In this book about the prophet Isaiah, we encounter our first prophetic literature in our journey through the Bible that started in Genesis. However, you will remember that many others have stood before God and His people as a translator: Moses, Elijah, and many more. Isaiah is a book that is looking backwards to the Israelites’ history, and forward to the hope of the Kingdom that God promised them.

For a broader view of this book of the Bible, we encourage you to watch this video:

Bible Journaling Tip:

In some books of the Bible there are strange spaces open because of the style of writing that separates the text out a lot, e.g. Proverbs, Psalms, or poems in other books. When this happens, you can look at the open space and see if it looks like a certain shape: perhaps it is shaped like an old tree or a boat. Draw these things into the blank spaces - Pray and ask the Holy Spirit what the meaning is of the picture, and how does it relate to the words on the page.

LOOK UP (information): encounter God through the Scripture 

Author:

The prophet Isaiah himself authored this book which contains the messages that he had to bring to the people of God living in Jerusalem: a message of judgement, and a message of hope. The hope is what motivated Isaiah to confront the injustice in Jerusalem. Can you think of something that really frustrates you about the world - e.g. homelessness, divorce, orphans? What would such hope look like in that area of life? Your calling is often hidden in what frustrates you. 

Audience:

This book is written to the nation of Israel, as Isaiah tries to remind them of all that God has done for them and to direct their attention back to His past faithfulness, and future promises. Humans are forgetful beings - that is one reason why we Bible Journal: to write down reminders about God’s goodness for our future selves to find. If you have a Journal, make some time this week to read again what you have written before and see how that makes you feel.

History:

The Bible that we have is not organized in chronological order, but rather by category or genre. This book was written before the Babylonian exile, so it would fit in before the book of 2 Kings in our Bibles. To learn about how the Bible was organized, you can read this article.

Throughout the whole Bible so far, we have followed the story of God and his people. How does this book fit into that narrative? Can you mark places where Isaiah refers to other books in the Bible, things that happened in the past? Can you mark places where he refers to promises that God made to his people that we have read about before? How does Jesus in the New Testament fulfil these promises? 

Genre:

Our Bibles have two groupings of prophetic literature, namely major prophets and minor prophets. Isaiah is the first of the major prophets. This naming has nothing to do with their importance, but rather their lengths! You can read the book of Obadiah in one sitting, since it’s only once chapter! But with the book of Isaiah, you can take more time to slowly walk through the text. Take the time to notice beauty and take souvenirs from the journey with you.

LOOK IN (revelation): contemplate / reflect on our own lives

Key verse:

Isaiah 6:5-7 NIV

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Inspiration:

Based on what we know about God in the Old Testament, people could never see God! Who could enter God’s presence? (Think of the book Leviticus). A seraphim is a spiritual being like an angel. You can learn more about them here and by reading the other prophetic books like Revelation. Why do you think the angel put a coal to Isaiah’s lips? Read again what the angel says to him. How does this link to what Jesus does on the cross?

LOOK OUT (transformation): respond with creative worship action  

Drawing prompt:

Draw or paint a picture of what you imagine heaven to look like: think of what you have seen in movies or read about in books. Now, on the opposite side of that page create a picture of what the Bible says the ‘New Jerusalem’ and new creation will look like. Read Isaiah 60-62 to start with, and then you can also do a deeper dive into the rest of Scripture where it speaks about the New Jerusalem. It is also interesting to look at how others have imagined this new city throughout the centuries: like this tapestry from the 14th century.

Bible Journey with JournalOwl:

Here are some questions / prompts provided by the JournalOwl community. 

• What adornments did Isaiah say God’s people would receive in exchange for “ashes,” “mourning,” and “a spirit of despair” in verse three? (Isaiah 61:3)
• How would the work force of Israel reflect its power and status in verse five? (Isaiah 61:5)

Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.

Writing prompt:

Earlier we have identified that the book of Isaiah shares judgement, and also hope. Write down a bulleted list of all the images of hope that are shared in the book of Isaiah. Next to each sign of hope, write down whether you believe that we can have access to this today through the Holy Spirit and what Jesus did on the cross, or if it is something that will only become real in the New Jerusalem, in heaven. 

There are different approaches and beliefs surrounding eschatology (God’s coming Kingdom) and soteriology (salvation from sins). Some examples are illustrated in the following questions. Use these as journal prompts, and look for answers in the Bible, specifically in the prophetic literature on the New Jerusalem and the teachings of Jesus on the Kingdom. 

Consider these questions and journal prayerfully about them: Are we saved from the world, or for the world? Will heaven come to earth, or will we be taken elsewhere? How will heaven come? Is the Kingdom already a reality? Where is Jesus now? What does it mean when we pray “Your Kingdom come”? How does God bring his Kingdom into the world? 

Prayer:

God, I want to thank you for the book of Isaiah. Prophecy is such a wonderful gift. Would you also teach me about the spiritual gift of prophecy and how it can affect my daily life as one who loves you. Let my response to this text be worship unto you!