Isaiah 65
McGeeCHAPTER 65THEME: Redeemer’s reason for rejecting the nation; reservation of a remnant; revelation of the new heavens and the new earthIn chapter 64 we noted the ferevent prayer of the prophet and the people pleading with the King to break through all barriers and come to earth. Chapters 65 and 66 contain God’s answer to that plea. God makes it very clear that their sins and unfaithfulness are responsible for His judgment upon them, but that their sins have not frustrated His promises and purposes concerning the coming Kingdom. God has preserved a remnant through which He will fulfill all of His prophecies. Again He gives a vision of the Kingdom and a prospectus of the eternal position of Israel in the new heavens and new earth. This will take us to the end of the Book of Isaiah which goes down in a blaze of glory.
Isaiah 65:1
REDEEMER’S REASON FOR REJECTING THE NATIONHe is speaking here of the Gentiles to whom the gospel has now come. When Paul came to Philippi he had had the vision of the man in Macedonia. However, when he got over there, he found, not a man looking for him wanting to hear the gospel, but a woman by the name of Lydia who was holding a prayer meeting down by the river. Although she may not have recognized her need, Paul brought the gospel to her. Paul quotes this verse in Rom_10:20: “But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.” That is the way it happened to us, my friend. Our ancestors were heathen barbarians. They were not down on the shore with their hands held out, saying, “Oh please, send us missionaries!” They didn’t want them; they even killed some of those who did come. Today the heathen are not begging for the gospelnobody’s begging for the gospel. God has responded to people who didn’t even call upon Him. I never asked to be savedHe just saved me. I was like the black boy down south who said, “I ran from Him as fast as my sinful legs would carry me and as far as my rebellious heart would take me, and He took out after me and ran me down.” That is the way it happened for all of us who have been saved.
Isaiah 65:2
Now He is talking to the Jew, to the nation Israel. God first gave the gospel to him; it was given “to the Jew first.” Again, in Rom_10:21, Paul says, “But to Israel he saith, All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.” God rejected them only after they rejected Him. In Act_13:46 we read: “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” That is the way it all came about. In other words, if Jerusalem refuses the gospel, Ephesus will receive it. If Los Angeles rejects the gospel, then maybe Bombay, India, or some out-of-the-way place is going to hear. The flood tide of God’s grace will spill over somewhere in this world. Thank God for that.
Isaiah 65:3
This is the reason that blessings were withheld from Israel: they were continually going into idolatry and rebelling against God.
Isaiah 65:4
This is just a partial list of the reasons for Israel’s rejection. They were breaking the commandments God gave to them.
Isaiah 65:6
Israel walked in pride. They practiced the eternalities of a God-given religion, but their hearts were far from God. They practiced iniquity as easily as they practiced the rituals of religion. In so doing, they blasphemed God.
Isaiah 65:8
RESERVATION OF A REMNANTA remnant is reserved through which all of God’s promises are to be fulfilled. God always has had a remnant. In spite of their sins, God would not totally exterminate them because of the believing remnant. The remnant is compared to a cluster of wonderful grapes that has been passed over in the vineyard.
Isaiah 65:9
“A seed out of Jacob” could refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in one sense I think it does, but more particularly it refers to the remnant out of Israel that is to be saved. For the sake of the remnant God will make good His promises.
Isaiah 65:10
You see, there was to be a place, a place of safety for the little flock, for the remnant.
Isaiah 65:11
But for the remainder of the nation that went headlong without heeding the Word of God, there remains nothing but punishment. I do not understand how intelligent people who believe in the existence of God can fail to realize that there must finally come a judgment and a straightening out of things. If they continue on in sin, they will be judged, as surely as God judged the bulk of the nation Israel.
Isaiah 65:14
Just as God made a distinction between the nation as a whole and the remnant, he makes the same distinction in the contemporary church. The church is a vast organization with a tremendously bloated membership. The question is asked as to whether the church will go through the Great Tribulation period. Well, there is a church that will go through the Great Tribulation. It is called an old harlot in Revelation 17. It is just an organization and does not belong to Christ. It is not His bride at all. The true believers in the body of Christ will be taken out before the Great Tribulation period. We need to recognize that there is a distinction to be made between that which is merely outward and that which is genuine.
Isaiah 65:17
REVELATION OF THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTHHere the creation of the new heavens and the new earth seems to precede chronologically the setting up of the Kingdom. But I think when we examine it closely we find that the remnant has already judged the Kingdom. The others have been judged and do not enter the Kingdom. The Lord Jesus made this clear in Mat_25:34 when He said, “…Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The others were to be cast into outer darkness and would not enter the Kingdom. Now at the end of the millennial Kingdomthat is, at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ, after that final rebellionthe creation of the new heavens and new earth takes place. You see, after the Rapture and during the Millennium tremendous changes in the earth will be made. The desert is going to blossom as the rose. But when you get to the new heavens and the new earth, there will not be any sea and there actually will not be any desert. It will be a new earth. We will have traded in the old model and gotten a new one. I deal with this subject further in a little book I have called Three Worlds in One. The message comes from 2 Peter 3 where we find that there are three worlds. There is the world that wasthat which was destroyed by the waters of the Noahic flood. Then there is the present world, which is going to be destroyed by fire. And finally there will come into existence the new heavens and the new earth.
Isaiah 65:18
Here Isaiah is definitely speaking of the millennial blessings as well as the eternal blessings. The millennial Kingdom is a phase of the eternal Kingdom, but it is also a time of judgment. I do not think you can bring in a new heaven and a new earth until God’s program of judgment is completed. When judgment is over, then we are ready for all things to be made new. I believe that after the Millennium there is something even more wonderful in store for the child of God. Man’s potential will be greatly increased. Jerusalem will be a city of joy. It is not that today. It has a Wailing Wall and very few smiling people. But the day will come when God will make it a city of joy.
Isaiah 65:19
What a change there is going to be for Jerusalem!
Isaiah 65:20
The longevity of life that predated the patriarchs will be one of the features of the Kingdom. People will live a long time. There won’t be any need for senior citizen homes because there won’t be any senior citizens. All of us will be young!
Isaiah 65:21
Prosperity is another feature of the Kingdom. It will be a time of real blessing.
Isaiah 65:22
There will be permanence and stability.
Isaiah 65:25
This is not what happens today, my friend. If the wolf and the lamb lie down together, it is the wolf feeding on the lamb. A wolf likes lamb chops. But in that day they will be together, and the lion will eat straw. I like to tell the story of the young upstart who publicly questioned Dr. George Gill in a meeting, saying, “Who ever heard of a lion eating straw?
Anyone knows that a lion never eats straw!” Dr. Gill, in his characteristically easygoing manner, said, “Young man, if you can make a lion, then I will make him eat straw. The One who created the lion will equip him to eat straw when He wants him to do it.” In other words, in that day the sharp fang and the bloody claw will no longer rule animal life. The law of the jungle will be changed to conform to the rule of the King. There will be nothing to hurt or harm or make afraid in the whole world. It will be a new world then, will it not?