Bible Readings 2024, Week 30; July 22-28
July 22; Isa 34-37. (Bonus reading Ps.23)
1. Is. 35:3; "Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees."
How did the author of the book of Hebrews use this Passage in Heb. 12:12-13?
2. Is. 35:5-6; "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert."
How did Jesus use this Passage to answer John the Baptist's question in Luke 7?
3. Is. 36-37: How did King Hezekiah deal with the threat of King Sennacherib?
July 23; Isa 38-39; (Bonus reading Ps.23)
1. Is. 38:4-7; "Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 "Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city." "This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised"
God told King Hezekiah he would die; after King Hezekiah prayed, God added fifteen years to his life; did God change His mind?
2. Is. 38:21-22; "Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover." Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?"
How do you reconcile God's providence with man's responsibility in this Passage?
3. Is. 39; what went wrong with King Hezekiah? Why was Prophet Isaiah not happy with King Hezekiah?
July 24; Ps 76; Isa 40. (Bonus reading Ps.23)
1. Is. 40:1-2; "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfareis ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins."
To whom did Prophet Isaiah address this Passage?
2. Is. 40:3-5; "A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Where in the New Testament do we find the fulfillment of this prophecy?
3. Is. 40:27-31; "Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God"? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
Do you think Prophet Isaiah was talking in this Passage to the people in Exile?
July 25; Isa 41-43. (Bonus reading Ps.23)
1. Is. 41:8-9; "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend: you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off"
Was Prophet Isaiah talking in this Passage about the Exodus from Egypt?
2. Is. 42:1-4; "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouragedtill he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law."
Who is the servant of the Lord in this Passage? Please refer to (Matt. 12:17-21).
3. Is. 42:5-7; "Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: "I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness."
Where in the New Testament do we find the fulfillment of this prophecy?
July 26; Isa 44-46. (Bonus reading Ps.23)
1. Is. 44:6, "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god."
Where in the book of Revelation we see Jesus using this verse on Himself?
2, Is. 45:1-2, "Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: "I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron."
How do we understand that Cyrus, the pagan king, was God's anointed?
2. Is. 45:22; "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."
Where in the New Testament do we find the fulfillment of this Passage?
July 27; Isa 47-48; 2 Kgs 19. (Bonus reading Ps.23)
1. Is. 47:1-5; "Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one. Our Redeemer the Lord of hosts is his name—is the Holy One of Israel. Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms."
This Passage is a prediction about God's judgment of Babel. Was this prophecy fulfilled yet?
2. Is. 48:20-21; "Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, "The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!" They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out."
When was this prophecy fulfilled?
3. 2 Kings 19:35-37; "And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his God, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place."
How did God save Judah from the Assyrians? How did the faith of King Hezekiah play in saving his people?
July 28; Ps 46, 80, 135; Isa 49-50. (Bonus reading Ps.23)
1. Ps. 46:1-11; "God is our refuge and strength, a very presenthelp in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."
Why do we read 2 Kings 19 with Ps. 46 and 80 together?
2. Is. 49:22-23; "Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame."
Was this prophecy fulfilled?
3. Is. 50:4-6; "The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting."
How does this passage point to Christ?