Today’s passage: Isaiah 50

Helpful thoughts:

• The answer to the first question in verse 1 is this:  There is no certificate of divorce for Judah.  God is still joined to her and He will fulfill His covenant promises.
• Verses 4-11 are again from the voice of the Messiah.
• Jesus set his face like a flint to go to the cross (Luke 9:51).

Questions to consider:

1. If we ever feel as though God has failed to show Himself strong enough, by what standard (Or by whose standard) are we judging Him?  How did God prove or how has God proven Himself over and over to Israel? To us?
2. What is the reason and the means of Christ being presented a bride “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish?” (Ephesians 5:27)
3. What is the natural condition of the bride?  What is she prone to do even after being set apart (After our conversion)?  What did it take to make us holy/to set us apart?  Whose doing will produce our perfection?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 49

Helpful thoughts:

• The body of the life inside a mother’s womb is a different body (Verse 1).  “My body, my choice” is a false assertion.  When Jesus was in Mary’s womb, Jesus was in Mary’s womb.  To abort is to take the life of another.
• The Messiah is speaking in the first person in verses 1-5 and He is the “you” in verses 6-8.
  • Even is verse 3, the Messiah is referred to as “Israel” being the nation’s representative as king.
  • Verse 4 depicts the apparent failure of Christ’s first coming (From the world’s perspective)…but His ultimate victory.
• The in-gathering of God’s people from among the nations will be too many for the land to handle in the millennial kingdom (Verses 19-21).
  • Instead of fighting against Israel for their land, the nations will assist and join Israel under the reign of Jesus Christ.

Questions to consider:

1. How far will God’s salvation reach (Verse 6)?  Why did the Gospel message concerning the Light of the world, reach you in this foreign land?  Who promised that and brought it about?
2. How do these promises from God compare to the old saying, “God helps those who help themselves?”  What condition will Israel be in and why will that glorify God?
3. No matter what your news feed says when you check it in a few minutes, who is going to rule and reign on this earth?  Who wins in the end?  Whose “side” should you be on today in light of that truth?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 48

Helpful thoughts:

• James 1:22-25 – Be a doer of the Word of God and not a hearer only.
  • Israel declared themselves God’s people, yet “faith without works is dead”…and “there is no peace for the wicked.”
• God will not give His glory to another.  No one else deserves it!
  • God must always defend His great name.
• The “new things” God announces to Israel speak of the Messiah (Verses 14-17) and of the “Babylon” of the book of Revelation.

Questions to consider:

1. Why might this rebuke have come as a surprise to the people?  Who did they think they were?  How did they see themselves?  Will a person who calls themselves a Christian ever assume they are not one?  How are you growing in being a doer of the Word?
2. Why is it so important for us that God guards His glory and honor?  Whose people are we?  What does our salvation rest in?  If God failed to be glorious, what would that make of our faith and our hope?
3. Why can you have peace in your heart in the midst of these days?  What has God done for us through Christ that took away our “wicked” standing?  What will Jesus do no matter what the world thinks it can accomplish?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 47

Helpful thoughts:

• The Babylonian Empire was defeated by the Persians.  Babylons change is depicted as going from high class princess to a servant girl in only one day.
• Babylon said of herself, “I am, and there is no one besides me.”  But God is the Lord of Hosts and the Redeemer of His people.  He has never and He will never be defeated.
  • Compare the statement, “There is no one besides me.” with what God says of Babylon in verse 15, “There is no one to save you.”
• Even when God was allowing His people to be disciplined for their sin, they were still His people and He defended them.

Questions to consider:

1. What would be the right conclusion concerning the use of horoscopes after reading verses 13-14?  Should we be looking to the stars to discern our future?  Who holds and secures our future?
2. Did the way Babylon felt about their significance and safety produce significance and safety?  Did feeling highly about themselves keep them out of trouble or did it get them into more trouble?  If the answers to our problems are inside of us, then what role is God supposed to play?  What is the biblical, God-honoring, true response to this kind of thinking?
3. The great empire of Babylon fell in a day (Daniel 5:24-31).  Who is your rock?  How can you know that your feet are firm on solid ground no matter what happens in the world around us?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 46

Helpful thoughts:

• Bel and Nebo are names of false gods from Babylon.
• It is perfectly logical to be amazed by and submit to God…
  • All other gods are fake.
  • God is holy, righteous and sovereign.  Even the birds go where He tells them (Verse 11).
• …and yet, righteousness and salvation have to come to His people against their stubbornness (Verse 12)!  There will only be salvation and righteousness given to people because God has decreed it so.
  • Romans 3:10-12

Questions to consider:

1. Why is it right to believe and obey God?  Why are you glad to be a Christian?
2. What are some of the “gods” of our culture?  Why does fearing God and following Christ make so much more sense than any other options that the world gives?
3. What would we be without God’s grace?  Who deserves the praise for our eternal life and sanctification?  How does the necessity of God’s grace for our repentance and salvation bring Him glory?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 45

Helpful thoughts:

• God is not just active/involved in the lives of those who know Him or believe in Him.  God is sovereign over everyone and every thing.
• God never commands His children to do anything in vain (Verse 19).
• John 14:6 is true all over the world.

Questions to consider:

1. Do you sometimes feel like your unsaved friends, family, co-workers, etc. are outside of God’s “jurisdiction”?  Is that true?  Why can you be totally confident and loving in sharing Christ with them?
2. How could this passage be an encouragement or correct our thinking when we are tempted to envy the world’s “success”?  What words are spoken to those who reject God in verse 9?
3. What would be an accurate response to the person who says, “I can’t/won’t believe in a God who does that?” (Verse 11)

Today’s passage: Isaiah 44

Helpful thoughts:

• Every “little ‘g’ god” in this world is the invention of man.  There is only one God who truly exists.
• False gods are invented in order to be a benefit to their inventors.  But they do not profit their inventors.
  • The only true “profit” for the idolater is the lie that they could successfully reject the true God…they’re blinded.
• Though we all would be liars and idolaters, the Lord has:
  • Opened our blind eyes.
  • Blotted out our transgressions.
  • Redeemed us.

Questions to consider:

1. What “profits” do we hope to receive through idolatry?  What are the things we tend to want more than what God gives?  What do these “profits” result in?
2. What parts does God play in our existence and life?  When anyone would think that false gods (Or no God at all) are acting, what error have we made?  Does it ever profit us to go elsewhere or to prefer a Godless moment?
3. Who is our Redeemer?  What did He redeem us from?