Isaiah

OBJECTIVE

The objective for this lesson is to introduce the book of Isaiah, discuss the content of his book, and to study the types of Christ throughout.

HOOK - 5 Minutes

Imagine going into a dark cave and trying to describe what's inside
You're told the walls are adorned with beautiful images, but you can't make anything out
When you bring a powerful light source, the cave becomes illumined and you can see all the images very clearly
The Old Testament was like a dark cave with many images hidden throughout, but it was not until the coming of Christ, the light of the world, that the images of the Old Testament were made clear
Today's lesson will look into the beautiful images found within the book of Isaiah

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 10 Minutes

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory" 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts." 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged." 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I Send me."
Is. 6:1-8
Memory Verse
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound"
Is. 61:1

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 25 Minutes

Introduction to Isaiah

Authorship

The author of this Major Prophecy is Isaiah
He was raised in an aristocratic home and was married to a prophetess
His ministry spanned the reigns of four kings of Judah
At first, he was well liked, but his messages were very harsh, so he became unpopular
He wrote this prophecy between 700 and 680 BC

Outline

Judgment upon Judah (Is. 1-12)
Judgment upon the Nations (Is. 13-24)
Judgment and Redemption (Is. 25-35)
Restoration of Hezekiah (Is. 36-39)
Redemption and Future Glory (Is. 40-66)

Themes of Isaiah

Judgement (Is. 1-35)

During Isaiah's life, God helped him to see the wickedness of Jerusalem. It's rulers and people had become idolatrous, wicked, unjust. The people of Israel had once again stopped living according to the commandments of God.
Isaiah rightly predicted that God would use the Asyrian and the Babylonian empires to teach the people of Israel a lesson. These nations went on to conquer Jerusalem and send its people into exile.
These events, although horrible, were not a signal that God had abandoned Israel. Instead, according to Isaiah, God would use these events to purify the "Old Jerusalem" in order to prepare Israel for the coming of the 'New Jerusalem.'

Hope (Is. 40-66)

Isaiah confronts the King of Judah, Ahaz(descendant of David), and tells him of his downfall at the hands of the kingdom of Assyria, but God will send in his place a new King called Immanuel('God with us') who will save the world
While God will make Israel realize how far they are from Him, he will not abandon them, but instead will send them a new King. We now know that the King he sent, is Jesus Christ.
The new King would bring in a new nation that would offer salvation to all who accepted His rule

Prophecies of Christ

This section is to be used with the Discussion/Activity below.

Incarnation

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel," which means: God is with us (Is. 7:14).
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Is. 9:6).
"Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the Land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined" (Is. 9:1-2).
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse (so was called the father of David) and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord" (Is. 11:1).
"And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth" (Is. 49:6).

Ministry of Christ

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek;' he hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Is. 61:1-2)
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert" (Is. 35:5-6).

Suffering of Christ

"He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with fgrief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." (Is. 53: 3)
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." (Is. 53: 5)
"He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth." (Is. 53:7)

Resurrection

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand" (Is. 53:10)

DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY - 20 Minutes

Option 1

Directions

Split your class into small groups
Select prophecies from above and distribute them to your children
Make sure you take at least one verse from each of the four categories (Incarnation, Ministry, suffering/death, resurrection), but don't tell the students which category it is from.

Have each group answer the following questions

What do you think your verse is about?
What events in the New Testament remind you of the following verse? Can you think of any specific chapters or stories from the Gospels that reflect this verse?
How do you think Isaiah was able to predict what would happen so far in the future and what do you think that means for us? What do you think it meant for the people of Israel?

Option 2

Alternate Activity: Names of Jesus

Have students write the names of Jesus on boxes (e.g., shoe boxes) and do a memory verse STACKING activity.
Have the students define and explain what Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Immanuel mean. These definitions could be written on the underside of their respective box, and used for a quiz where students see how many boxes (names) they can define correctly in the shortest amount of time.
Discussion idea: You could also put a question inside each box, and toss the box to a student to open and answer it.
Reflection: And finally, you can have each student write an idea about the name, and put it in each box for a reflection reading.