Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
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Anger
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Intro
Group Intro
- Goal
We are to eagerly hunger for spiritual nutrition in greater degrees - Spiritually mature
Regardless of your background or where you are in your relationship with Jesus, you are called to grow
- What we do
Scripture
Prayer
Community
Lesson Intro
Last Lesson
Past few chapters had been stories of God working in the life of Hezekiah.
What were some of these events?
Were they showers of blessings or trials?
Why did God send these trials?
What do we learn about Hezekiah?
How did the last story end? - a prophecy of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem
New section
They show the foolishness of Hezekiah’s earthly hopes
They go beyond and try to elevate themselves above Yahweh
Hezekiah is forced to place his hope 100% in Assyria or 100% in God
Humbles himself - faces the failure of his trust in himself
God saves in total way - but the climax was not if God is faithful to save, but if Hezekiah is willing to be faithful
Literary Setting - Transition (36-39)
What is different about this passage?
It is a historical narrative, not poetic prophecy
This is not arbitrary, It has a precise literary purpose
Divides the two halves of the book
Previous couple chapters were like a hinge that binds the halves of the book together
Confirms the prophecies of God’s sovereignty over all nations, illustrates the discipline that is coming, confirms there is hope for those who have faith
It anchors the prophecies in history
Will God’s word come true?
Ch 36 &37 is a dramatic example that God rules the world and that He keeps His promises
Sets a historical transition from a prosperous people who reject God’s word to a exiled people seeking hope
There is a change in setting
Alludes to the coming Babylonian invasion and the destruction of Jerusalem
Resets hope from Jerusalem that was to the New Jerusalem that is coming
Not the concrete present day with clearly identified characters
Confirms the Messiah is still to come, but more needs to be revealed about Him
Now future, characters are more figurative
Not that future history doesnt matter, but the specific events of mankind fade as the reality of God and his plans come into focus
Central image expands beyond the Davidic king who defends against external enemies
There is a change in theme
Unpacks how He is a suffering servant who defeats the internal wickedness of your heart
Change in tone - not coming judgment but coming restoration
Focus on God who will do this personally
Confirms both God’s desire and power to restore His people
Intro Questions
How do you feel about studying God’s character?
Where do you run for comfort?
Read 40
Tender Words (1-2)
Background of crisis
Isaiah had just prophesied the fall of Jerusalem - how can that be?
The destruction was not just a political/economic disaster, but a theological crisis
God had protected it from the Assyrians, but let the Babylonians through
Does he not care?
Has he given up on His people?
Jerusalem was supposed to be Zion with the promises of eternal glory
Is God strong enough to keep His promises?
Two questions - Does God have the power and the desire to save?
God’s heart revealed
God’s response - Comfort, Comfort - v1
Repeated for emphasis
Uses the wording of my people & your God
No longer calls them this people, or my enemies
God is returning to the covenantal intimacy with Israel
Says - Verb is imperfect, ongoing action - God keeps saying to his people
Speak tenderly - Lit speak to the heart - v.2
Not just soft kindness
But lover persuading, wooing, pursuing, his beloved
God is pursuing His people like Boaz was pursued Ruth
God’s sanctifying, purifying trials are over.
He is reaching out to His people
How would broken Israel respond to this?
How do these words of comfort make you feel?
Fighting depression and anxiety
Sometime we get overwhelmed by the depths of our sin.
We acutely feel the distance that our guilt puts between us and God
Isaiah has been pounding at the guilt of God’s people for 39 chapters
Now it is as if the prophet says, ‘alright, so much for that.
It’s all true, but it’s not all there is for truth.
Dont forget… [the truth of who God is].’” - Oswalt, NICOT, p 49
Now I am not saying this is the only cause or solution, but this can feed into our feelings of depression and anxiety.
Some of us are like Hezekiah and hard to the reality of our sin
But many of us see our inadequacies and sink into the swamp of despair (to paraphrase the Pilgrim’s Progress)
Here see your God speaking to your heart, seeing the burden of your troubles, and reaching down to you in tender compassion.
This is your God
Pensive doubting heart
Here see your God speaking to your heart, seeing the burden of your troubles, and reaching down to you in tender compassion.
This is your God
The follow through of discipline
What are some situations God calls us to carry out discipline and correction?
Parenting, church, marriage, even ourselves
It can feel so good to take our wrath
“I am going to be righteously angry and dwell in it.
I am going to not let them stop hearing about it.
(Faith) Or I am going to let it linger and sink in (Me)”
But is this what God does with us?
Does He berate us or leave us in the cold?
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