Simmons TPT The Book of Isaiah

12-Lesson Study Guide
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4245-5990-9
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 224 Seiten

Reihe: The Passionate Life Bible Study Series

The book of Isaiah is the glorious, prophetic message of overcoming, hope, comfort, and the restoration of all things. To journey through the book of Isaiah is to experience the entire Bible. Both end with God making all things new and giving us a new heaven and earth.                 This 12-lesson study guide on the book of Isaiah provides a unique and welcoming opportunity to immerse yourself in God's precious Word as expressed in The Passion Translation®. Begin your journey with a thorough introduction that details Isaiah's authorship, date of composition, first recipients, setting, purpose, central message, and key themes. Each lesson then walks you through a portion from the book and includes features such as notable verses, historical and cultural background information, definitions of words and language, cross references to other books of the Bible, maps, and character portraits of figures from the Bible and church history.     Enrich your biblical understanding of the book of Isaiah, experience God's love for you, and share his heart with others.  

DR. BRIAN SIMMONS is the lead translator of The Passion Translation®. The Passion Translation (TPT) is a heart-level translation that uses Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic manuscripts to express God's fiery heart of love to this generation, merging the emotion and life-changing truth of God's Word. The hope for TPT is to trigger inside every reader an overwhelming response to the truth of the Bible and to reveal the deep mysteries of the Scriptures in the love language of God, the language of the heart. Brian is currently translating the Old Testament.  After a dramatic conversion to Christ in 1971, Brian and his wife, Candice, answered the call of God to leave everything behind and become missionaries to unreached peoples. Taking their three children to the tropical rain forest of Central America, they planted churches for many years with the Paya-Kuna people group. Dr. Simmons established leadership for the churches that Jesus birthed, and, having been trained in linguistics and Bible translation principles, assisted with the translation of the Paya-Kuna New Testament. After their ministry overseas, Brian and Candice returned to North America, where Brian began to passionately work toward helping people encounter the risen Christ. He and his wife planted numerous ministries, including a dynamic church in New England (U.S.). They also established Passion & Fire Ministries, under which they travel full time as Bible teachers in service of local churches throughout the world. Brian is the author of numerous books, Bible studies, and devotionals that help readers encounter God's heart and experience a deeper revelation of God as our Bridegroom King, including Throne Room Prayer, The Sacred Journey, Prayers on Fire, The Divine Romance, and The Vision. Brian and Candice have been married since 1971 and have three children as well as precious grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Their passion is to live as loving examples of a spiritual father and mother to this generation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Simmons, Brian

Leseproben

Introduction to the Book of Isaiah

Welcome to the Book of Isaiah, the first of the Major Prophets. This book creates a big picture view of the entire Bible in a single book. It also provides a panoramic look at the ages and touches every nation on earth. Isaiah was the prophet of Zion and much more than a preacher or teacher. He was God’s seer and intercessor. When Isaiah uses the term , he refers not only to a spiritual place but to a spiritual people.

The pages of Isaiah contain an enormous collection of prophecies which, in fact, is the most comprehensive in the Bible. When the prophet talks about his vision, Isaiah means God is giving him a supernatural revelation. The book of Isaiah is not simply a historical record or teaching, but through it, God reveals the overarching vision of his own heart. The prophecies move beyond the days of Isaiah and into the days of the arrival of the Messiah as well as into our times and beyond. This vision and prophecy was not just for Isaiah but for all peoples who desire to know the Lord’s vision for all people on the earth who reflect his glory.

Where the Book Fits in History

The prophetic visions of Isaiah span the reigns of four kings: Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Isaiah began prophesying in the last year of Uzziah’s life (740 BCE) and continued into the reign of Hezekiah (which ended in 686). Isaiah’s ministry likely extended beyond Hezekiah because the final historical incident mentioned is the death of Sennacherib in 681 (Isaiah 37:38).

Since ancient peoples had no printing presses, they handmade copies of documents that were important to them. All of the books in the Bible were handed down from generation to generation this way. We have discovered tens of thousands of handwritten copies of parts or all of the Old Testament, not to mention the many thousands of copies we have of the New Testament, and all of these are from the centuries before the printing press. Having so many copies allows us to check them line by line, word by word, to see how reliably they were copied down through the centuries.2 The manuscript reliability of Isaiah comes through clearly. As the “Introduction” to Isaiah in The Passion Translation points out:

The documents of Isaiah are among the most reliable of all the Old Testament. We even have a copy of the book that dates to 100 BC thanks to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They predate the next oldest existing copy for nearly one thousand years, and very little variation in the manuscripts was found. So we can be confident as we read Isaiah’s inspired prophecies that we are gazing upon the truth of the ages.3

Authorship

While there is not a lot of biographical information in the Scriptures about Isaiah, we know he was the son of Amoz and a prominent and educated man. He probably lived in Jerusalem, in the southern kingdom of Judah. At that time, the Assyrians had already destroyed the northern kingdom, Israel. Isaiah was married to a prophetess and had two sons. Isaiah’s active ministry occurred from about 740 to 700 BCE. According to Rabbinic tradition, Isaiah’s father, Amoz, was a brother of King Amaziah. This relationship would make Isaiah a grandson of King Joash and a first cousin of King Uzziah. In other words, Isaiah was a person with royal blood running through his veins.

The Passion Translation describes Isaiah, his ministry, and his message this way:

Isaiah the seer-prophet is indeed an evangelist, making his prophetic work a fifth gospel, for he reveals the hidden mysteries of Lord Yahweh’s good news. These mysteries were unveiled first before the people of God, at once confronting them and the nations with future doom and encouraging them with future glory. Ultimately, Isaiah’s evangelistic prophecy is meant for the entire world, unveiling before it the beauty and majesty, hope and expectations of Messiah Jesus.

The poetic message of Isaiah is the glorious message of overcoming, hope, comfort, and the restoration of all things. Because of Christ’s appearing with love for all the world, we now see Isaiah’s words as clear prophetic insights into the death, resurrection, and glory of our King. To see him in every chapter of Isaiah will be the key to unlocking its deep prophetic mystery to our hearts. Read it with joy and passion to discover the Beloved—and you will find him!4

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Recipients of the Prophecies

The people of Judah heard Isaiah’s prophecies and were aware that their enemies, the Assyrians, had overrun and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. Before Isaiah was born, the Assyrian Empire had been expanding for 150 years. When Isaiah was still a young man in 734 BCE, Assyria took away the population of the north part of Israel. Then thirteen years later in 721, Samaria fell, and the Assyrians forced the rest of Israel into exile. Only a few years later, Sennacherib of Assyria destroyed the walled cities and took 200,000 captives with him. Finally, when Isaiah was an old man, an angel of God stopped the Assyrians (2 Chronicles 32:21). The threats from this enemy nation overshadowed Isaiah’s life in Jerusalem and Judah.

  EXPERIENCE GOD’S HEART

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The name Isaiah means “Salvation of Jehovah.” The Hebrew word for salvation is very similar to the Hebrew name of Jesus: Yeshua. Isaiah uses this word twenty-eight times for salvation. As we come to know Jesus, we understand and trust the God of salvation. As Isaiah 53:6 says, “Like wayward sheep, we have all wandered astray. Each of us has turned from God’s paths and chosen our own way; even so, Yahweh laid the guilt of every sin upon him.”

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Purpose

The divine vision of Isaiah was panoramic and broad. It included every nation on earth—not simply something for the people of Judah during the eighth century. Isaiah stirs his listeners about the forthcoming virgin birth of a Messiah, the impending judgment of the world for sins, and the hope of future restoration.

Do you know Christians who live double lives? They may come to church but live in a completely different way throughout the week. Isaiah knew people who were living such double lives in the northern kingdom of Israel. In fact, Isaiah shared God’s hatred for their compromise. In his prophecies, Isaiah hoped his listeners would see the hypocrisy of their lives and change their ways to follow God with all their hearts. Through Isaiah’s visions, he clearly saw the two-sided nature of God’s character: grace and discipline; mercy and love; justice and forgiveness; exile and salvation. The pages of Isaiah’s writings hope to awaken in hearers a resolution of faith despite unbelief.

Key Themes

There are four major themes in Isaiah. First, the book of Isaiah is . Just as the Bible has 66 books, Isaiah has 66 chapters. Like the Old Testament with 39 books, the first 39 chapters of Isaiah parallel it with woes, judgment, and promises for the future. Beginning with Isaiah 40, the final 27 chapters mirror the 27 books in the New Testament. The final portion of Isaiah is focused on the coming of the Messiah with messages of hope and life. In many respects, Isaiah is like an overview of the entire message of the Bible, yet in one book.

is the second theme of Isaiah. Our God is patient and merciful, but for the wicked, his patience has run out. The Lord is going to bring destruction to those who rebel against his heart. Because the people in Isaiah’s world had turned totally corrupt, in a series of prophetic utterances, Isaiah proclaims how Lord Yahweh, the Commander of Angel Armies, is going to punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sins. In graphic detail, Isaiah proclaims what will happen when God unleashes his anger at humankind.

is the third theme of Isaiah. Our God always excels in mercy and grace toward his people. In the long view, God will restore in abundance what sin has spoiled and satan has stolen in our lives. As Christians, we are to bear the image of Christ, and we are the seeds of the remnant. It is a consistent theme in Isaiah that God will restore. These themes of the hope of vindication and redemption are memorialized in Isaiah in three songs: the Song of Praise for the Redeemed (Isaiah 12), the Joyful Song of the Redeemed (35:1–10), and the Song of Salvation (52:7–12). As the translator of TPT writes, “In each, the children of God are invited to praise Lord Yahweh for turning away his anger and offering tender comfort, for breaking through and giving us victory, avenging our enemies with the salvation of divine retribution, for the beautiful message announcing peace and happiness, and for the unveiling of Lord...