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TH11165: On-Line
ISAIAH
Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 65, as we continue our study through the Word of God, and we will complete the book of Isaiah this evening. In chapter 65 of Isaiah God is going to respond or answer a prayer that began back in Isaiah 63:15 and continued through Isaiah 64:12. In that prayer God’s people were asking God to intervene, to do something, and not let His wrath continue to fall upon them. They wanted God to respond like He did when He delivered their ancestors from bondage in Egypt.
And as you read through that prayer it seems like God is the one who is playing hard to get. He is the one being stiff-necked, not wanting to help His own people out. But, of course, that is not the case, nor is it ever the case. God pictures Himself as a loving parent with His hands stretched out to His people day and night. The problem was not with God, but with the people, for they refused to turn to Him, they rejected Him or came to Him under their own ways, instead of in truth.
So God turns to the gentiles and He will use them to proclaim His truth, His glory to the world. We call this the church age or the age of grace, the period of time we are living in. And don’t think that God is done with Israel, for He is using the church to make Israel jealous so that they might turn back to Him. As Paul said in Romans 11:11 regarding the Jews, "I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles." That is where we are at as God answers their question beginning in verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 65.
ISAIAH 65
VERSE 1
1. God is speaking of the gentiles, how they turned to Him while His own people turned away from Him. Paul said in Romans 9:25-26, "As He says also in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved. "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God." God is now going to use the gentiles as instruments to speak forth His truth.
VERSE 2
1. God was not quick tempered, He did not overreact with His people. But He was patient, long-suffering, gentle, and kind to His people, holding out His hand to them that they might return to Him, but they refused. They did what they wanted and blamed God for the consequences of their actions.
VERSE 3
1. The children of Israel, in a sense, were slapping God in the face by their actions. They began to worship false gods in the open for all to see. They weren’t hiding what they were doing but were proud of their actions.
2. Look at our nation today. Right is wrong and wrong is right. Sin is promoted while righteousness is put down. No longer do we say no to sex outside of marriage, but to just protect yourself. Homosexuality is not a sin, but an alternative life-style. People don’t lie anymore, their just misunderstood. Truly, as a nation, we have not learned from the mistakes of Israel and we too will suffer the consequences of our actions!
VERSE 4
1. What God told them was unclean and to stay away from, they were embracing. Spending time among the dead to contact them. Not only eating swine, which was forbidden, but they seem to be using it in the sacrifice to these gods. They placed in their vessels, their bodies, those things that God said were unclean, which made them unclean before God.
VERSE 5a
1. Understand this, the Jews were doing all the things that the gentiles were involved in and yet they saw themselves as holier than the gentiles. Obviously they were self-righteous, but in God’s eyes they had become defiled like the gentiles.
VERSE 5b
1. As righteous as they thought they were, God said they had become an irritant to Him just like smoke is an irritant to your nose, and it slowly and continually burns, as they continued in their unrighteous activities before God.
VERSES 6-7
1. God is telling them that He will judge them for their actions, His justice will be executed upon their lives. Now that may seem very harsh, but God is righteous and holy, and by their actions, God is giving them what they deserve. They refused to turn to Him so that He could forgive them, and so He will judge them. Also understand that there are the faithful remnant that won’t be judge as the unrighteous will be. We will see this played out in the next verse.
VERSE 8
1. God is separating the good grapes from the bad, those that love Him from those who have rebelled against Him and refuse to repent of their sins.
VERSE 9
1. God is saying that He will bring back the faithful remnant into the land, He won’t forget them.
VERSE 10
1. Sharon was to the west of Jerusalem along the Mediterranean seacoast, extending from Joppa to Mount Carmel. And the Valley of Achor was located southwest of Jericho, east of Jerusalem, and named for the place where Achan was stoned to death for his disobeying God in the battle against Jericho, taking the spoil, which was to be given to God as the first fruits of the land. Both these areas are fertile and beautiful and God will bring the faithful remnant into this land.
VERSE 11
1. But the unfaithful were worshiping Gad, not the tribe but a Phoenician god meaning "fortune" or "good fortune". They also worshiped the god Meni, which means "destiny". They are no different than we are today. We strive after good fortune and plan out our destiny! These are the gods the world tends to worship.
VERSE 12
1. God’s judgment was going to fall upon them after the period of His grace and long-suffering comes to an end. God’s grace does not last forever!
VERSE 13-14
1. God is contrasting the faithful remnant with those that rebelled against Him. It seems that God is speaking of their return from the Babylonian captivity. When they were free to leave Babylon only just under 50,000 out of 2 to 3 million actually returned. Those that remained in Babylon became comfortable, but in the end they would be lacking. For those that returned, it was going to be difficult at first, but in the end they would be blessed for they were in the place that God wanted them to be. That is a good lesson for us. Just because it is easy does not make it the right thing to do. Walk in the ways that God has set before you, and as difficult as it may be, in the end, you will be blessed!
VERSE 15
1. What is the new name that God calls His people? CHRISTIANS! In Acts 11:26 we are told, "And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."
VERSE 16
1. Here we are looking into the future when the true and living God will rule and reign from Jerusalem, and righteousness will fill the land - the thought is of the kingdom age!
2. From verse 17 till the end of the chapter we are going to be dealing with the kingdom age primarily, but we also see woven into this section the idea of a new heaven and a new earth. Just like the two comings of Christ are woven together many times, so too is this, and it gets a little tricky, but I think we can separate the two as we look to the New Testament to shed some light upon these things.
VERSE 17
1. The word "create" is not speaking of the reassembling of existing material. The word Isaiah used is BARA or to create something out of nothing. It is the same word found in Genesis 1:1. Thus, this is not speaking of the kingdom age but of the creation of a new heavens and a new earth. This is the eternal state where the curse will be done away with, death abolished, no more tears, the past things will not come to our remembrance. That of course is not true in the kingdom age, but in the eternal state. In Revelation chapter 21 we read "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea...And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away...And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him." Revelation 21:1, 4 and 22:3.
VERSES 18-19
1. Jerusalem is not a place of rejoicing today but a cup of trembling. This is looking forward to a future time where God creates a new heaven and a new earth. Isaiah uses the same Hebrew word, BARA, to create something out of nothing. And of course, in the new Jerusalem there will be no more tears, no more crying, but rejoicing before the Lord.
2. Now we are going to be moving from the eternal state back to the kingdom age.
VERSE 20
1. From this passage it does seem like death will occur in the kingdom age, but it will be rare. At 100 years of age you are still considered a child. Thus, most people will live through those 1,000 years and not die. We, as believers will have our glorified bodies, we will not die.
2. During the kingdom age Satan will be bound for those 1,000 years and yet people will still be able to sin, even though it will be rare. And when a person does, God will deal with that situation immediately, unrighteousness will not continue, some may even die because of their sin. You see, it is not only the devil we can blame for our actions, but our flesh that is at work in us, and will still work in those who enter into the kingdom age in physical bodies.
VERSES 21-22
1. As we have seen in the nation of Israel’s history, this was a big problem. The enemy would steal their crops, their homes, but not so in the kingdom age. They will enjoy the fruits of their labor.
VERSES 23-24
1. In the kingdom age we see how intimately God is working and speaking with His people.
VERSE 25
1. As I have said before, in the kingdom age you won’t have to worry about being attacked by animals, for they, like us, will be vegetarians. Today you don’t see the wolf and the lamb feeding together, but the wolf feeding on the lamb! But not so in the kingdom age. We read in Isaiah 11:6-9 of this period of time, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
2. Now the dust being the serpent’s food could be a reference that the curse is not completely removed during the kingdom age, not until the new heaven and the new earth are created!
ISAIAH 66
VERSE 1
1. God said that He measures the universe with the span of his hand, Isaiah 40:12. Thus, how can you build a house for God to dwell in. When Solomon was dedicating the temple, he rightly recognized this fact. He said in I Kings 8:27, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!"
VERSE 2
1. People boast of all they have given to the Lord, and yet God is saying you have only given back to Him that which was already His, He created it all in the first place! Then what does God want from us? He doesn’t want big, beautiful monuments made with our hands, but a person who is poor in spirit, recognizing they can’t do anything about their sinful condition. He is looking for a person who is contrite in spirit, or humble before Him. He is looking for a person who trembles at His Word or to have a godly fear of what He has said, and then applying it to their lives. Too often people come before God with all they have for Him, in a proud spirit, twisting and changing and bending the Word of God to fit their own preconceived ideas instead of just allowing God to speak for Himself. As Peter said "knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." II Peter 1:20-21.
VERSE 3a-d
1. This is how God feels about religion without righteousness. Their heart was wrong and their sacrifices an abomination before Him. Yes, they were offering these things to the true and living God, but they had not established a relationship with Him, and thus, all their righteousness is like filthy rags!
VERSES 3e-4
1. They felt good about doing their own thing, even though it displeased God. They delighted in what they were doing, but God did not receive it.
VERSE 5
1. God is speaking of the faithful remnant who were being persecuted by the wicked, their own family. And again, look at the self-righteous attitude they had in their actions, and yet God says they shall be ashamed.
VERSE 6
1. The cry was to return home from the captivity but a majority of the people refused to listen, they became comfortable in Babylon for the work back in Jerusalem was overwhelming, and they saw that the city was never going to be rebuilt. But God is saying just the opposite. He will rebuild Jerusalem and in His ears He could already hear the work being started.
VERSES 7-8
1. The short term picture is their return from Babylon. The long term picture is the eternal state. But we also see this in their return to the land after their destruction by the Romans back in 70 AD. Back on May 14, 1948 Israel once again became a nation, in one day! But then, just as Isaiah said would happen, trouble in one day after they were born, on May 15, 1948 the Arab nations declared war upon Israel!
VERSE 9
1. God re-birthed the nation once again!
VERSES 10-11
1. Now we are looking into the kingdom age when Jerusalem will be a place of blessing, whereas today it is a cup of trembling.
VERSES 12-13
1. Jerusalem will be like a mother to the whole earth in the kingdom age.
VERSES 14-16
1. Prior to the establishment of His kingdom here on the earth, the Lord returns to pour out His wrath and execute His justice upon a Christ rejecting world. Revelation chapter 19 speaks of this time, as we saw last week. But we also read of this in Psalm 2, besides many other passages of Scripture. But in Psalm 2 we see the nations of the world gathering together to fight against God and what God thinks of all of this. We read "Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.’ I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.’ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." Psalm 2.
2. Here we see a reference to being slain in the Spirit or in the LORD, and for those that are slain in the Spirit here, they don’t get up! Some like to go to John chapter 18, when Jesus is being arrested, and make their doctrine out from this section. But we read beginning in verse 4, "Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, ‘Whom are you seeking?’ They answered Him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am He.’ And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Then-- when He said to them, ‘I am He,’-- they drew back and fell to the ground." John 18:4-6. They say that this is a reference to being slain in the Spirit. That is just plain foolishness. Who were the ones that were knocked over? All the unsaved troops that came to arrest Jesus! The only reference that I have come up with that speaks of being slain in the Spirit is what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5, and they were slain dead!
VERSE 17
1. Again, all the unclean things they were involved in, that God told them to avoid, and they refused to listen, and God will judge them for their rebellion.
VERSES 18-19
1. He is not speaking of escaping from God but from the anti-Christ, making it through the tribulation period, and in the kingdom age they will be ambassadors for Christ.
VERSE 20
1. Not speaking of a literal sacrifice, but those that God will use for His work are a sacrifice to Him. It is as Paul said in Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
VERSES 21-23
1. Worship will be the focus in the kingdom age, the worship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
VERSE 24
1. The book ends on a downer. The reason may be as simple as this. You have a choice to make. You can enter into eternity with the Lord or the Lake of Fire apart from Him. But God’s heart desire is for you to turn to Him, as Ezekiel 18:31-32 tells us. We read "Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? ‘For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘Therefore turn and live!’"
2. I want to leave you this evening, and close the book of Isaiah with these thoughts from W.E. Vine. He said:
"All this brings home the folly, futility and sinfulness of pursuing our own way, carrying out our own designs and turning after that in which God cannot take pleasure, instead of waiting upon Him, listening to His voice and delighting in the fulfilment of His will. Through our walking with God He fulfils, and will fulfil, all the promises of His Word. He responds to delighted confidence in Him, by adding an Amen to His assurance. The peace of an obedient heart and a trusting spirit is that which enjoys the sunshine of His countenance and the calmness of holy communion with Him."