Isaiah 65:1

1 The Lord says, "I made myself known to people who were notlooking for me. I was found by those who were not asking me for help. I said, 'Here I am. Here I am,' to a nation that was not praying to me.

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 people who were notlooking for me. I was found by those who were not asking me for help. I said, 'Here I am. Here I am,' to a nation that was not praying to me.

2 All day long I stood ready to accept people who turned against me, but the way they continue to live is not good; they do anything they want to do.

3 Right in front of me they continue to do things that make me angry. They offer sacrifices to their gods in their gardens, and they burn incense on altars of brick.

4 They sit among the graves and spend their nights waiting to get messages from the dead. They eat the meat of pigs, and their pots are full of soup made from meat that is wrong to eat.

5 But they tell others, 'Stay away, and don't come near me. I am too holy for you.' These people are like smoke in my nose. Like a fire that burns all the time, they continue to make me angry.