CHAPTER 65

(698 B.C.)

GODS PROPHETIC ANSWER: A REVIEW OF ISRAEL

¹I am sought of them who asked not for Me; I am found of them who sought Me not: I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My Name. (I am sought of them who asked not for Me, refers to the Gentiles coming to Christ and the establishment of the Church, when Israel crucified her Saviour.

Behold Me, behold Me, refers to the Call of God to the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul, called the Apostle to the Gentiles, was used by God signally in this great prophetic Plan [Rom 11:13].

To a nation that was not called by My Name, refers to all except Israel. At that time, the only nation in the world that was called by His Name was Israel. Now, there are many nations that are called by His Name!)

²I have spread out My Hands all the day unto a rebellious people, who walks in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts (even though the Lord will give Israel great Promises in His Answer to them, nevertheless, He takes this occasion to once again remind them of the terrible sin they have committed. He calls them a rebellious people.

The spreading out of His Hands was a longing, kind appeal to them to mend their ways. In effect, He is saying to them that the cause of their troubles was not His lack of attention toward them, but because they walked in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts);

³A people who provokes Me to anger continually to My face; who sacrifices in gardens, and burns incense upon altars of brick (although Israel during the time of Christ had outwardly rejected idolatry, yet that evil spirit had returned to its garnished house, bringing other spirits worse than itself and, hence, Stephen charged them, as does the Prophet in this Chapter, with being not only Christ-rejecters, but idolaters [Acts 7:51-53]. They did all of this in the face of God, as all sin is performed in the face of God, in defiance of Him!);

⁴Who remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swines flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels (when people who have once known God rebel against Him, and go their own way, the spiritual depths to which they sink, even as Israel of old, are worse than any);

⁵Who say, Stand by yourself, come not near to me; for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burns all the day. (Israels initiation into heathen mysteries was thought to confer on the initiated a holiness unattainable otherwise. Thus, the heathenized Jew claimed to be holier than the true servants of Jehovah.

In effect, the Lord says this is repugnant to Him. Their sin was like smoke in My nose, caused by a fire that burns all the day, sending up its offensive odor.)

⁶Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom (he implication is that the Book lies open before Him, so that their sin is ever in His sight. He would recompense accordingly!

As well, it would be a personal recompense, even into their bosom),

⁷Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, sa ys the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed Me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom. (This Verse links together into one guilty company the idolaters of the past and the Pharisees of the present. Both are Christ-rejecters. Therefore, the conduct of the former will be judged in bosom of the latter.

In all of this, the Lord reminds Israel, in graphic terms, as to exactly what the cause of their previous state had been. There must not be a mistake in their understanding this.)

A SEED PROMISED

⁸Thus says the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for My servants sakes, that I may not destroy them all. (As the new wine is found in the cluster, refers to even a single cluster of grapes on the vine-stem. The vine-pruners would say one to another, Destroy not that stem, but spare it. As well, God will refrain from destroying those stalks in His vineyard which give even a small promise of bearing good fruit.

Therefore, the Lord uses this as an example that He will preserve a Remnant of Israel to be blessed in the eternal society under the Messiah [Rom. 9:27].)

⁹And I will bring forth a Seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an Inheritor of My mountains: and My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. (The Seed out of Jacob actually refers to Christ [Gal. 3:16]. The Inheritor of My mountains is also the Messiah. The elect concerns the Remnant of Israel left after the Battle of Armageddon, which will accept Christ as their Saviour and Messiah. They are as well called My servants and shall dwell there. They are elected by Him, because they choose to be servants.)

¹⁰And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for My People who have sought Me. (Achor was the place near Jericho where Achan was put to death [Josh. 7:24; 15:7; Hos. 2:15]. In effect, the Grace of God will turn the valley of Achor, which was a scene of Wrath, into a door of hope, while those that were Israel after the flesh shall perish.)

REBELS AND APOSTATES WILL BE PURGED FROM ISRAEL

¹¹But you are they who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for that troop, and who furnish the drink offering unto that number. (The word troop, in the Hebrew, has reference to the god, or rather the god of fortune, which had to do with the planet Jupiter. That number, has to do with the goddess Destiny, that is, the Planet Venus.

All of this referred to the astrological charts that originated with Babylon. The Israelites furnished the sacrifices and drink offerings to these heathenistic gods in order to secure what they believed would be good fortune.)

¹²Therefore will I number you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear; but did evil before My eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. (As Israel looked to the numbers, responding to their god of fortune, i.e., chance, the Lord says, Therefore will I number you to the sword. With Israel seeking help from demon spirits, they were, in effect, forfeiting the help that God could give, and also actually making God their enemy, Who would fight against them.

Because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear, refers to Israel that had the opportunity to hear either demon spirits, i.e., the god of fortune, or else the God of Heaven. Sadly and regrettably, they chose to hear the god of fortune, and refused to answer or hear the God of Heaven.

As a result, you shall all bow down to the slaughter.)

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry: behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty: behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed (the idea of this Passage is this:

There would be, as always, a small Remnant who would not choose the way of evil, and as a result, and in all places, would be sustained with spiritual food and rejoice and sing for joy of heart.

Conversely, those who stake their claim on the god of chance would everywhere feel a craving for the meat and drink which alone satisfy the soul, and would instead be oppressed with care and with a sense of shame and, thereby, suffer anguish of spirit!):

¹⁴Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. (Solomon said that all such was a vanity and vexation of spirit, implying that even if there was so-called good fortune, it would still result in empty nothings. For thats what the words, vanity and vexation, actually mean!)

¹⁵And you shall leave your name for a curse unto My chosen: for the Lord GOD shall kill you, and call His servants by another name (because of Israels rebellion against God, their very name has been cursed. As well, instead of protecting them, the Lord, because they didnt want Him, has allowed them to be slain by their enemies, which have been many.

And call His servants by another name, refers to the Church, which was grafted in because of Israels failure [Rom. 11:17]):

¹⁶That he who blesses himself in the Earth shall bless himself in the God of Truth; and he who swears in the Earth shall swear by the God of Truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from My eyes. (The idea of this Passage is that if one is truly blessed, it will be by the God of Truth. And he who swears in the Earth shall swear by the God of Truth, refers to God, Who keeps Covenant and Promise, to which the strongest formula of consent is the word Amen [Num. 5:22; Deut. 27:15-26; I Ki. 1:36].

Because the former troubles are forgotten, speaks of the coming Kingdom Age, when all of the rebellion of Israel will be forgotten.

And because they are hid from My eyes, refers to the fact of Israel being washed in the Blood of the Lamb, which means their sins are no more [Zech. 13:1].)

¹⁷For, behold, I create new heavens and a new Earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. (This Scripture, as given by the Holy Spirit through Isaiah, leaps ahead, even beyond the coming Millennium, to the time of the new heavens and new Earth. And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind, means that the Glory of the new heavens and Earth will be such that the absolving of the former ones will not only not be regretted, but will not even be had in remembrance. No one will so much as even think of them!)

¹⁸But be y ou glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. (Whereas the Holy Spirit in Verse 17 spoke of the coming new heavens and new Earth, now He, through Isaiah, beginning with this Verse and continuing through the end of the Chapter, proclaims the Glory of the coming Kingdom Age, when Christ will reign Personally and supremely from Jerusalem.

Actually, this is the reason that Jerusalem will be a city of rejoicing, and her people a joy.)

¹⁹And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My People: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (In fact, Jerusalem has been a place of weeping and crying. It, as no other city in the world, has known war, heartache, sadness, and sorrow! Satan has contested Gods ownership of this city from the very beginning.

But with the coming of the Lord, all of this will be passed. Weeping and crying will be heard no more. Such will be because of Christ, and only because of Christ and what He has done for mankind through the Cross.)

²⁰There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. (During the coming Millennium, the Redeemed, with glorified bodies, and even those who have given their hearts to Christ at that time, will experience no death whatsoever. Even among the unredeemed, longevity of life, possibly even for hundreds of years, will be restored.

But the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed, means that any person living at that time who hasnt given his heart and life to Christ by the time he is 100 years old will be accursed, meaning that, in all likelihood, he will not be saved.)

²¹And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. (This proves that ordinary natural life and living conditions on the Earth will continue in the Millennium. The idea of this Passage is that work and labor will bring forth fruit and not be cut off by death, sickness, or sin, as at the present. Men, then, can build, construct, labor, and enjoy the fruit of their labor.)

²²They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My People, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. (My elect, speaks of Israel, but also of all who have accepted Christ as their Saviour. Shall long enjoy the work of their hands, actually speaks of eternity. The enjoyment will never cease.

For as the days of a tree are the days of My people, refers to the longevity of certain types of trees, which are actually thousands of years old.

As is alluded to in this Passage, death will continue through the 1000-year Reign of Christ on Earth, but only for those who refuse to accept Christ and who commit sins worthy of death. If such is the case, they will be executed, for the Law will go forth from Zion and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem [Isa. 2:3].)

²³They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. (The phrase, Their offspring with them, tells us that children will be born during the Kingdom Age, and actually will be born forever, even in the new Earth. This will not pertain to the glorified Saints, but rather to the redeemed who are not glorified, meaning they didnt have part in the First Resurrection, but will keep alive forever by means of the Tree of Life [Rev. 22:1-3]. These will bring forth offspring.)

²⁴And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. (This Scripture proclaims the Truth that Christ will be the One Who will solve all problems, answer all questions, meet all needs, and right all wrongs. The answer will not be delayed, hindered, or denied!)

²⁵The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpents meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD. (Rom. 8:19-22 is based upon the last Verse of this Chapter. The animal creation will enjoy the beneficence of the Messiahs government; but the serpent, i.e., Satan, shall be made to eat the dust. This is a fine and striking idiom expressing his perpetual impotency and degradation [the language is figurative]. However, the snake, even though not having the curse lifted, will be rendered harmless, and instead of preying upon beasts, birds, or reptiles, shall be content with the food assigned it in the primeval decree.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD, is repeated from 11:9 word for word. In either case, we should not regard the subject of the sentence as limited to the animals only. The meaning is that there shall be no violence of any kind, done either by man or beast, in the happy period described.)