Bible Study: Isaiah: Chapters 1-12

Prophecy is one of His ways of providing us with evidence of who He is, so we have a basis for faith and not blind faith. -- Chuck Smith

Aren't prophesies amazing?! I love reading the Old Testament and finding myself completely astonished with all of the prophesies of Jesus' life that were written centuries before Jesus was born.

Recently at church the women have begun a study on the book of Isaiah. I was very excited to do this study because in all my years (all 23 of them!) I had never read through the entire book before. The idea of studying this book was a little intimidating at first because it is a very long book and all I really knew about the book was that it was about prophesies.

Well now we are 5 weeks into the study and I can say I have certainly been blessed by this study each week. The first 12 chapters have dealt greatly with the wrath of God, which is a difficult thing to understand sometimes. For many years I never understood what people meant when they said God was not only loving but he was a God of wrath. I would read bits and pieces of Isaiah (and many other books that speak of His wrath) and I'd be terrified. Could God really be angry with people and why would he be that angry? Remember the "fear" you had of your parents if you'd done something wrong and you knew there was a punishment? The fear I have when reading these passages of God's wrath doesn't even compare to that. This is good though because its proof that I'm saved. The fear that we should have of God is unspeakable, because we do wrong (sin) and disrespect our creator every day of our lives. The thought of what we deserve should absolutely terrify us and make us tremble.

Why must he pour out his wrath on people? Because God is good. It is a strange and beautiful concept. If he did not punish those who did wrong, He would not be good. When reading these chapters, especially the ones that speak of specifics of how God demonstrates his wrath, it is frightening. As we read through Isaiah, we are constantly reminded that if we are not with God, we are against Him. If we are against God, we have no hope for life. This is why I have a hard time understanding how a person can go through their entire life believing that there is no God. How does one live with no hope?

God gave Isaiah a clear vision of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. This is one thing that absolutely amazes me with each weekly study in Isaiah, there is no question of whether or not he is talking about Jesus, it is made absolutely clear. It's wonderful! The depth of God's plan to redeem his people is absolutely brilliant (I know, I know...of course it is - this is the holy and perfect God we are talking about.) I just love that there is a purpose and a plan for everything. I've learned about biblical history, the present time and our current conditions, and the future by reading this book. The amount of information that God gave Isaiah is incredible. If you've never read it, please do a study on it. I'm not even halfway through it yet and its already been a remarkable journey.

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