Week 1: God calls Isaiah

Introduction + chapters 1&2 + 6

Introduction:

• The Old Testament contains 17 prophetic books (Splits into major and minor prophets based on the size of the book)
  • Major Prophets (5 books): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel
  • Minor Prophets (12 books): Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachai
• Isaiah:
  • Isaiah was of royal lineage, the nephew of King Amaziah. He had two sons,  Shear-Jashub and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, whose names symbolized exile and return from captivity. Coming from a wealthy and educated family, Isaiah prophesied for sixty years, beginning at the age of twenty and continuing through the reigns of four kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He was martyred at eighty years old during the reign of King Manasseh.

Author: Isaiah: A Hebrew word meaning "The salvation of God."

Date:

• Isaiah began his prophetic ministry in the year 740 B.C. and continued until the year 680 B.C., meaning he wrote for about sixty years during his prophecy. In the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
• His ministry commences around the time the Northern kingdom is carried into captivity (722 BC ). About 140 years before the Southern kingdom went into captivity ( 586BC ).

Major Theme:

• Repent and turn back to God
• Rely on God rather than earthly powers and possessions
• Warning against outward religious appearances, as it is considered hypocrisy.
  
• Hope in the awaited Messiah, the Savior, and the new life in Him.

Nature of the Book of Isaiah:

• The entire book is written in poetry, except for the historical chapter (Isaiah 36-39)
• The most detailed prophetic book in the Old Testament about Christ, including details about His birth, crucifixion, resurrection, and many aspects of His life.

Outline:

• God the disciplinarian: (Chapters 1-35)
  • A call to repentance for the kingdom of Judah, Israel, and the surrounding nations.
    • King Uzziah (Chapters 1-5)
    • King Jotham (Chapter 6)
    • King Ahaz (Chapters 7-14)
    • King Hezekiah (Chapters 15- 66)
• God the victorious (Chapters 36-39)
  • Judah's victory over Assyria by God's power and the healing of king Hezekiah
• The Messiah the savior and God's promises (Chapters 40-66)
  • Prophecies about the incarnation of Christ, His crucifixion, and resurrection.

Objective: Week 1 Isaiah chapters 1&2+6

• God calls Isaiah

Resources:

• Catena Bible Commentary
• Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty (Book of Isaiah)
• Fr Dawoud Lamie Bible study (Arabic)
• Fr Luka Maher Bible study (Arabic)

Reading:

• Chapter 1 (Verses 1-21)
• Chapter 2 (Verses 10-22)
• Chapter 6 (Verses 1-13)

Key verse(s):

"I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me". Isaiah 6:8

Comments:

Chapter 1 

• God's Judgement on His People (Verses 1-9)
  • God declares that Israel has rebelled against Him despite His care. The people are described as ungrateful, stubborn, and corrupted.
• Rejection of superficial worship (Verses 10-15)
  • God declares His rejection of superficial worship and tells His people not to offer Him vain worship. If the heart is full of evil and unwilling to repent, their worship will be unacceptable.
  • Contemplation: We need to focus on our repentance, reconcile and forgive everyone, reject evil, and acknowledge our weakness to God, asking for His help.
• How to Please God (verses 16-20)
  • God presents the solution to His children whom He judged at the beginning of the chapter
    • The solution is repentance by cutting off evil.
    • True repentance involves not only turning away from wrongdoing but also aligning with God's will.
    • Contemplation: The path of repentance is open to remedy all sins, so do not delay in confession and repentance.
• God is the Savior (verses 21-31)
  • God promises to save and redeem Zion with justice so it doesn't fall again.

Chapter 2:

• In this chapter begins the prophecy of God, which He gave to Isaiah about the Kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem.
• Sins of Jerusalem (Verses 5-9)
  • It is a warning from God through the mouth of Isaiah to the Kingdom of Judah to repent and turn away from their sins so that God may forgive them. 
• The Fearsome God and the Humility of Man (verses 10-22):
  • All human strength and material possessions will be humbled and fade before God, who is exalted above all and will judge each one according to their deeds."
• In the first 5 chapters Isaiah was describing the condition of God's people and their sins

Chapter 6

• The Vision of God (verses 1-4):
  • This vision was seen by Isaiah, he saw God seated on a high throne, as His throne is above all the thrones of the kings of the world. This vision has strongly influenced our Orthodox church, for the Church, like heaven, has an altar, a throne, smoke from incense, and believers singing" Holy, Holy, Holy,"
• The Cleansing of Isaiah (verses 5-7):
  • The coal represents a clear symbol of the Eucharist, which purifies the confessing individual from their sins, making them worthy to live with God in purity.
• The Commissioning of Isaiah (verses 8-13):

  • After God purified Isaiah through one of the angels who touched his lips with a coal, God declared His need for someone to go into the world to proclaim His message. He asked, "Whom shall I send?

  • This shows the humility of God, who is all-powerful, as He expresses a need for a human being to be sent as His messenger.

    
    

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

• What does God call the people to do? 
• Why does God say He will not hear the prayers of Judah? 
• Why God did not take pleasure in all the sacrifices offered to Him?
• Describe the Seraphim?
• When do we cry out like the Seraphim saying Holy, Holy, Holy?  
• What does the live coal from the altar symbolize?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

1. In whose reign was the prophecy of Isaiah?   a)Uzziah b) Ahaz c)Hezekiah, d) all of those
2. Isaiah was                                                        a) a prophet b) a priest c) a Christian d) a king
3.  "Holy, holy, holy is the _________ of hosts; The whole _________ is full of His __________"
4.  Who had a live coal in his hand, which he took with tongs from the altar?                                                                a) Isaiah b) God c) the seraphim d) the cherubim