Deeper Commentary
Isaiah 65:1 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I’ to a nation that was not called by My name-
I have argued on Is. 64:5 that Is. 65 and 66 are God's response to the prayer of Is. 63:7–64:11. This explains why those chapters offer the Kingdom of God to those who are humble and repentant, not idolaters. And it explains why the entire prophecy concludes on an apparently negative note at the end of Is. 66, threatening judgment on God's people who are apostate for Him despite all His best efforts. That is His final answer to this prayer of complaint.
Heb. "I allowed Myself to be sought... to be found". This answers the previous complaint that God had hidden Himself from the exiles, hiding His face in His greatness in Heaven, and made Himself inaccessible. He was not playing hard to get. Those who had just made the lament of Is. 63:15-64:11 had in fact never really sought God. They had just complained that He hadn't come through for them immediately as they demanded. All their pious talking of God as their Father and how their house lay in ruins and how gutted they were about the state of Jerusalem... was all done without any seeking of God. Very seriously religious people can actually never seek nor find God. In fact, quite contrary to their claim that God was hiding from them, He protests that He has been proactively begging them to come into relationship with Him [as we have seen throughout second Isaiah]: "I said, ‘Here am I, here am I’... I have spread out My hands all the day to a rebellious people". He had been calling out to them, but they refused to hear and instead falsely claimed He was hiding from them: "I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer; when I spoke, you didn’t listen" (:12, repeated in Is. 66:4). The exiles were spiritually deaf and blind, according to Is. 42:18,19; 43:8. The silence of God is only apparent. He is actually in passionate communication with us, if only we will open our eyes and ears.
The idol
worshipping exiles still sought Yahweh (s.w. Ez. 14:3; 20:3,31). The
nation not called by Yahweh's Name would be Israel who were unknown to
Abraham and Jacob and who were as if Yahweh's Name had not been called
upon them, "as those who were not called by Your name"
(Is. 63:16,19). The people in view are those of :2,3, who are clearly
Israel. But Yahweh was willing to be sought and found by them even in that
state.
God set them up with the possibility to return to
Judah, to establish there a Messianic-style Kingdom, giving them the
commands in Ez. 40-48 for a glorious temple; but most of them preferred
the soft life in Babylon, and those who did return proved small minded,
selfish and disinterested in the vision of God's glory. In this context,
Isaiah ends his restoration prophecies on a tragic note from God: "I was
ready to be sought... I was ready to be found" (Is. 65:1) by the
unspiritual exiles in Babylon. But Israel would not. He pictures Himself
standing there crying "Here am I, here am I!"- to be rejected by a people
more interested in climbing the endless economic and social ladder in
Babylon and Persia.
Yet Paul appears to quote these words out of context, at first blush, applying them to the calling of the Gentiles who did not seek God (Rom. 10:20). But this is not so out of context; for as noted on Is. 63:19, apostate Israel were effectively as Gentiles. This calling of apostate Israel was the same therefore as the calling of the Gentiles. Although we can note that many Old Testament passages are quoted in the New Testament without strict attention to context.
Or we can read Rom. 10:20,21 as
applying "those that did not seek Me" to the Gentiles; and then 'the
nation not called by My Name' and :2, the "rebellious people", to the
Jews: "Isaiah is very bold, and said: I was found by those that did not
seek Me; I showed myself to those who were not asking for Me. But to
Israel He said: All the day long did I spread out My hands to a
disobedient and obstinate people". In Is. 63:19 the people have lamented
that God treats them "as those who were not called by Your name". They go
on to say that this is why they had given up calling on His Name: "There
is none who calls on Your name" (Is. 64:7). So perhaps God is responding
to this by saying that even though they considered themselves not called
by His Name, He still appealed to them, saying "Here am I" to a nation
that didn't call on His Name, i.e. the Jewish exiles, who themselves have
just stated they do not call on His Name [wrongly citing His disinterest
in them]. And yet Is. 66:4 will comment on this appeal to them: "When I
called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn’t listen".
Isaiah 65:2 I have spread out My hands all the day to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts- LXX
"After their own sins". Again we see the focus of the Biblical revelation
upon thoughts and mental patterns as being the essence of sin. Our
thoughts are our "way", and we walk in practice according to our way. This
is why the gift of God's Spirit or thinking is so essential for real
transformation. Otherwise we will continue in rebellion against God.
Isaiah 65:3 A people who provoke Me to My face continually, sacrificing in
gardens and burning incense on bricks- The provocation was to God's
face, or LXX "in My presence", as if the temple precincts were in view; or
perhaps the Angel of His presence of Is. 63:9 is in view, whom they
rebelled against and grieved by refusing to repent and return from Babylon.
Perhaps they had placed bricks and a garden structure there in which they
worshipped idols in the name of Yahweh worship.
And the context is of the failure of the restored exiles; despite all the
Godly influence of Ezra and Nehemiah, this is what was going on in the
early generations after the exiles returned.
We note that
Is. 65:3 LXX is clear that demons don't exist: “[Israel] burn incense on
bricks to demons,
which exist not”.
The idols of the nations, representing as they did the supposed ‘demons’
of the cosmos, were “vanity” because what the demons and gods they
supposedly represented did not exist – they are “beings that are nothing”
(1 Sam. 12:21 LXX), “a thing of nought” (Jer. 14:4).
Isaiah 65:4 Who sit among the graves and lodge in the secret places; who
eat pig’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels-
This seems to refer to various idol rituals, LXX "They lie down to sleep
in the tombs and in the caves for the sake of dreams". The "vessels" may
have been those of the temple which were returned from Persia to
Jerusalem. Legion's situation was clearly presented as alluding to this
verse; his madness was that of the returned exiles in their idolatry. His
cure therefore looks forward as an acted parable to the final
psychological healing of Israel through the work of the spirit of the Lord
Jesus.
Lodging and sitting in graves alludes to some ritual or cult for the dead. Tombs were typically multi-generational, and in a "garden"- the "gardens" of :3. Possibly they were involved in some pagan ritual intended to somehow revive the dead bones of the kingly line that had been cut off by the Babylonians. They preferred to do this, with all the uncleanness it involved, rather than believe Ez. 21:25-27- that there would be no more king until Messiah. Or maybe they were worshipping their ancestors, whom the exiles in Ezekiel had blamed for sinning and their unfair suffering because of that. In practice, the cults of the dead involved sleeping in the tomb of the dead in order to communicate with them. Pork was considered the food of the gods, and so the ritual involved eating pork in order to fellowship with the gods. The burial caves at Lachish revealed pig bones overlaying human bones. All this was totally obnoxious to any true believer. The Jews who did this made themselves totally ritually unclean- and yet so hypocritically excluded from worship those whom they considered unclean.
Isaiah 65:5 Who say, ‘Stand by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am
holier than you’. These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burns all the
day- "Stand by yourself" translates the common Hebrew term "draw near",
which is that commonly used about drawing near to Yahweh in worship and
offering. So the idea is that others were being told that they could do
their worship "by yourself" and not with those who considered themselves
spiritually superior (LXX "I am pure", see on Is. 66:17)- even though they were offering unclean offerings to
Yahweh themselves (:4). This shows that the mentality of 'guilt by
association' has always been engrained amongst God's people. It takes away
any sense of self-examination and self awareness. For those saying this to
the faithful remnant were idolaters and seriously morally compromised.
This hypocrisy provoked the strongest wrath in God, and we must remember
that whenever the guilt by association mentality emerges in our own
thinking. See on Is. 66:5.
These are the people of Is. 66:4 who are said to "hate" their brethren whom God accepted: "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for My name’s sake, have said, ‘Let Yahweh be glorified, that we may see your joy;’ but it is those who shall be disappointed". The hypocrisy was extreme, classifying other worshippers as impure and not wanting to be defiled by worshipping with or near them. Whilst worshipping idols, doing pagan rituals for the dead, eating pigs and being defiled by contact with dead bodies and tombs. It leads God to break His apparent silence with a cry of judgment (:6). Rejecting other believers and judgmental attitudes to others within His people is clearly seen as the worst possible sin.
The exiles in Ps. 80:4 complained: "How long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people?". God had explained to the exiles quite clearly why their prayers made Him angry. They were a smoke in His nostrils because they offered them whilst burning the incense of prayer to other gods (:3): "These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burns all the day" (Is. 65:5). He has stated there why He was angered by their prayers. And their response is not to repent, but instead to ask 'How long till You just get over it?'. They ignored all the reasons why their prayers were angering God: "When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!" (Is. 1:15 NIV); "though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them" (Ez. 8:18); "as He called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen" (Zech. 7:13). All these words were spoken to the exiles. We too can totally overlook God's conviction of us of our sins, and simply complain that He doesn't remove the consequences. That in fact is exactly what most people do. They lament all the outcomes of living in a fallen creation, without taking any serious personal responsibility for their sins.
Isaiah 65:6 Behold, it is written before Me-
This may be a
reference to the 'book of deeds' kept before God. Sins can be blotted out
from this book (Is. 43:25), or left there. This book along with the "book
of life" form the "books" that will be "opened" at the last day. The
implication is that the judgment of this gross hypocrisy would be at the
last day. This sets the scene for the descriptions we will read of His
future Kingdom as the reward for the faithful, at the time when the
hypocrites are condemned and repaid. The double "I will recompense" is
because if God speaks twice, He will surely do it. The verse will
go on to use the metaphor of receiving wages. "Written before Me" is the
language, therefore, of book keeping. Their sin was on God's record book,
and the wages for it would be paid out in full amount (:7 Heb.).
Their self righteousness, insisting they were pure and condemning others when they were such idolaters, was what so deeply incited Yahweh's anger. Isaiah's words were written before God; the word spoken and preserved through Isaiah was and is also written in Heaven before God.
I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom- Their judgment will be according to what they did (Is. 59:18; 65:6); although Jer. 16:18 says that some will be recompensed double. By contrast, the exiles were not receiving punishment according as their deeds deserved, but less (Ezra 9:13). These different degrees of recompense suggest that Divine judgment is far more complex than a simple 'measure for measure'. The greater complexity is because He weighs motives and inflexions of meaning attached to actions which all require different judgments. And then on top of that, there is the credit He gives for forgiveness, and for the prayers and faith of others influencing the final outcome of judgment in any given case. The repayment "into their bosom" means right at the centre of their heart and being. The judgment process will make them fully realize how awful they were and the implications of their actions.
Isaiah 65:7 Your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers
together, says Yahweh, who have burned incense on the mountains, and
blasphemed Me on the hills; therefore will I first measure their work into
their bosom- We doubt whether the Jews literally uttered blasphemy
against Yahweh on the idol shrines in the mountains or hills. But that was
the implication of their worshipping other gods, and Yahweh heard their
actions as speaking like this. I suggested on :3 that this idolatry may
have been taking place in the temple; therefore "mountains" and "hills"
may be an intensive plural referring to the one great mount, the hill of
Zion where the temple was located. Thus in :9 "My mountains" (AV) become
LXX "My holy mountain" (singular). It was this category of idolater who
also ordered the faithful remnant to worship away from themselves (see on :5).
"Recompense" speaks of the day of final judgment when the books are opened (see on :6). From now on until the end of Is. 66 we have the contrasting destinies of the wicked and the righteous. Condemnation for the wicked contrasted with the joys of living in God's eternal future Kingdom. This is why the passages about that Kingdom are interspersed with passages about the fate of the condemned. We have here a preview of the outcome of judgment day. Their sins would be punished "together" with the sins of their fathers. Whereas we see from Ez. 18 that the exiles argued that they themselves had done nothing wrong, and were unfairly being punished for their fathers' sins. God's point consistently is that in fact the returned exiles were now doing just what their fathers had done, burning incense to other gods etc.
Isaiah 65:8 Thus says Yahweh, As the new wine is found in the cluster and
one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so will I do for My
servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all- GNB "No one
destroys good grapes; instead, they make wine with them. Neither will I
destroy all my people—I will save those who serve me". However that is a
paraphrase, and "One says, 'Don't destroy it'" could be another voice in
Isaiah, that is perhaps the work of the intercessor, the Lord Jesus. Or we
could say that the idea seems to be
that the grape harvest was generally bad, but for the sake even of a
minority, the vine of Israel would have been saved. Hence LXX "As a
grape-stone shall be found in the cluster, and they shall say, Destroy it
not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for the sake of him that serves
me, for his sake I will not destroy them all". But it was this remnant
which were being so abused by the hypocritical religious leadership; see
on :5.
The shortening of the days for the sake of a remnant is predicted in
Is. 65:8,9: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith,
Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’
sakes, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed
[Jesus] out of Jacob… and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants
shall dwell there”. The “elect” are paralleled with “my servants”. Because
of them, the minority of faithful fruit, the whole tree is not destroyed.
This is exactly the image of the fig tree parable; because of the
beginnings of spiritual fruit on the tree of Israel, the whole nation will
not be cut off and they will be saved by the coming of the Kingdom. The
Lord’s description of the shortening of the days uses some rather odd past
tenses: “Except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been
saved: but for the elect’s sake… he shortened the days” (Mk. 13:20 RV). One
wonders if we have here an allusion back to the days of Noah, where again
there was the possibility that no flesh would have been saved. The 150
days of flooding is perhaps the basis of Rev. 9:10, where Israel is to
have 150 days of tribulation at the hands of her Arab enemies in the last
days. The connection between the passages would therefore seem to be
teaching that the final 150 days tribulation will be shortened due to the
repentance of the remnant.
Isaiah 65:9 I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an
inheritor of My mountains; and My chosen shall inherit it, and My servants
shall dwell there-
Reference to the seed and inheriting land is another reference to the promises to Abraham, the foundation of the new covenant which had been offered to the exiles. The "seed" and "inheritor" are singular; they parallel the plural "chosen" and "servants". This is the great theme of Isaiah, and also of Paul. It is by being "in" the seed, the suffering servant, that God's people are saved. In our times this begins with baptism "into Christ". "Mountains" is an intensive plural for the one great mountain, Zion, called in Is. 66:20 "My holy mountain Jerusalem", and referred to throughout Isaiah in a Kingdom context (Is. 2:2-4; 11:9; 25:6-8; 27:13; 56:7; 57:13).
See on :8. AV: “And I will bring forth a seed [singular] out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor [singular] of my mountains: and mine elect [plural] shall inherit it, and my servants [plural] shall dwell there”. His obedience would enable the peoples’ establishment as the Kingdom, upon the "mountains", perhaps an intensive plural for the one great mountain, Zion. See on Is. 66:21. Or as with LXX, the reference could be to Yahweh's intention to lead the repentant Judah out of Babylon to the "mountains", the one great mount, Zion: "And I will lead forth the seed that came of Jacob and of Juda, and they shall inherit my holy mountain" (see on :7).
The reason why there are no accusers against us, not even our own sins, is
because we are “God’s elect” (Rom. 8:33). The supreme chosen one of God
was of course the Lord Jesus, “My
elect, in whom
My
soul delights” (Is. 42:1). And yet later on in the servant songs of
Isaiah,
"My
elect”
clearly refers to the people of Israel (Is. 45:4; 65:9,22). The true
Israel of God are therefore those counted as somehow “in” the elect one,
the singular servant of God, Messiah Jesus. Those baptized into Him are
therefore His elect. And how do we know we are “God’s elect”? If we are
baptized into Christ, “mine elect”, then for sure we are. And further, we
have heard the call of the Gospel, we have been called- so, we are God’s
elect, His chosen ones. Of course the objection can be raised that the
whole idea of calling or election may appear unfair. Indeed, the Greek
word for “elect” can carry the idea of ‘the favoured / favourite one’. There is no ultimate injustice here. The chosen One is the Lord Jesus,
beloved for the sake of His righteousness, His spirit of life. Those who
respond to the call to be “in Him” are counted likewise. And all this is
the way, the method used, in order for God to be the one who counts us as
right in the ultimate judgment- for “It is God that justifies”.
Isaiah 65:10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a
place for herds to lie down in, for My people who have sought Me-
This mentions Achor [where Israel were judged for not possessing the land
for the right motives] as a place of special blessing in the reestablished Kingdom
of God on earth- it’s as if God’s grace rejoices in inverting things,
pouring out His richest blessing upon the places of our darkest failures.
And we in daily life, in the interactions we have with others, are asked
to reflect this same kind of grace.
Isaiah 65:11 But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget My holy mountain, who
prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny-
These "who forget My holy mountain" are those who have just lamented "Your holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised You is burnt with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste. Will You refrain Yourself for these things, Yahweh?" (Is. 64:10-12). They had forgotten God's mountain; they referred to the temple as "our" house, not God's. Mere surface level religiosity is here revealed for what it is. They didn't treat God's mountain as holy because they offered their idol offerings there. And the implication is that they did this after the return from exile.
"That spread a table for Gad, and fill up mixed wine (as Is. 5:22) to Meni". This alludes to how a table was spread with food and drinks as a meal for the gods. The idea of the shewbread in the tabernacle was similar. But the Jews were doing just as the Corinthians would do, eating the food of demons / idols along with the Lord's supper. Meni is the antithesis of Gad, the god of evil destiny. Gad was the popular god of fortune in Babylon; clearly they had been idolaters in Babylon, and that didn't stop as soon as they arrived in Judah. Yet Isaiah has been clear that Yahweh is the source of both good and evil (Is. 45:5-7).
See on Gen. 49:19. The hypocrisy of this group is stunning; they worshipped idols in the name of Yahweh worship, and yet disfellowshipped and persecuted the faithful remnant (see on :5). They 'forgot' Zion in that they didn't want to return there, and constructed a theology which allowed them to remain in Babylon and worship Yahweh through idol worship.
It is significant that the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) used the word daimonion for “idol”; this is the word translated “demon” in the New Testament. “Idols” in Ps. 96:5 is translated “demons” in the Septuagint; and the Septuagint uses the same word in Is. 65:11 to describe Gad, the Syrian god / idol of fortune. See on :3. GNB "who ignore Zion, my sacred hill, and worship Gad and Meni, the gods of luck and fate". It was not that they totally rejected Yahweh worship; rather they ignored Zion for the sake of the gods of the nations.
Isaiah 65:12 I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down
to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer; when I spoke,
you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in My eyes-
"Destine" is the same word as "Meni", the god of destiny of :11. The tragedy was that if they had called to Yahweh, even despite all their sins, He would have heard them (see on :1). And although they didn't do that, He took the initiative and called to them through the prophets such as Ezekiel, who ministered to the exiles; and they refused to hear. They bowed down to their idols; and thereby were self-condemned, effectively bowing down to their own executions.
And chose that in which I didn’t delight- The context is their choice of sacrificing to idols; but in Is. 1:11 the same term is used of God's lack of delight in the sacrifices offered to Him. It seems that they worshipped the idols in the name of Yahweh worship. And this is an abiding temptation for all God's children- to worship our idols in the name of worshipping God.
Isaiah 65:13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, My servants
shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, My servants shall drink, but
you shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be
disappointed-
There is a rapid 'back and forth' between descriptions of the destinies of the wicked and the righteous. We are being given a picture of the two contrasting groups at the day of judgment. We need to keep that ultimate picture ever before us.
Is.
65:8-16; Is. 66:5 etc. speak of a minority of Jews who trembled at the
word of prophecy and were Yahweh’s "servants", who had been disfellowshipped
by the leaders of the Jewish community in Babylon (see on :5). The majority of the
captives insisted, according to Ez. 18, that they hadn’t sinned, and they
were suffering unjustly because of the sins of their fathers; whereas this
righteous remnant in Babylon admitted that “we have sinned. Equally with
them of old time have we transgressed” (Is. 64:5). They took the message
of Ezekiel to heart- unlike the majority. And thus this was the sad end of
the great plan developed by the God of all grace for His people in
Babylon. They rejected it, and hated His servants who brought that good
news to them.
Isaiah 65:14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you
shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit-
This is the weeping and gnashing of teeth of final condemnation. The
wailing and anguish will be because they see ["behold"] the believers in
the Kingdom, and themselves cast out (Lk. 13:28). The sense of the
eternity they have missed, which could have been theirs, will be
psychologically unbearable for them. This is far worse than any 'hell fire
judgment' of popular but mistaken tradition.
Isaiah 65:15 You shall leave your name for a curse to My chosen- This
is the same threat in the context of the exiles as Jer. 29:22.
And the Lord Yahweh will kill you; and He will call His servants by another name- GNB "I will give a new name to those who obey me" is alluded to by the Lord Jesus, when He promises to write a "new name" upon all those who have been finally faithful, at the last day when He returns (Rev. 3:12). This is part of the wider theme of a new vocabulary being used at the time of the restoration (Is. 62:2,4,12), looking forward to the completely "new" naming and understanding of things in the future Kingdom. The contrast is between being given a new and eternal name, having character and personality immortalized- and being killed, dying and being no more, nothing, eternally forgotten.
Isaiah 65:16 So that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless
himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by
the God of truth- "The God of truth" is as LXX, "the true God" in
comparison with the idols they worshipped (:11). The picture is of all
peoples in the eretz promised to Abraham swearing only by Yahweh.
This could have come true at the restoration, but was precluded by Judah's
impenitence and failure to exhibit the Gospel to the Gentiles in the
"earth".
Because the former troubles are forgotten, and because
they are hidden from My eyes- This didn't come true at the
restoration, but it will ultimately at the last day (Rev. 21:4). If
we can accept that God allows His power (i.e. His omnipotence) to be
limited, it becomes easier to accept that there are circumstances He
allows His omniscience (i.e. His knowledge) to be limited. Thus the God
who by nature cannot forget and for whom time is nothing, can therefore
have the capacity to not remember our sins on account of the Lord’s death
(Is. 63:25). God clearly speaks of limiting His omniscience in Is. 65:16,
saying that “the former troubles… are hid from my eyes”. God forgets our
sins; and yet God knows everything that happens and is thought today, and
also yesterday. And yet, He limits that total knowledge by forgetting our
sins. In Am. 8:7 God swore He would never forget
Israel's sin. Yet the same word is used in Is. 65:16 of how God hid their
sin from His eyes. God restrained His omniscience. He erased His own
permanent memory as it were.
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the
former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind-
Tenses in Biblical Hebrew are hard to strictly render. Here, we could translate "Behold [look at what I'm doing], I am creating a renewed heavens and a renewed earth...". In which case we see there was perhaps still the possibility that this Kingdom situation could have been brought about for the exiles had they repented. This would explain why these "Kingdom" prophecies don't speak of any Messianic figure, which we would rather expect in any serious prophecy of the future Messianic Kingdom. The new heavens and earth of Is. 66:22 clearly initially refer to the new system of things possible at the restoration. The context there is of exiles who "escape from the nations" coming on mules and donkeys back to Zion, having Levites and keeping the Sabbath. This forms an inclusio with how Isaiah began, addressing the corrupt 'heavens and earth' of Jewish society: "Hear, heavens and listen, earth" (Is. 1:2).
"Behold" [also in :18, used twice in directing attention to the Kingdom] is the word also twice used in :1; God had said "Behold, behold" but the arrogant exiles had refused to behold. They were asked to "behold" the future Kingdom. Those who had responded now will behold- the Kingdom. The vision of the Kingdom we now have is God's answer to the complaint in Is. 64:4 [see notes there] that whatever future God has planned for His people cannot be understood by His people. Here we now have a very concrete description of the possible future Kingdom.
The whole passage in Is. 65:15-25 is alluded to and partially quoted in Rev. 21. But there are some differences. The "former things" which pass away are called the "first heavens and earth", to be replaced by the new heavens and earth. Literal heaven and earth will not be destroyed. The extremely hyperbolic language is used to describe how great will be the passing away of "former troubles... former things". It will be as radical a mind shift as if literal heaven and earth were destroyed. We therefore must not have minds focused upon the present troubles and "things", the heaven and earth, the system, that now is. All interest in politics, saving the planet, personal regrets and griefs etc. is all misplaced- our focus is to be upon the future heavens and earth. For all the causes of grief and mourning in our lives shall radically pass away, they shall be reconfigured in our understanding, even if the memory per se is not as it were deleted. We may feel we may never get over the death of a child, or some gross injustice, the stuff of anxiety, PTSD, what seems permanently etched in human memory and consciousness, "impact statements" regarding 'permanent' trauma as a result of human actions. But all those things shall then be reconfigured in our understanding. All this shall pass. The tears shall pass away. Eternal joy shall be upon our heads.
The "new thing" promised in Is. 43:19 was the new covenant of Jer. 31:22,31, a new heart and a new spirit within them (Ez. 36:26), being called by a new name (Is. 62: 2) and the creation of a new 'heavens and a new earth' (Is. 65:17). But that "new thing... springs forth now; don't you perceive it?" (Is. 43:19). It could have happened to the exiles, indeed God made it start to spring forth then. But they refused it. It has been offered to the world now, and so few of us grasp it.
The former
things which would not be remembered refer primarily to Israel's sins.
They would not be remembered in that they would be forgiven. For that is a
common enough usage of the term 'not be remembered'. The new system
["heavens and earth", contrasting with the sinful heavens and earth of
Judah in Is. 1] would be therefore without sin. That is the primary
feature of this new creation.
Is.
65:17-19 describes the new creation of Zion as it was possible at the
restoration, when the former heavens and earth would not come into mind.
The former “heavens” of Solomon’s temple
did come
to mind, and the old men mourned because of how far superior the former
had been (Ezra 3:12). The voice of weeping
was heard in the streets of Zion, as
Judah mourned for their sins of marrying the surrounding nations and
breaking the Sabbath. And so these things are applied in spiritual terms
to the latter day, eternal Kingdom of God on earth.
Isaiah 65:18 But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create;
for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy-
"But" carries the idea of "rather". Instead of thinking and moping
about things which shall be forgotten eternally (:17), we should instead
look forward to what shall be the vast majority of our existence- life in
God's Kingdom. We should rejoice now that we will be an eternal joy and
rejoicing. And that joy and rejoicing will be a reflection of God's joy
and rejoicing (:19). His joy will be ours. Rejoicing "forever", eternal
joy upon our heads, is a redefinition of "joy". For "joy" in this life,
but its nature, can never be permanent. It is a cusp of emotion and
feeling that has to recede and decline. The joy we are promised has an
"eternal", permanent dimension to it which we can't now imagine. The new creation in view is of psychological attitudes within people,
"joy", because the former things of their sins are not remembered against
them (see on :17). And this new creation has started now in the hearts of all who
allow God's creative Spirit to work in them (2 Cor. 5:17).
Isaiah 65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people-
It could be argued that Is. 65,66 form an inclusio around the book of Isaiah, linking back to the opening descriptions of Jerusalem in Isaiah 1. There, Jerusalem was presented as a city of blood, full of sin, worse than Sodom and with a dark future of judgment. Now we read of Jerusalem cleansed and in eternal joy. The message is not simply that Jerusalem will be made wonderful; in the context of Isaiah, it is the message of sin forgiven and man transformed.
And there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying- See on :17. The "weeping" is that of the condemned in :14, or the weeping in repentance. They will weep but then be mercifully slain in the second death. And then the faithful will no longer hear this reminder of those who chose other gods. This absence of mourning could have been possible there and then for the returned exiles, had they fully accepted the new covenant: "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy" (Jer. 31:16). They chose not to. And so what they refused has been developed into something yet more wonderful, to be experienced eternally by God's true people at the last day. The same thing is taught when we reflect on the promise to the Jews in Is. 30:19: "For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when He hears you, He will answer you". They refused this, and so in the Kingdom, God will answer before His people call to Him (Is. 65:24).
Isaiah 65:20 There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed- This appears to describe the reestablished kingdom possible for the restored exiles. The simple idea is that lifespans would be greatly increased, although mortality would remain (see on :22). This didn't happen then, and so the essence of it will do so at the return of the Lord Jesus to ultimately restore the Kingdom. But the letter of it may not be fulfilled; for eternal life is what will then be given, and not simply increased mortal lifespans. We note that for a sinner to live a long time would be part of the severity of his judgment; to simply exist, rejected, whilst the Kingdom is established... is going to be a fate worse than death. It confirms the point the Lord makes several times- that the punishment of the wicked is going to be in terms of their own psychological trauma, weeping and gnashing of teeth in anger at themselves. Rather than any physical torture by gleeful saints or an angry God. It is for us now to realize this and to be wise, living the Kingdom life now, without reserve. This is why this prophecy is quoted in Rev. 21:4 with the additional statement that there shall be no more death "for the former things have passed away”. Initially, the prophecy spoke of a Kingdom situation for the exiles, with longer lifespans, no Messiah visibly reigning, but still with mortality. This scenario didn't come about, and so it becomes the basis of something even better- eternal life in the Lord's future Kingdom for all believers, of whatever ethnicity.
Verses 20-22 speak of not labouring in vain, not building and planting for another to enjoy that labour. This is all taken directly from the curses for disobedience in Dt. 28:30,39-41: "You will build a house and not dwell therein. You will plant a vineyard and not use its fruit... You will plant vineyards and dress them but you shall neither drink of the wine nor harvest them... You will father sons and daughters but they shall not be yours, for they will go into captivity". These curses were specifically experienced by the exiles [children going into captivity], but in a wider sense, all sinners experience the sense of labour in vain. It is part of the curse in Eden. Even those who build and plant and enjoy that labour will not do so for very long- for they shall die and another shall dwell in that house and eat of the tree they planted. So we have here the picture of the curse being lifted, vanity no more, pointlessness banished for ever, and the consequences for sin removed. Both our own sins, and those of others.
Isaiah 65:21 They shall build houses and inhabit them themselves; and they
shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit-
The
idea is as in :22, that they would not build and then lose what they had
worked for to others. But
very few houses were built in Zion, because the people preferred to live
on their farms, in their cieled houses, outside the city (Nehemiah 7:4).
They planted vineyards, but sold the fruit to others- on the Sabbath
(Neh. 13:15,16). The possible fulfilment in a reestablished Kingdom of God
at the time of the restoration was thus again precluded. The essence,
although maybe not the literal letter of all this, will come true in the
eternal Kingdom to be established at the Lord's return. Then, there will
be ultimate satisfaction in existence; and the eternal enjoyment of the
fruit of the lives we are now living. We are therefore moulding right now
the nature of our eternity. It's not that our works shall save us, but
that we will live with the eternal fruits of what we do for the Lord's
cause and people in this very brief life. See on :22.
Isaiah 5 has lamented how God planted a vineyard and never ate its fruit. The imagery has continued in Is. 65:8 where God does in fact find some good grapes and makes wine from them. Just as we noted on :18 that our joy in the Kingdom will be God's joy, so we too will share the joy of planting the vineyard and seeing and eating the fruit of it. But the context requires a spiritual and not literal understanding of the vineyard and its fruit. For physical eating of home grown grapes for infinity would be rather strange, and is surely not the idea. Rather the idea is that our labour for others spiritually will be rewarded eternally. Thus Paul talks of having eternal joy in seeing his converts in God's Kingdom. But if we make no spiritual effort for others in this life, no sending encouraging messages, no prayer for others, no concern for their path to the Kingdom, no patient leading of them... we will not have much to rejoice over in the Kingdom. The theme is continued in :22, where we read of planting a tree and eating the fruit- and the days of that tree shall be eternal, as long as the days of God's people. Who will then be living eternally. In their lives, they had been a tree of life to others: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; he who is wise wins souls... A gentle tongue is a tree of life" (Prov. 11:30; 15:4).
Isaiah 65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not
plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My
people, and My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands- LXX
"they shall long enjoy the fruits of their labours". See on :21.
This phrase is
alluded to by Paul when he reflects that his labour for others spiritually
will result in him seeing the fruit of his labour (Phil. 1:22). This will
be the fruit of the righteous in the eternal Kingdom- seeing the eternal
effect of their work for others. The initial fulfilment could have been in
increased lifespans ["as the days of a tree", not eternal, but long] in
the Kingdom of God in Israel which could have been reestablished at the
restoration from Babylon (see on :20). But Israel's impenitence precluded
this. And so the essence of it will be fulfilled at the return of the Lord
Jesus, although to a far greater extent- eternal life, rather than
enjoying the fruit of good works for a long time ["long enjoy"], as the
days of a tree, which all the same dies at some point. Is. 60:21
has spoken of how every saved person in God's Kingdom will have been the
'work of God's hands': "Your people also shall be all righteous; they
shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My
hands, that I may be glorified". They will each be "the work of the hands
of the [Divine] potter" (Lam. 4:2); "we all are the work of Your hand"
(Is. 29:23; 64:8). And so likewise, the work of our hands will abide
eternally. But that work that abides eternally will be the work we did for
others spiritually, in helping them to the Kingdom. All other work was
pointless, as Ecclesiastes brings out. We note how 'the work of men's
hands' is very often used in the Bible for idols.
Isaiah 65:23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for calamity;
for they are the seed of the blessed of Yahweh, and their offspring with
them- "Their offspring with them" refers to the perceived
blessing of generations living together, of parents seeing and living with
their children and grandchildren. That aspect refers to the possibility of
fulfilment at the restoration. But the children brought forth are surely
not to be understood physically; they are the seed of Abraham, they are
the children spoken of Zion spoken of in Is. 66:8 who shall be brought
forth unto salvation. As explained on :22, the labour in view can be understood as
our spiritual labour for others, which we will then perceive was not in
vain. Again, Paul has this phrase in view about our work in Christ not
being in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).
If we choose the way of the flesh, it will be travail for nothing, bringing forth in vain (this is seen here as a characteristic of all worldly life). But the day of the Lord will result in the wicked being "in pain as of a woman that travails" (Is. 13:8; 1 Thess. 5:3). The Lord seems to have alluded to this when He spoke of how the faithful just before His coming would be like a woman in travail, with the subsequent joy on delivery matching the elation of acceptance at Christ's return (Jn. 16:21). So, it's travail- or travail, especially in the last days. We either cut off the flesh now (in spiritual circumcision), or God will cut us off. This point was made when the rite of circumcision was first given: "The uncircumcised [un-cut off] man... shall be cut off" (Gen. 17:14).
Isaiah 65:24 It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and
while they are yet speaking, I will hear- This speaks of the closer
relationship with God possible under the new covenant. This could have
been the exiles' experience had they accepted that new covenant. But they
refused that. And so the essence of it comes true for we who have accepted
the new covenant
(Mt. 6:8). And this will be even moreso in the future, eternal experience
of the Kingdom of God. Our focus should be
more on the quality and nature of the Kingdom life, rather
than the mere eternity of it.
The idea of calling and answering has been seen earlier in this chapter. God called, and the faithful answered (:1,12). In response, God will answer before His people call, seeing in advance what they will ask. This speaks of intimacy of personal relationship, whereby long term partners, parents and children, know what the other is going to say before they say it; they know what the other is going to want or ask for before the other verbalizes it. The exiles had a worked example of this in Daniel's experience, when as he prayed it was made apparent to him that actually the prayer had already been heard and answered ("While I was speaking, and praying... yes, while I was speaking in prayer [a double emphasis!], the man Gabriel... touched me", Dan. 9:20,21). And so it shall be eternally between God and man, the experience heightened and deepened by the fact that under the new covenant, God will write His law upon our hearts. But that wonderful experience starts now: "Even before you ask Him, your Father knows what things you need" (Mt. 6:8, which surely alludes here). Here again we have the end of Isaiah alluding back to how the prophecy opened: "When you spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear" (Is. 1:15). As second Isaiah developed, God urges them: "call upon Him while he is near." (Is. 55:6). They are then encouraged that He will answer: "At that time you will call and Yahweh will answer. You will cry for help and he will say, “here I am!"" (Is. 58:9). But now, He will answer before they call. Such is the utter transformation possible, that a situation arises where before man prays, his request is known and answered by his loving God. And so the basis for condemnation is that the other Jews had resisted that transformation: "Because I called, and you did not answer" (:12). Those who did answer God's call now find that He not only answers their call, but He does so before they call! Likewise we note the transformation of Zion from a barren prostitute in Is. 1 and earlier in second Isaiah, to a woman who not only has children, but gives birth before she goes into the pain of labour (Is. 66:7).
Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox- Perhaps the curse of Eden was to be
ameliorated in the restored Kingdom. But wild animals are
frequently used in the prophets as symbols of Israel's aggressive
neighbours (see on Is. 5:5), with Israel and Judah presented as lamb and
ox. But in the restored Kingdom, these tensions amongst the nations within
the eretz would have been no more; this is the force of "feed
together".
This didn't come about, but it shall eternally do so at
the Lord's return. The lions in Is.
5:29,30 clearly represent the Babylonians and Assyrians; but here the prophetic
hope was that the lion would be tamed and live in Zion, the holy mountain.
The vision was of Judah's enemies being judged and repenting, and coming
to live in the restored Kingdom. Israel's
enemies would become harmless,
and through repentance as a result of their judgment, come to live in
God's restored Kingdom. This was precluded at Isaiah's time by Hezekiah's
wrong attitude to the Babylonians, and Judah serving their gods rather
than bringing them to Israel's God. And so the prophecy will come to a
much grander fulfilment in the future kingdom of the Lord Jesus on earth.
The tensions between Jews and their
neighbours are humanly irreconcilable, just as many situations are. The
"they" who shall not hurt and destroy in God's holy mountain are the
animals here mentioned- they clearly represent Israel's surrounding
enemies. Here
we have the promise of eternal peace and reconcilliation. But the
connections with Is. 11:5 surely mean there will be a literal application
to the natural creation. It
seems impossible for carnivores and herbivores to live together, eating
vegetation. This requires not the destruction of e.g. lions, but their
complete mental and physical restructuring. Just as will happen to people.
Memory will not be destroyed but will be somehow remapped.
And dust shall be the serpent’s food- The allusion is to Gen. 3:14, as if to say that there will be an eternal reminder of the past existence of sin and its judgment. Snakes don't eat dust, but their location in the dust may give that impression. The idea is that the serpent will as it were remain 'down'. There will be no more possibility of temptation, sin and temptation will never revive, thanks to the Lord's work on the cross- which makes for the ultimate, perfect environment.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says Yahweh- The situation in view was still confined to Yahweh's "holy mountain", Zion. The initial intention of the prophecies was that the Kingdom would be reestablished in Judah and Zion when the exiles returned from Babylon. But Dan. 2:44 had spoken of the returned exiles as a stone becoming a mountain which would fill the eretz. That didn't happen at the time, and so a far more glorious and global extension of the "mountain" of God's Kingdom came into view, through the work of the Lord Jesus.
Previous Chapter
