Today’s passage: Isaiah 7:1-9

Helpful thoughts:

• Perhaps Isaiah’s first assignment to Ahaz king of Judah was to tell him not to fear because God was in control.
  • Samaria thought that partnering with Syria would result in the fall of their own brothers in Jerusalem.  Instead, it brought about their own.
• You can read more about Ahaz in 2 Chronicles 28.  Judah lost these battles, but the city of Jerusalem was never captured.
• God’s message to Ahaz concluded with the charge to be strong in faith (He wasn’t), and that the kingdom would only be made firm through firm faith.

Questions to consider:

1. What should Ahaz have been more sure of after Israel and Syria’s plan failed?  Who should he have trusted and worshiped more?  Who did he end up worshiping (2 Chronicles 28:22-23)?
2. How does Ahaz’s response give a good example of God’s explanation to Isaiah, “Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
   
   keep on seeing, but do not perceive“?
3. What did Isaiah do when God told him to take this message to Ahaz?  Why do we sometimes take for granted the obedience of these prophets to take the message, even to kings, just as they are commanded?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 6

Helpful thoughts:

• Isaiah was not rebuked for having a low view of himself.  He had an accurate view of himself when he saw how he compared with God.  Isaiah needed atonement and freedom from his guilt (Not the feeling of guilt…actual guilt).
• 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• The people who would not listen to Isaiah’s message were already not listening.  Isaiah’s preaching was only going to make them more calloused.

Questions to consider:

1. What did the presence of the Lord in His holiness do to Isaiah?  How did Isaiah respond?
2. Why is it better to look at ourselves honestly and humbly compared to the Lord as opposed to looking at ourselves compared to other people?  Who is the standard?  If I think I am awesome, what will the result be?  How will I treat others differently?
3. Should people’s responses be the reason we do or don’t share the Gospel?  Why should we share the Gospel?  What is the greatest motivation?  How can you have joy regardless of the response?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 5:8-30

Helpful thoughts:

• These people were moving in closer together and consolidating their fields in order to work less and entertain themselves more.  It was a social construct that can not be maintained, and they suffered for it.
  • This group is going to the grave because they can’t stop playing around!
• Verse 18 (“Pulling iniquity with cords of falsehood”) illustrates these people as oxen who continually pull a cart behind them full of things that would hurt them.  Yet, they do it with joy and eager expectation for what the cart contains!
  • This mentality is not far from addiction.
• It is possible to wholeheartedly believe you are doing the right thing when you are doing a terrible thing.
  • Calling evil good and good evil
  • Being wise in your own eyes
• The preparedness of the invading armies seems to indicate these other nations had not fallen into the same lazy trap as Judah.

Questions to consider:

1. How is the Lord of Hosts exalted in justice when the person who has lived the party lifestyle suffers the natural consequences of their sin?  How is He proven to be right and true?
2. How much entertainment do you think is appropriate and how much do you think is too much?
3. Why is it so valuable to be an active member of the local church?  What do we need other believers to do for us in our lives when we are blind to our blindness?  Why is it more loving to speak these things to one another than to avoid it and hope it goes away?
4. Is our conscience automatically a perfect guide?  How must we train our consciences so that when we have conviction, we know it’s accurate?  What would we measure our conscience against to know if it’s accurate?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 5:1-7

Helpful thoughts:

• The name “Lord of Hosts” reminds us that God has never and will never know defeat.  Israel, Judah, the people of Jerusalem had the only God who could say that about themselves (Or, frankly, say anything at all).
• God’s “vineyard” in Israel wasn’t vineyards!  It wasn’t stuff that people can have.  It was the people themselves.
• Israel had everything she needed to grow and produce the “fruit” that God had planted her for.
  • God doesn’t exist to give Israel grapes.  Israel was there to be fruitful before God.

Questions to consider:

1. What is happening in our hearts when we start thinking that God is doing a good job or being slack depending on how much quality we perceive in our lives?  How is that mindset totally upside down?
2. Christian, did you plant God or has God planted you?  How does this change how you read the Bible, how you pray, how you view your purpose in life (Your “calling”)?
3. What kind of “fruit” should God be seeing coming from First Baptist Church? (Galatians 5:22-24, Matthew 28:18-20)

Today’s passage: Isaiah 4

Helpful thoughts:

• Verse 1 serves as the completion of the content of the third chapter.
• This “Branch” in verse 2 is Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 23:5).
• When God’s judgment is completed, the remnant who remains will be made holy/set apart unto God.  They will believe and worship Jesus.

Questions to consider:

1. When is “that day”?  When will the Branch return to rule and reign on this earth? (Not trying to predict a date…but think about the order of events in prophecy)
2. How did the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night show Israel God’s presence during the exodus?  What would it point forward to (Hint: Isaiah used the word “Create”)? (Revelation 21:1-3)
3. Why were these promises for the coming King and the New Heavens and New Earth time given to the people of Judah while they were living like we have seen describes over the last few chapters?  If I am in sin against God and I hear about what He is going to do, what is the only right response?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 3

Helpful thoughts:

• Because of their sin and it’s just consequences, no one worthy of leadership would even want to rule over Judah if they were chosen during this time.
• In the absence of godly leadership, it is hard not to see in this passage that the women of Judah are pushed into the role…but they take on the sinful activities of men as they walk with “outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet.”
  • These descriptions depict:
    • An outstretched neck would also result in a nose up in the air… being stuck up and proud…  Power!
    • Lustful gazes toward others, a sexual promiscuity…women being seducers.
    • The wealthy women would wear jewelry around their ankles.  When they walked about, they would do so in a way to ensure everyone heard all the money invested in their beauty.
• This societal structure turns out very badly!

Questions to consider:

1. Is it ever OK for men to act like these women were acting in Judah?  Would it be right to “Change things back” to men being proud and stuck up, seducing and flaunting their wealth?  Is that a right representation of manliness?  What does the fact that the women in Judah turned to very similar sins in their role of prominence teach us about the human heart?
2. How does a passage like this remind the Christian that our role is a counter-cultural one?  If a society is headed these directions, what are the righteous (By God’s grace through the shed blood of Jesus) to do?  What does verse 10 say?
3. How sad would it be if the Church only sought cultural reform and abandoned the ministry of the Gospel?  What is the mission of the Church?  To whose kingdom does it belong?  What is the ONLY effective way to bring sincere righteousness to ANY nation?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 2

Helpful thoughts:

• Everything will one day be made right…but not before judgment.
• When God is on the throne, there won’t even be a reason to learn about war.  God will judge perfectly and justice will be had all over the earth.
• The major contrast of this chapter is the exaltation of the Lord versus the lofty pride of man.

Questions to consider:

1. Why would worshiping false idols be considered lofty pride?  Who made the idols?  Why do people worship them instead of the true God?
2. What can we learn about the time of Christ’s return through verses 2-5?  In what ways will things be different?  In what ways might things be similar to the way life is now?
3. How does the exultation of the Lord in our lives change how we live now?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 1:21-31

Helpful thoughts:

• The faithful city of Jerusalem had become unfaithful.  The impurities/contamination of sin had made their silver into dross and watered down their fine wine.
• Not only did the leaders not help the helpless (The fatherless and the widows), they even took bribes or gifts to allow others to continue taking advantage of them.
• Lye is a chemical that can expose pure metal.

Questions to consider:

1. Who will be able to enjoy the restored Jerusalem?  Who will not?
2. What would be the end result of the pagan worship that occurred with the oaks and the gardens?  How would the people feel about their participation in idolatry?
3. How does a desire to care for the fatherless and the widow show a repentant and loving heart?  Why should we seek to care for them?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 1:1-20

Helpful thoughts:

• Isaiah prophesied during the decline of Israel and also to the kingdom of Judah.  His ministry took place leading up to and quite possible after 700 B.C., through the reigns of four kings in Judah.
• Forsaking and despising the Lord are held as parallel acts.  To forsake the Lord is to despise Him.
  • As we also saw in Hosea, the people of Judah have NOT stopped their sacrifices and religious practices to the Lord, but their heart was not in it.  They were abusing what God had given them for their own inferior/counterfeit personal gain.
• Judah has sunk from the heights of the days of David and Solomon’s reigns to appearing like a temporary tent in a field.

Questions to consider:

1. Why were there still people in Judah who were following after the Lord? (Verse 9)
2. Why is God not satisfied with people simply going through the motions?  Why shouldn’t we be satisfied with going through the motions?  What are we robbing ourselves of if we are only doing good things in order to check off a list and move on to something else?
3. What did God promise repentance would result in?  Would the people of Judah had actually been clean?  Would all of their old sin have simply disappeared?  What would God need to do to wash them clean?  How should we compare verses 16-20 with a passage like Ephesians 2:8-10?