet and combine it with a microscopic lens? In our episode this week we look deep at a few aspects of Isaiah's writings that have powerful and immediate impact for us.
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Music: by Steve Oxen

Isaiah 13-35 - Fat Things

When Krista and I were first married she introduced me to the idea of "empty calories"--foods that you could eat but that would give little to no nutrition (this was how she described many of the things I had grown used to eating in college). This week we Isaiah 13-35 and look at the things Isaiah describes that are the spiritual version of empty calories and, conversely and much more importantly, the things truly feed the soul.
 
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Music: by Steve Oxen

Isaiah 1-12 - Delight

Some commentators have described the book of Isaiah the climactic book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Isaiah's writings were certainly important to many later writers, including Nephi, Abinadi, Mormon, and Jesus Christ himself. When describing his own passion for the words of Isaiah, Nephi said, "my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, . . . for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him. . . . And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men" (2 Nephi 11: 2, 8). This week we begin our study Isaiah and aim for both excitement for and skill at studying the words of this pivotal prophet.
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Music: by Steve Oxen

Proverbs - Wisdom

One of my favorite things about learning from the Lord is that He teaches with images, stories, and symbols. I learned this week that the Hebrew word "māšāl" translated in verse 1 as "proverb" is translated in many other places as "parable". In other words, this book is a book of mini parables that, as we'll learn together, help us practice living a God-like life.
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Music: by Steve Oxen

Psalms - Blessed

I searched for the word "Psalms" on the Church homepage this week and found that almost every General Conference return going on for multiple pages was a talk with a title taken from a psalm. From Pres. Nelson's famous, "Joy Cometh in the Morning" to Elder Bednar's quotable "A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit" to Elder Holland's emotional "Like a Broken Vessel", it's clear that our Church leaders know and love the Psalms. Similarly, Jesus and his apostles quoted from Psalms over 100 times in the New Testament which is not only the most of any OT book quoted, but over half of the overall quotes altogether. Over the next three weeks we get to study the powerful truths and moving evocations in these collected words, and in this episode, we're providing some powerful tools to give you a fresh and faith-fulfilling study.
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Music: by Steve Oxen

Job - Perfect

One thing that took getting used to as I prepared for a mission to Germany was the Germany fairy tale. Contrary to many romantic tales where heroes prevail against evil and receive rewards for their efforts, Germany fairy tales contain stories where good and bad often happen unexpectedly and to unexpected people: often the hero loses all while the village fool gets incredible fortune. I recently listened to a discussion about the history of the fairy tale which indicated that the modern, more romantic versions of fairy tales may have a detrimental effect in conveying to children that if bad things happen to you must be doing something wrong, because only the wicked get punished and only the heroes earn rewards. In our study of Job this week we look at three different ways to read the book of Job that might help us push past the romantic and add some depth to our understanding of blessing and trial, difficulty and perfection.
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Music: by Steve Oxen