 Isaiah 23 - 44 Questions and Answers |
| Q. How is it that God provides first to all? | A. Isaiah 23:4 = God keeps the life cycle going. God can also stop it, keeping the fish of the sea from procreating, bringing disaster to the port cities such as Tyre. |
| Q. Why? |
A. Isaiah 23:8 = "...to destroy your human pride and show His comntempt for all human greatness." Note: We take the credit for what God has provided. This is contemptuous! |
| Q. Where do earthquakes ultimately come from? |
A. Isaiah 23:11 = God's hand shaking the kingdoms of the earth. Note: Whatever strength a city has, God saps it to get its attention. It is the same for us. God wants to be first, where He belongs, in our lives -- each day -- a fresh knowledge of God in our lives with each new day! |
| Q. What will happen to Babylonia? | A. Isaiah 23:13 = It will be a pile of rubble at the hands of Assyria. |
| Q. Would Tyre recover? | A. Isaiah 23:15 = Yes, 70 years later. |
| Q. What is 70 years equal to? | A. Isaiah 23:15 = The length of a king's life. |
| Q. Will Tyre have learned its lesson? | A. Isaiah 23:17 = No. But her profits will go to the Lord. |
| Q. How so? |
A. Isaiah 23:18 = To provide food and fine clothes for the Lord's priests. Note: You may as well repent and join God's people. In the end, He will use your hard-earned money for His house! |
| Q. Is there a time coming when the whole mass of mankind will be nearly destroyed? | A. Isaiah 24:1-13 = Yes. The Lord is behind it. There will be drought and fire and few left alive. Joy will be gone. |
| Q. Who will be left? | A. Isaiah 24:14-16 = Believers praising God! |
| Q. And the earth? | A. Isaiah 24:18-20 = Almost dead, shaking like a tent in the wind! Then the earth will die, never to rise again. |
| Q. Then what? |
A. Isaiah 24:21 = 1) Judgment of rulers and fallen angels. 2) Jesus comes to Zion to rule -- glory everywhere-- surrounded by believers praising Him. Brightness that fades the sun and moon by comparison. 3) The poor will be taken care of 4) The Lord will spread a feast for the world 5) The Lord will remove all gloom, death, tears, insults, and mocking against His land and people. |
| Q. Will there be any doubt as to who saved mankind? | A. Isaiah 25 = No! |
| Q. How will God's people fare at this time? | A. Isaiah 26:1-7 = Praising God, on a path not steep and rough. |
| Q. What happens to believers? | A. Isaiah 26:19 = Resurrection of the living and the dead. |
| Q. Isaiah knew this? | A. Isaiah 26:19 = Yes! |
| Q. Is there a visual given that I can use to remember this? | A. Isaiah 26:19 = Yes! When God calls His people from the grave, "..God's light of life will fall like dew on His people in the place of the dead!" |
| Q.What about the living? |
A. Isaiah 26 = God tells living believers to go home and lock their doors until judgment is over. Note: I am so protected! |
| Q. Why did God allow Israel to scatter? | A. Isaiah 27:8 = To purge away her sin. |
| Q. Israel will be gathered as one people again? | A. Isaiah 27:12-13 = Yes. A trumpet will sound and they will return to worship God in Jerusalem. |
| Q. What was Samaria known for? | A. Isaiah 28:1 = Being "the pride and joy of the drunkards of Israel." |
| Q. Is this slur meant to be shameful? | A. Isaiah 28:1 = Yes. God describes Samaria as "The pride of a people brought low by wine." |
| Q. Does God give Samaria leniency for its alcoholism? | A. Isaiah 28:2 = No. Judgement comes in force. The Assyrians would destroy Samaria. |
| Q. What will happen next? | A. Isaiah 28:5 = Repentance for Israel. |
| Q. So Israel repents. What happens next? |
A. Isaiah 28:6 = God will give a longing for justice to their judges; "...great courage to their warriors who stand at the gate." Note: This is sovereignty. God grants longing and courage for the right things, after repentance. God changes people when they get saved! |
| Q. What were the priests and prophets like in Isaiah's time? | A. Isaiah 28:7 = Drunk to staggering. |
| Q. What happened as a result? |
A. Isaiah 28:7-8 = 1) They made stupid mistakes while carrying out their duties 2) They threw up everywhere 3) They resented God and spoke against Him openly, bored with His simple commands. Note: It wasn't hard to do God's will, even back then. |
| Q. What was Jerusalem known for? | A. Isaiah 28:14 = Scoffing, lies and deceptions. |
| Q. What did God have in mind for Jerusalem? | A. Isaiah 28:16 = Something new -- the precious cornerstone, safe to build on; it requires a Belief that it is safe to build on. |
| Q. The foundation the Israelites had -- one based on lies -- would be tested? | A. Isaiah 28:17 = Yes. And will fall down. |
| Q. Will God destroy scoffing Jews? | A. Isaiah 28:21-22 = Yes. |
| Q. Who taught the first farmer how to farm? |
A. Isaiah 28:26-29 = God did. Note: God taught Adam, who taught Cain. I'm sure Cain knew this. Here was a man who instead of marveling at how God brought life and food from the ground, began to make up his own rules of worship, openly using his talents as a farmer to change worship. Yikes! When God rejected his offering of fruits and veggies, he was furious with God. People still offer vegetation on altars today. |
| Q. What ancient thing Isaiah spoke of still happens today in Jerusalem? | A. Isaiah 29:8 = Her enemies dream of a victorious conquest over Jerusalem, but to no avail. |
| Q. Why can't the Jews see God's plan for what it is? | A. Isaiah 29:9-10 = God has poured out on them a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of their prophets and visionaries. All these future events are a sealed book to them. |
| Q. What will make Israel finally recognize God? | A. Isaiah 29:23 = When they see their many children and material blessings, they will recognize the holiness of God. |
| Q. Who is mentioned? |
A. Isaiah 29:24 = Those in error will then believe the truth; those who constantly complain will accept instruction. Note: Truth seekers will see truth; complainers are people who refuse instruction. So true! |
| Q. What is the simple instruction God gave to Israel to be protected from their enemies? | A. Isaiah 30:15 = To return to God, to wait for Him in quietness and confidence. (No panicking!) |
| Q. Why? | A. Isaiah 30:15 = Quietness and confidence is their strength. |
| Q. What does fear do to us? |
A. Isaiah 30:17 = Fear magnifies problems a thousand times. It is a madness! Note: Do you find yourself obsessing on a problem? Is your imagination carrying you away? It's fear! Nothing is too big to resolve. We magnify problems because we fear the unknown. Trust God instead. Put Him in every situation you find yourself in. Relocation, family decisions, job changes, buying a car, buying anything else, and problem-solving of every fathomable kind. Reduce the problem by flipping the magnifying glass over. You see? When the event is visualized as minute once again, ask God to help you solve it. |
| Q. Why do all these things come down on Israel? | A. Isaiah 30:18 = They sin, but at this time, God can show them His love and compassion; His faithfulness to His own. |
| Q. And Israel will return? | A. Isaiah 30:18 = Yes. They will see God and hear His voice guiding them. |
| Q. And their enemies will be slaughtered? | A. Isaiah 30:25 = Yes. |
| Q. What will the sun and moon be like at that time? | A. Isaiah 30:26 = Different. The moon like the sun is now; the sun seven times brighter. |
| Q. What else? |
A. Isaiah 30:29-33 = They will sing for joy as God smashes their enemies. They will keep time with the music of the tambourines and harps. Note: The Disney cartoon, Fantasia, depicts this scene. |
| Q. What is the power of God? | A. Isaiah 31:3 = Against our puny horses, the fear of God is like mighty spirits. When God clenches His fist against His enemies, the fear of God causes them to stumble and fall. Unfrightened by our protests, the fear of God judges. The fear of God hovers over His people to protect them; like a bird over its nest. |
| Q. How fierce is God? |
A. Isaiah 31:4 = When a lion kills a sheep, it pays no attention to the shepherd's shouts and noises. It just goes right on eating. In the same way, the Lord Almighty will come and fight on Mount Zion. Note: Such finality! The time for patience will have passed. I like knowing that God is always faithful, even in judgment, which is His to carry out. |
| Q. What does God know about His people? |
A. Isaiah 31:6-7 = They know He is Father; even in their idolatries. They know their nation will gather back to Him one day. Note: Ever forgiving, ever grace pouring down on us, ever knowing our weakness, God knows we love Him! |
| Q. How will the Assyrians be taken out? | A. Isaiah 31:8 = With God's sword. They'll feel it, panic and flee, while God's flame burns brightly in Jerusalem. |
| Q. What kind of political structure will come with Jesus as ruling King? |
A. Isaiah 32:1 = 1) Honest princes ruling under Him. 2) The land restored. 3) Everyone seeking God. 4) Everyone listening to His voice. |
| Q. Even hotheads? | A. Isaiah 32:4 = Yes! |
| Q. Even those who stammer in uncertainty? | A. Isaiah 32:4 = Yes! They will speak out plainly! |
| Q. Will right and wrong be clearly defined? |
A. Isaiah 32:5 = Yes! 1) Ungodly fools will not be heroes 2) Wealthy cheaters not respected as outstanding citizens 3) All will rcognize fools for what they are (spreading lies about God; depriving the hungry of food and giving no water to the thirsty) 4) Good people will be generous to others and will be blessed for all they do. |
| Q. What will God do to show His provision to His people? | A. Isaiah 32:9-20 = God will bring drought. Then a different kind of water will come. |
| Q. What? | A. Isaiah 32:15 = The Spirit is poured down upon them from heaven. The wilderness will become a fertile field, which will become a lush and fertile forest. Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. |
| Q. What will righteousness bring with it? | A. Isaiah 32:17 = Peace. Quietness and confidence will fill the land forever. |
| Q. And the people? | A. Isaiah 32:18-20 = They'll live in safety, quietly at home. At rest. Destruction is all around them, but God will bless them so that wherever they plant seeds, bountiful crops will spring up. Their flocks and herds will graze in green pastures. |
| Q. Does God expect nations far away from God's miraculous events to listen to Him? | A. Isaiah 33:13 = Yes. God expects them to believe the news of those miracles when they come. |
| Q. What about nations who see those miracles? |
A. Isaiah 33:13 = God expects them to acknowledge God's might. Note: God expects all to believe His wonders one day. |
| Q. Who can live in the presence of God's all-consuming fire? |
A. Isaiah 33:15 = 1) Those honest and fair 2) Those who reject making a profit by fraud 3) Those not murdering or plotting it 4) Those who are unbribable 5) Those who refuse all enticements to do wrong. |
| Q. Where will these folks dwell? | A. Isaiah 33:16 = On high; provisions will be from God; They'll live in the rock and mountain country. |
| Q. So jerusalem will be a place unconquerable to enemies who are also experiencing drought and defeat? | A. Isaiah 33:23 = Yes. What a sight! |
| Q. How will Zion be seen? | A. Isaiah 33:20 = As a place of worship and celebration; quiet and secure. |
| Q. Will all nations turn to God because of this sight? | A. Isaiah 34:1-2 = No. So judgment will fall. Edom will be devastated and renamed the Land of Nothing. |
| Q. Does God want His people to know His plans in detail? | A. Isaiah 34:16-17 = Yes. He wants us to know prophesy. |
| Q. So Israel will blossom in the sight of a barren world? | A. Isaiah 35 = Yes! |
| Q. Why does God tell us all this? | A. Isaiah 35:3-4 = To give us hope. So we'll give others hope too. |
| Q. What else will happen in Israel at that time? |
A. Isaiah 35:5 = 1) Physical healing of eyesight, hearing, lameness, muteness. 2) Springs coming up out of the desert, flourishing plants. 3) The Highway of Holiness will go through a once-deserted land -- Only godly folks will use it -- it will be totally safe. |
| Q. Who are God's people? | A. Isaiah 35:9-10 = The redeemed -- ransomed by the Lord. |
| Q. Can God make the clock go backwards? | A. Isaiah 38:8 = Yes. God made Hezekiah's sundial go ten steps backward by moving the sun's shadow! (Timetravel!) |
| Q. How big is God? |
A. Isaiah 40:12 =
1) big enough to hold the oceans in His hand 2) big enough to measure off the heavens with His fingers 3) big enough to know the weight of the earth 4) big enough to have weighed out the mountains and the hills 5) big enough to be able to advise the Spirit of the Lord 6) big enough to know absolutely everything so He needs no counsel 7) bigger than all the nations -- they are a drop in the bucket in comparison -- dust on the scales 8) big enough to pick up the islands as if they weighed nothing 9) The entire forest of Lebanon could not supply enough fuel to consume a sacrifice large enough to honor Him -- all Lebanon's animals combined is insuffient for a sacrifice worthy of God. |
| Q. Can we compare God to anybody? | A. Isaiah 40:18-20 = No. |
| Q. Are icons an insult to God's hugeness? | A. Isaiah 40:18-20 = Yes. Icons reduce God to a lowly place of our finite understanding and we begin treating Him as if He were powerless. |
| Q. Where does God sit? | A. Isaiah 40:22 = In the heavens, which He spreads out like a curtain. (Cartoonists copy this biblical description.) |
| Q. How big is God? |
A. Isaiah 40:24 = 1) Big enough to intervene in the ambitious work of powerful people and merely blowing them and their efforts away. 2) big enough to create all the stars. |
| Q. Are stars organized? | A. Isaiah 40:26 = Oh yes. God brings them out one after another, calling each by its name. He counts them to see that none are lost or hvae strayed away. |
| Q. Is God boasting egotistically about Himself all through Isaiah 40? | A. Isaiah 40:27 = No. God is reasoning with His people here. His people don't realize how big God is. At the end of God's reasoning in this chapter, He asks the people how they could say that He doesn't see their troubles, or that He refuses to hear their case. God doesn't tire or get weary -- no one can measure the depths of God's understanding. He gives power to those who are tired or worn out. He offers strength to the weak. |
| Q. Does God really refresh those who ask for refreshment? |
A. Isaiah 40:29-31 = Yes. Note: The best encouragement you can offer anyone is to ask God for refreshment. Is God eal? Ask Him yourself! Invite God to come! He will whoosh down and all your preconcieved ideas will vanish. All your philosophies will seem stupid and vain. Someone said, "Let go and let God!" Today is a new day. Live it really in God's presence! |
| Q. Has God orchestrated events from the beginning of time? | A. Isaiah 41:1-4 = Yes! |
| Q. Has God thrown Israel away? | A. Isaiah 41:8-10 = No! God will gather Israel back together one day to serve Him. They will fight and win with God's help. They will be filled with joy and praise God too. |
| Q. Does God know the future? | A. Isaiah 41:22 = Yes. |
| Q. What happens when one chooses to worship an idol? | A. Isaiah 41:24 = He becomes filthy, just like the idol. |
| Q. What else did God say about the future after reasoning with Israel? | A. Isaiah 42:1-9 = He told them that His Servant was coming; gentle and merciful, bringing justice, not stopping until truth and righteousness prevail throughout the earth. All nations will wait for His instruction. |
| Q. Did God tell the rest of the world what His Servant would do for them? |
A. Isaiah 42:5-7 = Yes. He presents Himself as Creator of all life, whom He called to demonstrate His righteousness. Note: All this came to pass with Messiah Jesus. The next prophesy has not been fulfilled yet? |
| Q. What is the next prophesy? | A. Isaiah 42:10-17 = When Messiah returns, this time it will be to do battle and win. Creation will react and respond to Him. He'll lead blind Israel down a new path and they will be able to see their way down this path, for God will open their eyes. |
| Q. Why are God's chosen ones, the Israelites, blind? | A. Isaiah 42:18 = They refused to listen. They would not apply the lessons from the past and see the ruin that awaited them. |
| Q. What were those lessons? | A. Isaiah 42:24 = That God allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt as a consequence of their sin against God in not going where He sent them and not obeying His law. |
| Q. How can God get close with sinful people? | A. Isaiah 43:1 = By ransom. Each person had to be ransomed. |
| Q. Is ransom an exchange? | A. Isaiah 43:3 = Yes. |
| Q. In the Old Testament, how had God ransomed His people? | A. Isaiah 43:3-4 = God gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba (Cush) as ransom for their freedom. Others not mentioned also died that Israel might live. |
| Q. Why do such a thing for Israel? | A. Isaiah 43:4 = Because Israel is precious to God. They are honored and God loves them. |
| Q. Will God gather all people who love Him from the four corners of the earth? | A. Isaiah 43:5-7 = Yes. |
| Q. Why do people become God's children? | A. Isaiah 43:7 = Because God has made them for His glory. |
| Q. Why can we believe God for what He says? |
A. Isaiah 43:8-9 = 1) God foretells the future and all events thus far have come to pass (We're still in that event period!) 2) Witnesses recorded these events. Israel has witnessed them come to pass. |
| Q. Is God just one of many gods? | A. Isaiah 43:10 = No. He is the only One, proving it again and again to Israel as He shook them up and made a mockery of false gods. |
| Q. Why did God do this to Israel? |
A. Isaiah 43:10 = 1) Specifically, to be God's witnesses 2) To be His servants 3) Chosen to know God 4) Chosen to believe in Him 5) Chosen to understand that He alone is God. 6) That He alone is Savior 7) Predicting deliverance 8) Declaring His next move to them 9) Doing it 10) Saving them 11) Performing all things foreign gods couldn't 12) Bearing witness that God is only One God 13) That no one can oppose what He does 14) No one can reverse His actions. Note: Fearing God yet? Relax! God has your best in mind. Just love and obey and trust and sing to Him! |
| Q. Is God ours? | A. Isaiah 43:15 = Yes! "I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel's Creator and King." |
| Q. How did the Egyptian army die? | A. Isaiah 43:17 = God called them all out to drown in the Red Sea. |
| Q. Is this the mightiest of miracles God will perform? | A. Isaiah 43:18 = No way! |
| Q. What is coming? |
A. Isaiah 43:19 = 1) A pathway through the wilderness for God's people to go home 2) Rivers in the deserts. |
| Q. Are beasts capable of gratitude toward their Creator God? | A. Isaiah 43:20 = Yes! |
| Q. Why did the Israelites turn away from God? | A. Isaiah 43:22 = The Israelites got bored with God! |
| Q. Were making burnt offerings and grain offerings burdensome for them? Was the whole sacrificial system requiring perfume and fat too burdensome? |
A. Isaiah 43:23 = No. Note: God will never make you give up your food money or sustenance money, but will always provide in abundance to make it possible to give. Don't overdo giving so that you are in debt in order to give to church and also be able to survive. |
| Q. What does our turning away from God do to Him? | A. Isaiah 43:24 = We burden God with our sins and weary Him with our faults. |
| Q. How does a Holy God deal with a people who are not? | A. Isaiah 43:25 = God blots out our sins, for His own sake (we certainly don't care) and never thinks about them again. |
| Q. Why do people make and worship idols? | A. Isaiah 44:20 = They cannot bring themselves to ask, "Is this thing, this idol that I'm holding in my hand, a lie?" |
| Q. Why else do people make and worship idols? | A. Isaiah 44:18 = They are stupid and ignorant. Their eyes are closed and they cannot think. |
| Q. So God has swept away all sins. All Israel has left to do is return to God? | A. Isaiah 44:21-22 = Yes. |
| Q. How should our response be to this redemption? | A. Isaiah 44:23 = Singing, shouting, the earth shaking, the mountains and forests singing, every tree singing to God. |
| Q. How does God expose a false prophet? |
A. Isaiah 44:26 = By altering the false prophet's predictions and seeing that the opposite happens. Note: Even if the false prophet happens upon the right prediction, God will make sure to change the outcome, just to expose him. |
| Q. How does God expose a fool who claims he is wise? |
A. Isaiah 44:25 = God causes him to give bad advice in order to expose him as a fool. Note: So true! If God exposes a fool to you, it's to get you back on the right path. If this verse speaks to you, please believe it and simplify your life with the truth! |
| Q. Do unbelieving kings obey God at His will? | A. Isaiah 44:28 = Yes. |