This was a great week as we kicked off our Teaching & Worship Experience and study of Isaiah! It was so great to see so many new faces and our familiar friends, too. Don’t forget that you sign up to join us via streaming and it’s never too late to join us in person, either!

For those that have followed my blog for awhile, you know that I often share notes from my teaching on here. I will continue to do that this year but I’m also excited to share that you can get the notes from my teaching (and fill them in if you are following along live or via streaming) on the Drawing Near to God mobile app as well. I’d love for you to download the app to stay connected!

Before we dive into Isaiah, it’s important to have an understanding of the prophets. There are major and minor prophets:

Major Prophets:

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel

Minor Prophets

Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk

It’s also important, as background information, to understand the Division of Northern and Southern Kingdom

• Division of Israel established the Northern and Southern Kingdom and dates back to Solomon’s time due to his sin of idolatry.
• The 10 northern tribes formed the kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) with Samaria as its capital city; and Benjamin and Judah united to form the kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital city.
• Isaiah’s ministry was at the time when the 10 tribes that formed the northern kingdom of Israel were captured by Sennacherib Assyrian invader.
• Judah, the southern kingdom, was deep into idolatry toward the end of Isaiah’s ministry in 687 BC and was carried captive into Babylon in 587 bc.

Now that you have that background information, here’s a framework of the book of Isaiah so you can understand what we’ll be looking at this semester:

• Chapters 1-6 – denounces sin of the people
• Chapters 7-12- denounces. the national sins of the leaders
• Chapters 13-23 -Gentile nations around Judah and Israel were denounced for their sins and warned of God’s judgement.
• Chapters 28-35- Assyrian invasion of Israel and Judah. Israel destroyed and 10 tribes assimilated into the Assyrian empire
• Chapters 40-66 – known by Jewish rabbis as “the book of consolation.” Jerusalem would be delivered by the Lord.
• The book of Isaiah is directly quoted 22 times in the New Testament and attributed in each case to the prophet Isaiah

I do hope you’ll join me on this journey this year as we dive into this book of comfort and look at ways to access this freedom and comfort that God offers.