Hope Christian Fellowship Church Tuesday Night Bible Study

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

�

Continued Study of Major Prophet

Isaiah

Tonight’s Class

Agenda �

�  More Introductory Nuggets

� Background

� Prophecy

�  Read/Study – Isaiah 40:1-10; 25-31

� Discussion

� Application

� Closing Prayer 3

�Written over 700 years before Jesus came to this earth, yet it contains clear and accurate prophecies concerning His birth, life and death

�Often referred to as the 5th Gospel (The New

Testament contains 66 direct quotes from Isaiah, with 20 of the 27 books containing a quote from Isaiah.

� The Book of Isaiah has been called “The Little Bible”

Introduction �

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�Book of Isaiah is split into 2 main sections

�Section 1: Chapter s1-39 (The Judgment of God) �Section 2: Chapters 40-66 (God’s Grace & Comfort via the Messiah)

� How many chapters in Isaiah? Bible? � Mathematical Oddity?

Introduction �

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�Isaiah’s ministry occurred at critical time in Judah’s history (739 BC)

�Two groups appeared in one nation � One sought alliance with Egypt; the other Syria �Isaiah forbade human alliances and urged the nation

to trust God only. �Israel under Jeroboam II and Judah under Hezekiah

both experienced great prosperity and political power

Background �

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�Seeds of destruction had germinated and almost reached maturity in both nations in the form of idolatry and its attendant vices, personal immorality and political corruption.

�Assyria was the great power to the northeast, the

Nazi Germany of ancient history, which would with incredible cruelty conquer the Middle East.

�Assyria reached the height of its power and

threatened to overwhelm the Jews. They began the destruction of Israel by deporting it’s upper class citizens, the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Background �

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�Citizens of pagan countries were brought to Israel and an idolatrous mixture of paganism and worship of the Lord was introduced.

�These people intermarried with the Israelites left in

the land and the resultant people became the Samaritans of Jesus’ day.

�Assyria totally and finally destroyed the Northern

Kingdom (Samaria or Israel); and but for the dependence on the Lord of Isaiah and Hezekiah, would have annihilated Judah as well.

Background �

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�Then Assyrian King Sennacherib seized King Hezekiah and Jerusalem, Judah’s capital.

�This was a crucial time in Israel’s history and Isaiah

was the man of the hour! �Amos and Hosea had been sent to warn Samaria, but

Israel did not heed the warning. �Isaiah and his younger lees known contemporary,

Micah, successfully admonished Judah

Background �

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�Isaiah in the capital, Jerusalem, prophesied to all classes of people, from kings to commoners.

�Micah preached to the common people in the

villages and countryside. �With Judah’s deliverance from King Sennacherib

(Chapters 36-37), Isaiah turned his attention to the future menace of Babylon (chapter 39) and a future day of glory for God’s people under the reign of Messiah (Christ).

Background �

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�Prophet: One who spoke for God and received a divine call or commission

�Prophets (men and women) did not speak their own

opinions, but “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

�God revealed His Word and will to the prophets in

several ways, but principally by dreams and visions (Numbers 12:6)

Prophecy �

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�Isaiah, more than most prophets, was blessed with divinely inspired visions of future events.

�Isaiah described what he saw in his mind. Thus he

used present tense though what he saw might have been far in the future.

�Events of his time appeared close to or even

touching occurrences separated by centuries (think of a painting, where distant mountains seem to touch nearby hills). Intervening events were not seen just as valleys between hills and mountains are not seen in paintings. Messiah was Isaiah’s vision!

Prophecy �

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Read Isaiah 40: 1-31

Study �

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Isaiah 40:1-2 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. �After 400 years of silence among prophets, this was

the first Word received from God. Why is this significant. What does the shift signify?

Discussion �

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Isaiah 40:3-5 A  voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” �Who is the voice in the desert place? What is the

highway?

Discussion �

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Isaiah 40:9-10 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.

�Who is the carrier of good tidings? What is their

responsibility?

Discussion �

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Isaiah 40:25-27 ‘To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be like him?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?’

�What is God saying in this Text?

Discussion �

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Isaiah 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

�What does God’s response convey?

Discussion �

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�So what is our task?

Our need is to WAIT ON THE LORD! �This is not a passive sitting and waiting for

something to happen. It is an active seeking, relying and hopeful expectation upon the Lord to supply the strength that you need.

Application �

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