Isaiah 63

Isaiah 63:7-66

XXVI THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 18Isaiah 63:7-66:34 The general theme of this last section of the book of Isaiah is the divine principle of discrimination. More particularly, the items of this theme are penitent Israel’s prayer, Jehovah’s response, and the fixing of final destinies.

This section opens with the prophet’s recounting of the mercies of Jehovah. In the distant past the Lord had pity on Israel and bore his people in his arms. The elements of his compassion are here mentioned as loving-kindness, great goodness, mercies, sympathy, love, and pity, the expression of which is realized in his salvation, deliverance, redemption, and support. All these terms are strong and significant of the relation Jehovah sustained to his people in the past. This is a most excellent way to stimulate in a people the spirit of prayer. The people had rebelled at Sinai in the incident of the golden calf, at Taberah they murmured, at Shittim in the case of the daughters of Moab, in the time of the Judges, in Samuel’s time, the ten tribes under Jeroboam, and Judah under Manasseh, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Thus Jacob was a rebellious people.

The results of this rebellion and the effect on the people were tremendous. This rebellion on the part of God’s people (1) grieved his Holy Spirit, (2) caused him to turn to be their enemy, and (3) made him to fight against them. When the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the people and Jehovah began to fight against them, they were set to questioning thus: Where is the God that brought us up out of Egypt? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit in our midst? and so on (Isaiah 63:11-14). This reminds us of the dear old hymn that runs thus: Where is the blessedness I knew When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and his word? The prophet here is going back to their glorious experience with the Lord and in so doing he is kindling in them the spirit of prayer and supplication which finds expression in the following paragraphs.

The elements of prayer in Isaiah 63:15-19 are striking. In this excellent and pious prayer in which they entreat God, for his grace and mercy, to behold them with an eye of compassion, they argue both from the goodness of his nature, and from the greatness of the works which he had formerly done for them. God sees everywhere and everything, but he is said to look down from heaven, because there is his throne, whereon he reigns in majesty. This is a plea for Jehovah’s condescension, followed by a complaint that God had relaxed in his zeal for them and had restrained his compassion toward them. Then they plead his fatherhood and his redemption from everlasting, following it up with a complaint of his judgment of judicial hardness of heart, and a lamentation for the desolation of their own land and their forsaken condition in a strange land.

This prayer is continued (Isaiah 64:1-7) in an expression of an earnest wish that God would show himself as visibly in favor of his ancient people as he did when he came down upon Mount Sinai, amidst thunder, and lightning, and tempests, which shook heaven and earth, and testified his presence. They plead what God had formerly done, and was always ready to do for his people. Then they confessed themselves to be sinful and utterly unworthy of God’s favor, and that they had deserved the judgments under which they were now suffering. Note that there are three emphatic “alls” in his confession – “All unclean,” “ all our righteousness” and “ we all do fade as a leaf.” They were all morally unclean; a moral leprosy was upon them. They were like a leprous man who had to rend his clothes and go about crying, “Unclean! unclean!” They were like one under a ceremonial pollution and not admitted to the courts of the tabernacle. All their righteousnesses were as filthy rags, rags which would only defile.

This is true when considering the very best works and actions that can be performed by the very best of mankind, for all our works have so great an alloy of imperfection that they cannot justify us before a just and holy God. They were all like a fading and falling leaf, but Leaves have had their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north wind’s breath, And stars to set; but all – Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O death.

The final plea of this prayer (Isaiah 64:8-12) is threefold: (1) They again plead the fatherhood of God who had made them as a potter makes the vessel out of the clay; (2) his holy cities, Zion and Jerusalem, were a wilderness and a desolation; (3) their holy and beautiful house was burned with fire and all their pleasant places were a waste. They urged that these things should move Jehovah in pity and compassion to interfere in their behalf.

The special theme of Isaiah 65-66 is Jehovah’s response to the prayers and confessions of penitent Israel. In the most restricted sense, this is an answer of Jehovah to the preceding confession and prayer. It is the close of the great prophecy of the Servant who is to glorify Jehovah on earth and to finish the work given him to do. It is also a winding up of Isaiah’s ministry.

The first response to these prayers is a sharp discrimination between the faithful and unfaithful, a contrast in the hopes of the faithful and the unfaithful, a contrast in the hopes of acceptably approaching Jehovah cherished by the two parties: those who find him had not been called by his name; whereas Israel in the mass are cast off through their own sinfulness (Isaiah 65:1-7).

In Isaiah 65:1-2 we have the ones who find Jehovah and the ones who fail to find him. Here he is represented as hastening to assist and welcome a people that was not called by his name. This refers to the Gentiles, the proof of which is found in Romans 10:20-21. These words of Isaiah certainly include the Gentiles, as he had included them in Isaiah 56:7, in which he said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” On the other hand he spread out his hands to a rebellious people, which, as Paul construes it, refers to Israel who rejected Christ.

The details of their rebelliousness (Isaiah 65:3-5) are stated, in general, as provoking Jehovah to his face, and are specified as follows:

1. Sacrificing in gardens, i.e., the groves and gardens of Palestine in which they worshiped Astarte. The profligacy of these rites cannot be described.

2. Burning incense upon bricks, i.e., upon the tiled or bricked roofs of houses, which was directly contrary to the Mosaic Law.

3. Sitting among the graves, i.e., the rock tombs of Palestine, for the purpose of raising the dead, or of obtaining prophecies from them, or of getting prophetic intimations made to them in dreams.

4. Lodging in the secret places, i.e., in the Crypts, for the mysteries celebrated in the natural caves and artificial crypts.

5. Eating swine’s flesh, i.e., as a part of the sacrificial meals.

6. Eating broth of abominable things, i.e., from the flesh of unclean or unlawful animals.

7. They said, “Stand by yourself; I am holier than thou.” This was self-conceit and hypocrisy.

The votaries of these abominations are described as smoke in the Lord’s nose, and a fire that burns continually. They were objects of his wrath and should receive the measure of their work into their own bosom.

The contrast in Isaiah 65:8-12, or the second item of Jehovah’s response, is a contrast in their character and in their notions of God. In Israel there is a precious seed, or kernel, which shall be preserved, whereas the doings of the idolaters shall return upon their own heads.

But what is the meaning of “inheritor of my mountains,” (Isaiah 65:9) ? The whole of Palestine is little more than a cluster of mountains, which may be divided into three groups: (1) the mountains of Galilee, extending from Hermon to Tabor; (2) the mountains of Samaria and Judea, extending from Carmel and Gilboa to the plateau of Mamre above Hebron, separated from the first group by the plain of Esdraelon; (3) the mountains of the trans-Jordanic region, including those of Bashan, Gilead, Moab, and Edom, separated from the two other groups by the Jordan Valley. The inheritor of this whole region of Palestine was to be the true Israel of God.

Then what the meaning of “Fortune” and “Destiny” in Isaiah 65:11, and what the application here? These are heathen deities for whom Israel prepared viands and poured out a drink offering, respectively. The prophet here makes a play upon the word, “destiny,” saying, “I will destine you to the sword,” and then assigns the reason, viz: that he called but they did not answer.

The third item of Jehovah’s response (Isaiah 65:13-16) is a contrast in results. The promised blessings are more than realized to the one, whereas the other has a corresponding disappointment. The first paragraph is introduced by the word “therefore,” which connects back with the thought of their ‘rejecting the call of Jehovah. The thought, as carried on in this paragraph, is the supply of good things for his servants while those who reject the call shall hunger and thirst. The servants shall rejoice, while they are put to shame. The servants shall sing for joy of heart, while they shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit.

They shall leave their name for a curse unto God’s people. They will be slain by the Lord, while the servants receive a new name. “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.” All this is now being realized. The prophet starts with the call from the captivity which many of them did not have the heart to hear and suffered many privations among the nations as the consequence, but the deeper meaning is their spiritual privation which the Jews have suffered for these many centuries since they rejected the salvation offered to them. Their name is a curse to every Jew today, as the Jews are hated and persecuted in all lands.

The phrase, “the God of truth,” in Isaiah 65:16 should be translated, “the God of the Amen,” which is a unique epithet. The explanation of it is found in the New Testament passages (2 Corinthians 1:20; Revelation 3:14). This means the God of the covenant; the God, to whom that quality of covenant keeping truth essentially belongs, is he in whom all shall “bless themselves” or “shall be blessed.” The seed of Abraham and the seed of David are to be identified with this God of truth, a mystery completely realized in him who is “the Amen, the faithful, and true witness” of Revelation 3:14. In him “all the promises of God are . . . Amen.” In his person God and man were joined in an immutable covenant of peace. To the curse pronounced upon everyone that violates God’s law, he said, “Amen,” upon the cross.

To the blessings guaranteed to all nations by God’s promises to Abraham and David, he said, “Amen,” when he rose from the dead to “live for evermore” (Revelation 1:18). When the time shall come in which men shall call themselves by the name of the Lord and know only one God as the source of blessing in Christ Jesus, then the former state of human affairs, with all its “troubles” will have passed away, and the new era will be inaugurated, which is abundantly described in the next paragraph.

The prophetic picture in Isaiah 65:17-25 is an ideal picture of the overflowing blessings in the messianic age extending into the millennium. In some respects this picture corresponds to John’s picture of the holy city in Revelation, but they cannot be identical, since death and sin are not banished from Isaiah’s new Jerusalem. In this ideal state the heavens and the earth are new; there will be rejoicing, but no weeping and crying. Death shall be there but the longevity of the patriarchal times will be restored. There shall be such prosperity as they never saw in the land of Canaan. Then prayer and its answer are simultaneous, and heaven and earth are closer together than ever before since sin entered the world.

The enmity in the animal creation caused by sin will be removed. The wolf and the lamb shall feed as one, and the full curse of sin shall fall upon the serpent whose food shall be dust. Nothing shall hurt nor destroy in the Holy Mountain of the Lord. This picture makes one think of paradise regained, but it does not reach the complete ideal. John carried much of the symbolism here into his picture of paradise regained, but he saw the Holy City in its state of perfection, with no death, no sin, no tears, no sea, and with the glory of all the nations brought into it.

The fourth item of Jehovah’s response to penitent Israel’s prayer (Isaiah 66:1-4) is a contrast in the ideas and methods of approach to Jehovah. In the new order of things (Isaiah 66:1-2) Jehovah will operate the affairs of his kingdom from his throne in heaven and will not need the old temple for his resting place. But his new temple will be a spiritual house and the man to whom he will look will not be one after the Jewish ritual but the poor and contrite in spirit. This looks very much like the beatitudes of our Lord, which set forth the true characteristics of the citizens of his kingdom.

But what is the import of Isa 66:3-4? This relates to the sacrifices in the new order of things. The man that offers an ox will be in God’s sight as if he sacrificed a man, and he that offers a lamb as if he sacrificed a dog. “He that offereth an oblation, as he that offereth swine’s blood; he that burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol.” Then follows a graphic description of the state of the Jews in their delusion. The Jews are now holding on to the old ritual and the Catholics would put the whole of Christendom back under the types and shadows by their system of ritualism. What the prophet here labors to show, the apostle Paul elaborates in his letters to the Colossians, to the Ephesians, and to the Hebrews. The Jews are under this delusion today and in judicial blindness because they did not heed the call of God through the Messiah.

The fifth response of Jehovah to these prayers (Isaiah 66:5-6) is a contrast between the love and favor shown by Jehovah to his people, and the hatred toward them, cherished by the ungodly Israelites.

The short passage announces that the true Israel will be hated and persecuted by Israel after the flesh. These Jews in their zeal for Jehovah’s cause will persecute the righteous, but they shall be put to shame, for Jehovah is keeping watch over his own and recompenses their enemies. All this was fulfilled in the early history of Christianity and God’s judgment on the Jews.

In Isaiah 66:7-9 we have distinctly, the conversion of the Jews as a nation which ushers in the millennium. This is the nation born in a day. It is this restoration that Ezekiel speaks of in Ezekiel 37, and Zechariah in Zechariah 14:1-8, and Paul in Romans 11:11-15, and the period here introduced corresponds to the millennium of Rev 20:1-6.

The sixth response of Jehovah to the penitent prayer of Israel is a command to all who love Jerusalem to rejoice that she is extended and enriched (Isaiah 66:10-14). There are two tender expressions in this paragraph relative to Jerusalem, viz: (1) “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.” (2) “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.”

These two blessings here are the thoughts of peace and comfort: peace like a river, and comfort like a mother’s love. The added thought of the glory of the nations flowing into it is worthy of note. This is to be the center of all that is beautiful and glorious and John carrying this idea over into his description of the New Jerusalem, says, “And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it . . . and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.”

The seventh item of Jehovah’s response to their prayers is the announcement of the final work of Jehovah, universal and everlasting, glorifying his people, and judging his and their enemies.

The judgment of Isa 66:15-17 is the final judgment at his coming after the millennium, in which all the nations are gathered and his fiery judgment is executed upon the abominable of the earth, and the thought is carried on in Isaiah 66:18-21. There is the happy issue of the judgment on the righteous, as in Matthew 25:31-40.

The final picture of the book (Isaiah 66:22-24) shows us the final habitat of the righteous, who will occupy the “New Earth” forever, and the eternal destruction of the wicked, whose “worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”

1. What are the general theme of this last section of the book of Isaiah?

2. What more particularly the items of this theme?

3. How does this section open and what the contents of Isa 63:7-9?

4. What had the people done and when?

5. What are the results of this rebellion and what the effect on the people?

6. What are the elements of prayer in Isaiah 63:15-19?

7. How is this prayer continued in Isaiah 64:1-7?

8. What the final plea of this prayer (Isaiah 64:8-12)?

9. What is the special theme of Isaiah 64-66?

10. What is the first item of this response?

11. Who are the ones who find Jehovah and the ones who fail to find him (Isaiah 64:1-2)?

12. What are the details of their rebelliousness (Isaiah 64:3-5)?

13. How are these abominations characterized by Jehovah?

14. What is the contrast in Isaiah 65:8-12, or the second item of Jehovah’s response?

15. What is the meaning of “inheritor of my mountains” (Isaiah 65:9)?

16. What is the meaning of “fortune” and “destiny” in Isaiah 65:11, and what is the application here?

17. What is the third item of Jehovah’s response, how does the first paragraph (Isaiah 65:13-16) carry on this thought and when are the prophecies therein fulfilled?

18. What is the meaning and application of “the God of truth” in Isaiah 65:16?

19. What is the prophetic picture in Isaiah 65:17-25 and what the fulfilment?

20. What is the fourth item of this response to penitent Israel’s prayer (Isaiah 66:1-4)?

21. What is the import of Isa 66:1-2?

22. What is the import of Isa 66:3-4?

23. What is the fifth response of Jehovah to these prayers (Isaiah 66:5)?

24. What is the import of Isa 66:5-6?

25. What is the import of Isa 66:7-9?

26. What is the sixth response of Jehovah to the penitent prayer of Israel?

27. What are two tender expressions in this paragraph relative to Jerusalem?

28. What is the seventh item of Jehovah’s response to their prayers?

29. What is the judgment of Isa 66:15-17?

30. How is the thought carried on in Isaiah 66:8-21?

31. What is the final picture of the book (Isaiah 66:22-24)?