Isaiah 66 Study Notes
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66:14-16 God will save his people and punish those who disobey him. While God blesses and punishes in historical time, the ultimate expression of God’s salvation and judgment will take place at the final judgment (pictured most graphically in the book of Revelation).
66:17 The wicked who receive the punishment described in vv. 14-16 are those who entered illegitimate worship sites (groves). They ate the most unclean food, defiantly rejecting God’s law for Israel.
66:18 God was never interested in Israel alone. His promise to Abraham extended to the nations (Gn 12:3). Isaiah looked forward to the day when the nations would recognize God’s glory.
66:19 The survivors, the remnant of God’s people who survive the judgment, will go out to the nations to speak of God’s glory. Among the representative nations named are those at great distance. Tarshish is modern day Spain (likely Tartessus); Put (ancient Punt) is equivalent to modern Somaliland (though some think a part of Libya; Nah 3:9 lists Libya along with Put); Tubal is an area near the Black Sea; Javan is modern Greece. The coasts and islands refer to distant lands and thus represent all the nations of the world.
66:20 The missionaries of v. 19 will bring back the fruit of their labor, all your brothers, from the nations. This would be Gentile converts coming to Jerusalem.
66:21 The most natural antecedent to them is the nations. Thus, Isaiah presented a remarkable picture of the nations producing people set apart for service to the Lord like priests and Levites.
66:22 On new heavens and new earth, see note at 65:17.
66:23 In this future day, no one will neglect the regular worship of the Lord. The New Moon festival was a monthly sacred observance (1:13; Nm 29:6; 2Kg 4:23; Ezr 3:5; Ps 81:3).
66:24 Isaiah ended his book with one last description of the fate of the wicked. If his intention was to describe a departure from Jerusalem, then perhaps he referred to the Hinnom Valley—a place where garbage was burned and bodies were left to rot. The purpose of this graphic image was to move people toward God and redemption.