Isaiah 65:12

12 Well, you asked for it. Fate it will be: your destiny, Death. For when I invited you, you ignored me; when I spoke to you, you brushed me off. You did the very things I exposed as evil; you chose what I hate."

Isaiah 65:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 65:12

Therefore will I number you to the sword
There is an elegancy in the expression, alluding to Meni, that number, they furnished a drink offering for, or trusted in; and since they did, God would number them, or appoint a number of them to the sword; or suffer them to be slain in great numbers, even from one end of their land to another, ( Jeremiah 12:12 ) , they should be numbered and told out, or care taken that none of them should escape the sword of the Romans, or not be taken by them: and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter;
be obliged to submit to the conqueror, and lay down their necks to be sacrificed by him: because, when I called, ye did not answer; when I spoke, ye did not
hear;
when Christ called unto them personally, to come and hear him, they turned a deaf ear to this charmer, charming so wisely, and would not attend upon his ministry, ( Proverbs 1:24 ) ( Matthew 23:37 ) , and when he called to them in the ministry of his apostles, they rejected him and his word with contempt; they put it away from them, contradicting and blaspheming it, ( Acts 13:45 Acts 13:46 ) . The Targum is,

``because I sent my prophets, and ye turned not; they prophesied, and ye did not receive them:''
but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted
not;
adhered to the traditions of the elders, and taught for doctrines the commandments of men; and which they chose and preferred to the word of God, and the Gospel of Christ; and these were things the Lord delighted not in, yea, abhorred; and their embracing and cleaving to them were evil in his sight; see ( Matthew 15:3-9 ) .

Isaiah 65:12 In-Context

10 The lush valley of Sharon in the west will be a pasture for flocks, And in the east, the valley of Achor, a place for herds to graze. These will be for the people who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives, who actually bothered to look for me.
11 "But you who abandon me, your God, who forget the holy mountains, Who hold dinners for Lady Luck and throw cocktail parties for Sir Fate,
12 Well, you asked for it. Fate it will be: your destiny, Death. For when I invited you, you ignored me; when I spoke to you, you brushed me off. You did the very things I exposed as evil; you chose what I hate."
13 Therefore, this is the Message from the Master, God: "My servants will eat, and you'll go hungry; My servants will drink, and you'll go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, and you'll hang your heads.
14 My servants will laugh from full hearts, and you'll cry out heartbroken, yes, wail from crushed spirits.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.