Isaiah 5 Bible Study Questions

What More Can God Do? (Isaiah 5:1–7, 8-25, 26-30; 1a, 4)

"I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard..." "What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?" (Isa 5:1a, 4, NIV)

Outline (5:1-30):

1. The Song (1-7): Love and grace.
2. The Woes (8-25): Laments of sorrow.
3. The Judgment (26-30): Defeat and darkness.

Recap: In Isaiah 1-4, what challenges and choices does Isaiah present to his audience (Judah and us)?

What is God's Own Heart Like?

David is described as a man after God's own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Ac 13:22). How might such a heart be characterized?

1. A _________ / true heart (1 Sam 16:11; 17:34‒36) (cf. Mt 25:21).
2. A ________ / hungry heart (Ps 63:1) (cf. Ps 42:1‒2; Mt 5:6).
3. A ____________ heart (Ps 9:1‒2; 13:5) (cf. Prov 17:22).
4. A __________ / fixed / immovable heart (Ps 57:7) (cf. Ps 112:6‒8; Isa 26:3‒4).
5. A _________/ ___________ heart (Ps 32:3‒5; 51:17) (cf. Isa 57:15; 66:2).
6. A _______ / _______ heart (Ps 24:3‒4; 51:10‒12) (cf. Mt. 5:8; I Tim 1:5).
7. A _______-filled heart (I Sam 16:13‒14) (cf. Acts 15:8‒9).
8. An __________ / _______ / ________ heart (1 Chron 28:9; 29:19; Ps 86:11) (2 Chron 25:2; Eze 11:19; Jas 4:8). Your __________ heart will be the ________ in your armor, the _____ in your boat, the ____ in the perfume that allows the devil to come in and _______ your ____________ flaw.

Reason for God's Destruction of Judah (Isaiah 5:8-25)

Isaiah 5:8-25, 15-16

"So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. ¹⁶ But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts" (Isa 5:15-16, NIV).

What are the bitter grapes (5:2, 4)? They are spelled out in a series of Woe poems (5:8-25). Woe is like a judgment term in English. "You're going to get it and I'm glad." But in Hebrew it is a word of regret, like Alas! When Isaiah cries "Woe" he does not do it with glee but with tears. The NLT says, "What sorrow for you..." Oh, how sad. Oh, what grief.

A Proud Man/Church vs. a Humble Man/Church

How can you tell the difference?

	The Proud Person / Church	The Humble Person / Church
1	It's all about ___.	It's all about _____ and ________.
2	Get's joy from promoting ______.	Gets joy from promoting _________.
3	Gets ______ and ____________ when confronted.	Is ________ and ___________ when confronted.
4	Loves to _______ / _________.	Loves to _________ / ________.
5	_______ about what they know.	_______ about what they don't know.
6	_______ others.	Takes _____________.
7	Compares self to ________.	Compares self to ______.
8	"Lord, change _______."	"Lord, change _____."
9	_______ ___ sin.	________ ____________ sin.
10	Concerned with _______ / ______________.	Concerned with _______ / ____________.

What More Could God Have Done (Isaiah 5:1-7)

Isaiah 5:1-7, 1, 4 (1-7, 8-25, 26-30) [Reading of Isaiah 5:1-7 with pictures - 1 min)]

"I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside." "What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?" (Isa 5:1, 4, 7).

Outline (5:1-30):

1. The Song (1-7): Love and grace.
2. The Woes (8-25): Laments of sorrow.
3. The Judgment (26-30): Defeat and darkness.

I will sing for the one I love (1). "I" is Isaiah. "The one I love" or "my beloved" (ESV) is God (1a). Isaiah had an intimate relationship with God. The prophets, including Isaiah, are touched by the pathos of God. God is passionate for his people. He is jealous for them. Yet they seemed determined to have their own way at all costs. It is like Isaiah is entering into the heart of God, feeling the very heart of God as God looks at his vineyard (1b).

The Heart of the Matter (What does God really want?) [An overview of Kings and Chronicles]

We want a king! God's people in the Promised Land were initially ruled by _________ (Judg 2:16). These were Spirit-anointed leaders raised up to deal with national emergencies. The people of Israel soon became discontent with this leadership and asked God to give them a _________, like the nations around them (1 Sam 8:4-9).

The United Kingdom. Israel's first king _______ turned out to be a disaster. God rejected him and chose a new king, "a man after his own heart" (I Sam 13:14). _________ was the greatest king Israel ever had and set the standard for all future kings. Next came _____________ who led Israel to her greatest splendor. But he modeled a ___________ heart.

God's Glorious Holy Kingdom (Isaiah 4:2-6)

Interchange and Contrast in Isaiah 1-6

1:1-31	2:1-5	2:6-4:1	4:2-6	5:1-30	6:1-13
Negative (+)	Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative	Positive (-)
Judgment	Salvation/Hope	Judgment	Salvation/Hope	Judgment	Salvation/Hope

Outline of 2:1-4:6

1. The Ideal: Our Glorious Future Hope (2:1-5).
2. The Actual: Our Dark Present Reality (2:6-4:1).
3. The New: Our Glorious Future Hope (4:2-6).

The immediate future will be terrible for Judah if the nation does not stop trusting mankind and start exalting God alone. Isaiah wanted God's people to know that their rebellion and pride (2:6-4:1) will not defeat God's ultimate plan to establish his glorious kingdom in the future (2:1-5; 4:2-6). In contrast to 2:1-5 which focuses on the coming of the foreign nations to hear God's laws, 4:2-6 focuses on the purification of a holy remnant.