Isaiah chapter 65
Divine judgment against Israel was necessary. A faithful remnant will be preserved. Holy living will be blessed. Heaven and earth will be made new.
DIVINE JUDGMENT AGAINST ISRAEL WAS NECESSARY
VERSE 1. “I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.
BBE translation. I have been ready to give an answer to those who did not make prayer to me; I have been offering myself to those who were not searching for me; I said, Here am I, here am I, to a nation which gave no respect to my name.
I have been ready. The LORD God is always ready to meet us.
offering myself to those who were not searching for me. A nation suffers when it lacks spiritual seekers.
Spiritual seekers are the “pulse” of spiritual life.
VERSE 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;
VERSE 3. a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
VERSE 4. who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig’s meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
VERSE 5. who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
KJV translation. Which 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.
I am holier than thou. Here is where that expression came from!
a smoke in my nose. That is, a “stench” in my nostrils.
Some preachers use that expression to insult other people. For example:
“Your sins have made you a stench in the nostrils of God.”
“Congressman such-and-such is a stench in the nostrils of God, because he supports xxxxx.”
VERSE 6. “Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom,
I will not keep silence. The LORD God cannot be silent. Nor can we believers be silent about God. He is so wonderful that we want to shout from the rooftops!
We Christians represent the Lord Jesus. Anything we say can, and will, be repeated to other people. Our words need to be above reproach. Read more »
VERSE 7. your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together”, says the LORD, “who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills. Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom.”
A FAITHFUL REMNANT WILL BE PRESERVED
VERSE 8. The LORD says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.
VERSE 9. I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there.
NLT translation. I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel and of Judah to possess my land. Those I choose will inherit it, and my servants will live there.
I will preserve a remnant. The Bible describes a uniquely faithful group of believers called “the remnant.” Are they Jewish or Christians? Now or in the future? Who are they really? Read more »
VERSE 10. Sharon will 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.
VERSE 11. “But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
you who forsake the LORD. They had given up on the LORD God.
VERSE 12. I will destine you to the sword, and you will 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, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”
when I called … When I spoke. The LORD God kept calling out to them, even though they kept ignoring him.
HOLY LIVING WILL BE BLESSED
VERSE 13. Therefore the Lord GOD says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed;
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus describes blessings and woes. This verse mirrors many of the woes.
VERSE 14. Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit.
VERSE 15. You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord GOD will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
VERSE 16. so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL BE MADE NEW
VERSE 17. “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
new heavens and a new earth. The LORD God has a fantastic future in store for us!
Paul says when we are spiritually reborn, we become a “new” creation. But what does that mean? What does the evidence show us? Read more »
the former things will not be remembered. Do not live in the past. Rather, live in the NOW.
VERSE 18. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.
NAB translation. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight;
rejoicing and happiness. Some Christians have a sad face and a somber demeanor. We wish they could know the joy of their Lord. Holiness is marked by joy. Joy equals strength! Read more »
I create Jerusalem to be a joy. That is so nice!
its people to be a delight. We are to be a delight for other people!
We should have a ministry of giving delight!
VERSE 19. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem. The LORD God will rejoice over Jerusalem.
VERSE 20. “No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
VERSE 21. They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
plant vineyards and eat their fruit. It is normal that we work. And that we reap the benefits of our work.
VERSE 22. They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
NCV translation. No more will one person build a house and someone else live there. One person will not plant a garden and someone else eat its fruit. My people will live a long time, as trees live long. My chosen people will live there and enjoy the things they make.
My chosen people. The Jewish people are still Chosen. And they always will be.
will live there. No longer will their homes be stolen from them.
enjoy the things they make. It is OK to own things and enjoy them.
VERSE 23. They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of the LORD’s blessed and their descendants with them.
VERSE 24. It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
BBE translation. And before they make their request I will give an answer, and while they are still making prayer to me, I will give ear.
before they call, I will answer. The Lord Jesus Christ said a similar thing. It was about how God the Father answers our prayer before we ask.
Matthew 6:8. Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.
VERSE 25. The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.
ISAIAH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, True Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.