Isaiah 22-24

Ancient Jerusalem. Click to enlarge.

Isaiah 22-24 Study Guide – to be discussed January 5 Happy Holidays!
Day 1: Read Isaiah 22:1-7 (with footnotes 1a, 2a) and chapter heading
1. Read chapter heading and the footnote to Isaiah 22:1a. Against whom is the burden in Isaiah 22 directed? How is the place addressed by this burden described in Isaiah 22:1 and 22:5? What might this mean?


2. Which phrases in Isaiah 22:1-2 imply an unconcerned city, prone to party instead of prepare?



Note: Elam, current NW Iran, was famed for her archers (see also Jeremiah 49:34-39). Kir was a city on the main road between Elam and Babylon. Elam would eventually, with the Persians and the Medes, destroy Babylon. Cyrus was a king in Elam.
3. Isaiah 22:6 may indicate Judah was hopeful the invading Babylonians would be defeated by Elam and Kir before they reached Jerusalem. What did Isaiah say about these hopes? (Hint: See Isaiah 22:4-5 and 7.)



BONUS: From Isaiah 22:5, List three things it would be “a day of” when Babylon attacked.



Day 2: Read Isaiah 22:8-14 (with footnotes 8a, 9a, 11b, 12a, 13a), 2 Nephi 28:8
4. Which phrases from Isaiah 22:8-9 indicate the defenses of Jerusalem were weak and inadequate?



5. Did the Lord really want Judah to weep, morn, and go bald (v.12)? What does the Lord want from his people? (See also footnote 12a.)


6. Read 2 Nephi 28:8 with Isaiah 22:13-14. What was the problem with Judah?


Day 3: Read Isaiah 22:15-25 (with footnotes 15a, 18a, 20a), Revelation 3:7, Isaiah 9:6-7
7. What can we discern from these verses about the man Shebna, to whom Isaiah 22:15-19 was directed? What will happen to Shebna?


8. Eliakim was a real person in Jerusalem. According to the footnote to Isaiah 22:20a, who did Eliakim represent? What did his name mean?



9. Read Isaiah 22:21-25 with Revelation 3:7 and Isaiah 9:6-7. What does the “key of the house of David” represent?



BONUS: Why might the key be on Eliakim’s shoulder?



Day 4: Read Isaiah 23:1-9 (with footnotes 1a,c, 2a, 3a, 5a, 8b,c), Bible Dictionary entry, “Phoenicia”
10. Tyre was located within Asher territory in Israel, but was a Phoenician city. Read the Bible Dictionary entry, “Phoenicia.” List distinguishing characteristics of Phoenicians.



11. Why would Sidon (Zidon) and Egypt mourn the downfall of Tyre?


12. What do you think this phrase in Isaiah 23:7 means: “… her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn”? How do our own feet carry us afar off sometimes?



Day 5: Read Isaiah 23:10-18 (with footnotes 11a, 17a, 18a)
13. Isaiah 23:10-12 indicates Tyre, her citizens and merchants, are ruined. How does the Lord “shake” kingdoms of the world today that are materialistically corrupt?



14. Isaiah 23:13 offers the destruction of Babylon at the hands of the Assyrians as an example of what will happen in Tyre. Verses 15-16 call Tyre a “harlot.” Why might a consumer-driven society be compared to a harlot?


15. What dos the footnote to Isaiah 23:8a tell you about the future of Tyre?


Day 6: Read Isaiah 24:1-12 (with footnotes 1c, 2b, 4b, 8a), chapter heading, Alma 41:10
Note: This chapter emphasizes the consequences of wickedness.
16. Isaiah 24:1-3 offers an example of the Hebrew poetry form called “chiasmus” or inverted parallelism. “The Lord” and “empty”/”emptied” in verses 1 and 3 frame the central theme in Isaiah 24:2. According to verse 2, who is accountable to the Lord for their own wicked acts? Is anyone exempt?


17. Give three reasons for the decline and destruction of the world from Isaiah 24:5.


18. Isaiah paints a vivid picture of the results of wickedness in Isaiah 24:7-12. List the phrases from these verses that indicate “the party’s over.” (See also Alma 41:10.)



Day 7: Read Isaiah 24:13-23 (with footnotes 13a, 14a, 15a, 16a,b, 23c), D&C 49:23-28, D&C 88:86-87, D&C 133:49
19. Who will sing praises to the Lord after the devastations of the last days? (See footnotes 14a, 16b.)


20. Read Isaiah 24:19-20 with D&C 49:23-28 and D&C 88:86-87. Where can we find refuge in the last days?


21. Read D&C 133:49 with Isaiah 24:23. Why will the moon be “confounded” and the sun “ashamed” when the Lord reigns in his glory?