Isaiah Bible Studies



Isaiah Bible Studies

Members’ Version

Study 1 – Isaiah’s World

Isaiah The Man

|king |years |Isaiah’s position |chapters of prophecy |

|Uzziah |died |commissioned as prophet |(6) |

|(fairly godly) |740 bc | | |

|Jotham |740-735 |young man; prophesied to king and |1-6 |

|(somewhat godly) | |capital; unpopular | |

|Ahaz |735-727 |young to middle-aged; well known as |7-12 |

|(ungodly) |(750-715) |prophet; suspected of disloyalty |(15-17?) |

|Hezekiah |727-687 |middle-aged to elderly; trusted |13-14, |

|(godly) |(715-681) |advisor to the king; resented by |23-35 |

| | |rival counselors | |

|Manasseh |687-642 |elderly; wrote prophecies for future|36-66 |

|(ungodly) |(699-641) |generations | |

Uzziah: Prosperity

1. The Lord commissioned Isaiah to be a prophet in the year Uzziah died. According to Isaiah 6:1-13, what was this prophet's mission?

Jotham: Delay

2. Isaiah probably delivered the prophecies of 1:1-5:30 during Jotham's reign. To get an idea of his message at that time, read 1:18-26. What did Isaiah say to Jerusalem?

Isaiah Timeline

[pic]

Ahaz: Folly

3. Isaiah spoke 7:1-12:6 at various times during Ahaz's reign. What counsel did he give Ahaz when Syria and Israel threatened (7:3-4, 9)?

4. How did God encourage Isaiah during this crisis?

• 8:11-15

• 9:2-7

Hezekiah: Hope

5. When some of Hezekiah's counselors advised him to join Egypt against Assyria, what was Isaiah's word from God (30:1-5, 15-18)?

6. Because Hezekiah ignored Isaiah, Sennacherib invaded Judah. What message did the Lord give in Hezekiah's desperate hour (37:30-35)?

Into the Future

7. What encouragement did God prepare for the exiled Jews a century before they were born?

• 40:1-5

• 45:1-4

8. What further promises did the Lord reveal through Isaiah?

• 42:1-4

• 65:17-19

9. You've had a whirlwind tour of Isaiah's book. Much of it you may not understand. If so, don't worry. What are your first impressions of Isaiah and his message? (First impressions may include Isaiah's style, topics, emotions, attitudes toward God and the people of Judah, etc.)

Application

10. Is there any response you would like to make to something you observed in Isaiah's book? If so, jot down your thoughts and plans.

11. If you have any questions about the historical background or the passages in this lesson, record them here. Also, write down any questions about the book of Isaiah that you would like to answer as you study.

Study 2 – A Hollow Religion

Isaiah Chapter 1:1-31

1. Someone once said, "The history of religious movements is: Man—Movement—Monument." Why do you think that there is a tendency in religious movements to become formal, empty, ritualized and, finally, fossilized?

READ Isaiah 1:1-31

2. In Isaiah 1:2-3 the Lord summons heaven and earth to be witnesses of his accusations against his people. What is the force of the two metaphors the Lord uses to describe his people's unreasonable and rebellious conduct?

3. Both the nation (Isaiah 1:4) and the country (Isaiah 1:7) are in a shocking condition. What vivid pictures of sinfulness do Isaiah 1:4-9 provide?

4. In what ways have heaven and earth witnessed the same sinfulness and the same results in your life and your society?

5. These people who Isaiah 1:2-9 speak of were religious! How does God react in Isaiah 1:10-15 to all of their religious commotion?

6. Describe the kind of life that God is asking them to lead instead (Isaiah 1:16-17).

7. From your own experience, explain why it is much harder to fulfill the moral requirements of Isaiah 1:16-17 than just to go through the ritual activities mentioned in Isaiah 1:10-15?

8. Pass over Isaiah 1:18-20 for the moment and look at Isaiah 1:21-26. You will notice that these verses are framed by reference to "the faithful city" (Jerusalem or Zion). Life in the capital reflects life in the nation. What picture do these verses give of life in Jerusalem?

9. God's judgment is compared in Isaiah 1:25-31 to a refining (Isaiah 1:25) and destroying (Isaiah 1:31) fire. Who will this judgment fall on?

10. Now return to Isaiah 1:18-20. Some scholars think Isaiah 1:18 is a sardonic or cynical question, but traditionally it has been understood as a gracious invitation by humanity's Accuser and Judge.

a. What does this invitation offer?

b. What does it threaten?

11. Evaluate your own religious practices in the midst of your own society with all its needs. What reorientation does your life require if your religion is not to be just a burden—to you and to God?

Study 3 – A Hope that never tires

Isaiah Chapter 40:1-31

Throughout history, God the Holy One, God the Gracious One, unwearyingly speaks to his people, revealing himself as a God of grace, an incomparably great God, and a God who is in charge of the movements of history, even when a tyrant arises to terrify the world. The nations in terror turn to their idols.

READ Isaiah 40:1-31

1. God had shown Isaiah that His people Judah would be defeated by the Babylonians as punishment for centuries of faithless idolatry. He also showed the prophet a time of future restoration and glory for a purified remnant. Judah would know God by watching Him keep His Word.

How did Isaiah preview the message of chapters 40–66? (Isaiah 40:1, 2)

2. The word comfort in the Bible has more in common with the words fortress and fortitude than the word comfortable. Unpack the resilience and inner strength of this idea of comfort.

3. Isaiah foresaw a forerunner of the day of the Lord. In part John the Baptist fulfilled this mission (Luke 3:4–6). Part of the prophecy still refers to a future time. What does the voice in the wilderness say about the glory of God and the glory of humanity?

• The glory of God (Isaiah 40:3–5)

• The glory of humanity (Isaiah 40:6–8)

     

Bible Extra

4. Deserts, valleys and mountains are hindrances to transport and communication. If all people are to see the glory of the Lord, these obstacles must be removed. What obstacles do you and your small group or church face in both your local witness and global missions efforts? How can these obstacles be removed?

5. Use a Bible concordance and look up as many New Testament references to “glory” as you can in ten minutes. List below all those references in which “glory” refers clearly to Jesus Christ the person or to His works. In what ways is Christ, the glory of God, revealed and shining forth in the world today? From what you know about Bible prophecy concerning the Second Coming of Christ, in what ways will His yet-future revelation manifest the glory of God more fully?

6. What are the good tidings Jerusalem will proclaim in the future? (Isaiah 40:9–11)

7. When have you known God’s power, and when have you known his gentleness, as in verses 10-11?

8. This picture of the Messiah as a shepherd invokes other key Bible passages comparing God’s care for His people with a shepherd’s care for a flock. Look up the following verses and note briefly what the image of a shepherd communicates about God and His Messiah, Jesus:

Psalm 80:1

Ezekiel 34:23

Micah 5:4

John 10:1–18

9. From the soaring vision of God in verses 12-17, Isaiah presents a sweeping critique of idolatry in verses 18-20. How does Isaiah’s approach compare to the way in which we handle idolatry in the church today?

10. What is wrong with the creative processes idolaters go through to conceive their gods? (Isaiah 40:18–20)

11. What is the living God like who promises to come near and comfort His people? (Isaiah 40:21–26)

12. What conclusions can we draw based on Isaiah 40?

• About God (Isaiah 40:27, 28)

• About those who trust Him (Isaiah 40:29–31)

13. Notice the order of words soar, run, walk in verse 31. What reasons can you suggest for the unusual order of these promises?

Faith Alive

14. In what circumstances of your life has God shown Himself to you as the awesome God who is greater than anyone can begin to imagine? In what circumstances of your life has God shown Himself to you as the healing God who cares for you like a gentle Shepherd?

Study 4 – God Verses The Idols

Isaiah Chapter 41:1-29

READ Isaiah 41:1-29

1. God called all of the ancient nations into His courtroom (Isaiah 41:1). For the first time, Isaiah’s prophecy leaped ahead and looked back on the defeat of Babylon by Persia under the leadership of Cyrus (v. 2). Through the rest of Isaiah, Cyrus is viewed as an unwitting servant of the Lord to restore Judah to the Promised Land. How did Isaiah describe Cyrus the Persian’s mission? (Isaiah 41:2–4)

2. Read Isaiah 41:7 and 21-29. God is raising up a mighty world conqueror from the northeast (a reference to Cyrus the Medo-Persian). What is the people’s panic-stricken response to this emergency?

3. Read Isaiah 41:8-20. What three images of comfort and encouragement strengthen Israel in these traumatic times?

4. How did the Lord counsel His people to respond to the Persian conqueror? (Isaiah 41:8–10)

5. What did the Lord promise would eventually happen in the relations between the mighty nations and puny Israel? (Isaiah 41:11–16)

6. What does God promise to do for the helpless among those who depend on Him? (Isaiah 41:17–20)

7. What was the first challenge the Holy One of Israel issued to the idols and what was its result? (Isaiah 41:21–24)

8. How did the idols do in delivering the nations (including Judah when she trusted them) from the conquerors the living God sent among them? (Isaiah 41:25–29)

9. Why do you think we are tempted to give our allegiance to things around us that are ultimately of our own devising rather than to the living God?

10. What can we do to keep our spiritual focus on the Holy One of Israel instead of worldly sources of security and power?

Study 5 –The Spirit-Anointed Servant of the Lord

Isaiah Chapter 42:1-25

READ Isaiah 42:1-25

1. How did the Lord describe His Servant and the servant’s mission? (Isaiah 42:1–4)

2. What positive and negative phrases are used to describe God’s servant in verses 1-4?

3. Isaiah 40:1–4 is taken up in key passages in the Gospels. Look up the following references, and write down the phrases that come from this passage in Isaiah. Then tell what the portions from Isaiah seem to mean as they are used in the Gospels.

Matthew 12:9–21

Luke 3:21–22

Luke 4:1, 14–21

4. In verses 5-9 God addresses his servant. What has God done and what will God do for the servant according to verses 5-9?

5. How would you summarize the servant’s functions or duties according to verses 1-9?

6. In what ways does the description of the servant and his ministry foreshadow our Lord’s person and work?

7. In what respect or respects does this passage challenge you – your character, your service?

8. What vivid similes do verses 10-17 use to describe the Lord at work?

9. What response to the news of the Servant’s mission did Isaiah request from the farthest gentile nations (the coastlands) and the nearby tribes of Arabia (Kedar) and Edom (Sela)? (Isaiah 42:10–13)

     

10. What role did the Word of God play in the judgment facing God’s people in Isaiah’s day? (Isaiah 42:21–25)

11. How do verses 18-25 describe the state of the people of Israel?

     

12. Both you and the Lord Jesus can be called servants of the Lord. How is your role as a servant similar to and different from Christ’s role as the Servant?

• Similar

• Different

13. Promises are needed because people are so often liars. But every word of God is a promise – what he says he will do. Look in this chapter at the verbs that God is the subject of. Which one or ones can you take as a personal promise of God to you now?

Study 6 –The Redeemer of Israel and His Counterfeits

Isaiah Chapter 42:1-25

READ Isaiah 42:1-25

1. Why did the Lord insist Israel had no reason to fear in the present? (Isaiah 43:1–4)

2. Why did the Lord say Israel’s descendants had no reason to fear in the future? (Isaiah 43:5–7)

3. What could Israel—even spiritually blind and deaf Israel—testify about the Lord to the nations? (Isaiah 43:8–13)

4. What would Israel—spiritually restored Israel—be able in the future to testify concerning the Lord to the nations? (Isaiah 43:14–21)

5. How did the Lord, who stands ready to blot out His people’s sins, evaluate the spiritual condition of Judah that necessitated the Babylonian captivity? (Isaiah 43:22–28)

6. After stating categorically that Judah’s sins would lead to judgment, the Lord called the nation His servant once more (Isaiah 44:1) and for the third time in this section urged the people not to fear (v. 2). What future blessings would the Spirit of God bring to His people? (Isaiah 44:3–5)

     

7. List the names of God found in Isaiah 44:6–8 and briefly express what each means to you.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

8. The living God arranges the course of history and He can prepare His people for it in advance (Isaiah 44:7, 8). The idols are powerless. They ordain nothing; they foretell nothing; they redeem no one. How did the idolaters bear witness against themselves? (Isaiah 44:9–12)

9. What are the fallacies in the story of making an idol in Isaiah 44:13–20?

• Logical fallacies

• Spiritual fallacies

10. Isaiah 44:21–23 contains a short psalm in which the Lord reminded Israel that He was their Redeemer and in which Isaiah invited the heavens and earth to praise Him for that redemption. Write yourself a reminder of all God has done for you as your Redeemer. Write it as Isaiah did from God’s point of view (“Remember what I have done for you”). Write a response of praise to God your Redeemer. Feel free to call on anyone or anything else to join you in praising the Lord. [1]

Study 7 – A Light to the Gentiles

Isaiah Chapter 49:1-7

READ Isaiah 49:1-7

1. Isaiah 49:1-7 consists of the servant’s message. In Isaiah 49:1-3 the servant of the Lord describes the Lord's call. What phrases in these verses describe the Lord's comprehensive preparation of his servant?

2. Is the Servant's task easy and completely joyful? What does He say about this in 49:4?

3. The Lord calls His Servant "Israel" in 49:3, yet what is His mission (49:5-6)? How would you resolve the seemingly conflicting idea – ‘Israel ministering to Israel’?

4. How do people respond to the Servant at first (49:7)? What two different views of the Servant are described in 49:6-7?

5. Review the servant's reactions in Isaiah 49:1-7 to the Lord's call. How does he look to the past and to the future for his encouragement?

6. Look up these passages, and note the ways that the New Testament says Isaiah 49:5, 6 are fulfilled.

• Luke 2:25–35

• Acts 13:42–48

7. How has the Lord Jesus served as a light (Is. 49:6) to show you the way to walk in the darkness of the world?

8. How can you refresh the attitude of your thanks and praise to God this week for including you in His plan of salvation?

Reference: Hayford, J. W., & Snider, J. (1997, c1996). Welcoming the Saving Reign of God : A study of Isaiah. Spirit-Filled Life Bible Discovery Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Study 8 – The Restoration of Israel

Isaiah Chapter 49:8-26

READ Isaiah 49:8-26

1. What is the significance for the Servant to ‘be’ a covenant for the people (Isaiah 49:8)?

2. The Lord is going to save his people, and the servant is going to be the mediator of his covenant with the people. How does Isaiah 49:7-12 describe different aspects of God's salvation?

3. In what ways does Isaiah 49:8-12 give a foretaste of the ministry of Jesus Christ?

4. What is the full meaning of "comforts" and "will have compassion" in Isaiah 49:13? Why is this a reason for the universe to start singing? 

5. Summarize the message the Lord gave to Isaiah in response to the people of Judah who felt that He had abandoned them because of their sins (Is. 49:14). By what arguments does the Lord refute the complaint in Isaiah 49:15-18?

6. What will be the future attitude of the nations to Israel? (Is. 49:22–24) What comfort would this bring to Israel?

7. What will be the fate of those nations that oppress the people of God? (Is. 49:24–26) How did the prophet Isaiah reveal that God is Lord of the whole earth?

8. What does it mean to you to know that a mother is more likely to forget her nursing child than the Lord is to stop caring about you?

9. How do God’s promises to Israel help you to face your daily challenges? In what particular area of insecurity can you remind yourself of God’s great love for you?

Reference: Hayford, J. W., & Snider, J. (1997, c1996). Welcoming the Saving Reign of God : A study of Isaiah. Spirit-Filled Life Bible Discovery Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Study 9

Isaiah Chapter 50:1-11

These first few verses are God’s response to the accusation that he had forsaken and forgotten Israel when they were taken away into Exile (Isaiah 49:14). The mother of Israel which is referred to in verse 1 is a metaphor for Zion (i.e. Jerusalem, their capital and the place of the temple).

READ Isaiah 50:1-3

1. What reasons are given for Israel’s captivity?

2. Was God forced to give them up? Why?

3. The drying up of the sea, the death of the fish, and the turning the sky to darkness, all allude to miracles which God performed when he rescued Israel from captivity in Egypt. Why would these references be important for Israel during Isaiah’s time?

4. What should Israel have done instead of blaming God for their situation?

5. When things are going badly for you, do you ever blame God? What should our response be?

READ Isaiah 50:4-9

These verses contain the words of ‘the Servant’ (verse 10).

6. What reason, if any, is given for the servant’s suffering?

7. Describe the servant’s attitude towards God. How does it compare with the attitude of Israel?

8. Which of Israel’s prophets never turned away from God’s will like the Servant (verse 5)? (You may like to look up the following verses: Exodus 4:10-13, Jeremiah 19:7-18, John 4:28-29).

Read Isaiah 50:10-11

These verses contain Isaiah’s instructions to Israel.

9. Why has Isaiah told Israel about the servant?

10. What can we learn from the servant about how to respond to suffering? (You may also like to read 1 Peter 4:12-19). Spend some time praying for those who are suffering at the moment.

Study 10

Isaiah Chapter 51:1-16.

1. How can Israel be sure that the Lord will surely comfort Zion (verse 3)?

2. Three times God says to listen to him and here what he has to say. Who is this passage addressed to and why is it so important that they should listen to God rather than men?

3. In what way is our situation similar to Israel? What makes you forget God?

4. What is the greatest comfort given to the people? What comforts us in difficult times?

5. Imagine you have a friend who was tempted to give up on Christianity because he/she was going through hard times. How would you encourage him/her from this passage?

Read Isaiah 51:17-23.

6. What has made Israel’s situation so bad?

7. Does God treat us the same way as Israel?

8. Would you describe the overall mood of this passage as ‘gloomy’ or ‘joyful’? Justify your answer.

9. Does your heart match the mood of this passage? Spend some time praying that it does.

Study 11

Read Isaiah 52:1-6.

1. Why is God’s name being blasphemed?

2. What does it mean that God’s people will know his name?

3. How should Israel respond? Do we need the same encouragement?

Read Isaiah 52:7-12.

4. What is the message that the messenger brings? Why would this be good news for Israel?

5. What is the relationship between this message and the Christian Gospel?

6. Describe the mood of Isaiah and the messenger? If we have the gospel, what is stopping us from feeling the same way?

Read Isaiah 52:13-15.

7. List the actions of the servant in chronological order. Who does the servant remind you of?

8. Read Romans 15:20-22. Are we as eager to tell people the gospel as Paul was? What things are stopping us? Spend some time reflecting and praying about this.

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[1]Hayford, J. W., & Snider, J. (1997, c1996). Welcoming the Saving Reign of God : A study of Isaiah. Spirit-Filled Life Bible Discovery Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

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