Isaiah 29

The Book of Mormon and the Restoration

Isaiah 29:11–14 

 11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a^abook that is ^bsealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it issealed:

 12 And the book is delivered to ^ahim that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

 13 ¶Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people ^adraw near me with their ^bmouth, and with their lips do ^chonour me, but have ^dremoved their ^eheart far from me, and their ^ffear toward meis taught by the ^gprecept of men:

 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a ^amarvellous ^bworkamong this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the^cwisdom of their wise men shall ^dperish, and the ^eunderstandingof their ^fprudent men shall be hid.

Joseph Smith— History 1:18–19, 63–65. 

 18 My object in going to ^ainquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.

 19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all ^awrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those^bprofessors were all ^ccorrupt; that: “they ^ddraw near to me with their lips, but their ^ehearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the ^fcommandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the ^gpower thereof.”

 63 Sometime in this month of February, the aforementioned Mr. Martin Harris came to our place, got the characters which I had drawn off the plates, and started with them to the city of New York. For what took place relative to him and the characters, I refer to his own account of the circumstances, as he related them to me after his return, which was as follows:

 64 “I went to the city of New York, and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof, to Professor Charles Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then showed him those which were not yet translated, and he said that they were Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyriac, and Arabic; and he said they were true characters. He gave me a certificate, certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true characters, and that the translation of such of them as had been translated was also correct. I took the certificate and put it into my pocket, and was just leaving the house, when Mr. Anthon called me back, and asked me how the young man found out that there were gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an angel of God had revealed it unto him.

 65 “He then said to me, ‘Let me see that certificate.’ I accordingly took it out of my pocket and gave it to him, when he took it and tore it to pieces, saying that there was no such thing now as ministering of ^aangels, and that if I would bring the plates to him he would translate them. I informed him that part of the plates were ^bsealed, and that I was forbidden to bring them. He replied, ‘I cannot read a sealed book.’ I left him and went to Dr. Mitchell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting both the characters and the translation.”

(a) In Isaiah it speaks of the unlearned man being able to translate what the learned man could not. The professors were the same "they draw near unto me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, . . ." is in both forms of scripture.  

In the opinion of the LDS Church the “marvelous work and a wonder” is the translation of The Book of Mormon by a man that was not a professor, nor even a man that had more education than 3rd grade. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery worked together to translate The Book of Mormon. 

(b) Read the following verses in 

Isaiah 29 and tell whether they are about the Apostasy or the Restoration. 

Then explain what the verses teach about their respective subject:

• Verses 9 ¶Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are^adrunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
   10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep^asleep, and hath closed your ^beyes: the ^cprophets and your rulers, the ^dseers hath he ^ecovered. Apostasy
• Verse 15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their ^acounsel from theLord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who ^bseethus? and who knoweth us?  Apostasy

• Verses 18 ¶And in that ^aday shall the deaf hear the words of the ^bbook, and the ^ceyes of the blind shall see out of ^dobscurity, and out of darkness.
   19 The meek also shall increase their ^ajoy in the Lord, and the^bpoor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.  
   20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that ^awatch for iniquity are ^bcut off:
   21 That make a man an ^aoffender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in ^bthe gate, and ^cturn aside the just for a thing of nought. Restoration
• Verse 24 They also that ^aerred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall ^blearn doctrine. Restoration