CHRISTMAS 2022 Isaiah 9:2-7 New American Standard Bible

‘The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
You will multiply the nation,
You will increase their joy;
They will rejoice in Your presence
As with the joy of harvest,
As people rejoice when they divide the spoils.
For You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.’

Merry Christmas!

LESSON 6

Isaiah 37:30-35 New American Standard Bible

³⁰ “Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows from the same, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ³¹ The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³² For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord of armies will perform this.”’

³³ “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, nor heap up an assault ramp against it. ³⁴ By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the Lord. ³⁵ ‘For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”

Application: God protects His people, Israel. He protects Jerusalem.

LESSON 5

Isaiah 37:21-29 New American Standard Bible

²¹ “Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

‘She has shown contempt for you and derided you,
The virgin daughter of Zion;
The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind you!
²³ Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice
And haughtily raised your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
²⁴ Through your servants you have taunted the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice junipers.
And I will come to its highest peak, its thickest forest.
²⁵ I dug wells and drank waters,
And with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the canals of Egypt.’
²⁶ Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it,
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it about
That you would turn fortified cities into ruined heaps.
²⁷ Therefore their inhabitants were powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame;
They were like the vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like grass on the housetops that is scorched before it has grown.
²⁸ But I know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
²⁹ Because of your raging against Me
And because your complacency has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back by the way that you came.”

In their pride, Assyria had blasphemed Holy God!

Application:  We cannot mock God. He is in control.

LESSON 4

Isaiah 37:14-20/New American Standard Bible

14 “Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Lord of armies, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. ¹⁷ Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to taunt the living God. ¹⁸ Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands, ¹⁹ and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ²⁰ But now Lord, our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.”

WOW! Hezekiah had a serious problem. His people were up against serious threats and intimidation. He knew he couldn’t handle this alone. He took it to the LORD. He worshiped. He recognized God’s sovereignty and power.

Application:  Life is not problem- free. Trouble comes to all. It comes to me. I can panic or I can pray.

LESSON 3

Isaiah Chapter 37: Verses 8-13 [NASB]

^“Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. Now he heard them say regarding Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight against you, and when he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ^‘This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?  Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Application: True, gods (little g) of other nations were defeated.

                    False, the God of Jerusalem, of Israel… of ALL will be defeated!

LESSON NUMBER 2

Isaiah Chapter 37, Verses 5-7 [NASB]

⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear news and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Application: God sent encouraging words to King Hezekiah, through His Prophet, Isaiah. The LORD would soon remove the King of Assyria. We need to remember circumstances may be out of control but all is under God’s control. He protects His children. (Romans 8:28)

Isaiah 9:1-7 Christmas 2021

¹But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

² The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³ You will multiply the nation,
You will increase their joy;
They will rejoice in Your presence
As with the joy of harvest,
As people rejoice when they divide the spoils.
⁴ For You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
⁵ For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us;
And the government will^]rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.”

Application:  “For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us;“(Verse 6a)

Emmanuel: ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1:23)

LESSON 1

Isaiah Chapter 37: Verses 1-4

.’” 37 Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴ Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left. ‘’’

Note the reaction/response to pending attack and taunts against God.

1 He humbled himself and went to God’s temple.

2 He asked for godly council.

3 He asked for prayer support.

Application: We all have problems. Do we panic? Do we instead follow the good example of King Hezekiah?

Isaiah Chapter 36, Verses 19-22 [NASB]

19 “Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they saved Samaria from my hand?  ²⁰ Who among all the gods of these lands have saved their land from my hand, that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

²¹ But they were silent and did not answer him so much as a word; for the king’s command was, ‘Do not answer him.’ ²² Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.”  

(VS 19-20) The enemy mocked the LORD, the One true God.

(VS 21-22) God’s people remained silent. In sorrow, they tore their clothes.

Application:  We should not be surprised by opposition, ridicule and mockery.

LESSON 3

Isaiah 36:11-18

New American Standard Bible

¹¹ Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judean so that the people who are on the wall hear you.” 12 But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”¹³ Then Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! ¹⁴ This is what the king says: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you; ¹⁵ and do not let Hezekiah lead you to rely on the Lord, saying, “The Lord will certainly save us. This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria!” ¹⁶ Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Surrender to me and come out to me, and eat, each one, of his vine and each of his fig tree, and each drink of the waters of his own cistern, ¹⁷ until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. ¹⁸ Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, “The Lord will save us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Taunts by the enemy… Blasphemy of the LORD GOD… Arrogance

Application: God will be revealed and glorified.

LESSON 2 Isaiah Chapter 36, Verses: 4-10 [NASB]

“4 And Rabshakeh said to them, ‘Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: ‘What is this confidence that you have? ⁵ I say, ‘Your plan and strength for the war are only empty words.’ Now on whom have you relied, that you have revolted against me? ⁶ Behold, you have relied on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. ⁷ But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’? ⁸ Now then, come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them! ⁹ How then can you drive back even one official of the least of my master’s servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ¹⁰ And have I now come up without the Lord’s approval against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

Taunts and mockery by their enemies, the Assyrians…

It was blasphemy against Jehovah God.

Application: We should not be surprised when there is opposition. Satan uses the enemies verbal abuse. Be encouraged; God is in control.

Christmas Blessings!

Isaiah 9: 2-7 [New American Standard Bible]

“2 The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³ You will multiply the nation,
You will increase their joy;
They will rejoice in Your presence
As with the joy of harvest,
As people rejoice when they divide the spoils.
⁴ For You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
⁵ For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.”

Amen and Amen.