Isaiah 65

1 They sought me, that asked not (for me) before; they that sought not me, found me. I said, Lo! I, lo! I, to heathen men that knew not me, and that called not my name to help. (The Lord said, I was there to be sought, but the people did not ask for me; I was there to be found, but they did not seek me. I said, Lo! I, lo! I, to a nation who did not know me, and who did not call on my name for help.)

2 I stretched forth mine hands all day to a people unbelieveful, that goeth in a way not good, after their thoughts. (I have stretched forth my hands all day long to an unbelieving people, who goeth on a way not good, after their own thoughts.)

3 It is a people that stirreth me to wrathfulness, ever before my face; which offer in gardens, and make sacrifice on tilestones; (They be a people who stirreth me to anger, ever before my face; who offer in gardens dedicated to idols, and make sacrifice on clay, or brick, altars;)

4 which dwell in sepulchres, and sleep in the temples of idols; which eat swine's flesh, and unholy juice, either broth, is in the vessels of them; (who live in tombs, and sleep in the temples of idols; who eat swine's flesh, and unholy juice, or defiled broth, is in their cups and bowls;)

5 which say to an heathen man, Go thou away from me, nigh thou not to me, for thou art unclean; these shall be smoke in my strong vengeance, fire burning all day (yet who say to the heathen, Go thou away from me, come thou not near to me, for thou art unclean; they be but smoke in my nose, a fire burning all day long!)

6 Lo! it is written before me; I shall not be still, but I shall yield, and I shall requite into the bosom of them (Lo! it is all written down before me; and I shall not keep silent, but I shall reward, and I shall repay into your bosom)

7 your wickednesses, and the wickednesses of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which made sacrifice on mountains, and did shame to me on little hills; and I shall mete again the first work of them in their bosom. (your wickednesses, and your forefathers? wickednesses together, saith the Lord, who made sacrifice on mountains, and did shamefully before me on little hills; yea, I shall measure out their reward, and I shall make payment into their bosom.)

8 The Lord saith these things, As if a grape be found in a cluster, and it is said, Destroy thou not it, for it is blessing; so I shall do for my servants, that I lose not all. (The Lord saith these things, Like when grapes be found in a cluster, and it is said, Destroy thou it not, for it is a blessing; so I shall do for my servants, and I shall not destroy all of them.)

9 And I shall lead out of Jacob (a) seed, and (out) of Judah a man having in possession mine holy hills; and my chosen men shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. (And I shall bring out of Jacob children, or descendants, and out of Judah those who shall possess my holy hills; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall live there.)

10 And the field places shall be into folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a resting place of droves of neat, to my people that sought me. (And Sharon shall be for folds of flocks, and the Valley of Achor for a place of rest for herds of wethers, or of rams, for my people who have sought me.)

11 And I shall number you in sword, that forsook the Lord, that forgot mine holy hill, which set a board to fortune, and make sacrifice thereon, (But with the sword I shall number your days, ye who desert the Lord, and forget my holy hill, who set a table for the god of fortune, and make sacrifice on it,)

12 and all ye shall fall by slaying; for that that I called, and ye answered not; I spake, and ye heard not; and ye did evil before mine eyes, and ye choosed those things which I would not. (and ye shall all be killed; because I called, and ye did not answer; I spoke, and ye did not listen; and ye did evil before my eyes, and ye chose those things, which I would not chose/which I did not desire.)

13 For these things, the Lord God saith these things, Lo! my servants shall eat, and ye shall have hunger; lo! my servants shall drink, and ye shall be thirsty; lo! my servants shall be glad, and ye shall be ashamed; (Because of this, the Lord God saith these things, Lo! my servants shall eat, but ye shall have hunger; lo! my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; lo! my servants shall be happy, but ye shall be ashamed;)

14 lo! my servants shall praise, for the full joy of heart, and ye shall cry, for the sorrow of heart, and ye shall yell, for [the] desolation of spirit. (lo! my servants shall praise, because of the great joy in their hearts, but ye shall cry, because of the sorrow in your hearts, and ye shall yell, or shall wail, because of the desolation, or the anguish, in your spirits.)

15 And ye shall leave your name into an oath to my chosen men (And your name shall be used as a curse by my chosen ones); and the Lord God shall slay thee, and he shall call his servants by another name.

16 In which he that is blessed on earth, shall be blessed in God, amen; and he that sweareth in (the) earth, shall swear in God faithfully (In which he who is blessed in the land, shall be blessed by God, amen; and he who sweareth in the land, shall swear faithfully by God); for the former anguishes be given to forgetting, and for those be hid from your eyes.

17 For lo! I make new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be in mind (and the former things shall not be remembered), and shall not ascend on the heart.

18 But ye shall have joy, and make full out joying till into without end, in these things which I make; for lo! I make Jerusalem (to be) full out joying, and the people thereof (to be a) joy. (But ye shall have joy, and shall rejoice until forever, over these things which I make; for lo! I shall make the new Jerusalem to be full of joy, and its people to have joy.)

19 And I shall make full out joying in Jerusalem, and I shall have joy in my people (Yea, I shall rejoice over Jerusalem, and I shall have joy over my people); and the voice of weeping and the voice of cry shall no more be heard therein.

20 A young child of days shall no more be there, and an eld man, that filleth not his days; for why a child of an hundred years shall die, and a sinner of an hundred years shall be cursed. (And there shall not be a young child there, who liveth only for a few days, nor an old man who filleth not all of his days, for why should any child die before a hundred years of age; but a sinner shall die there before living a hundred years, for he shall be cursed.)

21 And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them, and they shall plant vines, and shall eat the fruits of those.

22 They shall not build houses, and another shall inhabit, they shall not plant, and another shall eat; for why the days of my people shall be after the days of the tree, and the works of their hands shall be eld to my chosen men. (They shall not build houses, which another shall inhabit, and they shall not plant, what another shall eat; for the days of my people shall be like the many days of a tree, and the works of their hands shall be long lasting for my chosen ones.)

23 They shall not travail in vain, neither they shall engender in(to) troubling; for it is the seed of them that be blessed of the Lord, and the cousins of them be with them. (They shall not labour in vain, nor shall they bring forth their children into trouble, or misfortune; for they be the children, or the descendants, of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring after them.)

24 And it shall be, before that they cry, I shall hear; yet while they speak, I shall hear. (And it shall be, that before they even cry to me, I shall answer them; and while they speak, I shall listen to them.)

25 The wolf and the lamb shall be fed together, and a lion and an ox shall eat straw, and to a serpent (the) dust shall be his bread; they shall not harm, neither shall slay, in all mine holy hill, saith the Lord (they shall not do any harm, nor shall they kill, on all my holy hill, saith the Lord).

Isaiah 65 Commentary

Chapter 65

The calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. (1-7) The Lord would preserve a remnant. (8-10) Judgments upon the wicked. (11-16) The future happy and flourishing state of the church. (17-25)

Verses 1-7 The Gentiles came to seek God, and find him, because they were first sought and found of him. Often he meets some thoughtless trifler or profligate opposer, and says to him, Behold me; and a speedy change takes place. All the gospel day, Christ waited to be gracious. The Jews were bidden, but would not come. It is not without cause they are rejected of God. They would do what most pleased them. They grieved, they vexed the Holy Spirit. They forsook God's temple, and sacrificed in groves. They cared not for the distinction between clean and unclean meats, before it was taken away by the gospel. Perhaps this is put for all forbidden pleasures, and all that is thought to be gotten by sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Christ denounced many woes against the pride and hypocrisy of the Jews. The proof against them is plain. And let us watch against pride and self-preference, remembering that every sin, and the most secret thoughts of man's heart, are known and will be judged by God.

Verses 8-10 In the bunch of unripe grapes, at present of no value, the new wine is contained. The Jews have been kept a distinct people, that all may witness the fulfilment of ancient prophecies and promises. God's chosen, the spiritual seed of praying Jacob, shall inherit his mountains of bliss and joy, and be carried safe to them through the vale of tears. All things are for the display of God's glory in the redemption of sinners.

Verses 11-16 Here the different states of the godly and wicked, of the Jews who believed, and of those who persisted in unbelief, are set against one another. They prepared a table for that troop of deities which the heathen worship, and poured out drink-offerings to that countless number. Their worshippers spared no cost to honour them, which should shame the worshippers of the true God. See the malignity of sin; it is doing by choice what we know will displease God. In every age and nation, the Lord leaves those who persist in doing evil, and despise the call of the gospel. God's servants shall have the bread of life, and shall want nothing good for them. But those who forsake the Lord, shall be ashamed of vain confidence in their own righteousness, and the hopes they built thereon. Wordly people bless themselves in the abundance of this world's goods; but God's servants bless themselves in him. He is their strength and portion. They shall honour him as the God of truth. And it was promised that in him should all the families of the earth be blessed. They shall think themselves happy in having him for their God, who made them forget their troubles.

Verses 17-25 In the grace and comfort believers have in and from Christ, we are to look for this new heaven and new earth. The former confusions, sins and miseries of the human race, shall be no more remembered or renewed. The approaching happy state of the church is described under a variety of images. He shall be thought to die in his youth, and for his sins, who only lives to the age of a hundred years. The event alone can determine what is meant; but it is plain that Christianity, if universal, would so do away violence and evil, as greatly to lengthen life. In those happy days, all God's people shall enjoy the fruit of their labours. Nor will children then be the trouble of their parents, or suffer trouble themselves. The evil dispositions of sinners shall be completely moritified; all shall live in harmony. Thus the church on earth shall be full of happiness, like heaven. This prophecy assures the servants of Christ, that the time approaches, wherein they shall be blessed with the undisturbed enjoyment of all that is needful for their happiness. As workers together with God, let us attend his ordinances, and obey his commands.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 65

This chapter contains an answer to the prayer begun Isa 63:15, and continued in the preceding chapter; in which reasons are given by the Lord for suffering such calamities as are before mentioned to come upon the Jewish nation; particularly their rejection of the Gospel as preached by Christ and his apostles, and cleaving to the traditions of the fathers, and to their own righteousness; which disobedience and rebellion are aggravated by the Gentiles quick reception of the Gospel, as soon as preached to them, Isa 65:1,2 as also the idolatry of their fathers, their impurity and breach of the divine laws, Isa 65:3,4,7, as well as their own pride, hypocrisy, and self-confidence, Isa 65:5 all which being observed by the Lord was highly provoking to him; and he was determined to recompense into their bosoms their own sins, and the sins of their fathers, whose measure they filled up, Isa 65:6,7, nevertheless he would have a regard to a remnant among them, in whom the true grace of God would be found, and who should have a name and a place in the Gospel church state, and be preserved from the general destruction, Isa 65:8-10, but as for the unbelieving Jews, they should be punished with the sword, with famine, with disgrace, with distress, vexation, and a curse; when the servants of the Lord should have food, and joy, and honour, and bless themselves in the Lord, and serve him, Isa 65:11-16 and the chapter is concluded with promises of a new and happy state to the Jews upon their conversion in the latter day; which will be attended with much spiritual joy, with abundance of outward felicity, with great safety and security, and with the presence of God, Isa 65:17-25.

prophecy of the calling and conversion of the Gentiles is not to be doubted, since the Apostle Paul has quoted it, and applied it to that case, Ro 10:20 and is here mentioned as an aggravation of the sin of the Jews, in rejecting Christ, when the Gentiles received him; and was the reason of their being rejected of God, and the Gospel being taken away from them, and given to another people, and of the Lord's removing his presence from the one to the other. The Gentiles are described as those that "asked not for" Christ, or after him, as the apostle supplies it; they had not asked for him, nor after him, nor anything about him; nor of him "before" this time, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; they were without Christ, the promises and prophecies concerning him; and so had no knowledge of him, nor made any inquiry about him, who or what he was; they did not ask after his coming, or for it; did not desire it, or him, and were in no expectation of it; they asked no favour of him, nor saw any need of him, or worth in him; and yet now he was "sought of them"; or, as the apostle has it, "was made manifest unto them"; and so the Septuagint version; that is, he was manifested to them in the Gospel, and by the ministry of it; which is a revelation of him, of salvation by him, of justification by his righteousness, of peace and pardon by his blood, of atonement by his sacrifice, and of eternal life through him; and the words will bear to be rendered, "I was preached unto them": for from this word are derived others {g}, which signify an expounder, and an interpretation, or exposition; and this was matter of fact, that Christ was preached to the Gentiles upon the Jews' rejection of him, which is one branch of the mystery of godliness, 1Ti 3:16 and upon this he was sought of them: they sought him early and earnestly, and desired to have him and his Gospel preached to them again and again, Ac 13:42-48 they sought after the knowledge of him, and for an interest in him, and for all grace from him, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life; and for all the supplies of grace, as all sensible sinners do; this they did as soon as he was made manifest to them by the word, and especially as soon as he was revealed in them, or made manifest in their hearts by his Spirit:

\\I am found of them that sought me not\\; that had not sought him before the Gospel came to them; they sought the world, and the thing, of it, "for after all these things do the Gentiles seek"; they sought after the wisdom of the world, the vain philosophy of it; "the Greeks seek after wisdom"; and at most and best they only sought after morality and outward righteousness, but not after Christ, till he was set up in the Gospel as an ensign to them, Isa 11:10, but being preached in it, they were set a seeking after him, and "found" him in it, of whom it is full; in the doctrines, promises, and ordinances of it; in whom they found righteousness, life, and salvation, food, and plenty of it, rest, spiritual and eternal, and everlasting glory and happiness:

\\I said, behold me, behold unto a nation that was not called by my name\\; which still describes the Gentiles, who formerly were not called the people of God, even those who now are, Ho 2:23, 1Pe 2:10, this Christ says to them in the Gospel, whose eyes he opens by his Spirit, to behold the glory of his person, the riches of his grace, his wondrous love and condescension, the abundance of blessings in him, and the complete salvation he has wrought out for sinners; and the words are repeated to show that Christ is only to be beheld, and is always to be looked unto; as well as it declares the heartiness of Christ, and his willingness that sinners should look unto him, and be saved; and all this is a proof of the preventing grace of God in the conversion of men, he is first in it; before they ask anything of him, or about him, or his Son, he manifests himself; he reveals Christ, bestows his grace, and presents them with the blessings of his goodness. R. Moses the priest, as Aben Ezra observes, interprets this of the nations of the world; and that the sense is,

``even to the Gentiles that are not called by my name I am preached;''

which agrees with the apostle's sense of them; \\see Gill on "Ro 10:20"\\.

{g} So, with the Rabbins, vrd is "to preach"; Nvrd is "a preacher"; hvrd is "a sermon"; vrd "the name of a book of sermons"; and vrdm "an exposition"; see Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. col. 583, 584.

26857-Isa65.2