To Proclaim and Practice the Living Christ

Isaiah 7:1-9:7

December 8, 2024

Joel Miles

With a friend, your family or in your small group, discuss the following questions:

Understanding Isaiah's Prophecies

1. Reflection on Key Verses

• Read Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6.
• Did you realize these two verses are part of the same broader passage in Isaiah?
• How are these verses typically understood?

2. Context of Isaiah 7:14

• Read Isaiah 7:1–12.
• What is the historical and narrative context leading up to Isaiah 7:14?
• How does this context shape our understanding of the prophecy?

3. Exploring Isaiah’s Message

• Read Isaiah 7:13–19.
• What is Isaiah communicating in this passage?
• How do these verses expand on the significance of the prophecy in 7:14?

4. Fulfillment and Implications of Prophecy

• Read Isaiah 8:1–10.
• How is Isaiah’s prophecy initially fulfilled here?
• Based on this passage and 7:13–19, what does it mean to have “God with us”?

5. God's Presence and Human Sinfulness

• Reflect on how God’s presence interacts with sin and humanity throughout Scripture.
• Why does God’s presence often bring judgment?
• In Isaiah 8:22, why does it describe only darkness, distress, and gloom when looking to the earth?

6. Promise of Hope

• Read Isaiah 8:22–9:7.
• What promise is given in these verses?
• How will the darkness, distress, and gloom be overturned?

7. Judgment and Salvation in “God with Us”

• Consider how “God with us” can represent both judgment and salvation.
• How does the cross of Jesus embody this dual reality?
• In what ways does the cross reveal both the sinfulness of humanity and the loving heart of God?