Category: Lessons

Read: Isaiah 65-66 Background Considerations We don’t read a lot in the Old Testament about life beyond death or heaven or resurrection. These ideas appear in places, but they are limited in number and mostly...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 59-62 Background Considerations Salvation and deliverance in the Old Testament typically carry the more everyday ideas of rescue or deliverance from pests, storms, enemies, drought, etc., as well as the more theologically significant...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 55 and 58 Background Considerations Many see Isaiah 56-66 as another inspired addition to the book of Isaiah from an even later time than the Babylonian exile. Whereas chapters 1-39 assume primarily an...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12 Background Considerations Last week’s lesson introduced us to the so-called “Servant Songs” and the debates surrounding their interpretation. It also recommended our attempting to listen to what these words must have...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-6 Background Considerations Within Isaiah 40-55 many students of the book have seen a major theme develop around the idea of “the servant.” The term “servant” appears in this section with a...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 40 Background Considerations It is in Isaiah 40 that all students of the book recognize a dramatic shift. Whether one attributes this to another author or not, the shift is here. For the...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 36-39 Background Considerations Whatever position one takes about the authorship of Isaiah, chapters 36-39 provide a historical narrative which bridges the gap between the major points of emphasis and feel of the preceding...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 13-23, 24-27 Background Considerations Among the many speech forms which the prophets use in their preaching are Oracles (Speeches) against Foreign Nations (OAN). These appear is all of the prophets except Hosea and...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 9 and 11 Background Considerations These chapters introduce us to some of the memorable lines from Isaiah, especially for Christians who have the New Testament in mind as they read both the descriptions...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 7 and 8 Background Considerations As noted in last week’s study guide, chapters 7-9 of Isaiah assume some awareness of the events surrounding what came to be known as the “Syro-Ephraimitic War,” a...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 7 Background Considerations We are introduced in chapter 7 to an interesting role PKs (prophets’ kids) play in the ministry of their parents. Not unlike preachers’ kids, the offspring of prophets are not...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 6 Background Considerations Ah, finally, we got to the prophet’s call vision! Why is it placed here and not at the beginning of the book, as in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jonah? After all, it...

Continue reading →

Read: Isaiah 1 and 5 Background Considerations The opening discussions about a biblical book always raise the issues of date, historical context, authorship, background, themes, general outline, etc. (see the earlier pages in this booklet)....

Continue reading →