This is the end of our 4-part Advent series in the book of Isaiah, and also the end of our series “In God We Trust” where we were reminded time and time again to place our trust in God alone. As part of Advent these four weeks, we have considered themes of waiting, beholding God’s beauty, God’s judgement, and salvation, etc.

Do you enjoy the wonderful time and feels that the Christmas season brings, and in many ways, don’t want it to end? Come January however, what shall we be glad in? This is what Isaiah 35 addresses for us, and helps us see how God will renew all of creation and redeem/ransom a people for everlasting joy in his presence.

In this series, we have been seeing that trust is the posture of God’s people. A trust in God shows itself in evaluating the rise and fall of nations, and also evaluates hopes and dreams in light of this trust. 

Tonight, even in this Advent season, we are going to look at the idea of judgment. This may not be what we expect in this season, but it is what God’s word says! 

Isaiah describes Israel’s future in this passage. He is inviting Judah (and us) to imagine a future that looks very different from their present circumstances. But to press in to that, we have to look back to understand their circumstances then. This vision is given as a promise to a people who have asked for help and asked for hope. Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 33: 17-24 are a response to the specific, historic, time-bound situation of Isaiah 33:1-16.

The promises in these verses are a response to that situation, but go far beyond that in presenting a vision of future hope. The promises tell us what sort of king Christ Jesus is, what His rule meant for the defeated people of Judah, and what it means for us today.

As we do this study, this is a season of Advent, and in Advent we are learning to wait well. Isaiah 33 also speaks to and helps us to wait. Advent makes clear that Jesus has come. This is true, even to the non-believing, secular world. But one of the questions that is unanswered, is why Jesus came. What do you think? More importantly, what does Isaiah say?  

What do we hope for? What do we hope in? Perhaps in the last 2 years, you’ve hoped for the pandemic to be over? Or for some, it’s to get to a BTO? Often, we desire security, comfort, joy, justice etc. But there are some who feel like if we don’t hope in anything, we won’t be disappointed.

But friends, hope often drives us! Isaiah 32 will show us that we have a true and eternal hope in our king Jesus alone. King Jesus will reign eternally over a righteous, just and peaceful kingdom, in which his people will dwell. He’s able to bring all our desires to their true fruition.

In the previous study, Isaiah 30:18-33 tells us of a God who waits to be gracious to his people. He promises to hear their cry, reveal himself, guide them, bless them with abundance, renew creation, heal their wounds, and defeat their enemies. Judah is threatened by Assyria, and the issue at hand is who will Judah turn to for help? What is Judah going to rely on?

We are in a series in the book of Isaiah, and this part of the series is “in God we trust”. In the earlier portions of today’s chapter, we’ve seen how God warned Judah against trusting Egypt, and urging them to trust in him instead. Today in our text we look at God’s surprising response to Judah’s stubbornness despite God’s call to repentance

Who and what do you trust? We all have some sort of standards we apply before we decide that that person or thing is worth putting your trust in. This is because there are consequences of trusting in something/someone.

Today, we will see who Judah trusts in, and the effects of that trust.

Imagine you had a friend who is not walking well with the Lord. What lengths would you go to to help this person see where they are with God? What would you say to them to help them see where they are spiritually?

In our modern age, we will say that we need to be wise, tactful, full of empathy, careful not to offend intentionally and to be tender. How does Isaiah do it? He is a prophet of God who speaks to God’s people with sarcasm and mockery, not afraid to be honest with spiritual truth.

The popular movie, Spiderman, has a famous quote, “great power came with great responsibility". For Israel, God’s covenant people, they received great revelation and promises from Him. These should have been answered with worship and trust. What happens when God’s people fail to trust in His Word but indulge in religious hypocrisy? We find ourselves tonight in a section of Isaiah where God addresses his people’s failure.

What will be the consequences? How will God respond?

Who killed Jesus Christ? This is not a trick question, and it is worth for us to begin this study by thinking about it. The battle in Christianity that drives Jesus to the cross is a fight of hypocrisy. It is not the irreligious who sends Jesus to the cross, but the religious. The church needs to be on guard, not against a world out there, but the empty religion inside that always calls for Jesus’ death.

Stephen Charnock writes about the wisdom of God. Who is the God you worship? Is He this wise?

In this study, we’re going to look at just one verse — Isaiah 27:1. We are going to understand what is the Leviathan and also, what is God going to do.

Singing is more than just singing. It is for the praiseworthy. Do you sing? We are familiar with it when we go to church on Sundays or come together on Wednesdays. But what happens when Monday comes around? What happens when the realities of life hits hard? This matters because it tells us who we are and where we belong to.

In Isaiah 26, God prepares His people to sing a special song.

This chapter comes at the back of Isaiah 24, which was an oracle for the whole world — literally judgement on the whole earth. Now Isaiah 25 is an oracle set against this backdrop, and teaches us what God is like, what His plans are for the world and how we should respond to ongoing developments in this light. Read together, we see clearly God’s plan and promise for the world. Isaiah paints for us a picture of what God will do at the end when He comes again, and it is a wonderful and beautiful thing.

In Isaiah 24, Isaiah is grappling with the challenges of life but he has a different approach from Bart Ehrman. As we work through this chapter together, perhaps, we may be challenged to reevaluate our view of faith and also think about the things we need to do and deal with God to mature our faith past a point of fragility to confidence.