Isaiah 65
OGCEXAMINATION Chapter S SIXTY THROUGH SIXTY-SIX
DEFINITION
(Define the following words or phrases as they were discussed in the comments.)
wealth of the nations
covenant
Spirit upon me
married
meek
ensign
liberty
Edom
year of Lord’s favor
Zion
strangers
swine’s flesh
priests
new heavens and earth
MEMORIZATION
The _____ of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath _____ me to preach good tidings unto the _____; he hath sent me to _____ up the broken-hearted, to proclaim _____ to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are _____; to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s _____, and the day of vengeance of our God; to _____ all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in _____, to given unto them a _____ for ashes, the oil of _____ for mourning, the garment of _____for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called _____ of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah that he may be _____. (Isaiah 61:1-3)
EXPLANATION
Explain how Zion would be built by foreigners.
Explain what the One anointed by the Lord was to declare.
Explain the new name Zion was to receive.
Explain the Holy Spirit’s relationship to believers in the O.T.
Explain why God said former things would not be remembered.
Explain how God created a land in one day (brought forth at once a nation).
Explain how people of Zion look upon dead bodies.
APPLICATION
(In its context every scripture has one meaningthe author’s intended meaning. How may the following be applied in the believer’s life?)
Does Isaiah’s prediction of the year of the Lord’s favor at the coming of the Messiah apply to our understanding of biblical eschatology?
Does Isaiah’s symbolic use of Edom in chapter 63 contribute anything to present day understanding of the relation of Zion to the world?
Does the impatient prayer of Zion in Chapter s 64-65 have any application to New Zion?
How can we apply the statement, … bless himself in the God truth. to our concept of God today?
Does the symbolic use of new heaven and new earth in chapter 66 apply to our eschatological understanding of the O.T.?
What is the main application concerning the nature of God from the book of Isaiah?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TEXTS
Biblia Hebraica, Rudolf Kittel, American Bible Society
Koren, Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd.
LEXICONS
Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, Benjamin Davidson Bagster
Langenscheidt Pocket Hebrew Dictionary, Karl Feyerabend, McGraw-Hill
The English and Hebrew Bible Student’s Concordance, Pick, Kregel Publishers
Hebrew and English Lexicon, Gesenius, Eerdmans
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the O.T., Brown, Driver, Briggs, Oxford
Synonyms of the Old Testament, Girdlestone, Eerdmans
TRANSLATIONS
King James Version
American Standard Version, 1901
Revised Standard Version, 1946-1952
The Berkeley Version
The New American Standard Version, 1960-1971
Living Psalms and Proverbs with The Major Prophets, Paraphrased
Four Prophets, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, by J. B. Phillips
Today’s English Version, Good News Bible, 1976, pub. American Bible Society
COMMENTARIES
The Book of Isaiah, Three Volumes, Edward J, Young, Eerdmans
Exposition of Isaiah, Two Volumes, Herbert Carl Leupold, Baker
Isaiah, John Peter Lange, Zondervan
Isaiah, Two Volumes, Keil and Delitzsch, Eerdmans
Class Notes on Isaiah, V. K. Allison
Class Notes on Isaiah, Chester Williamson
Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, Joseph A. Alexander, Zondervan Classic Commentary Series
I and II Kings, James E. Smith, pub, College Press
Old Testament History, Smith and Wilbur Fields, pub. College Press
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Eerdmans
Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Zondervan
Handbook to The Bible, Eerdmans
The International Jewish Encyclopedia, Isaacson and Wigoder, pub. Prentice-Hall
OTHER WORKS
The Doctrine of The Prophets, Kirkpatrick, Zondervan
Prophecy and The Church, Allis, Presbyterian and Reformed
The Grammar of Prophecy, Girdlestone, Kragel
New Testament Interpretations of Old Testament Prophecies, Bales, Harding
Prophecy Interpreted, Milton, Augsburg
The Divided Kingdom, Pfeiffer, Baker
Exile and Return, Pfeiffer, Baker
Israel and The Nations, Bruce, Eerdmans
The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic, D. S. Russell, pub. The Westminster Press
History of The Jews, Heindrich Graetz, pub. The Jewish Pub. Soc. of America
The Eternal Spirit, C. C. Crawford, pub. College Press
LIBERTY IS NOT LICENSE
INTRODUCTION
Bob Iverson tells of the man who went to one of the new style worship services in which a rock and roll record was being played at ear-shattering levels (Rolling Stones now hold Guinness record of decibels 120. SST Concorde Isaiah 130 decibels at take off). When he asked the young man in charge why such noise, the youth replied that this was an expression of doing one’s own thing. The older man, then, did his own thing by getting out his pocket knife and destroying the amplifier. This illustrates the human problem of knowing and practicing freedom or liberty.
I.
NO SUCH THING AS ABSOLUTE FREEDOM FOR MAN
II.
TRUE FREEDOM
A.
Is when human beings recognize their limitation and obligations
B.
Is always relative and relational. It is relative to the will of the Absolute Creator and in relation to knowing and abiding in His will and fellowship with other human beings.
C.
True freedom is:
Legacy
Not license
Liability
DISCUSSION
I.
LIBERTY IS OUR LEGACY
A.
Christ came to free mankind.
Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house forever; the son continues forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:34-36
If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. John 8:31
The most important freedom Christ gives is freedom from falsehood. He reveals the real, abiding, saving, edifying TRUTH about who God is, who man is and how life is to be lived. You SEE, THE DEVIL LIED TO EVE AND ADAM ABOUT THAT AND HAS DECEIVED MOST OF MANKIND SINCE.. MAN ACTS ACCORDING TO WHAT HE BELIEVES. WHEN THE DEVIL DECEIVED MAN INTO BELIEVING AND DOING A LIE, HE ENSLAVED MAN WITH GUILT, FEAR AND SELFISHNESS.
B.
The real hindrance to true freedom is not God’s Law (His Will) BUT GUILT, FEAR AND SELFISHNESS.
These are the elements Satan uses to keep men in bondage (Hebrews 2:5-18) etc.
Freedom comes only by faith in Christ’s atonement, His priesthood, and His Lordship.
C.
Christ frees us from sin.
Sin is lawlessness.
The devil’s subtle lie is that freedom is found in rebellion. that we cannot really be free if we are going to let God tell us what is right or wrong.
What most people do not realize is that if we don-’t let God tell us then we let the devil tell us! And he lies. You see, man, limited to this world cannot determine right or wrong, reality or unreality, for that has its basis in what is beyond our finite existenceonly supernatural sources know ultimate truth.
Christ frees us from the slavery of lawlessness.
If you want an example of the slavery of lawlessness read Romans 1:18-32.
He also frees us from the guilt and penalty of sin.
D.
Christ frees us from fear.
It is through guilt and the fear of death and the judgment the devil keeps men enslaved to him.
Christ paid our penalty, died and rose again and we who are in covenant relationship with Him do not fear death.
We are not driven by a motive of fear of failure to keep God’s law. that is a never-ending, never attaining bondage.
We are forgiven, freed, adopted sons and now serve willingly from love.
By faith the law of love is transformed into the love of law and almost in proportion as the law is loved, it ceases to be felt as law at all, but privilege and blessing!
THE LOVE OF GOD MASTERS THE CHRISTIAN, AND THE MASTERY OF LOVE IS FOUND TO BE PERFECT LIBERTY.
E.
Christ frees us from inordinate love of self.
L. H. Marshall in his, The Challenge of N.T. Ethics, says, Jesus attributes all moral evil to the self-will that knows not the rule of God, page 31.
Selfishness enslaves us. We become incapable of growth; we become unteachable, impenetrable, unloving.
Selfishness destroys creativeness, the ability to appreciate and enjoy.
The selfish person imprisons himself, fetters himself, hinders himself more than any man who has ever been imprisoned in any concentration camp.
II.
LIBERTY IS NOT LICENSE.
A.
God has objectively, judicially and propositionally freed me.
God has emotionally, willingly loved me when I was unlovely. and He did it in such a way that it breaks my rebellious heart. and I love Him.
Loving Him is not something I can produce without an adequate cause. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Jesus commanded His disciples to love others as He loved them. Perfect love has its origin and reproduction in the divine Lover.
Our love is a rebounda reactiona response.
Love is both a motive and a force operating on the human will.
Love moves a person to want to do something.
B.
The love of Christ constrains me, but constrains me from what or to do what?
Love is not self-defining.
Even in the Garden of Edenin innocence, man’s liberty and freedom could only be enjoyed and expressed within divine guidelines.
Before man had ever been deceived by falsehood, God told man what to do to love his Creator.
The creaturely nature of man forbids absolute license.
God must be allowed to tell us how to love and what to love.
C.
Liberty is not self-defining.
C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, page 39:
What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could -be like gods-‘could set up on their own as if they had created themselvesbe their own mastersinvent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God. The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about His will.
Anything God forbids He does so to free us from anything which is not His nature.
Anything God commands He does so to create in us the divine nature.
D.
Liberty is found in order. God is order. Our lives must operate within order and discipline.
An ancient writer of Athens illustrated the consequences of license and disorder this way:
A farmer, not wishing to take the time and effort to sort his harvest, threw into his granary barley and wheat and peas together. But then, when he wanted barley bread or wheat bread or pea soup, he had to pick them grain by grain, instead of having them separately stored and easily accessible.
In 1776 George Mason wrote this statement into the Virginia Declaration of Rights: … the blessings of liberty can (not) be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.
Edmund Burke, British statesman 1727-1797, said: (Liberty) cannot exist unless a controlling power on the will and appetite is placed somewhere; and the less there is within, the more there must be of it without.
Discipline is not antagonistic to liberty. License is not proof of freedom. The test of the greatness of liberty is the extent to which we can obey self-imposed law.
As Christians we are free to move responsibly within an orbit as wide as the revealed will of an all-knowing, all-loving, all-true, all-holy God.
A study in 1968, entitled Studies in Self-Esteem, of young men from homes where parents demanded high standards of behavior and performance and where firm discipline was a fact. findings. suggest. the development of independence and self-reliance is fostered by a well-structured, demanding environment rather than by largely unlimited permissiveness and freedom to explore in an unfocused way. (See Education In America, by G. Charles Roche, III, pub. Fee, p. 142.)
III.
LIBERTY IS LIABILITY.
A.
Booker T. Washington, in his book, Up From Slavery, describes the scenes among the blacks on the night of the proclamation of their freedom. There was no sleep that night.. All was excitement.. Early in the morning we were all sent for. The proclamation was read and we were told that we were free and could go when and where we pleased.. There was great rejoicing, followed by wild scenes of ecstasy. But the wild ecstasy did not last long.. The great responsibility of being free seemed to take possession of them.. Now that they were liberated, they found possession of freedom to be much more serious business than they had anticipated.
B.
Freedom is never free! There is always a price that those who would possess it must pay. The price of freedom is responsibility. Those who demand freedom but are not willing to pay this price, seek, not freedom, but license.
C.
One man illustrates it as like the fundamental law of economics: There is no such thing as a free lunch. there are no moral bargains in freedom. Liberty has a priceit is responsibility.
A generation of young adults fed existentialism in education, art, and modern rock music, pursues the self-defeating course of aspiring to freedom while seeking to evade responsibility.
D.
Liberty demands self-mastery.
During a Fritz Kreisler concert, a young violinist sat enthralled. -Ohhh,-’ she sighed, -what I would give to have such finger dexterity, such mastery, such freedom!-’ Later she told the incomparable Kreisler that she would give her life to play as he did. The violinist looked at her compassionately, then said, -But, my dear, I did.-’
E.
The man who has not accepted the liability and paid the price to discipline himself has narrowed his freedom. A man who cannot deny himself, cannot choose.
More advance in rank in USN, more libertybut more responsibility.
More Christian maturity, more libertybut more responsibility.
F.
Liberty is a capacity, a potentiality.
We are freed by Christ to make possible the reaching of that capacity, that potentiality for which we were made. that beautifully free, purposeful, harmonious person, Christ demonstrated in the flesh it was possible to be!
Liberty is in being. not in things or circumstances!
The difference between a baby making random movements in his crib and the beautiful balance and coordination of a Willie Mays or Jack Nicklaus is the discipline and self-mastery and growth it takes to reach the potential.
The difference between a show-off, infantile, immature church of Christ in Corinth, and one that truly serves and-’ ministers and reflects the gospel of Christ, is the discipline and self-mastery those Christians would exercise in the liberties Paul declared they had as Christians.
Liberty is not license.
Paul wrote: All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but I will not be enslaved by anything. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. True liberty is having self-mastery to do what is right and good when we don-’t feel like it! Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. For Christ did not please himself. How DID CHRIST, THE FREEST, MOST LIBERATED PERSON EVER TO LIVE UPON THIS EARTH, KNOW SUCH LIBERTY? He found it surrendering self to the will of the Father as revealed in God’s Word.
Liberty cannot survive in a vacuum. Jesus illustrated this with His parable of the unclean spirit who returns to his house to find it swept and put in order, but empty, and goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than himself and re-occupies the liberated, but empty, dwelling place! CHRIST HAS LIBERATED US for SERVICE. HE HAS LIBERATED us TO LIBERATE OTHERS. LIBERTY IS NOT JUST TO ENJOY. IT IS TO USE! AND TO USE FOR HIS GLORY! LIBERTY IS NOT SELF-INDULGENCE, BUT SERVICE.
A famous poet once said, I have on my table a violin string. It is free, I twist one end of it and it responds. It is free. But it is not free to do what a violin string is supposed to doto produce beautiful music. So I take it, fix it in my violin and tighten it until it is taut. Only then is it free to be a violin string.
Each of us is free, if we choose, to be an untightened, unhampered piece of violin string and flop around or lie around and produce nothing. Or we are free, if we choose, to be tightened, constrained and tuned by the will of the Master and only then are we free to be what He can make us and produce what we were made to produce.
SPECIAL STUDY THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES
by Ron Fisher Great Lakes Bible College
INTRODUCTION:
There is a wealth of teaching in the Bible with respect to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. He is said to do what only persons can do. He can speak, teach, search, reveal, lead, and forbid (1 Timothy 4:1; John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Acts 16:6-7). He has the faculties of a person-mind, knowledge, affection, and will (Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 2:11; Romans 15:30; 1 Corinthians 12:11). He is shown to have the attributes of God. He is eternal (Hebrews 9:14). He knows what God knows (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). He exerts God’s power (Luke 1:35). He is everywhere present as God is (Psalms 139:7-10). He is the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4). We have every right to conclude, therefore, that a Bible study of the Holy Spirit is most valuable and essential.
A.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKED THE WORKS OF GOD IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES.
He was present and active in the creation of the universe (Genesis 1:2).
He shared in creating man in the Godhead’s image (Genesis 1:26; Job 33:4).
He exerted power as from God (Judges 14:6; Micah 3:8).
He convicted men of sin and tried to turn them back to God (Genesis 6:3).
He cooperated in confounding arrogant men at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:7).
B.
THE HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERED AND GUIDED GOD’S LEADERS.
During the very unsettled times covered by the book of Judges, God gave assistance to several judges with the presence of His Spirit.
a.
God sent His Spirit upon Gideon, encouraging him to rally the tribes of Israel against the Midianites and the Amalekites (Judges 6:33-35).
b.
God’s Spirit enabled Jephthah to defeat the sons of Ammon (Judges 11:29-33).
c.
God’s Spirit empowered Samson to slay a lion and to slay thirty men (Judges 14:6; Judges 14:19).
d.
God’s spirit was strong in Samson to prepare him to slay 1,000 Philistines (Judges 15:14).
Though Jehovah did not want Israel to have a king, when granting them their wish, He assisted Saul and David by bestowing His Spirit upon them.
a.
When Saul was anointed by Samuel as Israel’s first king, the Spirit came upon him to lead him in prophesying (1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 10:6; 1 Samuel 10:10).
b.
Once Saul was rejected by Jehovah, David was selected as Saul’s successor. As the Spirit came upon David, He deserted Saul (1 Samuel 16:12-14).
The Holy Spirit’s most extensive work of all in Old Testament times is found with respect to God’s prophets.
a.
Moses expressed the selfless, open-hearted wish that all of God’s people could be prophets under the guidance of His Spirit (Numbers 11:29).
b.
When one understands the Old Testament’s concept that the prophet must speak for and represent God to man exactly (Exodus 7:1-2), he can see the necessity of man’s being guided by the Spirit to be qualified as a prophet.
c.
In Nehemiah’s day, the Israelites stood a fourth of a day confessing their sins. Then they were admonished by Levites to recall the bountiful blessings God had showered upon their ancestors. Among these was the Spirit’s instruction of them through the prophets (Nehemiah 9:20; Nehemiah 9:30). Sadly, most of the nation would not give heed to the prophetic words spoken.
d.
Zeehariah observes how the people had hardened their hearts against the former prophets, even though the Spirit revealed Jehovah’s law and words through them (Zechariah 7:12). Jehovah promised not to listen to them just as they had not listened to Him.
e.
The most effective summary of Old Testament prophecy is found in the New Testament: 2 Peter 1:20-21. There it is declared that no prophecy of Scripture originates from human will. Rather prophets spoke as they were guided by the Spirit of God.
Though there are over 300 references to priests in the Old Testament, there is not one example of the Holy Spirit’s presence to guide them. This is probably best explained by the fact that their duties, mode of dress, and style of life were set down by divine revelation. Their obligation was to obey what God had already told them to do.
C.
THE HOLY SPIRIT ASSISTED SECONDARY LEADERS.
The leaders previously mentioned furnish illustrations of the major human leadership God provided and equipped for Israel.
There was also a back-up or assisting leadership which God prepared with Holy Spirit guidance.
During Moses-’ career of directing people of Israel over a period of 40 years of wandering, God commanded him to select 70 elders from among the population to act as his religious and civil assistants. This would lighten his burden of trying to deal fairly and adequately with almost three million people. God placed His Spirit upon these men, once they were chosen (Numbers 11:16-17; Numbers 11:25).
Joshua took Moses-’ place and led out to conquer Palestine for Israel and to settle the tribes in their new-found home. God had placed His Spirit within Joshua and asked Moses to ordain him to his task by the laying on of hands (Numbers 28:17).
God endued Bezalel and Oholiab with His Spirit so as to make them skilled tradesmen, fitted to prepare all the artistic designs and accompanying furniture of the Tabernacle. They exhibited superior skills which were worthy of God’s house of worship (Exodus 31:1-11).
D.
THE HOLY SPIRIT STRESSED THAT DEPENDENCE UPON HIM IS THE ONE WAY TO GOD’S VICTORY.
Through Isaiah Jehovah chastised the nation of Judah for making its own plans, not accepting His; for making alliances with Egypt and not with His Spirit (Isaiah 30:1-2). See also Isaiah 31:1-3. They were adding sin to sin. Their foul attitude is dramatized by the fact that they were refusing to listen to God’s instruction. They even bullied God’s prophets (seers), telling them not to prophesy what was right. They wanted to hear pleasant words and deceits (Isaiah 30:9-10).
Because Israel rejected God’s Spirit in the wildernesss wanderings, He turned against them as His enemies (Isaiah 63:7-14).
Under the figure of a lampstand holding seven lamps and supplied with lighting fuel by two olive trees, Zechariah conveyed a valuable lesson to Zerubbabel from God: accomplishment of God’s work is achieved by God’s Spirit, not by human might or power (Zechariah 4:1-6).
CONCLUSION:
The presence of God’s Spirit has played a fundamental role in His direction of men throughout both the Patriarchal and Mosaic Dispensations. Special men were selected for the Spirit’s indwelling so that they might lead God’s people correctly. These principles can minister to a better understanding of the Spirit’s work in New Testament times.
Isaiah 65:1-12
E. REFINING OF ZION, CHAPTER 65
- CLEANSED
TEXT: Isaiah 65:1-12
1
I am inquired of by them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
2
I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;
3
a people that provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks;
4
that sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; that eat swine’s flesh, and broth of adominable things is in their vessels;
5
that say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
6
Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yea, I will recompense into their bosom,
7
your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith Jehovah, that have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom.
8
Thus saith Jehovah, 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.
9
And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah and inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
10
And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
11
But ye that forsake Jehovah, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for Fortune, and that fill up mingled wine unto Destiny;
12
I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
QUERIES
a.
What is the practice of sitting among graves (verse four)?
b.
Where is the valley of Achor?
c.
Who is Fortune?
PARAPHRASE
This is what the Lord says in answer to Zion’s complaint: While some seek Me and do not find Me, others who never before sought Me will find Me! I will reveal Myself to a people I have not chosen. However, the rebellious people I have chosenwith whom I have been continually pleading to come to Methey have chosen to follow their own evil ideas and desires. These people of Mine insult Me continually, and Blatantly to My face, worshiping in the idol-gardens and burning incense to images on heathen altars. They go out at night to the graveyards and other secret places to hold seances and try to contact the dead; they indulge in the pagan rituals of eating swine’s flesh and rotten food. These have so completely given themselves over to pagan ritual and mystery-cults they think they have attained extra-ordinary sanctity and do not wish to associate with their fellow countrymen so they say, Stay away from me, you are not in the same class as I am in wisdom and religion. The Lord says of these, They are as vexatious and repulsive to Me as smoke in the nose from a fire that smolders continually. I have been recording their deeds and I have written down a decree that I will no longer restrain Myself toward these rebels. I am going to pay them with a full penalty for their rebellion. I am going to dump this entire mess of ungodliness they have made right back into their laps. I am going to punish them, not only for their own sins, but also for the sins of their forefathers too, says the Lord, because their forefathers taught them to worship idols on the hilltops and profane My name and insult My name; I will pay them back for the centuries of profanity with which they profaned Me. But I will not destroy them all, says the Lord; just as one does not want to throw away a cluster of grapes because there are some good grapes mixed with the bad ones, so there are some good people in Zion I do not want to destroy. There are a few in Zion who are My good servants. I will save a small group and these will provide seed to form a people who will receive the inheritance and the dwelling I have promised them. This inheritance and dwelling place will be one of prosperity and security like Sharon ‘S plains and the valley of Achor for those who seek Me. But as for the rest of you, who worship the gods of Good Luck and Destiny, and who forsake My temple and forget Me, I will destine you to slaughter by your enemy’s sword. You are marked for the slaughter because when I plead with you to come to Me you did not answer My pleading; when I commanded, you did not obey. In fact, you deliberately did what I had said was evil and your every desire was what I told you was undesirable to Me.
COMMENTS
Isaiah 65:1-7 SIN REPAID: It may have appeared up to this point in Isaiah’s prophecy that he was pronouncing doom upon the whole nation. However, the prayer in chapter 64 shows that there was a small remnant of people who had turned to the Lord for help. This small group had the testimony of Isaiah bound up and sealed among them and were the prophet’s disciples. They had turned to the teaching and to the testimony (cf. Isaiah 8:16-20). Chapter 65 is the verification that Isaiah had been declaring all along the whole nation was not to be doomed but that there would be a sifting and God would indeed answer the prayer for deliverance by the remnant. Those who blaspheme the Lord will be recompensed with judgment; those who trust Him will become a seed and provide heirs to Judah’s promises.
The apostle Paul helps us understand that these final verses of Isaiah’s book have to do with the Messiah’s kingdom (the church) for he quotes Isaiah 65:1-2 in Romans 10:20-21 as fulfilled at the preaching of the gospel and its reception by Gentiles. Isaiah is predicting that a refining, sorting, culling process is going to take place as a consequence of the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent centuries of the Jewish indignation (cf. our comments Daniel, College Press, pages 343-353 and 429-435). From the Babylonian captivity, through the restoration of the Jewish commonwealth, through the Seleucid domination and the Maccabean revolt, and through the early Roman domination the Jewish nation would undergo a spiritual sifting until thoroughly prepared (with a remnant of godly servants like Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon, Anna, etc.) for the new creation (Isaiah 66:18-24) (the Messiah’s Zion). This sifting must take place because of the abominable rebellion of a majority of Israel in Isaiah’s day. Many of these rebels will never find Jehovah even though He has plead with them (through prophets and leaders) for century after century. They would not give up their idols. So it is predicted that God will have a people turn to Him in the future who had never inquired about Him before. This will be the goiy (singular of goiym), Isaiah 65:1 substantiates Ephesians 3:1-6 that Jehovah did not in ancient times make known to the Gentiles the messianic program as He did to the Jews. But Isaiah 65:1 predicts a time when the Gentiles would find Him; the Gentiles will behold Him and they will be called by His name. The time will come, says Isaiah, when God will reveal Himself and invite the Gentiles, behold Me, behold Me! That invitation will be through the preaching of the gospel of Christ says Paul in Romans 10:14-21.
But until the time comes for Jehovah to open the messianic kingdom to the Gentiles, He spreads out His hands all the day to a rebellious people. Jehovah was more than patient, more than merciful, more than just with Israel. Century after century He plead with them through His prophets (cf. 2 Chronicles 24:18-19; 2 Chronicles 36:15-16; Jeremiah 7:13; Luke 11:50, etc.). But they would not listen (cf. Hosea 11:1-2; Hosea 12:10-14; Micah 2:6-11; Isaiah 30:8-11; Jeremiah 5:3; Jeremiah 6:16-19; Jeremiah 7:27-28; Jeremiah 8:5-6, etc.). The Hebrew word soorer is translated rebellious but is more specifically, stubborn. They have their own ways and their own ideas and they stubbornly refuse God’s thought and ways. With centuries of evidence behind them that God’s ways result in good and man’s result in evil, they still reject God’s ways! The Hebrew phrase in verse three, ha-‘am hammake-‘isiym, is literally, the people, the ones angering me to My face continually. The Hebrew word is actually stronger than provokeit emphasizes anger! The sin of Israel here depicted is insensitive and blatant. Knowing it angers Jehovah, they persist; not only do they persist, they invent new ways to provoke Him.
Sacrificing in gardens: making the ritual offerings in the groves of trees and flower gardens dedicated to pagan idols (see comments Isaiah 57:1-8).
Burning incense upon bricks: incense is usually associated with prayer. They were praying to idols by burning incense upon brick altars.
Sit among graves, and lodge in the secret places: apparently this refers to the practice of trying to contact the dead. The Hebrew word loon is translated lodge in in secret places but means simply, lodge all night. They were practicing the common pagan ritual of necromancy which was strictly forbidden by their scriptures (cf. Deuteronomy 18:11; 1 Samuel 28:3; Isaiah 57:9). Jerome refers to a practice called incubation in the temples of the idols where they were accustomed to lie upon the skins of the victims stretched upon the ground, to gather future events from their dreams.
Eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things: Swine’s flesh was offered by the heathen in sacrifice to their idols and then eaten as a ritual of dedication and holiness (cf. 2Ma. 6:18-22; 2Ma. 7:1-2). It was forbidden for the Hebrews (cf. Leviticus 11:7 ff; Deuteronomy 14:8). The Hebrew word pigguliym is translated abominable things and according to Ezekiel 4:14; Leviticus 7:18; Leviticus 19:7 it is things that are legally unclean. Young calls it rotten things; Keil and Delitzsch says the word means a stench, a putrefaction, broth made either of such kinds of flesh or such parts of the body as were forbidden by the law. It was a disgusting and revolting practice evidently a part of pagan cultic worship.
Those who became initiates into the pagan mystery cults did so through secret rituals and orders. They went out in the dark of night to the groves and hilltops; they talked in a cryptic language about mysterious rites and ceremonies; they glanced and smiled knowingly when asked about their worship. All of this made the cult worshipers consider themselves the in group, the wise people, and, religiously above everyone else. Any person not a member of the cult was considered ignorant, unsophisticated and not one with whom to be associated. Therefore, they said (literally), Be off to yourself, that is, Stay away from me, you do not know all the secret things I know and we just are not in the same class of people. Such arrogance by men who have rejected goodness and purity for wickedness and rottenness vexes Jehovah (The absolutely righteous One) like the smoke smoldering from a garbage heap in the nostrils of a man. The Hebrew word shillametiy comes from the root shalam which primarily means complete, entire, finish, make good, repay, or requite. It is translated in verse six recompense. The Hebrew kheygam is from khooq which means lap, or bosom. Jehovah has written down in His heavenly books the bill of goods on these profane, blasphemous people and He is going to pay them back and dump the whole mess into their laps. Sin pays wages (Romans 6:23). Jehovah has ordered His moral creation so that man and nature may receive in their own persons the due penalty for their error (Romans 1:28). When men plow iniquity, they reap injustice; when they sow falsehood, they eat the fruit of lies (cf. Hosea 10:13). God is not mocked, what a man sows, that shall he reap (Galatians 6:7-10). Generations of men reap the fruit of lies because they follow willingly in the lies of their ancestors (cf. 2 Chronicles 33:9; 2 Kings 24:3; Jeremiah 15:4 for the classic illustration of this in Manasseh). The idolatry and blasphemy characterized by Isaiah here was practiced by the Hebrews from the days of Solomon (cf. Hosea 4:13; Isaiah 57:7; Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:6 ff; Jeremiah 17:2, etc.). Those who dance must pay the fiddler. Israel and Judah paid the consequences of their idolatrous indulgence with sword, pestilence and famine for centuries and centuries until they finally filled up the cup of their iniquity by rejecting Jehovah’s Servant, the Messiah, and forfeited their birthright, lost their national identity and surrendered their only salvation.
Isaiah 65:8-12 SEED REPLANTED: Out of the captivities Jehovah will refine a small remnant. When the husbandman of a vineyard gathers clusters of grapes he does not throw away a whole cluster if he sees some good grapes in it. So Jehovah saw in this rotten nation a few good people who would be a blessing to the world and form the messianic remnant. The Lord did not destroy the whole nation, (cf. Jeremiah 46:28). Many died of famine, pestilence and the sword during the Babylonian attacks (606, 597, 586 and 582). Many fled into the hills and caves of Palestine from the Babylonian attacks and died there of starvation. Jeremiah says there were approximately 4,600 Jews taken back to Babylon as captives. The number Isaiah 10,000 in 2 Kings 24:14 plus some additional ones later (2 Kings 25:8-17). A few of the very poor and physically infirm were left in Judea to farm the land. In addition, some whom the emperor of Babylon gave special favors, such as Jeremiah, and roving bands of deserting soldiers also remained (see comments Old Testament History, by Smith & Fields, College Press, pgs. 665-676, and First and Second Kings, by James E. Smith, College Press, pgs. 733-755). Altogether, about 15,000 were deported to Babylon from Judea. The Assyrian emperor, Sargon, noted on an inscription (discovered in 1842 by Botta) that he took 27,290 Jews captive from the northern ten tribes (Israel) when that nation fell in 722 B.C. About 42,000 people were taken captive between 722 B.C. and 582 B.C. (140 years). Some 50,000 returned at the release of the captives granted by the edict of Cyrus (536 B.C.). From the fall of the northern ten tribes (Israel) to the return to Palestine was 186 years. The Hebrew nation was begun at the exodus with approximately 2,500,000 people (see Old Testament History, Smith & Fields, College Press, pg. 155). After its purging through Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, it was begun again with 50,000. That is about a two-percent remnant!
With those statistics in mind, one is much more impressed with the promise of Jehovah to Isaiah concerning the holy seed (cf. Isaiah 6:13). Jehovah is going to bring forth a seed out of Jacob (Isaiah 65:9) and this seed shall be replanted in the land and it shall produce servants to inherit the spiritual blessings which shall come through the messianic kingdom. Isaiah has a goal in mind for the seed of Jacob beyond the physical return of the Jews to Judea because the seed is to consist not only of Jews but of Gentiles as well (Isaiah 65:1)! Those who came to Jesus, the Messiah, inherited the rest God had promised His chosen (cf. Hebrews 3:1 to Hebrews 4:13). Those who came to Zion, the N.T. church, inherited Jehovah’s mountain (cf. Hebrews 12:22-29). Jehovah promised to multiply the seed to inherit the messianic promises (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12-17; Isaiah 44:3; Isaiah 54:3; Isaiah 59:21; Isaiah 66:22; Jeremiah 33:19-22, etc.). And the seed was multiplied and did include the Gentiles (cf. Romans 4:1-23; Romans 8:12-17; Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 3:16; Galatians 3:28-29).
The restful, prosperous pastoral scene is figurative of the spiritual rest and prosperity that will be inherited by the people of the Good Shepherd (cf. Ezekiel 34:1-31; Jeremiah 33:14-26; Hosea 3:5; Joe 3:1-3; Amos 9:11-15; Obadiah 1:21; Micah 5:2-4; Zephaniah 3:9-20; Zechariah 12:1 to Zechariah 14:21). Sharon ‘S plain was well known for its fertility and Achor is probably the same as the Wadi Kelt which descends through a deep ravine from the Judean hills and runs between steep banks south of the modern Jericho to the Jordan river. In all the five places where it is mentioned it is described as the -emek, the arable valley of Achor. Hosea pictures the comforting aspect of the terrible event for which the valley is famous (Achan’s execution, Joshua 7:24-26); it was a doorway of hope for chastened Israel (Hosea 2:15).
Gesenius identifies Fortune (Heb. gad) and Destiny (Heb. meniy) with Jupiter and Venus, the Greater and Lesser Good Fortunes of the astrologers. However, the ISBE (Vol. I, pg. 299) says, … it is more probable that they are the two beautiful starclusters that stand on the head and the shoulder of the Bull at the old commencement of the zodiac. the Hyades and Pleiades. Both groups were considered traditionally as composed of seven stars; and the two names. taken together give the meaning of the -Fortunate Number,-’ i.e., seven. The. spreading of the table and mingling the wine to Gad and Meniy at the beginning of the year to secure good fortune throughout its course, were therefore held about the time of the Passover, as if in parody, if indeed they were not a desecration of it; heathen rites added to one of the most solemn services of Jehovah.
Jehovah will save a seed through the process of refining and purifying (cf. Malachi 3:1-4), but as for those who make a mockery of His commandments and think they can blaspheme Him by adding heathen rites to their worship, He will arrange for their destiny to be the slaughter of war. There is a very obvious sarcasm in the use of the word meniy (destiny) in Isaiah 65:12. The people worshiped and trusted in the god Destiny; Jehovah will show them who controls destiny! They will receive a destiny which they deserve, for when Jehovah called, they did not answer and when He commanded they did not (shama-’ hear) obey. It is well to note here that God came to His people by words (a propositional revelation, not mystical and subjective) and those words were to be obeyed, not merely noticed or felt. It is also well to note that those to whom the revelation came had the freedom to choose and chose to disobey. The Hebrew syntax is interesting in the last phrase of Isa 65:12; the construction (… that which I delighted not in, you chose) puts emphasis on that in which Jehovah delighted not! The Lord is justified in His rejection of these people for they have, in fact, rejected, mocked and deliberately chosen against Him.
QUIZ
Who are those who found Jehovah having not sought Him?
Who are the rebellious people being sought by Jehovah?
Name the abominable practices of the rebellious people.
Why did they consider themselves holier than others?
How does God recompense them?
What is the figure of the new wine in the cluster?
Who were the seed brought forth?
Isaiah 65:13-16
- CHARACTERIZED
TEXT: Isaiah 65:13-16
13
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be put to shame;
14
behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit.
15
And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen; and the Lord Jehovah will slay thee: and he will call his servants by another name:
16
so that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
QUERIES
a.
Who are Jehovah’s servants?
b.
How will Israel’s name be a curse?
c.
What is the other name?
PARAPHRASE
On account of the fact that there are a few good people who have chosen to serve Me while the majority of Israel has deliberately chosen to do evil, I will fill My servants with spiritual nourishment and satisfaction but those who rebel against Me will suffer spiritual starvation and shame, says Jehovah. Indeed, those who choose to serve Me will express their joy in singing, but those who disobey Me will weep, moan and wail with sorrow and confusion. The name of this disobedient nation will be forever after used as an illustration of rebellion, mockery and blasphemy by those who are really My chosen people. Jehovah is going to deliver a deathblow to Israel’s status as the elect people and He will choose obedient people from every nation on earth and call them by a new name which will characterize their new nature and blessedness. I will so completely and certainly fulfill My promises, the people who are chosen will invoke My name as the source of all truth for those who are My servants will be pardoned forever from the guilt and penalty of sin.
COMMENTS
Isaiah 65:13-14 NURTURED: Continuing the idea of a refined Zion and the contrast between the good grapes and the bad grapes the Lord now pictures the different consequences of the refining process. Those (even of the goiym who were not called by His name) who do find Him and call upon Him and become obedient servants, He will fill with spiritual nutrition growth and satisfaction. Of course, Isaiah is using times coloring here, i.e., writing of future spiritual things in physical terminology. The New covenant scriptures make it plain that God’s richest blessings are spiritual (cf. Ephesians 1:3, etc.). Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled (Matthew 5:6); those who seek the Bread of Life shall have it (John 6:52-65); those who thirst for the Water of Life shall drink of it (John 4:13; John 7:37-39, etc.); those who declare joy shall have it abundantly (John 15:1-11, etc.). Eating, drinking, feasting, celebrating and singing merely symbolize the blessings God’s servants will receive (see comments Isaiah 25:6 ff). The kingdom of God is essentially character, not food and drink (physical things) (cf. Romans 14:17). Those who rebel and disobey will find their souls and spirits starving and dying of spiritual nourishment. They will suffer sorrow and vexation (cf. Amos 8:11-12). There is no torture more excruciating than spiritual torture (cf. Luke 16:24-31).
Isaiah 65:15-16 NAMED: Those of the chosen nation who rebelled against their messianic destiny and their God left their name to the world for a curse. God promised Israel she would become a proverb and a by-word among the nations if she was rebellious and disobedient (cf. Deuteronomy 28:37; 1 Kings 9:7; 2 Chronicles 7:20; Psalms 44:14). The Jewish nation became the chief illustration for Christians of the consequences of rebelling against the Lord (cf. Matthew 21:33-43; Matthew 22:1-10; Luke 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Hebrews 3:1 to Hebrews 4:13, etc.).
The Lord will slay the former Israel and create a new Israel (Galatians 6:15-16). Jehovah delivers the deathblow to the former Israel when He cancelled her covenant and nailed it to the cross of Christ. It was definitely prophesied that He would do away with the election of physical Israel (cf. Jeremiah 3:15-18; Jeremiah 31:31-34, etc.). These verses (Isaiah 65:13-16) clearly show that the genetic nation of Israel as such is not synonymous with God’s chosen (cf. also Romans 2:28-29). In the light of this precise statement that God is going to slay the disobedient nation and call His servants by another name, what scriptural reason is there for expecting a future resurrection of genetic Israel? Ezekiel 37 undoubtedly refers to the restoration of Judah after the Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C. Certainly the nation that was restored then cannot be the fulfillment of Isa 65:13-16; neither can the present-day Israel! See our comments on Isaiah 62:2 for a discussion of the new name.
The Lord will so completely and evidently fulfill His promises in Christ, those who choose to obey Him will invoke His name as the source of all truth. They will pray to Him for every need and they will proclaim Him as Infinite answer to man’s finiteness. He, Himself will become the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Those who become His disciples will know the truth and be set free from falsehood (John 8:31 ff). The Incarnate Son of Jehovah will become an oath demonstrating in time and space the veracity of Jehovah’s promises once and for all (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:1 ff; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 6:17-20; Hebrews 9:1 ff, etc.). Whoever wishes to be blessed from henceforth must be blessed in the name of Jehovah and His Son; whoever wishes to verify the truthfulness, value, reality or meaning of anything must henceforth verify it in the character and will of Jehovah and His Son as revealed in the written record (the scriptures).
The God of truth is an extremely significant proposition. Jehovah is the truth. In the Person of Jehovah (and His Incarnate Son) is the whole of truth! There is no source of truth outside the character and will of God. He is truth absolute, ultimate, eternal in contradistinction from all that is relative, derived, partial and temporal. All that is true is relative to His character. When we speak of the sanctity of truth we must understand that underlying such a phrase is the sanctity of His character (His love, power, faithfulness, holiness, etc.). He is the God of truth and all truth derives its sanctity from Him. This is why all untruth or falsehood is wrong; it is a contradiction of what God is! This is why God cannot lie or change His will. To do so would contradict Himself and He cannot deny Himself and be God! The devil’s attack upon man was first an attack upon the veracity of God. He accused God of deliberate falsehood and deception in telling Eve that she should not eat of the tree because God knew if she did her eyes would be opened and she would then know something only God knew. Furthermore, the devil said God lied when He told Eve she would die if she ate of the tree. The devil openly assailed the integrity and veracity of God. And here is the important point; in convincing Eve that God was less than faithful, the devil very subtely destroyed Eve’s integrity when he seduced her into doubting God’s integrity. The only reference point upon which man may build his own integrity, veracity, truthfulness and faithfulness (his own character, as it were) is in unreserved commitment and belief in God’s integrity and faithfulness. All of man’s unfaithfulness (indeed, all of man’s sin) has its affinity with that lie by which Eve was seducedthat God is untrustworthy. Man has only the power to believe or disbelieve. Truth is not in man, but in God. Truth can only be in man when man believes and trusts and obeys God! Therefore, if men are to be formed into the image of God it can only be done by preaching the objectively revealed (in the Bible) character of God (His faithfulness, love, and power). All preaching to convert must center on who God is and what He has donenot in what man feels, or thinks or is able to do. It is not in man to be faithful or to love or to be holy. Man can only be faithful and love and be holy when he believes God is absolutely faithful and absolutely loving and absolutely holy.
All that is false and standing against man has been forever conquered and eliminated through the Son of God. The power, the guilt and the penalty of man’s rebellion has been atoned for and truth, ultimate saving truth, is resident in Him. Man can be in Him by faith. That is where God chooses His servantsin Him Who is Truth! This is the new, refined Zion.
QUIZ
What kind of eating and drinking is to be given the servants of Jehovah?
What did God promise about the name of the Jews if they rebelled?
What happened when God slew the rebellious Israel?
What is meant about people blessing themselves by the God of truth?
Isaiah 65:17-25
- CREATED
TEXT: Isaiah 65:17-25
17
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.
20
There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21
And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
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.
23
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.
24
And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah.
QUERIES
a.
Is this a prediction of the end of time?
b.
Why speak of longevity of life in Isaiah 65:20?
c.
Does Isaiah 65:25 mean the same as Isaiah 11:6-9?
PARAPHRASE
And when this refining takes place I will also create a whole new age or order of things; the former order or age will be considered by the Lord and His new people as no longer valid. None of the Lord’s people will regret the passing away of the old; they will be eternally grateful for His new creation. The Lord says, I am going to create a new Jerusalem which will be characterized by and inhabited by a people filled with joy. This new Jerusalem and her joyful people will bring Me joy, too, says the Lord. There will be no more occasions for sorrow and mourning in My new Jerusalem. There will be no more limited life in My new Jerusalemneither among the very young nor the very old. Every citizen of new Zion will live in eternal joy. The sinner is also going to live forever, but in accursedness and not in new Zion. The citizens of new Jerusalem will no longer labor in vain; whatever they do will prosper and they shall know eternal satisfaction in their service to Jehovah. Nothing shall be able to separate them from their heavenly Father; they shall be the children of God and enjoy eternal fellowship with Him. They shall live in eternal dependence upon Him and He will hear and answer their requests before they even make them! In new Zion man and his environment will be at harmony with one another. There will be nothing to harm the citizen of new Zionall will be safe and secure. The devil, that old serpent, will be ground into humiliating defeat, and peace shall reign supreme.
COMMENTS
Isaiah 65:17-19 PERSONALITY: In Isaiah 65:16 Isaiah promised new Zion, the former troubles are forgotten. Now the prophet shows why the former troubles will be forgotten; Jehovah is going to create an entirely new order. The Hebrew verb bara is translated create and is used in the Hebrew gal stem only with God as the subject, because it means bringing into existence something absolutely new. This creation is not speaking of a literal, physical new heavens and earth, but of a new era, a new age or a new order in which God will create His spiritual kingdom on the present earth. Young puts it, … heaven and earth are employed as figures to indicate a complete renovation or revolution in the existing course of affairs. It is the new Jerusalem, the new covenant, and the old will not be remembered (cf. Jeremiah 3:15-17). In Hebrews 2:5-9 we are told that Christ came to restore man to the dominion over the world to come which man lost when he sinned in Eden. God cursed that creation because of man’s sin. But Jesus, partaking of human nature, conquered sin in the flesh and has potentially given man’s dominion back to him. This was done at the first advent of Christ (not the second). What God has done by Christ’s redemptive work and establishment of the church is, therefore, the new creation. Hebrews 12:27 indicates that the old order (Judaism, or Mosaic covenant) was shaken (destroyed) in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. That which cannot be shaken is the new order or the kingdom of Christ (Hebrews 12:28) which is the church. Paul indicates that the new covenant relationship is the new creation (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:15-16, etc.). The Bible also teaches a consummation of the new creation at the second advent of the Messiah (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 to 1 Thessalonians 5:11; 2 Peter 3:7-18, etc.).
The Jewish Apocrypha (see our comments on Chapter s 53 and 61), especially those works written after the Maccabean era, speak of the new age as being ushered in by cataclysmic events, brought about by supernatural powers, taking the form of a cosmic drama in which divine and demonic forces are at work, and involving a remaking of the heavens and earth to form a new beginning free from the corruption which had all along affected creation. It was, of course, to include the judgment of most of the Gentiles and the reign by power and wealth of the Jewish nation over the world. The apocryphal writers were interpreting the prophetic passages of the new order (such as we have here in Isaiah 65) colored by and relative to the persecution and oppression the Jews were having to endure at the hands of Gentile empires. Thus they pictured the messianic age beginning with a great supernatural deliverance of the Jewish nation from its oppressors involving cosmic warfare between God and Satan and demons, followed by creation of a new world order with headquarters in a new Jerusalem. It is easier, in the light of this materialistic interpretation of the prophets, to understand why the Jewish rulers kept insisting that Jesus show supernatural signs and wonders to verify His claims to be the Messiah!
What Jehovah is going to create will be eternal because Isaiah exhorts, … be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. Jerusalem, the focus of the new creation, is characterized as both a subject of rejoicing and an object of joy. The new Jerusalem (the Jerusalem that is from above, i.e., the church in Galatians 4:26 is ano in Greek which means preeminent) will be filled with rejoicing as opposed to the sorrow and mourning which will fill old Jerusalem (the physical city). The new Jerusalem will also be the exclusive object of God’s rejoicing. Calvin wrote, So great is his love toward us, that he delights in our prosperity not less than if he enjoyed it along with us. Thus the personality of God’s newly created Jerusalem is characterized as joyful (cf. comments on Isaiah 35:10).
Isaiah 65:20 PERPETUITY: This verse is portraying in figurative language the immortality of the citizens of new Zion. It is not as clear as the statement in Isaiah 25:8, but nevertheless, in context, is teaching the concept of immortality. The idea of eternal life is taught in the Old Testament (cf. comments Isaiah 25:8), but vaguely and gradually. Actually, immortality for both the believer and the sinner is taught here; the believer will enjoy eternal blessedness, the sinner eternal accursedness. The basic idea is, on a level of spirituality commensurate with their immaturity, greatly increased longevity of life will be one of the blessings of the new Jerusalem. As we have it in our paraphrase, There will be no more limited life in My new Jerusalemneither among the very young nor the very old. Every citizen of new Zion will live in eternal joy. The sinner is also going to live forever, but in accursedness and not in new Zion.
Isaiah 65:21-25 PROSPERITY: The Lord kept telling His people that when they disobeyed Him, everything they attempted (physically or psychologically) would not reach full fruition or bring them satisfaction (cf. Deuteronomy 28:30; Zephaniah 1:13; Micah 6:14-16; Amos 8:9-12, etc.). But in the new order (the messianic age of man’s reconciliation to Jehovah) the exact opposite will prevail. Everything the citizen of new Zion does, as he conforms to the image of Christ, will produce fruit to Jehovah’s glory and satisfaction to the heart of the doer (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58; Romans 8:28; Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 9:8-11; Ephesians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, etc.). The picture is one of security, satisfaction and enjoyment. Whatever the citizen in God’s new kingdom labors at will glorify God (cf. Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:17; Colossians 3:22-25; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13). Anything done honestly and within the will of God will be honored by Him and rewarded. Nothing the Christian does (if God can be thanked for it, 1 Timothy 4:4) will be in vain; nothing he does will be destroyed. The works of the citizen of new Jerusalem follow after him (cf. Revelation 14:13).
Those who have been refined and recreated as God’s new Israel will call upon Jehovah and He will hear them. In fact, new Israel will be such a joy to Him He will eagerly answer their prayers before they are uttered! Daniel exemplified the faith that such a member of the new Israel would have. While he was still praying (Daniel 9:1-19), the Lord sent an angel to answer his prayer (Daniel 9:20-23). Daniel had hardly begun his prayer before the Lord answered it! Old Jerusalem complained (Isaiah 64) Jehovah was not listening to their prayers. It will not be so in the new Jerusalem. He will not only send His angels to minister to new Zion (Hebrews 1:14), He will give His Spirit to utter prayers for new Zion when she cannot find adequate ways to express herself to God (cf. Romans 8:26-27). He knows before we ask what we need (Matthew 6:8). If men know how to answer the requests of others, how much more does a divinely-caring Father know how to answer His children (cf. Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:1-8).
Isaiah 65:25 is a fitting summation to this chapter. Nothing hurtful will be permitted in new Zion. In God’s holy mountain (Zion, cf. Hebrews 12:22), the place where He dwells, there will be peace, joy and festivity (cf. our comments Isaiah 11:6-9; Isaiah 25:6-9).
QUIZ
Is there N.T. teaching to substantiate the interpretation here that the first coming of the Messiah brought a new creation?
How, according to Jewish apocrypha, did many of the Jews interpret the new creation passages in the prophets?
How much teaching is there in the O.T. concerning immortality?
What will be the end of the labors of citizens of new Zion?
What will be the reaction of God to the prayers of citizens of new Zion?