Page 61 - Isaiah Student Worktext

Study Section 9: Chapters 29 - 33

9.1 Connect.

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie, and the end turned out really awful? The bad
guy was victorious, the good guy is destroyed, and the maiden has to marry the bad guy and is
miserable for the rest of her life. That kind of book or movie does not appeal to most people.
They want the ending to turn out to be one of happiness and peace.

Isaiah is in a sense writing a book of what is going to happen in the future. He prophesizes
terrible things that will happen. But in the end, he writes that King Jesus will win the battle against evil
and all will be well. History has a happy conclusion for those who seek the Lord. Let’s learn about that
today….

9.2 Objectives .

1. The student should be able to discuss how God uses a very painful cure—the siege of
Jerusalem—to heal His people of the heart disease of spiritual blindness and hypocrisy.

2. The student should be able to discuss how God condemns the stubborn strategies of Israel for
self-salvation through Egypt and promises salvation by His grace for believers and fiery wrath for
His enemies.

3. The student should be able to discuss how God declares His judgment on those who trust in idols and
proclaims His wisdom and power to save His people—those who cast away their idols.

4. The student should be able to explain Isaiah’s prophecy of a magnificent vision of the victory of King
Jesus over all His foes, giving hope to all who trust in Him.

9.3 Chapter 29 - Main Idea: God uses a very painful cure—the siege of Jerusalem—to heal
His people of the heart disease of spiritual blindness and hypocrisy.

V. 1-4 Woe to Ariel, which is another name for the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, once again, has
drifted away from the Lord. It has been infected with sin yet again.

Many times, the treatment of an illness in our bodies involves doing something that hurts.
Appendicitis is cured by cutting the body open and removing the appendix. It hurts, but in the
long run, it helps. If we have a cavity in our tooth, the dentist has to drill to remove some healthy parts
of the tooth in order to get to the diseased part and fix it.

God is going to ‘hurt’ Jerusalem in order to fix it. The hurt in this case is going to be a siege. The proud
cries before will be reduced to a whisper ‘out of the dust’.

V. 5-8 Then, those who besieged the city will themselves be reduced to dust, like chaff that blows away.

Over and over again, God allows foreign enemies to punish Israel, but then God punishes the punishers.

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