Lesson #27: Preparation for our December 17th Study

We are going to complete, or at least set aside our study of Isaiah following this Wednesday, and start the new year with a fresh topic.  You can prepare for our closing lesson by a simple exercise--see how many of the themes we extracted from the first 36 chapters you can remember.  After you give it a try--go ahead and look below:


Themes extracted from our study of Isaiah:

1.  Mankind is under indictment!  He has been diagnosed with a terrible malady.  

2.  God is the moral authority in the universe!  That’s because He is Holy!

3.  God graciously offers salvation to rebellious and sinful mankind.  

4.  Choices have Consequences!  

5.  God wants a people who are dependent upon Him—in every circumstance!

Now go to the last chapter of Isaiah--chapter 66, and see how many of these themes you can still find under discussion even in the last chapter of the book.  

See you on Wednesday,

Kevin

Lesson #26: Preparation for December 10th

Two things for you to consider as we get back into our study of Isaiah after a few weeks away.  

1.  Read Isa 49:14-26, and pay particular attention to the opening (vs 15-16) and the closing (vs 26) verses.  Is it reasonable  (does it seem even remotely possible) that these verses apply to the Church?

2.  Read Isa 50:4-9 and 52:13-15.    Do you think it reasonable to apply these to Zerubbabel?  (He was governor of the province of Judah when the first group of exiles returned from Babylon.)  

As you can tell, we are going to spend some time talking about principles of interpretation this coming Wednesday--for that becomes a very important process as we turn to chapter 53.

In His grace,
Kevin

November 19th Meeting

We have a Quarterly Business Meeting this Wednesday, and no Wednesday night service the week of Thanksgiving (26 Nov).  So please look for a update the week before our next Wednesday night service which will be on the 3rd of December.

Lesson #25: Preparation for November 12th

We will continue our study in chapters 49-52.

1.  The Jews as a people have many times come through very difficult circumstances--which continue to this day.  They might be tempted to proclaim Isa 49:14, but what great truth does the following text reinforce.  How would you use the New Testament to parallel this same idea?

2.  Isa 51:1-2 give further guidance regarding what should be front and center in the thinking of the Jewish people.  Is this admonition in any way connected to Christianity?

3.  Simply read through Isa 50 and see how many connections you can find to the historical accounts of what happened to Jesus.

See you on Wednesday!
Kevin

Les #24: Preparation for November 5th

(Due to a guest speaker on the 29th--this lesson has been pushed back to the 5th of November.)

The next block of text at which we are going to look is chapters 49-57.  I would like you to get a general overview as we prepare to investigate these 9 chapters.  

1. Begin by reading chapter 53. Put a little pencil mark by every phrase the seems to make reference to something we know about Jesus Christ.  You will be amazed at the number of marks you accumulate.  

2.  From there, just go back to chapter 49 and start reading.  Again, you will be amazed at how often references to Jesus occur and how often those references entail some sort of suffering or humiliation. Why do you think the Jews were expecting only a reigning king?

See on you Wednesday!

Les #23: Preparation for October 22nd Study

We are going to spend one more study in Isaiah chapters 41-46.  This time we want to take a look at another theme that runs through the latter part of the book and is very pronounced in these six chapters.  Furthermore, it once again has significant ramifications for us in our day.  

You may wish to read the entire six chapters again, by as you do, concentrate on the following sections:  Isa 41:22-24, 41:26-29,  42:8-9,  43:9-13, 44:7,  45:1-4,  45:11-13, 46:5-13

1.  What is the major point the Lord is making clear in each of these sections?


2.  How many times has God told us ahead of time what He is going to do, and then done it?  Jot down as many as you can think of.

3.  What ramifications does this have for a correct understanding of prophecy in our day?

See you on Wednesday the 22nd.

October 15th Study

No preparation for the 15th as we will have a guest speaker in the person of Steve Hayes who, along with his family, are missionaries to Russia.  He will have some very interesting things for us as they prepare to return.

Lesson 22: Preparation for October 8th Study

Take a look at the following Scripture as a way of preparing for our next study:

   Isa 41:14     Isa 43:5     Isa 44:2     Isa 44:8

Notice they all deal with the issue of being afraid.  Consider these questions, which we will discuss further on Wednesday night. 
1.  Why might the Israelites have cause to be afraid as they head back to Israel? 

2.  If we continue the line of reasoning we have been developing, why might we, during our day and time, have cause to be afraid?  

3.  In the above Scripture,  in what specific ways does God address fear?  

4.  Is His comfort still applicable today?  Can you add anything to it from the New Testament?  

Lesson 21: Preparation for the October 1st Study

We have a bit more to cover in chapter 40, but will begin to turn our attention to chapters 41-46.  We won't specifically go line-by-line, so simply  read through these chapters with a pen and paper handy, and here is what I suggest you look for.  God, through Isaiah, is going to tell the people certain kinds of things they are going to need to know as they head back to the Land and face quite a number of obstacles. 

So #1:   See how many of these things you can find.  

As I went through these chapters myself, I was struck by how many of these things apply to us, the Church, as we bear witness to the gospel of grace in the face of apathy and opposition.  

And #2:  See how many New Testament promises you can identify that apply to us, addressing the same kinds of issues faced by the Jews many centuries ago.  

I think you will find that God's plan for mankind has been much more consistent than we realize.  

In His grace,

Kevin

Lesson 20: Preparation for the September 24th Study

(Since we didn't meet last week, this remains the prep for the 24th of September)

As we move into the final portion of the book (chapters 40-66) we will find not only great prophecy regarding the future, but also tremendous application for the present.  Let's see if we can find some as we focus upon chapter 40 in the week ahead. 

If we continue to develop the idea that I introduced last Wednesday, we are looking at chapter 40 as revelation to Israel at the time they are preparing to return to the Land from their exile in Babylon.  The destruction of the nation and the exile of the people will naturally cause them to question God's love for them and His attitude toward them.  God addresses this in many ways in chapter 40 (and the chapters that follow), see if you can identify at least three ways in which He encourages the hearts of the people.  (Consider the entire chapter.)

     1. 

     2.

     3.  

Let me give you one more thing to ponder.  Isa 40:3-5 is typically attributed to John the Baptist and his message about the coming Messiah.  Can you think of any other application that can be made given Israel's current circumstances, i.e. exiled from her homeland.  

Lesson 19: Preparation for our September 3rd Study

Memory verse:  Isa 6:3

In order to be prepared for this week's study read Isaiah chapters 38-39.

Chapter 38 is about Hezekiah's illness and recovery.  His prayer of thanksgiving is very moving.  But then in chapter 39 a number of strange things happen that I have pondered for many years.  (It might help you to get the full picture to read 2 Kings 20:12-21 as well.)  Give some thoughts to the following questions and see what you think:

1.  Are there some things worse than dying young?

2.  Are there some things more important than peace and security at the close of life?

3.  What does it mean to leave a "legacy"?

Lesson 18: Preparation for our August 6th Study

Our memory verse:  Isa 6:3

We are going to continue in Isaiah chapter 6 this coming week with an emphasis on verses 8-13.  This can be a very perplexing passage.  To prepare for it, think through the following:

1.  Did Isaiah receive a desirable task?  Explain your reasoning.

2.  What clue do we have that Isaiah was not looking forward to the ministry God had called him to?

3.  What kind of application can we make in our day?  After all, we live in a nation that appears to no longer be particularly receptive to the Gospel--is there reason for us to persevere against opposition in our day?

Lesson 17: Preparation for our July 30th Study

Our memory verse:  Isa 6:3

This week we want to investigate Isaiah chapter 6, and so to begin,  read through the chapter.

1.  The first issue I want you to consider is the placing of chapter 6's content at this point in the book of Isaiah.  For the most part, the narrative flows from chapter 5 right into chapter 7.  So why is the content of chapter 6 inserted at this location?

2.  What kind of king was Uzziah?  (You can find amplifying information in 2Chron 26 and 2Ki 14-15.)

   - What kind of mental/emotional state do you think Isaiah was in at the time of Uzziah's death.  

   - What message, or lesson, could God be teaching Isaiah regarding ministry?

3.  Many have commented on chapter 6 as being Isaiah's call to ministry--or some kind of renewed call.  If so, what "stages in ministry" can you extract from the text?



See you on Wednesday

Lesson 16: Preparation for our July 23rd Study

Note:  the next time we will be in Isaiah will be on the 23rd of July.  On the 16th, we will have guest speakers, Hans and Jennifer Anderson, who are missionaries with ECMI in Spain.

Memory verse:  Isa 30:15

Read Isaiah chapter 14.  At first reading, this is part of a larger section documenting God's judgment on the pagan nations around Israel, and supports our theme that God is sovereign over the nations.  However, right in the middle of the chapter, in verses 12-15, is a section that should catch our attention.  For although some of it aptly describes the attitude of godless kings, there is also that which does not seem to apply.  For example, which of the godless kings "fell from heaven"?  

Theologians have long attributed this portion of Scripture to be descriptive of Satan.  If true, it gives us insight into His rebellion against God.  (You can gain additional insight by reading Ezek 28:11-19.)  Considering this to be a real possibility, please ponder the following:

1.  If God has seen fit to give us information about Satan in Isa 14, why did he tuck it away in the middle of a chapter about the Babylonians?

2.  What do you think this might have taught the Jews of Isaiah's day, and what (if any) application can be made today?

After enjoying our missionary guests, see you on the 23rd. 
Kevin

Lesson 15: Preparation for our July 9th Study

Our memory verse:  Isa 30:15

We have seen how the book of Isaiah teaches both the truth that 1) God is sovereign over all nations; and 2) He desires for us to live lives dependent upon Him and the truths of His Word.  We are currently in the middle of investigating what it means when Hab 2:4 says, "My righteous ones will live by faith."  We are going to spend one more week trying to deepen our understanding of faith.  To do so, consider the following questions.  

1.  What does it mean when Scripture says, "By grace are we saved, through faith. . ."  (Eph 2:8-9)

2.  I think it very likely that you know someone who, as best you could tell,  placed their faith in Christ as their Savior, and then some time later seemed to lose all interest in Christianity.  What do you think happened?  See if you can list more than one possibility.

3.  The verb "to believe" is used more than 100 times in the Gospel of John.  See John 2:23 for an example.  Now read Jn 2:24-25.  Nearly every commentator you will read on this passage will state that these people were not "true" believers or they had "false" faith.  Does that seem consistent with John's use of "believe"?  In other words--does John every talk about the concept of false faith?  Are there any other possible explanations for Jn 2:24-25 that come to mind?  

Lesson 14: Preparation for our July 2nd Study

Our memory verse:  Isa 30:15

We are in the middle of looking at two things, which I want to suggest need to be kept in the proper "tension" in the thinking of a Christian.

The first, is that God judges evil--both evil found among His people and the evil of this world.  What sometimes causes us to be perplexed is when we see God using the evil entities of this world as the means to judge His people.  Isn't one evil worse than the other?  This issue will ultimately be answered by a view of God on His throne in Isaiah chapter 6.  In the meantime, we will shortly see how God judges the wicked of this world, after using them to judge His people, in Isaiah chapter 10.

The other item, that must be kept in proper tension with the judgment of the wicked, is how God expects His people to live out their lives--including those cases when judgment is falling all around.  We saw this last Wednesday in Hab 2:4, which says, ". . .My righteous ones will live by faith."  Amazingly, this verse is quoted three times in the New Testament.  What I would like you to do in order to be ready for our study is to look at each quotation, and answer the following questions:

Rm 1:17
   - How does the context of Romans one shape our understanding of the "life of the righteous"?

   - What would a response to Rom 1:17 "look like"?

Gal 3:11
  - How does the context of Galatians three shape our understanding of the "life of the righteous"?

  - What would a response to Gal 3:11 "look like"?

Heb 10:38
   - How does the context of Hebrews ten shape our understanding of the "life of the righteous"?

   - What would a response to Heb 10:38 "look like"?

See you on Wednesday!

Lesson 13: Preparation for our June 25th Study

Our memory verse:  Isa 30:15 (as we continue the theme of developing dependance upon the Lord)

We have looked at the following passages already, but let me remind you of something you may not have yet observed:
    - In Isa 7:18-20 and Isa 8:5-8 you can see that God is going to use the Assyrians to discipline the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
    - In Isa 9:8 all the way to Isa 10:4 we see God making use of a number of nations, primarily Assyria to discipline the Northern Kingdom (called Ephraim or Samaria).

Now the Israelites were involved in idolatry and great disobedience to the Lord, but have you thought about the fact that the Assyrians were a terrible and very cruel people.  What about them?  How can God use the wickeder to punish the wicked and still be God?  Good questions?

1.  Take a look at Isa 10:5-19:  what is going to happen to Assyria?

2.  Now take a look at Isaiah chapter 13 and make sure to note verse 19.  The Babylonians are going to be used to judge the Southern Kingdom--what is going to happen to them?

3.  What does this teach us about the Sovereignty of God?  Or stated another way, is God just the God of Israel, or is he something more?

See you on Wednesday

Lesson 12: Preparation for our June 18th Study

We are going to continue to work on the principle laid out for us in Isa 7:9b:  (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.") Last night, we saw an example of what it means to "stand firm" when Hezekiah took his "emergency" to the Lord in Isa 37:14-20.  (This is a great prayer and worthy of further meditation!)  One thing about Hezekiah's example that we can take to heart--he wasn't perfect!  His faith had some "wobbles", but eventually come to a committed dependence upon the Lord.  This isn't to excuse our times of unbelief, but rather to acknowledge that they may come.  If they do, we can rest assured that God will be working to bring us back to the point of belief, in fact He is longing for us to turn back to Him (Isa 30:18).  And when we do turn in repentance from unbelief to belief, we can count on the Lord's deliverance (Isa 30:15).  (Remember, deliverance means that the Lord will see us through, and not that He will make every bad thing go away.)  

Now here is the thing that I would like you to consider for the week ahead:  what does it "look like" to stand firm in one's faith?  Start to think through Biblical examples,and you will see this is actually a fairly deep question.  The first thing that you will note is that to stand firm in one's faith is always associated with a response to the Word of God.   For example, read Exodus 14:1-14.  Then decide what it looks like for a person to stand firm in their faith at the point when Moses thundered out, "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. . . you need only be still."  (Ex 14:13-14)  

Now what makes this interesting--what makes Christianity a constant and relational challenge--is that this is just one of many possible ways you can stand firm in your faith in response to the revealed will of God.  Give it some thought and see how many different ways you can come up with--based upon other Biblical settings. 

See you on Wednesday!

Lesson 12: Preparation for our June 11th Study

In order to continue to reinforce our current memory verse (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." (Isa 7:9b)), we are going to investigate two historical illustrations of the truth communicated by this Scripture.  For the week ahead, we will look at a positive illustration, which can be found in Isaiah chapter 36-37.  So to prepare for our next study:
   1.  Read chapters 36-37, and then think about the relationship between trusting God, and Jerusalem still "standing" at the end of the narrative. 
   2.  What might failing to stand firm in faith have looked like, and how do you think the outcome might have been different?
   3.  What kind of application can you make in your own life, i.e. what areas can you identify, right now, in which God is asking you to stand firm in the promises of His Word?

See you Wednesday.

Lesson 11: Preparation for our June 4th Study

This post is not so much preparation for our next study as a review of our last one.  The reason for this is that you should already be prepared for our coming text in Isa 7-8, and there were a number of points from our last study I would really like you to think through.  

So first, spend a few minutes (each day if you can) meditating on our new memory verse (Isa 7:9b).  I have provided it for you in several translations below: 

“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”  (Isa 7:9b-NIV)

“If you do not believe, surely you shall not be established.” (NKJV)

“If you will not believe and trust and rely [on God and on the words of God’s prophet instead of Assyria], surely you will not be established nor will you remain.” (Amplified)

--------------------------

King Ahaz was faced with the very issue brought up above--would he put his trust in God or in the might of man (Assyria).  We all face the same issue--will we chose to trust God or manage things ourselves.  We are no more going to stand as Christians than Ahaz did as a faithful king--unless we follow the guidance God gave through Isaiah.  Look carefully at what God had to say to Ahaz, and how the Scriptures reinforce that we are to do the same thing.  

"Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid"  (Isa 7:4)
- Be careful  
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  (1Pt 1:13) 

        - keep calm 
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”  (Isa 30:15)

- Do not be afraid
And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” (Dt 31:8)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2Tm 1:7)
So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Heb 13:6) 

God also tells Ahaz, with respect to a planned invasion of Judah by an alliance of Syria and Ephraim:  “It will not take place, it will not happen. . . “  (Isa 7:7)  There is a lot of application in this verse for us.  Specifically, there are some things of which we also can be assured:

What will not take place or happen?
1.  That we will be separated from the love of God!  (Rm 8:35-39)

2.  That His grace will be found wanting!  (2Cor 12:9)

3.  That He will fail to provide us shelter under His wings until the calamity has passed.  (Ps 57:1)

See you next week!

Lesson 10: Preparation for our May 28th study

Our Memory verse:  Isa 7:9b 

Themes:  
1) Mankind is under indictment!  We have been diagnosed with a terrible malady.

2) God is the moral authority in the universe!  That's because He is . . . 

3) God graciously offers salvation to rebellious and sinful mankind.

4) Choices have consequences.  

I would like to express a thank-you to Paul for filling in and beginning our investigation of chapter 6.  Although we have more to consider in chapter 6, I would like to first pursue the "pattern of prophecy" we have been considering a bit further.   Specifically, we discussed the fact that prophecy is often revealed in such a way that two or more major events are revealed without any hint of the time gap between them.  We have already looked at the example of Isa 61: 1-2 where Jesus stopped reading right in the middle of the verse--the reason, He was fulfilling the first part of the verse during His 1st Advent; and is not going to fulfill the 2nd part until His return.  So here is what I would like you to do to be ready for our next study (remember, because of the business meeting,you have two weeks to be ready):
   - Refresh you memory on a passage we have already covered by re-reading Isa 7:1-12.  (Do you remember why we found a problem with Ahaz's response in vs 12?)
   - Then work your way from Isa 7:13 through chapter 9.  See if you can find any examples of prophecy that is fulfilled, first in the near term, and then much later (or maybe even not yet fulfilled).  Remember our analogy--like two mountain peaks--if you are not careful, you will be focused only on the near peak and not realize there is another, often much larger peak, behind the first.  

Lesson 9: Preparation for our May 14th Study

Our Memory verse:  Isa 7:9b -- we didn't quite get to it last night, but you can start working on it now.  

Themes:  
1) Mankind is under indictment!  We have been diagnosed with a terrible malady.

2) God is the moral authority in the universe!  That's because He is . . . 

3) God graciously offers salvation to rebellious and sinful mankind.

4) Choices have consequences.  

Just two things for you to ponder this week as we make our first foray into chapter 6.  Read Isa 6:9-13.

1.  Is there anything in the passage that seems unfair to you?  Or, stated another way, is there something that doesn't seem consistent with the way God normally does things?

2.  If you have ever tried to share the gospel with a hard-headed person and been rebuffed, it is quite natural to think, "Now what?"  Have I fulfilled my obligation to be Christ's ambassador, His witness?  That's exactly the issue that Isaiah raises in vs 11.  What do you think about God's answer?  How do we make application?

Lesson 8: Preparation for our 7 May Study

Our Memory verse:  Isa 59:1 (combine with Rm 10:13)

We just barely managed to get started on this Wednesday night, so I am asking you to continue working where we left off (basically the same preparation as last week).   I have listed the three columns below and filled in the first couple of entries.  Go ahead and see if you can complete the listing from chapter 2 all the way through the end of chapter 4.   I have also added a separate listing for verses which focus on application:

Current Circumstances      Near term event     Future Event
         Isa 2:6-8                      Isa 2:9-11               Isa 2:2-4
                                                                         Isa 2:12-21






Application:  
  Isa 2:5
  Isa 2:22

Lesson 7: Preparation for our April 30th Study

Our Memory verse:  Isa 59:1 (combine with Rm 10:13)

Themes:  
1) Mankind is under indictment!  We have been diagnosed with a terrible malady.

2) God is the moral authority in the universe!  That's because He is . . . 

3) God graciously offers salvation to rebellious and sinful mankind.

4) Choices have consequences.  

As we continue unfolding the prophetic content of Isaiah chapter 2, we are going see that one common way in which prophecy is communicated is as a combination of current circumstances, near term events and future (prophetic) events.  In order to both see this, and get comfortable with it, this is what I would you to do to prepare for our next study:  

   1)  Make three columns as indicated below.

   2) Then read through chapters 2-4, and as you do so, see if you can assign the each verse (or block of verses) to the appropriate column.  

Current Circumstances      Near term event     Future Event

Lesson 6: Preparation for our April 23rd Study

Our Memory verse:  Isa 59:1 (combine with Rm 10:13)

Themes:  
1) Mankind is under indictment!  We have been diagnosed with a terrible malady.

2) God is the moral authority in the universe!  That's because He is . . . 

3) God graciously offers salvation to rebellious and sinful mankind.

4) Choices have consequences.  

(Don't forget, it it two weeks until we meet again.)

We finished our study of the opening prophecy of the book (chapter 1), and are now ready to move into chapter 2.  Please read Isa 2:1-5, and then consider the questions below.  

1.  Is Isaiah talking about something that is going to happen in the near term, or prophecy regarding the future?  What evidence from the text supports your position.

2.  There are many who teach that vs. 1-2 refer to the church--what do you think about this theological position?  

3.  If you are skeptical of chapter 2 referring to the church, and you should be, what kinds of things in the text make you so?

4.  If you start with the position that this chapter is speaking prophetically of the church--what does that mean vs. 3-4 are talking about?  Does that seem like even a remote possibility?  How about in the light of 1Tm 4:1-f and 2Tm 3:1-f?

Lesson 5: Preparation for our April 9th Study

Our Memory verse:  Isa 59:1 (combine with Rm 10:13)

Themes:  
1) Mankind is under indictment!  We have been diagnosed with a terrible malady.

2) God is the moral authority in the universe!  That's because He is . . . 

3) God graciously offers salvation to rebellious and sinful mankind.

4) Choices have consequences.  

During our last study, we discussed a process whereby we can extract principles from a given passage from which we can make application, even if we are not the original audience for the message.  In this way we operate under the principle that although not all Scripture is to us it is all for us.  

I would like you to apply this process to Isa 1:11-17.  Carefully study the passage, and then answer the following:

1.  What is God rejecting in this passage.  

2.  You might find this odd--since God is the one who required the sacrificial system associated with the Mosaic Law.  Why do you think God is rejecting what He has required?  

3.  If you had to distill the "lessons learned" to one or two principles, what would they be?  

4.  How do those principles apply to our church fellowship?  

***Here is an advanced question for you.***

5.  Can you find an example of what God has a problem with, regarding worship,  in Isa 7:1-13?  (Reading 2Kings 16 might give you some helpful background.)

Lesson 4: Preparation for our April 2nd study

Our Memory verse:  Isa 1:18-20

Themes:  
1) Mankind is under indictment!  We has been diagnosed with a terrible malady.

2) God is the moral authority in the universe!  That's because He is . . . 

I will continue to list our themes as we collect them, and please note, we will finish theme #2 once we take a look at Isaiah chapter 6.  This will be our last week on this particular memory verse--so make an effort to get it down cold. 

As preparation for next week, I want you to further consider the point of application that we made during our last session together:  

Mankind’s problem (the indictment he is under) is fundamentally one of a failure in the area of worship.  (rebellion, ignorance, disloyalty, arrogant autonomy)  When worship breaks down, the symptoms are always the same:  evil deeds, injustice and idolatry!

Do you think we are on the right track with this analysis?  Do you think we are correctly extracting what God has preserved for us in the book of Isaiah?  In order to answer these questions, turn ahead to Isaiah chapter 59 and spend some time reading through it.  Two questions for you to consider:

   1)  Does it support what we have learned so far?  

   2)  What topic have we not yet discussed that is contained in both chapters 59 and 1?  

I hope this will help you get a feel for how certain themes persist throughout the book. 

Lesson 3: (preparation for our 3/26/14 study)

Our Memory verse:  Isa 1:18-20

Our First Theme:  Mankind is under indictment!  It has been diagnosed with a terrible malady.

We have seen the charges against mankind:  rebellion, ignorance, disloyalty and autonomy; now how about the evidence for these charges?  You will find references scattered throughout chapter 1, e.g. "sinful nation", but to really see God lay it out, take a look at chapter 5 verses 8-24.  (It will be helpful to read vs. 1-7 to again see the charge--Israel's rebellion--using a completely different metaphor than the courtroom setting of chapter one.)

   a.  As you read through the list of sins documented by God, see if you can categorize them.  In other words, drunkenness is a completely different kind of sin from taking advantage of the widow and orphan.  

   b.  The other thing I would like you to think about:  God speaks so matter-of-factly about sin and what constitutes sin--how is it He can do that.  I am asking this question, because in our day, there is quite a bit of debate in our society about the nature of right and wrong, e.g. about what is a marriage and what is not.  On the other hand, the proclamations in the book of Isaiah are very one-sided.  God simply declares what is sin as part of the evidence to support His charges against Israel.  What would you say to the skeptic who says that times have changed and what was once seen as sin is so no longer?  In other words, suggesting that there should be debate with God about what exactly constitutes sin.  

Les 2 -- 19 March 2014

After spending quite a bit of time on background material, we'll spend our time in the text this week.  You can be better prepared if you will spend some time working through the three questions below--all of which apply to chapter one.   Before you do, I want you to consider the setting of chapter one.  It is meant to bring to mind a courtroom.  Look carefully at the first phrase in vs. 2.  It is very close to the "All rise for the honorable judge so and so. . ." that we use in our day--except that the Lord is the presiding judge.   With that background in mind, read through chapter one with an eye toward answering the following questions:

1. What are the primary charges brought against the Jews of the southern kingdom?


2.  What evidence is brought forth to support the charges?  (At this point you might have to go back and re-think you answer to the first question.  For we need to make a distinction between the sins of the people, and the bigger issue between God and His people.  The big issues are the "charges" of question #1.  The sins of the people are then the evidence of question number 2.)


3.  Some say the Old Testament teaches law and the New Testament grace.  I disagree--for grace can be found throughout the Old Testament including in chapter one of the book of Isaiah!  Can you find it?  It consists of God's proposed solution to the charges against His people.  Another way of asking this is, "What does God want His people to do?"  Isn't this an amazing thing for the Holy One of Israel to propose?

Les 1 -- March 12th

In order to be ready to start our study in the book of Isaiah--please begin to read through the book.  Here is an outline to help you organize your reading.  (You might want to start by reading a little bit from each section in order to get a "flavor" of the overall book.)

Theme: the salvation (deliverance) of the Lord

I  Condemnation—(Chapters 1–35)

  A.  Sermons against Judah and Israel—(1–12)

  B.  Judgment against the Gentiles—(13–23)

  C.  Songs about Future Glory—(24–27)

  D.  Woes of Coming Judgment from Assyria—(28–35)

II   Historical Interlude—(36–39)

A.  Hezekiah delivered from Assyria—(36–37)

B.  Hezekiah deceived by illness—(38–39)

III  Consolation—(Chapters 40–66)

  A.   God’s Greatness—(40–48) (The Father vs. idols)

  B.   God’s Grace—(49–57) (The Son, God’s Servant)

  C.   God’s Glory—(58–66) (The Spirit and the kingdom)

Map of Judah and surrounding nations/cities of import