1. Do you like to get up early to see the sunrise? Are there any new things that you are anticipating in 2023?

2. Read Isaiah 9:1-7. From Isaiah 8:19-22, what do you think Isaiah meant by the “darkness” in which the people walk (v. 2)? What suffering had Zebulun and Naphtali (in Israel) experienced?

3. How does Isaiah describe the effects of the dawning light (vv. 3-5; Judges 7:19-25 for Midian’s defeat)? In the context of the Assyrian threat, what does this light mean (e.g., Isaiah 10:26-27)?

4. What will be the light? How is he defined in verses 6-7?

5. How does the New testament interpret what Isaiah is talking about (e.g., Matthew 4:12-17, Luke 1:32, John 8:12)? Of the titles given in verse 6, which fit Jesus as you know him?

6. How has he shattered “the yoke of [your] burden”  (v. 4)? What is one yoke that you wish he would shatter now?

Questions adapted from The NIV Serendipity Bible: 10th Anniversary Edition (1988, 1996 by Serendipity House).