He will honor the humble
66
📚Thus says the LORD:“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
where is the house
that you will build for me?
And where is the place
of my rest?
2 📚For my hand has made all those things,
and so all those things
came to be”, says the LORD,
“But to this person I will look,
to the one who is lowly and
of a contrite 📖 spirit,
and trembles at my word.
He will save Israel but punish all unrepentant sinners
3 📚“He who kills a bull is as if
he killed a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb is as if he
cut off a dog’s neck;
he who makes an offering
is as if he offered swine’s blood;
he who burns incense is as if
he blessed an idol.
Yes, they have chosen
their own ways 📖,
and their soul delights
in their abominations.
4 📚So I will choose their hardships,
and will bring on them
what they fear,
because when I called,
no one answered;
when I spoke, they did not listen,
but did evil before my very eyes,
and chose that in which I did not delight.
5 📚Hear the word of the LORD,
you who tremble at his word.
Your brethren who hated you,
who threw you out for my name’s sake,
said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified.’
But he will appear to your joy,
and they will be put to shame”.
66:5 In this world those who tremble in humility at God’s word will sometimes be hated even by those who should love them (Isa 59:15; Ps 38:20; Micah 7:6; Matt 10:36).⚜
6 📚A sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple 📖!
The voice of the LORD who repays
his enemies:
7 📚“Before she was in labour,
she gave birth.
Before her pain came,
she delivered a male child.
8 📚Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Will the earth be made to give birth
in one day?
Or will a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labour,
she gave birth to her children.
9 📚Will I bring to the point of birth,
and not give delivery?” says the LORD.
“Will I bring to birth,
and shut the womb?”
says your God.
10 📚Rejoice with Jerusalem,
and be glad with her,
all you who love her.
Rejoice and be happy with her,
all you who mourn for her,
11 📚That you may nurse and be satisfied
with her comforting breasts,
that you may drink deeply,
and be delighted with the abundance
of her glory.
66:7-11 This speaks of the fruitfulness of Zion representing the nation of Israel. Compare Isa 49:14-20; 54:1-8. The “male child” of v 7 is the country, the nation of v 8. So great will be the change in Israel that it will be as though the country and the people were made completely new. Compare Isa 4:2-6; 11:6-16; 27:6; 35:1-10. The change in Israel will take place very suddenly without the travail of birth. See Zech 12:10—13:2; Rom 11:26-27; Rev 1:7.⚜
12 📚For thus says the LORD,
“See, I will extend peace to her
like a river,
and the glory of the Gentiles like
a flowing stream.
Then you will nurse,
you will be carried on her hips
and dandled on her knees.
13 📚I will comfort you like one
whom his mother comforts;
and you will be comforted
in Jerusalem.
66:13 God has the tender compassion that a mother has and He will comfort those concerned with the future of Jerusalem (Isa 40:1-2; 49:13-16; 54:7-8).⚜
14 📚And when you see this,
your heart will rejoice,
and your bones will flourish like grass 📖;
and the hand of the LORD 📖 will be known
to his servants,
and his indignation to his enemies.
15 📚For, see, the LORD will come
with fire and with his chariots
like a whirlwind,
to render his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 📚For the LORD will execute judgment
by fire and by his sword on all flesh;
and the slain of the LORD will be many.
17 📚“Those who sanctify and purify
themselves to go
into the gardens,
following one in the middle of those
who eat the meat of pigs and
the abomination and the mouse,
will be consumed together”,
says the LORD.
66:17 Is it surprising to see in this grand finishing chapter of the great book of Isaiah any sort of emphasis on eating food forbidden by the law of Moses? See also Isa 65:4. Does this not indicate that literal Israel is in view? The wicked among them are thus shown as those who have contempt for God’s commands. Of all the instructions of the law probably the easiest to keep were the ones about clean and unclean animals. Those who will not keep those will hardly be of a mind to keep any other laws. For notes on meaning of prohibition of certain foods see Leviticus chapter 11.⚜
18 📚“For I know their deeds and their thoughts 📖. The time will come when I gather all nations 📖 and tongues, and they will come, and see my glory. 19 📚And I will set a sign among them 📖, and I will send those of them who escape to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul 📖, and Lud (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Javan, to the islands far away, who have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they will declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20 📚And they will bring all your brethren as an offering to the LORD out of all nations on horses and in chariots and on litters and on mules and on swift animals, to my holy mountain Jerusalem”, says the LORD, “just as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21 📚And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites”, says the LORD.
66:19-21 Judging from the context, and from other prophecies in Isaiah (and other books of the Bible) these verses probably describe some events in the future millennium. Some of the words here fit the activities of the Church of the New Testament, but others do not.⚜
22 📚“For as the new heavens
and the new earth,
which I will make,
will remain before me”, says the LORD,
“so your offspring and your name
will remain 📖.
23 📚And it will happen from
one new moon to another,
and from one Sabbath to another,
that all mankind will come
to worship before me”, says the LORD.
66:23 Notice again the emphasis on “all mankind”.⚜
24 📚“And they will go out,
66:1-2 Isa 40:21-22; 1 Kings 8:27; Ps 2:4; Matt 5:34-35; Acts 7:48-50; 17:24-25. The God of Israel is the mighty Creator of the universe – Isa 40:26; Gen 1:1. And the whole universe is not big enough for Him. God does not need a material temple. He much prefers a spiritual one – the humble hearts and bodies of a believing people (Isa 57:15; 1 Cor 6:19; Eph 2:21-22).⚜
66:24 Rebellion is a theme found often in Isaiah (Isa 1:2, 23; 30:1, 9; 63:10; 65:2). The picture here is of those in the city of Jerusalem going and looking into the valley of Hinnom or Tophet (Isa 30:33; Jer 7:31-33; 19:6). This verse gives the destiny of those who rebel against God. In the New Testament Tophet or Hinnom became a symbol for hell, and part of this verse is quoted in Mark 9:48. The only escape from the punishment revealed in this verse is through the suffering servant depicted so clearly in the 53rd chapter of this book.⚜
66:1-24 God continues to speak through Isaiah. Here He emphasizes what kind of people He wants His people to be, and what the results will be when Israel becomes that kind of people. He reveals also what the end will be for those who refuse Him and His Word.⚜
and look at the corpses of the men
who have transgressed against me;
for their worm will not die,
and their fire will not be quenched;
and they will be loathsome to all mankind”.