Waiting with Isaiah – Week 3 (12-12-21)
Waiting with Isaiah
A Tale of Two Cities
December 12, 2021
Isaiah 1-12 —> Judgement & Hope
Judgement for what? Idolatry & Injustice
In spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God remains faithful.
2 Chronicles 28:1-4
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. 2 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. 3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
Who’s your king?
Isaiah 10:33-34
See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
will lop off the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,
the tall ones will be brought low.
34 He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax;
Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
And then…
Isaiah 11:1
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
Who is Jesse?
Isaiah 11:2-3
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
Injustice
Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
A Day of Peace
Isaiah 11:6-9
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
Robin Hood
Anthropomorphism – literary device that compares or represents human characteristics or behaviors to animals or objects.
Wise as an owl
Strong as an ox
Stubborn as a mule
Big as an elephant
Blind as a bat
Busy as a bee
Gentle as a lamb
Who is your king?
Old Jerusalem & New Jerusalem
Isaiah —> Two Cities
Proverbs —> Wisdom & Folly
Jesus —> Two roads, two houses
God with us
Matthew 2:20-23
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).