I had to drive my daughter to the airport today. I decided to listen to a program as I drove. I saw there was a new video by Ward Radio about some unknown prophecy by Isaiah. I only listened to about 5 minutes of the program and decided I needed to read the book before I watched their commentary. So, I turned the program off, searched for the book and I started listening to the book.
It did not take long for me to be blown away. Where do I even begin?
I’ll start by saying this. As I listened, I was surprised by the details in his accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. The account of Jesus Christ’s birth, ministry, disciples, death, burial in a sepulcher, resurrection, and ascension to the throne of God. The account was far more detailed than his testimony in the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. But, it was also far easier to understand like the testimony of Nephi.
Other things that impressed me:
- His testimony of seeing the Father and living
- Garments
- The degrees of Glory (levels of heaven) – Seventh Heaven
- Passwords to enter different heavens
- HIs testimony of Jesus Christ being sent by God the Father.
THE GODHEAD
There is meat and potatoes in this book. I was very surprised. However, with all of that, there was one thing that caught my eye far more than all the others.
The Ascention of Isaiah 11:32-35
32. And I saw how He ascended into the seventh heaven, and all the righteous and all the angels praised Him. And then I saw Him sit down on the right hand of that Great Glory whose glory I told you that I could not behold.
33. And also the angel of the Holy Spirit I saw sitting on the left hand.
34. And this angel said unto me: “Isaiah, son of Amoz, it is enough for thee;… for thou hast seen what no child of flesh has seen.
35. And thou wilt return into thy garment (of the flesh) until thy days are completed. Then thou wilt come hither.”
- He saw Jesus Christ ascend to the seventh heaven
- He saw Jesus Christ sit down on the right hand of God (Greet Glory that Isaiah could not behold)
- He saw the Holy Spirit sitting on the left hand of God.
- The Holy Spirit spoke to him, communicating the will of God
INTERPRETATION: He saw the Godhead. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and they were three different separate beings. His testimony mirrors the testimony of Joseph Smith. His testimony also contradicts the Christian Creeds that declare the Trinity as the form of God.
SEVENTH HEAVEN
I tried to do the math with LDS Theology. Three Degrees of Glory, plus Three levels of the Celestial Glory. That really only makes five heavens. If you added Paradise and Prison after death, that would make seven. I wondered if outer darkness would be considered one of the heavens, but I do not think that it is. It is not a kingdom of glory.
Well, I have heard the term “Seventh Heaven” quite a few time. I thought I had read it in the bible. But, I went and searched the bible and could not find it in a search. So, I googled it. I mean, it is obviously in this text. But where else is it? Is it beleived to be biblical. Here is what I came up with.
- It had to do with astrology. There was a belief that the heavens revolved around earth. So the major planets they could see with the naked eye were associated with levels of heaven.
- It is found in the Quran: Allah is the One Who created seven heavens ˹in layers˺, and likewise for the earth. The ˹divine˺ command descends between them so you may know that Allah is Most Capable of everything and that Allah certainly encompasses all things in ˹His˺ knowledge. (At-Talaq 65:12)
- It also looks like there are elements of this religious cosmology in other ancient religions. They all seem to be rooted in what they could physically see in the heavens from earth.
Well, what Isaiah saw was not rooted in what man can see from earth. He described going to different levels of heaven that each had different glories. This seems to coincide with what Joseph Smith taught that one is the glory of the Sun, another of the Moon, and another of the stars. And those even vary as one star differs from another in brightness. In each of those heavens the angels had different amounts of light and the angels in each heaven were like one another. It also read as though the angels in each heaven knew when a being with more glory was in their presnce. When Jesus did not transform himself, the worshiped him. When he transformed himself, they thought he was one of them and did not worship him.
It will take more time to break down these heavens as to what it is actually saying. But, I find it very interesting and I feel much of it coorilate with LDS doctrines.