Welcome

1. Adult II Couples Class Welcome discoverjoy.com

2. What do you know about the heritage of your family name? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

3. Prayer Requests -VBS -Tony: Cancer treatments -Cathy Laster: Cancer treatments -The Savages -Country Haven Church -Faustos: Traveling

4. Church Stuff Class Events Church Events • Benevolence Fund • R.E.A.P. (E-Team) • Scripture Readers Needed • Monthly Fellowships • July 28 (Woffords) • August?? • September?? • Dinner Out Friday (NA) • 5th Sunday Breakfast (29 July) • Quarterly Service Project • Samaria Project? • Baptism Service (8 July) • Blood Pressure Checks (8 July) • Vacation Bible School (9-13 July) • Kid’s Pool Party-Porters (July 14) • VBS Family Day (July 15) • Special Prayer Service (18 July) • Creation Museum Trip (19-21 July) • Olive Grove Terrace Visitation (22 July) • Penninger Baby Shower (22 July)

5. What do you know about the heritage of your family name? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

6. Chronological Bible Discipleship Iva May and Dr. Stan May week twenty-seven 2Kings/Isaiah/Micah/Psalms 2Chronicles/Hosea

7. Review Creation: God reveals His goodness through creation and His mercy in response to sin. Patriarchs: God reveals His response to the faithful-ness of men (Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph). Exodus: God liberates Israel, and leads them to the Promised Land and shapes them into a nation holy to Himself. Conquest: Joshua, relying on God’s presence and power, leads Israel to possess and settle the Promised Land. Judges: Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and Israel falls into a cycle of disobedience, judgment, oppression and deliverance (the sin cycle). Kingdom: Israel asks for a king and God raises up a succes-sion of kings who rule over a united Israel, beginning with Saul and ending with Solomon.

8. Divided Kingdom Era • After the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel divides into the North-ern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) • Israel is ruled by a rapid succession of kings who completely neglect the Law and lead the people into idolatry for 200 years until they are carried into captivity by the Assyrians • Judah’s kings alternate between good and evil leader-ship, resulting in a slower devolution into idolatry and their eventual judgment by Babylon about 140 after Israel’s demise

9. Context • God raises up multiple prophets as His messen-gers to Judah in order to… • Denounce sin • Exalt His righteousness • Proclaim coming judgment • Announce the coming Messiah • Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are the three major prophets of this period in Judah’s history

10. Context • God calls Isaiah to prophesy to a “sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters…who’ve forsaken the LORD and provoked Him to anger.” (Isa 1:4) • The LORD repeatedly promises to cleanse the nation that repents • Judah refuses God’s gracious invitations to repent and the hand of mercy becomes one of judgment

11. Overview • Songs are powerful tools for delivering messages that stir the heart in ways that the printed or spoken word fail to accomplish • Songs are recorded throughout the Bible by authors from Moses to David, to celebrate great victories or lament tragic loss • Isaiah uses a song to describe God’s love for His peo-pleand their lack of response to His love • Intended to stir up the hearts of Judah • Highlight the gravity of their spiritual state • Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard pictures the LORD’s view of His relationship with Israel • Focuses on Judah’s treachery in betraying God’s love • Describes the consequences of their sin in six woes

12. Though God may allow His people to live in sin for a long time, He eventually ceases striving with them and rewards their continued sin with judgment. Key Truth

13. THE Divided Kingdom Era Isaiah 5 A Song About Kingdom People The Song of the Vinedresser The Solution for an Unproductive Vineyard

14. The Song of the Vinedresser Isaiah 5:1-6

15. The Song of the Vinedresser • The Affection for the Vinedresser (1) • Isaiah declares his personal devotion to the LORD • “I will sing for the One I love” • Isaiah delights in the LORD and calls Him his “Well-Beloved” • The Assets of the Vinedresser (2a) • The possession of the Beloved Vinedresser • My loved One has a vineyard on a fertile hillside • Prime real estate for growing an abundant crop • The Vinedresser personally prepared the soil for His vineyard • Tilled the ground • Removed the stones • Ensured its protection by building a wall and a watch tower • Builds a winepress in anticipation of a ‘bumper’ harvest

16. The Song of the Vinedresser • The Assessment of the Vinedresser (2b-5) • Assessing the vineyard reveals disappointing results • “He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones.” • Just as He has done since the earliest moments of the universe, God continues to evaluate His creation • As a nation, Israel had every advantage • God had placed them in a land of milk and honey • He went before them in a cloud and helped them defeat the nations that occupied the land • Allowed them to inherit their houses and possessions

17. The Song of the Vinedresser • The Assessment of the Vinedresser (2b-5) • Yet they sinned against the LORD • Intermarried with their pagan neighbors • Took up the worship of their gods • God’s convicting question • “What more could have been done for my vineyard that I have not done for it?” • Isaiah’s song relates the benevolence of God toward His people

18. The Song of the Vinedresser • The Answer to the Vinedresser’s Evaluation (5-6) • Out of love for His people, the LORD responds by taking action • He will remove its hedge and allow for its destruction • He will break down its wall and allow its trampling • He will make the fertile hillside a wasteland and allow it to be overtaken with briars and thorns • He will withhold rain to prevent its growth • God’s love for His people demand that He respond to their rejection of His love

19. The Solution to An Unproductive Vineyard Isaiah 5:7-23

20. Solution to Unproductive Vineyard • Isaiah interprets his song for the hearer (7) • Israel and Judah are the LORD’s vineyard • But the garden of His delight has become a place of violence, injustice, and unrighteousness

21. Solution to Unproductive Vineyard • Isaiah issues six indictments against Israel and God’s judgment on each offense (8-23) • Indictment #1: Dishonest and greedy acquisition (8-10) – a segment of the population enrich themselves at the expense of others • God’s judgment - their properties will be taken from them and left vacant and worthless • Indictment #2: Addictive behavior (11-12) – people spend all their resources solely for their own enjoyment, with no regard for the intentions of the LORD • God’s judgment – The LORD will take their wealth and distribute what remains to those who have real need

22. Solution to Unproductive Vineyard • Isaiah issues six indictments against Israel and God’s judgment on each offense (8-23) • Indictment #3: Unrepentant and hypocritical hearts (18-19) – People go through the motions of worship while continuing in their sins • God’s judgment – Their shameful presumption will bring divine trouble and adversity • Indictment #4: Perverted values (20) – They declare as “good” that which God hates, redefining evil • God’s judgment – Their perverted value system is not sustainable, resulting in instability and destruction

23. Solution to Unproductive Vineyard • Isaiah issues six indictments against Israel and God’s judgment on each offense (8-23) • Indictment #5: Pride (21) – The people were so self-confident in their own wisdom that the only god they were enamored with was themselves • God’s judgment – Their pride would only result in alienation from God, leaving them to their own destruction • Indictment #6: Corrupt leadership (22-23) – Intoxicated judges rule unjustly and discriminate against the innocent for monetary gain • God’s judgment – These judges will have their own day in court before the living God and receive their just reward

24. Conclusions • God sees and is moved by the self-destructive attitudes and actions of His people • God’s love for His people motivates Him to deliver hard messages to them • To love God is to love those whom He loves and warn them of sin’s judg-ment • God will resolve ALL sin either by for-giveness or judgment • God’s fierce love for His people com-pels Him to deal harshly with them when they live in unrepentant sin

25. Discussion Looking at the list of God’s indictments against Israel, how does the church today compare to the state of Isaiah’s vineyard? Dishonest gain/greed Addictive behaviors Unrepentant/hypocritical Perverted values Pride Corrupt leaders How has America used the wealth that God has given us? Psalm 67:1-2 – God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. God’s response to Israel’s disobedience was to tear down the walls and hedges that protected them. What does this tell us about what God is willing to do to one of His disobedient children today?

26. Bible TRIViA QUIZ The Books of Isaiah& 2 Chronicles(1pt) • In the day when Israel is restored, a highway will run through Israel between which two countries in the region, allowing them to worship God together? • “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.” (Isaiah 19:23) • When Hezekiah held the first Passover feast, how many days did the people choose to celebrate past the original seven prescribed by the law? • “So they ate for the appointed seven days…giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers. Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the feast another seven days...”(2 Chron 30:22-23) • What did God tell Isaiah to do for three years as an example of what He was going to do to Egypt and Cush? • “At that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.’ And he did so, going naked and barefoot.” (Isa 20:2)

27. BONUS ROUND Bonus Questions(2pts) • How many years did the king of Assyria lay siege to the city of Samaria before it fell? • “Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.” (2 Kings 17:5) • Why did the king of Assyria send a priest back to the land of Israel after they were taken into captivity? • “The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamathand Sepharvaim, and set-tledthem in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them..” (Jonah 3:3)

28. Isaiah 36 - 37 A King Experiences Deliverance Adult II Couples Class Next week….. discoverjoy.com