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Introduction to the Books of the Bible

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•  Gets its name from the prophet of that name

•  Many see the book divided into prophecies of

•  Condemnation (ch.1-35 although note very many positive passages!) and

•  Consolation (ch.40-66)

•  There is an historical account of the attacks on Jerusalem in the middle of the book (ch.36-39)

Ch.1-35: Part 1: The Book of Judgment

Ch.1-6 Messages of Rebuke and Promise

Ch.1 Charges against Judah for Breaking the Covenant

Ch.2-4 The Future Discipline and Glory of Judah and Jerusalem

Ch.5 The Nation's Judgment and Exile

Ch.6 Isaiah's Unique Commission

Ch.7-12 Prophecies against Aramean and Israelite Threat against Judah

Ch.7 Ahaz warned not to Fear the Aramean & Israelite Alliance

Ch.8/9 Isaiah's Son and David's Son 

Ch.9/10 Judgment against Israel

Ch.10-12 The Assyrian Empire and the Davidic Kingdom

Ch.13-23 Judgment against the Nations

Ch.13/14 Against Assyria and Its Ruler

Ch.14 Against Philistia

Ch.15,16 Against Moab

Ch.17 Against Aram and Israel

Ch.18 Against Cush

Ch.19/20 Against Egypt and Cush

Ch.21 Against Babylon , Dumah ( Edom ) & Arabia

Ch.22 Against the Valley of Vision ( Jerusalem )

Ch.23 Against Tyre

Ch.24-27 Judgment and Promise (the Lord's Kingdom)

Ch.24 Universal Judgments for Universal Sin

Ch.25 Deliverance and Blessing

Ch.26 Praise for the Lord's Sovereign Care

Ch.27 Israel 's Enemies Punished but Israel 's Remnant Restored

Ch.28-33 Six Woes: Five on the Unfaithful in Israel and One on Assyria

Ch.28 Woe to Ephraim ( Samaria ) -- and to Judah

Ch.29 Woe to Jerusalem & those Who Rely on Foreign Alliances

Ch.30 Woe to the Obstinate Nation

Ch.31/32 Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt 

Ch.33 Woe to Assyria -- but Blessing for God's People

Ch.34-35 More Prophecies of Judgment and Promise 

Ch.34 Destruction of the Nations & Avenging of God's People

Ch.35 The Future Blessings of Restored Zion

 

Ch.36-39 An Aside: An Historical Interlude: the Assyrian Threat against Jerusalem 

Ch.36 The siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib and the Assyrian army 

Ch.37 The Lord's deliverance of Jerusalem 

Ch.38 The Lord's Extension of Hezekiah's Life

Ch.39 The Babylonian Exile Predicted

  

Ch.40-66: Part 2: The Book of Comfort or Consolation

Ch.40-48 The Deliverance and Restoration of Israel

Ch.40 The Coming of the Victorious God & Unfailing Strength for the Weary Exiles

Ch.41 The Lord of History

Ch.42 Praise and Exhortation

Ch.43 The Regathering and Renewal of Israel

Ch.44-45 The Only God

Ch.46 The Lord's Superiority over Babylon's gods

Ch.47 The Fall of Babylon

Ch.48 The Lord's Exhortations to His People

Ch.49-57 The Servant's Ministry and Israel 's Restoration

Ch.49 Call & Mission of the Servant & the Repopulation of Zion

Ch.50 Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience 

Ch.51/52 The Remnant comforted by their Glorious Prospect

Ch.52/53 Sufferings and Glories of the Lord's Righteous Servant

Ch.54 The Future Glory of Zion

Ch.55/56 The Lord's Call to Salvation and Covenant Blessings

Ch.56/57 The Condemnation of the Wicked in Israel

Ch.58-66 Everlasting Deliverance and Everlasting Judgment

Ch.58 False and True Worship

Ch.59 Zion 's Confession and Redemption

Ch.60 Zion 's Peace and Prosperity

Ch.61 The Lord's Favour

Ch.62/63 Zion 's Restoration and Glory

Ch.63/64 Prayer for Divine Deliverance

Ch.65 The Lord's Answer: Mercy and Judgment

Ch.66 Judgment on False Worshipers & Blessing on True Worshipers

  

1:1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah .

2:1-4 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem : In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion , the word of the LORD from Jerusalem . He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

4:2-6 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel . Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

7:3-7 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field. Say to him, `Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood--because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. Aram , Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, "Let us invade Judah ; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it." Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "It will not take place, it will not happen

8:19,20 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

9:6,7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

11:1-5 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-- and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

26:3,4 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

35:4-10 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away

37:5-7 When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, `This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard--those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "

40:28-31 The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

42:1-4 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope."

61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

•  Isaiah is not a book for the faint-hearted; there is too much of it!

•  So, a challenge for those who wish to be serious about studying the Bible: either in a Bible or on a screen copy of Isaiah, go through the book and either underline or highlight every word that brings hope or encouragement ; see in it the God

•  Reading Isaiah is like watching a ten hour film; it is best done in episodes. Slowly read through a chapter or two and catch the sense of what is there.

•  If there is a judgment being spoken about note a) why the judgment is being brought, i.e. what this people are doing wrong, b) what will happen and (sometimes) c) what outcome the Lord wants to bring about.

•  Quotes from Isaiah appear in many places in the New Testament. Below is an Appendix showing some of those: 

Isaiah Bible Studies

 

God's Love in Isaiah 1-11 Meditations