Isaiah 66 Footnotes

66:21 According to the law, only Israelites could serve in the temple, but Isaiah envisioned people from a list of pagan nations (v. 19) becoming priests and Levites in the Lord’s house. These people could be understood as faithful Israelites who had lived dispersed among the nations for many years (Ac 2:5-11). More likely, Isaiah saw God giving the non-Israelites in his kingdom equality with Israelite believers. That is certainly what the apostles believed and taught in the NT; Paul celebrated how Christ has broken down the division between Jew and non-Jew (Eph 2:13-16), who together make up the new temple of the Lord (Eph 2:19-21). Just as God took the Levites from among the Israelites and gave them as gifts to the Israelites (Nm 8:6-19; 18:6) so God will choose non-Israelite believers in the future, taking them “captive” in Christ (Eph 4:7-8).