Isaiah 65:1

The LORD Answers Isaiah's Prayer

1 The LORD says, "I made myself known to those who were not asking for me. I was found by those who were not trying to find me. I spoke to a nation that did not pray to me. 'Here I am,' I said. 'Here I am.'

Isaiah 65:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me
That this is aIsaiah 65:2

I have spread out mine hands all the day unto a rebellious
people
Meaning Israel, as the apostle explains it, ( Romans 10:21 ) , whom he calls a "disobedient and gainsaying people"; who believed not in Christ, obeyed not his Gospel, but contradicted and blasphemed it; and were rebellious against him, would not have him to reign over them, nor submit to his ordinances; though he most affectionately invited them, earnestly pressed and urged them, and that daily and frequently, to attend his ministry; and used all human methods to gain audience of them, and acceptance with them, but all to no purpose; see ( Matthew 23:37 ) , they remained obstinate and inflexible, and so they did under the ministry of his apostles; for, notwithstanding their ill usage of him, he ordered the Gospel to be first preached to them, as it was, till they treated it with such indignity and contempt, that the apostles turned away from them to the Gentiles, as they were bid; see ( Acts 13:46 Acts 13:47 ) . The Targum is,

``I sent my prophets every day''

which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
in their own way, of their own devising, choosing, and approving, and which was a wicked one; and after their own imaginations and inventions; after the traditions of the elders the doctrines and commandments of men; and after a righteousness of their own, which they sought by the works of the law, and so submitted not to, but rejected the righteousness of Christ.

Isaiah 65:1 In-Context

1 The LORD says, "I made myself known to those who were not asking for me. I was found by those who were not trying to find me. I spoke to a nation that did not pray to me. 'Here I am,' I said. 'Here I am.'

2 All day long I have held out my hands to welcome a stubborn nation. They lead sinful lives. They go where their evil thoughts take them.

3 They are always making me very angry. They do it right in front of me. They offer sacrifices in the gardens of other gods. They burn incense on altars that are made out of bricks.

4 They sit among the graves. They spend their nights talking to the spirits of the dead. They eat the meat of pigs. Their cooking pots hold soup that has 'unclean' meat in it.

5 They say, 'Keep away! Don't come near us! We are too sacred for you!' Those people are like smoke in my nose. They are like a fire that keeps burning all day.