Isaiah 1:18-31

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

God’s Denounces Wayward People, but Promises Restoration

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. God desires to reason with His people.

  2. God desires to restore His people.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Always do your background studies.

QUESTIONS

  1. What was the approximate time of Isaiah’s ministry?

  2. What was the spiritual state of the Jewish people during Isaiah’s time?

  3. Did the kingdom of Judah listen to the Lord and turn from their sins?

  4. When do we believe the Lord will fulfill His promise of restoration found in verse 26?

  5. Explain the reference to the terebinth trees in verses 29-31.

ANSWERS

  1. Approximately 700 B.C.

  2. The nation, which had been united under Kings David and Solomon, was later divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Both kingdoms were guilty of the sins of idolatry and immorality. God allowed the northern kingdom of Israel to fall to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Isaiah preached to the southern kingdom and denounced the sins of Judah while predicting their coming captivity at the hands of the rising Babylonian Empire.

  3. No, they did not. So God allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple and take the people into captivity for 70 years.

  4. We believe the restoration of the Jewish people is still future, because Jerusalem has never been morally and spiritually restored the way the prophecy indicates.

  5. Israel will be brought to a point where she will be ashamed of her former idolatry and immorality which she practiced in the groves and gardens of the land.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Even though the people of Jerusalem were in moral and economic failure, the Lord was willing to cleanse them and blot out their sins. Discuss the application to you, whether you are a believer or an unbeliever. God desires to reason with His people. Are you willing to reason with Him?

  2. The Jewish people must undergo judgment before they can be spiritually restored. Review how this judgment has taken place in phases in history past and will culminate during the end-time Tribulation Period. What is God’s purpose with this judgment?

CHALLENGE

  1. Always do your background studies (and read the context). The “red like crimson” in Isaiah 1:18 is not the precious blood of Christ. It is the indelible stain of sin!

KEY VERSES

  • “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.’” Isaiah 1:18

  • “I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city.” Isaiah 1:26

Isaiah, Old Testament, TalksDeb HarmsIsaiah 1:18-31