Isaiah Lesson 23

FIRST DAY: Read the notes and Scripture references.
1. What did you learn in the lecture that you are implementing in your life?
2. How have the notes encouraged, helped, or warned you?
SECOND DAY: Read Isaiah 50:1–5.

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

 ¹ This is what the LORD says:

   “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce
   with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
   did I sell you?
Because of your sins you were sold;
   because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
² When I came, why was there no one?
   When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Was my arm too short to deliver you?
   Do I lack the strength to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea,
   I turn rivers into a desert;
their fish rot for lack of water
   and die of thirst.
³ I clothe the heavens with darkness
   and make sackcloth its covering.”

 ⁴ The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue,
   to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
   wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
⁵ The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears;
   I have not been rebellious,
   I have not turned away.

3. Why was Israel sent into captivity? because of their sins
4. a. Describe the Servant’s relationship with the Sovereign Lord. --The Lord instructs the servant every day. the servant listens to his words and obeys the Lord. 
b. From verse 4, why is it important to give time daily to be instructed by the Sovereign Lord, and how are you able to do so? - - We can get God's wisdoms and understand his will. We can know how to comfort others. By studing this. try to read the Bible everyday.
5. How do the following verses reveal the Lord Jesus Christ as the Servant in verses 4–5?
Luke 2:40–52:

⁴⁰ There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.

Jesus Speaks with the Teachers

 ⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. ⁴² When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. ⁴³ After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, ⁴⁴ because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

 ⁴⁵ When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. ⁴⁶ Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. ⁴⁷ All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

 ⁴⁸ His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”

 ⁴⁹ “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”^{[a] 50} But they didn’t understand what he meant.

 ⁵¹ Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.

 ⁵² Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

Luke 4:14–21:

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

 ¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. ¹⁵ He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

 ¹⁶ When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. ¹⁷ The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

 ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
      for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
   He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
      that the blind will see,
   that the oppressed will be set free,
      ¹⁹ and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.^[a]”

 ²⁰ He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. ²¹ Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

Matthew 11:28–30:²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 14:23;

²³ After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.

 Mark 1:35:³⁵ Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.

John 12:49–50:

⁴⁹ I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. ⁵⁰ And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

 

THIRD DAY: Read Isaiah 50:6–11.

⁶ I offered my back to those who beat me,
   my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
   from mocking and spitting.
⁷ Because the Sovereign LORD helps me,
   I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
   and I know I will not be put to shame.
⁸ He who vindicates me is near.
   Who then will bring charges against me?
   Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
   Let him confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me.
   Who will condemn me?
They will all wear out like a garment; 
   the moths will eat them up.

 ¹⁰ Who among you fears the LORD
   and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one who walks in the dark,
   who has no light,
trust in the name of the LORD
   and rely on their God.
¹¹ But now, all you who light fires
   and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
   and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
   You will lie down in torment.

6. a. Compare the suffering and vindication of the Servant in Isaiah with Jesus Christ’s suffering and
vindication in the following New Testament verses.
Matthew 27:30–31

³⁰ And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. ³¹ When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

Luke 9:51

Opposition from Samaritans

 ⁵¹ As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

Romans 8:33–34; ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Acts 2:23:

²³ But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.

Acts 2:33–34

³³ Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

³⁴ For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,

   ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
      “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

 

b. How has God vindicated you when you suffered for obeying His Word?

7. a. Contrast the people in verse 10 with those in verse 11. What would they receive from God?
b. How does our world light its own way apart from God?
c. Where has going your own way led to anguish in your life?
FOURTH DAY: Read Isaiah 51:1–16.
8. a. What promises did God give to those who obey Him and how would He substantiate them?
b. Which of these encouragements do you receive in your desire to follow the Lord?
9. How could you use the prayer of God’s people in verses 9–11 in your own life?
10. a. From verses 12–16, what truth about God would help God’s people as they awaited their deliverance
in Isaiah’s day and also in our day?
b. How would you explain how God comforts in the midst of suffering?
FIFTH DAY: Read Isaiah 51:17–52:12.
11. a. What was the cup that Jerusalem drank and what was its result?
b. What turning point did God promise in 51:21–52:6?
12. a. What command and promise does God give Israel about leaving captivity?
b. How might the command and promise be applied to believers released from the captivity of sin?
(See Romans 10:14–15.)
c. How might God use you today in proclaiming His good news?
SIXTH DAY: Read Isaiah 50:1–52:12.
13. What wake-up call have you heard from God in this lesson, and how may your group pray for you?
14. Homiletics for Group and Administrative Leaders: Isaiah 50:1–52:12