Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- What purpose does God's wrath serve in Isaiah? How does it fit with God's mercy?
- What does God mean when tells Isaiah to preach to people in a way that will prevent them from understanding and being forgiven? Is this to be taken literally or ironically?
- Why does Isaiah need to have his lips burned in order to prophesy to Israel? What does this imply about pain, suffering, and purity?
- What role do the other nations, beside Israel and Judah, get to play in the end times? How are they redeemed?
- What is redemption? How does Isaiah think that people can become redeemed? Is it God's job to redeem people? What do they need to do themselves?
- What qualities make Isaiah worthy of being a prophet? Why does God choose him?
- What are the differences between Hezekiah and Ahaz as kings? How does Hezekiah manage to save both Israel and his own life—how does he prove himself?
- How is Sennacherib both God's instrument and an arrogant guy who needs to be punished by God? What's Sennacherib's deal, basically?
- Why won't King Ahaz ask for a sign from God? Do you think his heart's in the right place, and he just doesn't know what's what? Or do you think he's actually doing something wrong?
- What is Isaiah's attitude towards people outside of the House of Jacob? Does he few them positively, negatively, or a mixture of both—and if it's a mixture, how much of a mixture? Mainly good, mainly bad—or what? Why do you think so?