Isaiah 58-59

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Israel’s Sinful Condition and Future Restoration

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Israel’s false worship in the land will be changed to the true worship of the Lord.

  2. Israel’s confession of sin will result in the return of the Lord.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Don’t have works like snake eggs and spider webs!

QUESTIONS

  1. What message was Isaiah sent to declare to the people in 58:1-7?

  2. What sort of fasting did the Lord desire (verses 6-7)?

  3. What good news was offered in 58:8-14?

  4. List some of the characteristics of the sinful nation from 59:2-8.

  5. There is good news of Israel’s redemption and restoration in verses 16-21. When will these things come to pass?

ANSWERS

  1. He was to sound a warning trumpet that the people were falling far short of what God was looking for in their lives as individuals and their life as a nation.

  2. Fasting from wickedness and fasting from oppression of the poor and needy

  3. If the people would change their ways then God would hear them, answer them, and bless them.

  4. Bloodshed, falsehood, perversion of justice, violence, evil thoughts, and corruption

  5. The good news of the Lord bringing salvation to Israel (verse 16) was fulfilled at the first coming of Christ. All the other promises await fulfillment in the future when the Lord returns.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. The people may have been surprised to hear Isaiah’s message, since they did not consider themselves as bad as the wicked who were practicing open idolatry and immorality. But God was not impressed with their religious ritualism. As you evaluate your own life, are you going through any motions that should actually be condemned?

  2. Refer to Isaiah 59:16. When the Lord saw that there was no qualified human mediator, He Himself came into the world and became Man in order to die and bring salvation from sin. Discuss what impacts you most about this truth.

CHALLENGE

  1. Isaiah 59:5 says that sinful Israel’s works were dangerous and as thin as a spider web – leaving them naked before God. The same is true of works done in your own strength, they don’t cover a single sin

KEY VERSES

  • “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?” Isaiah 58:6

  • “If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10

  • “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1

  • “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him.” Isaiah 59:16



Isaiah, Old Testament, TalksDeb HarmsIsaiah 58-59