God answers His people
65
📚“I am sought by those whodid not ask for me;
I am found by those who
did not seek me.
I said, ‘See me, see me’,
to a nation that was not called
by my name.
He condemns stubborn, wicked Israel and their way of religion
2 📚I have spread out my hands
all day to a rebellious 📖 people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
after their own thoughts 📖,
65:1-2 God begins to speak in answer to the prayer of Isa 63:15—64:12. Paul quotes these two verses in Rom 10:20-21. See note there. God is speaking in v 1 of other nations who did not know the God of Israel. In pure grace He would turn to them (Isa 49:6; Matt 28:19; Acts 13:46; 28:28).⚜
3 📚A people who provoke me to anger
continually to my face,
who sacrifice in gardens,
and burn incense on brick altars,
65:3 Idolatry provokes God to anger as much as anything men can do (Lev 26:30; Deut 4:25; Jud 2:12-13).⚜
4 📚Who sit among the graves 📖,
and spend the night among the tombs,
who eat swine’s flesh 📖,
and in whose pots is the broth
of abominable things,
5 📚Who say, ‘Keep to yourself;
do not come near me,
for I am holier than you.’
These are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day.
He will take vengeance but will keep a remnant of Israel for Himself
6 📚See, it is written before me:
‘I will not keep silent 📖, but will repay,
repay into their bosom
7 📚Your evil deeds,
and the evil deeds of your fathers together’,
says the LORD, you who have burned
incense on the mountains,
and blasphemed me on the hills 📖.
Therefore I will measure into their bosom
repayment 📖 for their
former deeds”.
8 📚Thus says the LORD:
“As the new wine is found
in the cluster of grapes,
and someone says,
‘Do not destroy it,
for a blessing is in it’,
so I will act for the sake
of my servants,
that I may not destroy them all.
9 📚And I will bring forth offspring
from Jacob,
and from Judah an heir of my mountains 📖.
And my chosen ones will inherit it,
and my servants will live there.
10 📚And Sharon will be a pasture
for flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place
for herds to lie down,
for my people who have sought me.
11 📚But you are those
who forsake the LORD,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune 📖,
and who furnish a drink offering
for Destiny.
12 📚Therefore I will destine you
for the sword,
and you will all bow down
to the slaughter;
because when I called,
you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but did evil before my eyes,
and chose that in which I had no delight”.
13 📚Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“See, my servants will eat,
but you will be hungry.
See, my servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
See, my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 📚See, my servants will sing
for joy of heart,
but you will cry for sorrow of heart,
and will wail for grief of spirit.
and will wail for grief of spirit.
65:13-14 The wicked will justly receive the exact opposite of the righteous. Compare Ps 102:8.⚜
15 📚And you will leave your name
as a curse 📖 for my chosen,
for the Lord God will slay you,
and call his servants by another name 📖,
16 📚That he who is blessed on the earth
will be blessed in the God of truth 📖;
and he who takes an oath
on the earth will swear
by the God of truth;
because the former troubles will be
forgotten 📖,
and because they will be hidden
from my eyes.
65:2-16 God reveals what He will do to the nation Israel. He begins by describing their character and behavior.⚜
65:11-16 The happy future belongs to those in Israel (or in any nation) who seek God. The wicked and rebellious should not think they have any part in it.⚜
He will create new heavens and earth
17 📚“For, see,
I will create new heavens
and a new earth 📖;
and the former will not be remembered,
nor come to mind.
18 📚But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I create,
for, see,
I will create Jerusalem
a rejoicing,
and her people a joy.
19 📚And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people;
and the voice of weeping no longer
will be heard in her,
nor the voice of crying.
20 📚“No longer will there be an infant
who lives only a few days,
or an old man who has not completed
his days;
for the child will die a hundred years old;
but the sinner being
a hundred years old will be accursed 📖.
65:20 This speaks of a great change from the present in the length of time people live. Compare Genesis chapter 5.⚜
21 📚And they will build houses and live
in them, and they will plant
vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 📚Others will not live in what
they build;
others will not eat what they plant;
for the days of my people will be
like the days of a tree 📖,
and my chosen ones will long enjoy the work
of their hands.
23 📚They will not labour in vain,
or bear children for trouble;
for they will be the descendants
of those blessed by the LORD,
and their offspring with them.
24 📚And it will come about that
before they call,
I will answer;
and while they are still speaking,
I will hear.
25 📚The wolf and the lamb will feed
together,
and the lion will eat straw like a bull,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain”, says the LORD.
65:18-25 These verses can hardly apply to conditions as they will be in the new heaven and earth for they speak of birth and death (death is the result of sin – Gen 2:17; Rom 5:12; 6:23, and will have no place in the new heaven and earth where sin will not exist). Yet it will be a time of great blessing for Israel, a time of striking differences from the present. Evidently these verses describe the same time Isaiah wrote about in Isa 2:2-5; 4:2-6; 9:7; 11:1-16; 26:1-4; 32:1-5; 35:1-10; 40:1-2; 49:8-23; 51:3; 52:1-2; 54:1-17; 60:1-22; 61:3-7; 62:1-12. The New Testament speaks of this future time in Rev 20:4-6.⚜