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.