Book of Isaiah Quiz: The Servant Songs and God's Comfort

1. Isaiah 40 opens with one of the most famous commands in scripture. What are God's first words to Isaiah in this section?

1. 'Arise, shine, for your light has come!'
2. 'Come now, let us settle the matter, says the Lord'
3. 'Comfort, comfort my people, says your God'
4. 'Fear not, for I am with you; do not be dismayed'

2. Isaiah 40:3 says 'A voice of one calling: In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord.' All four Gospels quote this verse about which person?

1. Elijah
2. John the Baptist
3. Moses
4. The Messiah himself

3. Isaiah 40 describes God's incomparable greatness. How does God describe the nations in comparison to himself?

1. Like a drop in a bucket, and dust on the scales
2. Like a single grain of sand on all the world's beaches
3. Like grasshoppers looking up at the heavens
4. Like the morning mist that vanishes when the sun rises

4. Isaiah 40:31 is one of the most beloved promises in the Bible. Complete it: 'But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like...'

1. Angels
2. Doves
3. Eagles
4. The morning wind

5. Isaiah 41:10 contains one of the Bible's great assurances. What four promises does God make in this verse?

1. 'Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you'
2. 'Fear not — my presence goes before you, my strength is beneath you, my love surrounds you'
3. 'I will love you, bless you, strengthen you and keep you'
4. 'I will protect you, guide you, provide for you and never forsake you'

6. Isaiah 44–45 contains a startling prophecy — God names a specific pagan king who will allow the Jewish exiles to return and rebuild Jerusalem. Who is named?

1. Artaxerxes of Persia
2. Cyrus of Persia
3. Darius the Mede
4. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon

7. What remarkable title does God give to Cyrus in Isaiah 45:1 — a title normally reserved for Israel's Messiah-King?

1. God's anointed (messiah)
2. God's chosen servant
3. The arm of the Lord
4. The shepherd of God's people

8. Isaiah 42:1-4 is the first of four 'Servant Songs.' How does the passage begin?

1. 'Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest'
2. 'He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering'
3. 'Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him'
4. 'The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me'

9. Isaiah 42:3 contains two famous metaphors about how the Servant will treat the vulnerable. What will he not do?

1. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out
2. All of the above describe the Servant's gentleness
3. He will not judge by what he sees or decide by what he hears
4. He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets

10. The second Servant Song (Isaiah 49:1-6) says the Servant's mission is too small just to restore Israel. What greater mission is he given?

1. 'I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth'
2. To judge the nations and establish God's justice across the earth
3. To proclaim God's glory among all the nations for forty years
4. To rebuild the temple and restore the sacrificial system

11. The third Servant Song (Isaiah 50:4-9) describes the Servant's suffering. What does the Servant offer to those who mistreat him?

1. Forgiveness and restoration if they repent within three days
2. His back to those who beat him, and his cheeks to those who pulled out his beard
3. His prayers of intercession on their behalf
4. His silence — he does not retaliate or speak in his own defence

12. Isaiah 52:7 contains a beautiful verse about those who bring good news. Paul quotes it in Romans 10 to describe gospel preachers. What does it say?

1. 'Blessed is the one who runs with the message of salvation on the mountain roads'
2. 'How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who proclaim salvation'
3. 'Let the messengers of peace run swiftly — their words will not return empty'
4. 'The mountains will sing before the Lord for joy when his salvation is proclaimed'

13. Isaiah 53 — the fourth Servant Song — is the most quoted Old Testament chapter in the New Testament. How is the Servant's appearance described at the start?

1. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him
2. His face shone like the sun and his robes gleamed white
3. Like a young lion — strong and fierce in appearance
4. Like an angel of light, radiant and glorious

14. Isaiah 53:5 is perhaps the most cited verse in the chapter. Complete it: 'He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities...'

1. '...and God accepted his suffering as the full payment for our sin'
2. '...he bore our grief and carried our sorrows that we might go free'
3. '...so that we might be forgiven and received by God as righteous'
4. '...the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed'

15. Isaiah 53:7 says the Servant was led like a sheep to the slaughter. It adds that 'he did not open his mouth.' Which New Testament passage about Jesus directly quotes this?

1. John quoted it in describing Jesus' arrest in Gethsemane
2. Paul quoted it in his speech before Agrippa in Acts 26
3. Peter quoted it in his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2
4. Philip explained this passage to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8

16. Isaiah 53:9 contains a prophecy about the Servant's death and burial. How was it remarkably fulfilled?

1. 'He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death' — fulfilled when Jesus was crucified with criminals and buried in a rich man's tomb
2. He died as a substitutionary sacrifice, like the Passover lambs
3. He was buried in a common criminals' grave as predicted
4. His death was witnessed by people of many nations, exactly as prophesied

17. Isaiah 55:1 contains a great invitation. Who is invited, and what is offered?

1. 'Come and worship the Lord your God who redeems you'
2. 'Come to me and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit within you'
3. 'Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!'
4. All who are weary are invited to rest in God's presence

18. Isaiah 55:8-9 contains a profound statement about the difference between God's ways and human ways. What does God say?

1. 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways'
2. 'I work in mysterious ways that no human mind can comprehend or predict'
3. 'My wisdom is beyond all human understanding — trust and do not question'
4. 'You cannot know me fully in this life — walk by faith, not by sight'

19. Isaiah 54:10 contains a powerful promise despite past suffering. What does God say will never be removed?

1. 'My word which goes out from my mouth will not return empty'
2. 'The joy of the Lord which is your strength and your refuge forever'
3. 'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed'
4. His presence in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem

20. Isaiah 44:9-20 contains a biting satire on idolatry. What irony does Isaiah point out about a man who cuts down a tree?

1. He carves it into an idol and worships it, then sells its shavings as medicine
2. He plants it, waters it, then cuts it down and burns it as an offering to the same tree-god he was worshipping
3. He prays to it for rain while using its wood to shelter himself from rain
4. He uses half the wood to warm himself and cook his food, then bows down to the other half and calls it his god