Isaiah 30-31

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Two Woes Pronounced upon Judah

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. The Lord warns His people about worldly alliances.

  2. The Lord longs to be gracious to His people.

  3. The Lord protects His people when they return to Him.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Let’s practice reliance and not alliance!

QUESTIONS

  1. These chapters are a part of what subsection of the book of Isaiah?

  2. Why did God find fault with the people?

  3. According to Isaiah 30:15-18, where should Judah have put her confidence?

  4. According to Isaiah 30:15-18, where should Judah have put her confidence?

  5. What was the bad news and good news for Judah in Isaiah 31:4-5?

ANSWERS

  1. Isaiah 28-35 forms a section containing six woes, mainly upon the southern kingdom of Judah and her capital city of Jerusalem.

  2. The people turned away from God and turned toward Pharaoh and Egypt for security. God called this a sin in Isaiah 30:1.

  3. As God’s people, Judah should have returned to the Lord and quietly rested in Him rather than trusting in fast horses and military might.

  4. He says he would draw the Assyrians away and strike them down suddenly, so that the people of Jerusalem could rejoice in the mountain of the Lord. All of this took place when King Sennacherib of Assyria besieged Jerusalem in 701 BC. God intervened and struck down 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night.

  5. The bad news was that the Lord was like a lion to Judah, tearing them apart like defenseless lambs because of their sin. Even the Egyptian shepherds that Judah had hired for protection, in this figure, would not be able to drive the lion away. The good news was that as a mother bird protects her young so God (not Egypt) would protect Jerusalem and Assyria.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Egypt in the Bible is a spiritual picture of the world. What is the result in your life when you make alliances with this world for security rather than trusting in the Lord?

  2. Has there been a time in your Christian life when you strayed from the Lord and then returned to Him? Tell how the Lord protected you when you returned to Him

CHALLENGE

  1. Judah’s problem was that they put their hopes in alliances with foreign nations, rather than relying on the Lord who was willing and able to protect them. What or whom are you allying with for hopes of protection? Practice reliance on the Lord instead!

KEY VERSES

  • “‘Woe to the rebellious children,’ says the LORD, ‘Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.’” Isaiah 30:1

  • “Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18

  • “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy one of Israel, nor seek the LORD!” Isaiah 31:1



Isaiah, Old Testament, TalksDeb HarmsIsaiah 30-31