Understanding Isaiah
« Previous EntriesUnderstanding Isaiah (Lesson 15: The Final Outcome [Chapters 65-66])
Sunday, April 9th, 2006Introduction: We have finally reached the conclusion of the book of Isaiah; which is a description of the conclusion and final goal of all of history. When Christ comes the second time, it will be the last great chapter of the world story, in which his great work of redemption will encounter the fullness of its [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 14: The Return of the King [Chapter 63-64])
Monday, April 3rd, 2006Introduction: We are now moving to the final, consummative stage in Isaiah’s grand vision of the advent and work of Christ. When we began the second major portion of Isaiah (chapters 40-66), we observed that God is eminently concerned with displaying his glory. We noted that the ultimate way in which he does this is through [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 13: The Great Effects of Christ’s Great Success [Chapters 54-60])
Monday, March 27th, 2006Introduction: Jonathan Edwards, in his beautifully Christ-centered biblical theology, A History of the Work of Redemption, argues that all of history was planned out by God for the purpose of accomplishing his mighty work of redemption. Accordingly, he divides history into three basic epochs, demonstrating, “(1) That from the Fall of man until the incarnation of [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 12: The Vicarious Suffering of Christ [Chapter 53])
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006Introduction: Isaiah chapter fifty-three (together with the last three verses of chapter fifty-two) is the clearest and fullest explanation of the gospel anywhere in the Old Testament. Not until Paul penned his epistles in the first century would the church have a more explicit and heartfelt treatise on the substitutionary atonement and vicarious suffering of Christ, [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 11: The Overthrow of Babylon, God’s Great Enemy [Chapters 47-48])
Friday, March 3rd, 2006Introduction: If Isaiah chapters forty through forty-five display the glorious greatness of God’s mercy upon those whom he has chosen for redemption, then chapters forty-six through forty-seven display the glorious greatness of God’s wrath upon his enemies. These two complementary truths, the free mercy and uncompromised justice of God, find their ultimate expressions in the different [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 10: The Sovereign Grace of God [Chapters 43-45])
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006Introduction: Our last lesson, taken from Isaiah chapters forty through forty-two, emphasized, first, the incomparable greatness of God; and second, the work of redemption to be carried out by the coming Servant of the Lord as the ultimate display of God’s incomparable greatness. As the text moves into our next portion for study, chapters forty-three through [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 9: The Incomparable Greatness of God [Chapters 40-42])
Saturday, February 11th, 2006Introduction: In Isaiah chapters thirteen through thirty-nine, we are struck again and again with the greatness of God’s plans – plans that involve every nation of the world, and extend to the furthest reaches of time. When we have begun to realize the greatness of God’s eternal plans and his mighty acts in history, we must [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 8: The New Creation: Christ’s Ultimate Work of Restoration - Part 2)
Monday, February 6th, 2006Introduction: The interplay between the worldwide judgment pronounced in Isaiah chapters thirteen through twenty-four and the world-restoration promised in chapters twenty-five through twenty-seven comes again to the forefront in the next cycle of prophecies, recorded in chapters twenty-eight through thirty-five. In this cycle of prophecies, we see God’s judgment announced upon his people in the direst [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 7: The New Creation: Christ’s Ultimate Work of Restoration – Part 1)
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006Introduction: We concluded our last lesson in chapter twelve, lifting up a song of praise for the coming Kingdom of Christ, a Kingdom that will bring all true inhabitants of Zion the everlasting joy and life that Christ is going to draw from the wells of salvation. This is the end and goal of the exile [...]
Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 6: The Shoot of Jesse, Christ the King)
Friday, January 20th, 2006Introduction: In our last lesson, we concluded by observing verses six and seven of Isaiah chapter nine, and considering the everlasting kingdom that Christ would be born to rule. This week, we will examine the nature of his kingdom in more detail from the prophecy contained in chapter eleven. But before we get into chapter eleven, [...]
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