Isaiah 65

Isaiah 65:1

A strong one - The king of Assyria. Shall cast down - The crown of pride. The hand - By the hand of God, which shall strengthen him in this work.

Isaiah 65:2

Trodden - The expression is emphatical; the crown which was upon their own heads, shall be trodden under the feet of others; and they, whose drunkenness made them fall to the ground, shall be trodden down there.

Isaiah 65:3

He eateth - Which, as soon as a man sees he plucks it off, and devours it, as soon as he can get it into his hand. And so shall it be with Ephraim’s glory, which his enemies shall devour greedily.

Isaiah 65:4

In that day - When the kingdom of Israel shall be destroyed. A diadem - God shall give eminent glory and beauty, to the kingdom of Judah.

Isaiah 65:5

To them - Who not only drive their enemies from their land, but pursue them into their own lands, and besiege them in their own cities.

Isaiah 65:6

But - Judah is guilty of the same sins with Israel, therefore they also must expect the same calamities; of which he speaks afterward. The prophet - The teachers, who should have been patterns of sobriety to the people. They err - The prophets miscarry in their sacred employment. Stumble - The priests mistake in pronouncing the sentence of the law, which was their duty.

Isaiah 65:8

He - God. Them - Who is there among this people that are willing to be taught the knowledge of God? A minister may as soon teach an infant as these men.

Isaiah 65:9

For - They must be taught like little children, because of their great dullness. Line - One line of the book after another, as children are taught to read.

Isaiah 65:10

Another tongue - By people of a strange language, whom he shall bring among them, seeing they will not hear him speaking, by his prophets, in their own language.

Isaiah 65:11

This - This doctrine. The rest - The only way, in which you will find rest.

Isaiah 65:12

Here a little - As this method has been used and was altogether necessary for them; so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were children in understanding, they shall still continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth. That - This will be the event, or consequence of their sin: they will fall backward, which is the worst, and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces.

Isaiah 65:14

Said - In your hearts. We - We are as safe from death, and hell, or the grave, as if they had entered into covenant with us. The scourge - The judgment of God. Through - The land. For - We shall secure ourselves by lying and dissimulation.

Isaiah 65:15

Therefore - Because your refuges are so vain, and deceitful; therefore I will direct you to a surer refuge, which God hath laid in Zion. But if you despise that refuge; then know, that I will lay judgment to the line, &c. I lay - I have promised it, and will, in the fulness of time, perform it. In Zion - In my church. A foundation - Upon which I will build my church. A stone - The Messiah. Tried - Which I have tried, and approved as every way sufficient. Corner - stone - Uniting the several parts of the building together. Sure - Upon whom you may securely rest. Believeth - This promise. Shall not - Hastily catch at any way of escaping danger, but shall patiently wait upon God in his way, ’till he deliver him.

Isaiah 65:16

Plummet - I will execute just judgment, as it were by a line and plummet annexed to it; that is, with exactness and care: I will severely punish, and utterly destroy all who reject that stone. For the line and plummet, or the plumb - line, was not only used in erecting buildings, but also in pulling them down; those parts of the building being thus marked out, which were to be demolished.

Isaiah 65:18

Pass over - It shall not only come to you, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning; and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite. The report - So dreadful shall the judgment be, that it shall strike you with horror, when you only hear the rumour of it.

Isaiah 65:19

For - For those lying refuges, to which you trust, will not be able to give you that protection, which you expect from them; no more than a man can stretch himself upon a bed that is too short for him.

Isaiah 65:20

Perazim - Where he fought against the Philistines, 2 Samuel 5:20. Gibeon - Where he fought against the Canaanites, Joshua 10:10, &c. and afterwards against the Philistines, 1 Chronicles 14:16. Strange work - For this work of bringing total destruction upon Israel, was contrary to the benignity of his own nature, and to the usual way of dealing with his people.

Isaiah 65:21

Lest - Lest thereby you make the judgments of God sure and unavoidable. For - God hath assured me, that he will utterly destroy the people of Israel.

Isaiah 65:23

Doth - The plowman doth not spend all his time in plowing the ground; but he has several times for several works. And so God has his times and seasons for several works, and his providence is various at several times, and towards several people. Therefore those scoffing Israelites were guilty of great folly, in flattering themselves, because of God’s long patience towards them; for God will certainly take a time to thresh, and break them with his judgments, as at present he plowed and harrowed them, and so prepared them for it by his threatenings. Open - Understand, all day. Break - Which they used to do with a kind of harrow.

Isaiah 65:24

Made plain - By breaking the clods. The wheat - The best which he chuses for seed. Barley - That proportion of barley which he appointed. Place - Heb. in his border; each seed in a several place.