It’s Time to Begin! {Intro and Resources for Isaiah 44-66}

Cue the Confetti!  It’s time to begin!!!  I am so excited to begin our study of Isaiah 44-66 with you!

{If you do not have the optional Journal yet – it’s available on Amazon but it will take a few days to ship – so if you want it right now – you can buy the digital version —> here.}

The name Isaiah means salvation is of the Lord.  

Isaiah brought to Israel and Judah, a message of judgement for their rebellion but also a message of hope for salvation, through the coming Messiah. 

For the first part of Isaiah, Isaiah focuses on God’s judgement of Israel. Isaiah’s message is one of condemnation for their faithless rebellion against God.  God’s people had turned their back on God and had become like the other nations around them. God would use the Assyrians and Babylonians to bring judgement upon them.  Isaiah called on God’s people to turn back and seek the Lord and he assures them that after judgement, a godly remnant would remain.

For the second part of Isaiah, Isaiah announces that Israel’s punishment and exile is over, and salvation has come.  We see that God is faithful to his covenant promises.  No other prophet is quoted in the New Testament as much as Isaiah.  Isaiah foretold the coming King of Israel, who would rule in justice and peace and would bear their sins.

The book of Isaiah offers the most complete prophetic picture of Jesus Christ in the entire Old Testament.  Some of the prophecies fulfilled in Christ from the book of Isaiah are:

• He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
• He would be spit on and struck (Isaiah 50:6)
• He would be disfigured by suffering (Isaiah 52:14; 53:2)
• He would be rejected (Isaiah 53:1-3)
• He would bear our sins (Isaiah 53:4-5, 12)
• He would voluntarily die like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7)
• He would heal the blind, lame, deaf, diseased, broken hearted and raise from the dead (Isaiah 26:19, Isaiah 29:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-2)
• He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9)
• He would return to claim his own (Isaiah 60:2-3). 
  
  Because of all of these prophecies fulfilled in Christ, this book is a book of hope and salvation from the Lord.

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Overview of Isaiah 44-66

The Purpose:  God used Isaiah to proclaim judgement to his people, so they would repent and turn back to him.  He also used Isaiah’s message of coming hope and salvation, to be a comfort to them.

The Author: Isaiah was a well-educated prophet, who was married, with two children.  Tradition holds that Isaiah was martyred by being sawn in two. Isaiah ministered during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  Isaiah was a contemporary to the prophets Hosea and Micah.  More about Israel’s history during this time period can be found in 2 Kings 15-21 and 2 Chronicles 26-33. 

Time Period: 740-680 B.C.

Key Verse: Isaiah 12:2
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

The Outline:

Message of Judgement (1-35)

• The coming judgement of Israel and Judah (1-5)
  • Isaiah’s calling (6-7)
  • Judgement and hope (8-12)
  • Judgement of the other nations (13-24)
  • Promised restoration (25-27)
  • Judgement and salvation (28-35)

Isaiah and Hezekiah (36-39)

Messages of Comfort and Salvation (40-66)

• The Lord’s plan of restoration for Israel (40-45)
• The fall of Babylon (46-48)
• Salvation through the servant (49-56)
• Call to repentance (57-59)
• Glorious salvation (60-65)
• God’s righteous and final judgement (66)

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For an even more in-depth Introduction to this week’s reading, watch this video. It is a great explanation of Isaiah!

NOW LET’S GET STARTED!

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This Week’s Bible Reading Plan:

(Facebook Leaders:  You can use this as your Facebook Header this week. Just right click and “save as” or screen shot it.)

This week’s Reflection & Discussion Questions

(Leaders: Copy and paste these into your groups.  If you do not have a group, use these for a personal time of reflection.)

Chapter 44

Isaiah 43 ends with God warning his people of coming judgement and Isaiah 44 opens with God inviting his people to turn back to him. In their foolishness, they had turned to handmade idols.  And the Lord, the King of Israel said: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”  An idol has a beginning because someone has to make it and it has an ending – it may break or get old, but God is self-existing with no beginning and no end.  There is no god like our God!

In Revelation 1:8, Jesus says he is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  He is eternal, all powerful and worthy of all of our worship.  Our God is a solid rock and foundation to build our life upon.  But sometimes we can be tempted to take our focus and trust off of God and put it onto other things.  An idol can be anything or anyone that takes the place of God in our lives.  It may be a sinful thing, but it could actually be a good thing as well.  Is there anything in your life that is pulling you away from God? Has it become an idol?  Confess it now to the Lord and renew your steadfast love to God.

Chapter 45

Isaiah prophesied 200 years before Cyrus was even born that he would be the deliverer of Israel.  God sovereignly planned to raise him up and use him for his purposes and his plans.  Over and over this passage focuses on how God is the creator, and he is in control of all things.  There is no other God in all the earth.  He alone saves and all we must do to be saved is to simply turn to him and repent and believe. 

God created the heavens and the earth, and he also created salvation and righteousness.  He made both the physical and spiritual world – the seen and unseen.  He is the Lord and there is no other God but him.  How does your faith grow when you consider how great, mighty and sovereign your God is?  In what area of your life do you need to trust him more?

Chapter 46

God named and called out the false gods that had failed to save Israel.  The Babylonian gods had been humiliated and taken into captivity.   While these idols had to be carried by the people as they rode on their donkeys into captivity, the God of Israel made it clear that he both carries and delivers his people.

God will never leave you.  He made you. He will carry you and save you.  From your birth into old age, he is completely faithful.   How have you experienced God carrying you in in the past?  How does it encourage you to be reminded that in the future, when you are gray haired and old in age, he will continue to carry you? 

Chapter 47

Babylon was proud of their defeat of Judah and Jerusalem, but Babylon did not know that God was allowing them to win because he was using them to judge his people.  They had grown prideful, so God turned and humbled Babylon.  As Isaiah watches God at work saving his people and bringing Babylon low, he praises God as the Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah calls God their redeemer.  He paid the price for his people.  Isaiah calls God the Lord of Hosts.  He is powerful in battle.  And Isaiah calls God the Holy One of Israel.  He is pure and righteous and all he does is good.  He is worthy of all praise.  In what area of your life has God blessed you with a talent, success or something good?  Are you ever tempted to be prideful about this and in what ways? How does remembering that it is God who deserves the praise for the gifts and talents you have been given, humble you?

Chapter 48

God used affliction to refine Israel for his name sake.  A refiner uses very high temperatures to heat metal, so he can purify the metal and skim the debris off of the top.  In the same way, the affliction God brought on Israel purified them and helped to remove their sin.

God knows it is for our good that we would be close to him and obey him.  He created us to know him, love him and praise him. So, when we rebel against him, not only does it displease God, but God knows it is not what is best for us. His love for us, motivates him to refine us.  When in your life has God put you through a refining fire?  Now that it’s over, how can you see that God was lovingly doing what was best for you?

To print the 23 Reflection and Discussion Questions for Isaiah 44-66 –> Click Here.

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This Week’s Verses of the Day:

(Leaders: You can use these images in your groups by using right click and “save as” or screen shoting them.)

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

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Here’s the Printable Bible Bookmark for Isaiah 44-66.

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Here’s another explanation of the SOAK Bible Study Method and Bible Coloring Chart if you need more guidance:

Here is the SOAK method I refer to in the video:

And the Bible Coloring  Bookmark:

Click HERE to Print the full page Coloring Chart
or Click HERE for the Bookmark Coloring Chart

Here are the highlighters, pens and pencils I refer to in the video:

Highlighters – Acid Free – Bible Hi-Glider
Fine Line Non-bleeding Pens – Micron Archival Ink and Multi-Colored Gel Pens
Colored Pencils – Crayola Twistables and Crayola Colored Pencils
I use the ESV Inductive Study Bible  as my personal study Bible.

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The book of Isaiah is not an easy read. I commend you for committing to study this book with us! If you want to go deeper in your study, I encourage you to use on-line commentaries and Bible Study tools.

Now, let’s get started!  Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite drink and open your Bible and SOAK it in! Some of the chapters are quite long, so be sure to leave at least 20 minutes for your reading each day. 

Have a wonderful week in God’s Word – I’ll see you back here on the blog this Friday as we go deeper into God’s Word together!  Don’t forget to join me every weekday morning out on Facebook and Instagram!

Keep walking with the King,

COURTNEY

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