To Listen to the Post Click Here (9:42)
INTRO
Isaiah is a book in Scripture that I have always wanted to understand more.
To know God more through it.
To understand the book of Isaiah in the course of history.
To have the theological truths transform my heart and intimacy with my Savior and the prophecies about Him.
I have begun this journey a couple of times over the years. However, I do better when I study with others - for accountability to finish and to learn from them. Not many women's ministry Bible studies attempt to tackle Isaiah's 66 chapters in their 12 week study. :) I have attempted on my own, but not finished...
I started this journey again a few weeks ago and last week, the idea of blogging what I was learning came to mind. I hope this gives me the accountability to finish. And the encouragement of learning "with others."
So, I invite you to join my journey. This could be used as a guide to study Isaiah or used as a personal devotional, reading or listening with a deeper dive into Isaiah. Whether you choose to study along with me or just read or listen to what I have been learning from the Lord, come, feast, and be inspired to know Christ more deeply and proclaim His love more broadly!
Even if no one reads, listens, or studies alongside me, once I started putting these posts together, my study of Isaiah has come alive and I am enjoying it richly! But, if you do happen to join me, I look forward to any encouraging comments you may have along your journey as well!
I want to go at a pace that enables us to do more than just read the chapter, but dig a bit more into its authored meaning and then how it can impact us. But with such a long book, I don’t want to get too bogged down. I hope to post regularly, but then I know life with four kids can divert plans as well! :) Thanks for grace in however God works through this adventure!
I am not a Bible scholar, though I can be fairly academic. However, I also have a bend toward making sure we don’t get puffed up with head knowledge, but living out the lessons of Scripture as God intends. I have no PhD behind my name, but have taken quite a few seminary level classes, been to many conferences, gleaned from much training in Bible Study over the years, but still feel fairly inadequate for virtually leading only God knows who through this daunting book of Isaiah.
But as I said, putting my studies into words has enriched my personal study. Although surely there are others who have better things to say and can say them more articulately, I humbly and with my confidence in Christ, hope that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be pleasing your sight, O LORD my rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14)…and will minister to someone else as well on this world wide web!
Here is what to expect from the FORMAT
I study and learn best looking at Scripture inductively, verse by verse.
The authors of Scripture often express meaning through their structure. So, I will break each chapter into sections by verses (about 3 per chapter).
Then each section will have two parts to the study:
Observations, Investigations (questions, cross reference, & insights), and Summary
IMPACT (unpacking the following areas of Impact (Informing, Transforming, Proclaiming)
- How does this IMPACT me by INFORMING my understanding of the CHARACTER OF GOD?
- How does this IMPACT me by TRANSFORMING my thoughts, attitude, or actions to more fully OBEY God's Word?
- How could this IMPACT those around me by PROCLAIMING the TRUTHS of this passage to others?
Section One is designed to dive into the verses for deeper understanding.
Section Two is designed to give us the opportunity to process how God may intend for the reader to be impacted by His Word (in knowledge, in obedience, and in making Him known).
Each section will end in a prayer for the devotional heart and soul aspect of the study.
A Bible study leader, who I sat under for several years, taught us the first three rules of Bible Study:
Context
Context
Context
So, as we begin this journey, let’s make sure we set the stage for the Context of Isaiah. Where does Isaiah fit into Scripture, history, and God’s redemptive storyline?
ISAIAH INTRO and CONTEXT
What type of book is Isaiah?
Isaiah receives its namesake from its author, Isaiah, who was called as a prophet of the God of Israel. Thus, the book of Isaiah is a prophetic book, the words of God, through Isaiah, to His people.
(Other genres of Scripture include: narrative, history, poetry, epistles (letters).)
Where does the book of Isaiah fit in the story of Scripture?
The Biblical Canon is separated into four sections:
1) Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
2) Nevi'im: Prophetic Books - Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel), and Minor Prophets (The Twelve: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.)
3) Ketuvim - The Writings - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles
4) New Testament: Matthew through Revelation
Note: Some scholars divide Scripture to include "history" as well. For reasons, I won't go into here, those "historical" books are categorized as "prophecy" or "writings" when reading Scripture canonically.
Isaiah was recorded concurrently during the time of First Kings, the kings who ruled after King David. It was written over 59 years from about 740 B.C. (the death of Uzziah, Is. 1:1, 6:1) until about 681 B.C.
Isaiah was also recorded about 200 years before captivity. Many of the prophecies throughout Isaiah foretell that captivity. Matthew Henry notes that many of the captivity prophecies also find their fulfillment in Christ, so the words of Isaiah can be a two-fold prophecy.
I can easily gloss over these details and jump into the words of the text. But I have been trying to train myself to pause and engage with the context of Isaiah to help me live in the text and absorb the intended meaning for the original audience to then enhance my understanding.
With that context as our backdrop, let's turn to Isaiah 1, read, dig in, and hear from our LORD!
Resources (with abbreviations included in posts):
ESV Gospel Transformation Bible, 2013. (GTBC)
Sailhamer, John H. NIV Compact Bible Commentary, 1994. (J.S.)
Zondervan NIV Matthew Henry Commentary, 1992. (M.H.)
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